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Press Release
25 February 2008
Filipino-American Youth
Celebrate EDSA People Power Anniversary with Another Ouster Call
Reference: Jonna Baldres, Secretary General, Anakbayan New York/New Jersey
Contact Info: anakbayan_ny@ yahoo.com, 1(646)5787390
New York - Amidst the noise of the subway train and cold winter night,
members of Anakbayan New York/New Jersey marched alongside other member
organizations of BAYAN USA and NAFCON (National Alliance for Filipino
Concerns) on February 24 in the center of the Filipino community in
Woodside Queens commemorating the EDSA People Power of 1986. Calls for the
ouster of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo boomed across the
block where most of the Filipino stores, businesses and restaurants are
located.
With the Philippines again in the hands of a corrupt, anti-people, and
fascist president and leading puppet of US imperialist, thousands of
Filipinos unite once again in calling for the end of this oppressive
regime. While tons of corruption charges against the present
administration have been unresolved and continuously piling up, the
ZTE-NBN Broadband deal exposing yet another form of rampant corruption in
Philippine government sparked once more the outrage of the Filipino
nation. And while calls for Arroyo's ouster escalates in the Philippines,
it also resonates abroad.
"The corruption of the Arroyo government can never be justified. The
government has money for 'war', 'debt servicing' and other anomalous
government deals but not for education of the youth and basic social
services for its people. In turn, prices of basic services go up which
leaves majority of the Filipino families scrambling in poverty. That is
the reason why many Filipinos opt to migrate to other countries, either
leaving their children behind or bringing them to be raised up in racially
sensitive environments abroad," Anakbayan New York/New Jersey Vice
President, Yancy Gandionco said.
Anakbayan New YorkNew Jersey has been one of the most vocal
Filipino-American youth organizations in the United States to express
anti-US-Arroyo sentiments, taking off from its principle of struggling for
a nationalist and truly democratic society. With its mother chapter in the
Philippines, Anakbayan has been in the forefront of calling for systemic
change in the social order of the nation since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
took office in 2001.
"What we need is genuine leadership and a truly democratic government that
will address the basic needs of the youth and other basic sectors of
Philippine society. With leaders from the ranks of the youth being
critical of the Arroyo government, some of them have been either silenced
or hounded by suspected elements from the Philippine military under the
chain of command of the President. Under this political climate wherein
young people who had chosen to expose the truth about the government were
not spared, we, the Filipino-American youth in New York/New Jersey, even
if thousands of miles away, will continue to voice out our disgust and
criticisms and not be cowered by this hungry-power regime," Gandionco
added.
The protest action ended with the lighting of red and white candles and
the singing of the Philippine National Anthem and "Bayan Ko" in the corner
of Roosevelt and 69th Street. It was followed by a solidarity night at the
Bayanihan Filipino Community Center sponsored by BAYAN USA Northeast,
Anakbayan New York/New Jersey, Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FiRE)
and New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP). The
event was held in commemoration of the Philippine-American War of 1899 and
a public orientation by International League of People's Struggle (ILPS)
Chairperson Prof. Jose Maria Sison via videoconference on the upcoming
Third International Assembly of the ILPS on June in Hongkong.
Another mass action will take place on February 28 as we observe the
international day against corruption in the Philippines. Everyone is
encouraged to wear white shirts or pin white ribbons on their right chest
pocket on that day. Anakbayan New York/New Jersey will be setting up
information desk on days leading to February 28 in Jersey City & Roosevelt
Queens. For more information, email at anakbayan_ny@ yahoo.com. ###
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News Release
February 20, 2008
Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org
Fil-Ams Commemorate People Power by Calling for a "New Brand" of People
Power
BAYAN USA Calls for Increased Action in the US Against Arroyo
The US Chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or BAYAN USA, will join its
mother alliance's call for commemorative actions around the anniversary of
People Power 1, Monday, February 25th. The umbrella group BAYAN
Philippines will be joining a broader call of church leaders, civil
libertarians, and business leaders for the immediate resignation of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, following a high-end dialogue of various Philippine
sectors in the Makati Business Club last Tuesday.
The Arroyo clan has recently been exposed of high dealings in graft and
corruption as ZTE-NBN Broadband scandal star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada
testified last week to the Philippine Congress.
"We agree that Gloria will be facing a 'new brand' of people power,
certainly one where more overseas Filipinos will take a stand, make more
noise, and contribute to the anti-corruption, anti-dictatorship movement
in the Philippines," states BAYAN USA Chair Chito Quijano.
BAYAN Philippines Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. noted, "Perhaps the
difference with people power today is that it's seeds are emerging from
various sectors of society despite there being no Cardinal Sin to call for
it. People power is springing forth from the grassroots, the schools,
factories, communities, businesses, with various political formations are
coming together. It is spreading despite the limitations of the church
hierarchy."
"Now more than ever, we need to recall the lessons of people power and so
we can come up with an improved version for our times. The new people
power will not simply be led by any religious leader a la Cardinal Sin.
Nor will it just seek to replace one regime with a worse one. We have
certainly learned lessons from EDSA 1 and EDSA 2," Reyes added.
The theme of the BAYAN protest actions will be People Power Pa Rin!
(People Power Still!), a call that is growing popular even among overseas
Filipinos in various countries. BAYAN USA has a considerable number of
second and third generation Filipino members in the US who fully unite
with the call and understand its relevance.
"Nothing is impossible. After 20 years of living under the iron fist of
Marcos, the Filipino people made the so-called 'impossible' happen with
People Power 1, and again with Estrada with People Power 2. These
experiences prove that the Filipino people can make this new brand of
People Power possible-- one that will reject the corruption and moral
bankruptcy of Trapo (traditional politician) politics, and one that will
not allow another Trapo to simply replace Gloria. Even second-generation
Fil-Ams can smell what is rotten about Arroyo from 30,000 miles away and
know that the Philippine system needs to change," Quijano ended.
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