Gloria and Mi\ke Arroyo symbolize the new conjugal dictatorship. The Marcos cronies have been replaced by the cronies and golfing buddies of the Arroyo regime. It’s as if the administration has dragged the country back in time.

--- Renato Reyes, BAYAN Secretary General

Clockwise: Former VP Tito Guingona, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Bayan Chair Carol Araullo, KMP Secretary General Danilo Ramos, Gabriela Rep. Luz Ilagan and KMU official

News Release
September 21, 2007
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan

Thousands cry – "Never again to Martial Law!"
 

Groups commemorating the 35th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in 1972 marched today in Manila to protest what they described as a “steady drift towards Marcosian rule.”

The late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos declared Martial Law in September 21, 1972. This triggered the arrests of the political foes of the regime, a clamp down on the media, and various other human rights violations. Throughout his 20 year term, Marcos was believed to have amassed billions of pesos in ill-gotten wealth.

“The Arroyo government has not learned the lessons of Marcos. In fact, the Arroyo regime often repeats the mistakes of the dictatorship. It has engaged in gross human rights abuses such as killings and abductions. It has even rivaled previous regimes in terms of corruption,” said Bayan chair Carol Araullo.

“What’s worse is that Arroyo also seems bent on staying in power to protect herself from suits that may arise from rights violations and corruption,” she added.

Bayan believes that the reason why fears of term extensions and outright dictatorial rule have not been assuaged is because of the crisis plaguing the administration itself.

“There is always the apprehension that the Arroyo regime will resort to martial law measures because we can see how unstable the regime has become. It has been pummeled by one political crisis after another. It desperately wants to cling on to power no matter what. It has an entire arsenal of fascist measures, the latest of which is the Human Security Act or Anti-terror Law,” Araullo explained.

“Arroyo is courting the same fate as Marcos. So long as she treads the path of Marcosian rule, she may yet end up like Marcos who was deposed by people power,” she added.

Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. said that more protests can be expected with the ongoing controversy involving the National Broadband Network project which is allegedly tainted by huge payoffs to public officials.

“The broadband deal is inciting the people to protest. In a time of grinding poverty, acts of shameless corruption will only fuel the people’s indignation. It’s just the latest in the long list of abuses by the current regime,” Reyes said.

“Gloria and Mike Arroyo symbolize the new conjugal dictatorship. The Marcos cronies have been replaced by the cronies and golfing buddies of the Arroyo regime. It’s as if the administration has dragged the country back in time,” Reyes added.

Blocked at the Bustillos church and then

at the corner of Legarda St. and Bustillos St.

PRESS STATEMENT – 21 September 2007

Reference:      Ruth Cervantes, Karapatan Public Information          

                        Officer (Mobile No. 09153002684)

                        Romy Luneta, SELDA National Secretariat (4342837)

Filipinos must resist Arroyo’s terrorism with the same fervor in opposing Marcos’ martial law

Human rights organizations under the banner of Karapatan, which includes the organization of martial law victims and former political prisoners called SELDA, today joins the public demonstration at the Liwasang Bonifacio to mark the 35^th anniversary of the declaration of martial law.
 

As we pay tribute to the thousands of Filipino heroes, both living and dead, who have fought the dictatorial regime of Ferdinand Marcos, we call on our compatriots to resist the Arroyo regime’s terrorism with the same fervor.
 

We also pay our highest tribute to 33 of our colleagues and the 358 activists who were martyred in the defense of human rights. They made the ultimate sacrifice of giving their lives for our people's rights.  We salute our colleagues in the field, especially those who incessantly face but continue to defy threats and intimidation in order to document cases of rights violations and assist victims and their families.

There is a new dictator and kleptocrat in Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her cohorts under an undeclared martial law.  Her regime have already recorded 886 victims of extrajudicial killings, 355 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 184 enforced disappearances and 799 victims of torture in her six-year rule. 

Historian Alfred W. McCoy said there were 3,257 victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14-year martial rule of Marcos. Various human rights organizations recorded 769 victims of enforced disappearance from 1971 to February 1986. 

As in the past, the perpetrators of human rights violations, mainly state forces and death squads under their direction and control, continue to enjoy impunity because the Commander-In-Chief has allowed, abetted and countenanced violence committed against women and men, children and the elderly in all sectors of society. 

To this day, the words of former Senator and anti-dictatorship stalwart Jose “Pepe” Diokno rings true “If we do not struggle with all that we can have and do all that we can to vindicate our rights, we not only condemn our rights to death; we also condemn our hopes and dreams, our present, and our children’s future. Which course shall we choose?”

◄◄◄

Thus, we call on all compatriots to renew our commitment to defend our human rights in the face of fascism and join the families of victims in their quest for justice not only for their kin but also for the whole nation.

Let us continue to expose and oppose the US government and its puppet regime in the Philippines for instigating a dirty war against the Filipino people in order to remain in power and benefit from the existing unjust social system.###

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Statement on 35th Year of Martial Law Declaration
September 20, 2007

LIKE THE MARCOSES, ARROYOS STINK WITH CORRUPTION,

SCAMS AND BLOODY HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD

Thirty-five years ago on September 21, Marcos imposed Martial Law to suppress the nation's growing aprotests against his corrupt government. The Marcoses and their cronies amassed wealth through the multi-billion anomalous contracts such as the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) that gave the nation a gargantuan debt crisis.

Today, PGMA and First (Un)Gentleman Mike Arroyo and their cronies are facing public ire for the latest NBN scam on top of massive electoral fraud and various corruption scams hounding the administration since 2001. Like the Marcoses and their cronies who enriched themselves at the Filipino people's expense, the Arroyos stink with corruption scams and a bloody human rights record including more than 800 extra-judicial killings and more than 200 enforced disappearances.

As the nation remembers the horrors of Martial Law, we echo the people's demand for the Arroyos and their cohorts to be held accountable for all their high crimes of stealing, cheating and killings. Like the Marcoses and their cronies, PGMA and all who benefited from her power must face the nation's judgment that there is always a time for downfall of a dictator.

Under Marcos, thousands of Filipinos suffered atrocities in the hands of police and military forces who were given blanket authority to arrest without warrant, imprison, torture, abduct and 'salvage' those who were known to be critical of the Marcos regime. To this very moment, justice and indemnification have not been rendered to the victims and their families. Worse, 35 years later, human rights and human lives continue to be violated by the Arroyo government. Even without formally imposing Martial Law, Arroyo has in fact legalized the wanton violations of civil liberties through the Anti-Terror Law.

We therefore enjoin Filipinos to continue to draw lessons and inspiration from the victory of people's unity in ousting the corrupt, fascist and puppet Marcos dictatorship. Let us continue to take part in the building of a truly democratic, just and peaceful society where the poor are no longer persecuted when they fight for what is just; where the tyrants and plunderers are justly prosecuted; and where fundamental laws, policies and systems truly serve the best interests of the Filipino people.

NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW!

JUNK THE ANTI-TERROR LAW!

Justice for all victims of human rights violations!

Enough of the corrupt, fascist and puppet Arroyo regime!

PROMOTION OF CHURCH PEOPLE'S RESPONSE (PCPR)

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Press Release
September 20, 2007

GMA's undeclared Martial Law continues, Moro group says

COTABATO CITY -- A Moro group here is calling for an end to extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, intense militarization and human rights violations as the Filipino people commemorates the 35 years of dreadful martial law days from deposed former president Ferdinand Marcos to detested president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

SUARA Bangsamoro express apprehension on the continuing patterns and mounting cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the country which already scored 886 and 179 respectively since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in January 21, 2001.

Bai Ali Indayla, the group's spokesperson in Cotabato City said, “The undeclared Martial Law of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continues and the Moro people were not exempted to the escalating human rights violations. The recent skirmishes in Sulu and Basilan brought massive illegal arrests, abductions, tortures and evacuations of innocent Moro people."

This year, the group documented several cases of government troops hitting civilians before and during their pursuit of July 10 ambuscades suspects. A 14 year old Abdulhakim Abilul was shot dead on January 18 by military in Kilometer 4, Kasambahan Village, Indanan, Sulu while on his way home from watching television in their neighbor's house. “The military accused Abdulhakim as member of the Abu Sayyaf. His family was offered P15,000.00 to silence them," Indayla articulated.

Another, Sarah Lumandong, 25, of sitio Marang, barangay Lower Sungkayot, Tipo-Tipo, Basilan was hit at her lower leg when the military fired mortars at her house as ground testing on August 8. The national dailies reported the incident as legitimate encounter between the military and the rebels in Tipo-Tipo.

On August 19, a report from the DSWD-ARMM stated that eight kids aged 4 to 16 years old from Indanan, Sulu were arrested and tortured along with their parents by the military's Joint Special Operations Force.

The group criticized Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's order to government troops on August 13 to launch full offensives against rebels. “This only shows Arroyo's callousness and cruelty. Our Muslim brothers are often the targets of her pointless war on terror," the group emphasized.

“In her six-year reign, the Moro people had suffered so much. Arroyo continues to choose military might over genuine reforms. We cannot take another three more years of Marcosian rule" jampacked with corruption, anomalies and brutalities," Indayla concluded. #
 

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Click here for Sept. 21 photos at the Bayan Website

Protesters from the United Opposition (UNO) were blocked at Morayta on their way to Mendiola. Bayan marchers joined them, marching from Bustillos street through the narrow streets of Sampaloc and University Belt area

■   “After 35 years, Filipinos face even worse tyranny”, HK activists hit GMA-style Martial Law in RP

■   Migrante Europe: International Day of Action against Political Persecution and Repression in the Philippines

■   PCPR:Victims, Church groups decry Marcos-style torture, abduction and killings under Arroyo

■   Canada Groups: National Statement on the 35th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the  Philippines

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