Canada: National Statement on the 35th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines Justice for all human rights victims: End state terrorism in the Philippines! Never Again to Martial Law! As Filipinos in Canada and Canadian human rights advocates, we mark with solemnity, but also with renewed vigilance the 35th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law by then President Ferdinand Marcos on Sept. 21, 1972. We pay honour to the memory of the hundreds of martyrs of Martial Law and to the tens of thousands of victims of human rights violations who still await compensation to this day. We cry in rage over these injustices and also remember the martyrs and disappeared under the current US-Arroyo regime. During the Martial Law period from 1972-1986, more than 30,000 people were detained as suspected activists. Torture, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances were carried out across the country by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Constabulary. Marcos’ authoritarian rule was a direct response to the growing anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement that grew out of the chronic and worsening economic crisis of the time. Despite his attempt to quell social unrest, Marcos was valiantly toppled by a People Power uprising in 1986. As we remember the horrors of Martial Law, we call for renewed vigilance in resisting the current state of undeclared Martial Law under the US-backed fascist, corrupt and puppet regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Since 2001 when she came to power, 886 people have fallen victim to extra-judicial killings, 179 people forcibly disappeared and over one million people forcibly displaced because of heavy militarization. Under the Arroyo government’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya I and II (Operation Freedom Watch) and as part of the US-led “war on terror” human rights violations are occurring with impunity. Arroyo also recently implemented the Human Security Act (HSA) to crackdown on so-called “terrorists” and “destabilizers.” The HSA is another mechanism of state terrorism that will only increase further human rights violations. The unjust arrest and detention of Professor Jose Maria Sison and the raids of the offices of the National Democratic Front and of other progressive Filipinos by Dutch authorities last August 28 in the Netherlands is another example of Arroyo’s violation of the basic human rights of patriotic and peace-loving Filipinos, even those living abroad. Now it is feared that the lives of those who testified in the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT), an international opinion tribunal, last March are in danger because materials confiscated in the raids are being sought after by the Arroyo regime. Like Marcos, Arroyo’s rule has been marked by graft and corruption scandals. Witnesses at the current Senate investigation into alleged anomalies involving the $329 million National Broadband Network project have pointed directly to the involvement of Mike Arroyo, the First Gentlemen. This is not the first time Mike Arroyo and other government officials have been accused of graft and corruption. At a time of worsening poverty while the majority of Filipinos do not earn enough to meet their families’ basic needs, reports of government corruption only serve to enrage the people more. While Arroyo brags that she will make the Philippines a first world country by 2010, the daily reality of the people’s grinding poverty shatters this delusion. As overseas Filipinos, the majority of whom are migrant workers working in the most difficult, dirty and dangerous jobs in Canada in order to send remittances home, we are disgusted with reports of continuing corruption and human rights violations in the Philippines. Because we are neglected by the Philippine government we are compelled to collectively struggle for our rights and welfare and an end to the roots of our forced migration. We come together across Canada to register our outrage at the economic crisis in our homeland and undeclared martial law. As we continue our national September of Solidarity: (SOS) A month of action for Canadians to express solidarity with the Filipino people’s struggle for human rights, we reiterate our demands that Canada: 1. Review its current relations with and withdraw all military aid, bilateral aid and multilateral aid to the Philippine government while the political killings and other violations of human rights continue to occur; 2. Redirect partnership aid towards progressive community-based groups like KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) that advocate genuine development and uphold human rights and the dignity of life; 3. Pressure the Philippine government to respect international human rights covenants and agreements; and 4. Hold a Parliamentary Hearing on the human rights situation in the Philippines. We call on all progressive and peace-loving Filipinos and Canadians to continue to coordinate nationally and locally through the Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights by carrying out educational activities, mobilizations and lobbying to raise public awareness on the state of human rights in the Philippines and to support the findings of international bodies such as: Amnesty International, Professor Phillip Alston (the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions) and the Verdict of the PPT. The PPT verdict found the Arroyo government and the US government guilty on charges of gross and systematic violations of civil and political rights: extra-judicial killings, abduction and disappearances, massacre, torture; economic, social and cultural rights; and the rights to national self-determination and liberation. As we also celebrate over 25 years of solidarity work between Canadians and Filipinos, may the lives of the martyrs of Martial Law and the Arroyo regime not be lost in vain and may their memory live on in our continued struggle for peace, democracy and a just and lasting peace in the Philippines! Justice for all victims of human rights violations under Marcos and Arroyo! Stop state-sponsored terrorism, political persecution, harassment and repression in the Philippines! Never again to Martial Law! Canada, stop supporting the militarist, repressive and corrupt US – Arroyo regime! Long live people-to-people solidarity between Canadians and Filipinos! 21 September 2007 Statement issued by: Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights National Alliance of Philippine Women in Canada SIKLAB – Canada (Sulong, Itaguyod ang Karapatan ng mga Manggagawa sa Labas ng Bansa – Advance the Rights of Overseas Filipino Workers) Ugnayan ng Kabataan Pilipino sa Canada/Filipino-Canadian Youth Alliance - Canada --