News Release
February 29, 2008

Reference: Kuusela Hilo, Deputy Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: depsecgen@bayanusa.org

Filipino Across the US Mount Actions & Vigils Against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

More and more Filipinos in the United States, the largest overseas Filipino community in the world, are taking ownership of the Filipino people's call for an end to the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime in the Philippines. BAYAN USA, a national Filipino-American alliance of over 12 organizations, staged coordinated candelight vigils and protest rallies in at least four US cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Against backdrop streamers reading "Oust Gloria!", Filipino-Americans gathered on the streets to remember the welfare of their motherland, facing steep social and political unrest under Arroyo's regime. The BAYAN USA actions were staged in coordination with a thousands-strong protest rally in Manila calling for Gloria to step down.

"We may be in the United States, but we are still children of the Philippines, and we want our mother to be safe and sound. She is not safe under Gloria," states BAYAN USA Chair and trade unionist Chito Quijano.

Quijano emphasized that under even years of Arroyo's blatant corruption and lack of regard for basic human rights, more and more Filipinos in the United States have a moral responsibility to speak out.

"Some people think we do not have a right to address political affairs of the Philippines from the US. But they are wrong. We have every right because our remittances prop up the Philippine economy," Quijano added.

Pictures of BAYAN USA actions yesterday can be accessed at http://picasaweb.google.com/oustGLOW/OustGLOWOUSTGLORIA

BAYAN USA also vowed to support actions in Manila in the coming weeks, until such time the Arroyo regime is unseated. ###