Press Release 20 September 2007 For reference: Dolores Balladares Chairperson, Tel. No.: 97472986 “After 35 years, Filipinos face even worse tyranny” HK activists hit GMA-style Martial Law in RP The Filipino people around the world and groups who stand in solidarity with us will not allow for Martial Law to again rule in the Philippines. This was declared today by Dolores Balladares, chairperson of the United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-MIGRANTE-HK) in a picket protest by Hong Kong human rights advocates and Filipino migrant workers at the Philippine Consulate General on the eve of the 35th year commemoration of Martial Law of former President Ferdinand Marcos. The protest action, Balladares reported, was part of the internationally-coordinated actions called by the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliances) or BAYAN. “After 35 years, Filipinos face even worse tyranny.” The protesters scored the current administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for what they deemed as an “undeclared Martial Law” in the country. “Martial Law of Marcos was characterized with brutal violation of the people’s rights. In the six years of GMA’s term, even graver human rights abuses have been done by the state terrorism that has marked GMA’s government,” Balladares said. Records of human rights organizations revealed that 886 people, mostly from groups critical of the government, were killed mostly by suspected government military while 174 were forcibly disappeared. “State terrorism has been concretized in the government’s counter insurgency plan Oplan Bantay Laya (Oplan Freedom Watch) that attacks civilian activists. With the Human Security Act of 2007 in place, the government is set to heave worse violations to the people’s civil, political and even economic rights,” she added. According to Balladares, the current human rights situation in the Philippines has spurred a broad solidarity movement in many countries to address extrajudicial killings and other forms of state terrorism. “The most notable guilty conviction of the Arroyo regime for human rights abuses was that of the Permanent People’s Tribunal. But in shameless disregard for what is just, moral, and legal, the Arroyo government even became more rabid in their trampling of people’s rights as shown by its role in the arrest of Prof. Jose Maria Sison,” she remarked. Professor Sison, a political refugee in the Netherlands, was arrested in August 28 but was released after more than two weeks of solitary confinement and deprivation of his rights as a refugee. “The presumptuous celebration of the GMA government over Professor Sison’s arrest was thwarted by the quick indignation of solidarity groups and Filipinos around the world who rightfully called the action as political persecution,” she said. Balladares relayed that a bigger a action is set to be held on September 23 to be joined in mainly by Filipino domestic workers and other groups in solidarity with the Filipinos. Dubbed as “Walk for Justice, Walk for Peace”, the action, according to her, will mark their continued campaign to seek justice for the victims of human rights violations in the Philippines, the repeal of the HSA, and to end political persecution. “As the tyranny of Marcos faced waves of opposition in the Philippines and abroad, so will the state terrorism of GMA face the resistance of Filipino migrants and other defenders of human rights. GMA’s fake, corrupt and murderous regime is bound to suffer the same fate as that of the late dictator,” Balladares concluded.# Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Yahoo! Games. Looking for a deal? Find great prices on flights and hotels with Yahoo! FareChase. 5 attachments — Download all attachments View all images IMG_0705.jpg 91K View Download IMG_0730.jpg 90K View Download IMG_0710.jpg 66K View Download IMG_0713.jpg 62K View Download IMG_0719.jpg 73K View Download Reply Forward Inv