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For Immediate Release
July 28, 2008
BAYAN USA Statement on Arroyo's State of the Nation Address '08
Reference: Berna Ellorin, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org
FILIPINO-AMERICANS STAND WITH THE PEOPLE'S SONA IN REJECTING GLORIA'S LIES
AND DECEPTION
BAYAN USA Calls on U.S. Taxpayers to Demand the End U.S. Military and
Political Aid to Arroyo's Regime
Today, in several cities across the US, Filipinos and solidarity allies
will be convening in front of Philippine consulates and community centers
to register their opposition to the rotten, corrupt, and morally bankrupt
regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We do so on the same day Arroyo
delivers her deceptive version of the so-called State of the Nation
Address or SONA and the same day hundreds of thousands across the
Philippines are taking to the streets to reject another year of lies,
deception, and treason from a government that continues to fail them, and
us. They will also be telling the true state of the nation through vibrant
protest and struggle.
Today, the Arroyo government will boast of so-called economic growth and
progress for the Filipino people, but the streets and countryside will
tell a different story. The streets of Manila and other cities in the
Philippines will tell the story of long lines to buy the basic staple food
of rice from the National Food Authority, it will tell the story of long
power outages and brownouts due to skyrocketing energy rates, it will tell
the story of squatter children picking garbage to find food, and of
families from the countryside moving into the cities because they can no
longer afford to pay rent to their landlord, for whom they till the soil.
It will also tell the story of long lines at the Overseas Worker Welfare
Administration (OWWA) and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for visa
processing for those looking to find work abroad. Behind government
corridors backhanded deals will be made, and corrupt politicians will
count the money they have plundered from public funds. The countryside
will tell stories of civil war, US and Philippine militarization, human
rights violations, hunger and forced displacement. These sights, not the
speech of President Arroyo, paint the true state of the Philippine nation.
For the over 4 million Filipinos in the United States, the largest
Filipino population outside of the Philippines, much as not improved under
the Arroyo administration. For the most part, migration to the US has
increased considerably since neo-liberal policies imposed on the
Philippine economy by Arroyo have eradicated the potential for
industrialization and employment in the Philippines. Because of the need
to survive deepening poverty in the Philippines, Filipinos in the US have
no choice but to make ends meet for them and their families in the US by
any means necessary, including living under the shadows as undocumented
immigrants without any rights if need be. We are also subject to raids and
deportations at the hands of the US Department of Homeland Security's
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), human rights violations that
occur without any intervention from Philippine consular officers
representing the Arroyo government in the US.
Filipino World War II Veterans, who have been fighting for their equity
for over six decades now, have little to thank the Arroyo administration
for, as the regime used the issue only as a token ruse to cover up its
intention to beg for more US military aid as the main reason for it's
recent trip to the United States. The Arroyo government has never
advocated or intervened on behalf of the interests of the Filipino
veterans, who continue to suffer from a historical wrongdoing of the US
government, nor has the Arroyo government advocated or intervened on
behalf of the interests of Filipino immigrants suffering from a broken and
exploitative US immigration system.
The Arroyo clique, however, has wasted no time in collecting the billions
of US dollar remittances from Filipino workers in the US to sustain the
failing economy and contribute in giving a "semblance" of economic growth
that Arroyo shamelessly takes the individual credit for. Now she is even
taxing us for each dollar we remit! This is to produce another plunderable
fund for election season and bribery fund to win loyalty from politicians.
Philippine consular officers in the US not only plunder public funds meant
to go to programs for overseas Filipino workers via the OWWA, but they
assist the forced migration of Filipinos to the US by implementing corrupt
schemes of human trafficking under the radar. Such has been the case with
the Sentosa 27 healthcare workers, teachers, and domestic helpers such as
Marichu Baoanan.
The answer for Filipinos in the US is
clear: the struggle to remove Arroyo, as the President of the Philippines
by impeachment, resignation, or ouster is a just and necessary struggle,
but we must hold no illusion that it is the only means to end the Filipino
people's suffering. It is only the first step to pressuring for a new type
of Philippine government-- one that is inclusive of the voices of workers,
peasants and urban poor, one that is cognizant of the rights and welfare
of Filipino migrants and not just interested in collecting our
remittances, one that will industrialize the country for the creation of
jobs so Filipinos don't have to look abroad, one that will
redistribute Philippine lands to the hands
that till them, and one that will kick all foreign troops out of the
country and uphold patrimony. This will take a new and improved type of
"People Power ". To save the Philippines from suffering the fate of the
sunken MV Princess of the Stars, we must start first and foremost with
unseating Arroyo from her seat of power.
OUST THE US-ARROYO REGIME!
END GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION!
ROLLBACK RICE & OIL PRICES; ABOLISH THE RICE CARTELS!
US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES!
END HUMAN TRAFFICKING!
SCRAP THE OVERSEAS REMITTANCE TAX!
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Statement
24 July 2008
Reference: Brandon Lee, lfs_sfsu@gmail.com, +639282094578
BAYAN USA JOINS THE PEOPLE'S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS
Manila, Philippines - As balikbayans, members of BAYAN USA will join the
Filipino people for the real State of the Nation Address (SONA) this
coming Monday, July 28 and will be sharing the conditions of the Filipino
people in the United States who are forced to migrate as a result of the
major problems plaguing the country. With the prices of commodities
(primarily oil and rice) shooting up to great heights, pushing the poverty
line further down, more and more Filipinos – with an average of 3,000
everyday -- leave the country in search for more rewarding jobs abroad in
order to feed the families that they have left behind.
With the Philippine government's implementation of the Labor Export Policy
(LEP), which institutionalizes the sending of Filipino workers abroad to
provide cheap labor to other countries, Filipinos are being subject to
human trafficking, illegal recruitment, and inhumane working conditions in
workplaces – as with the case of the domestic worker Marichu Baoanan
abused in the hands of the Philippine Ambassador Lauro Baja, and the 27++
Sentosa Nurses who were recruited but were mistreated and were even
charged with criminal cases by their foreign employer.
"Under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's term, the plight of the Overseas Filipino
Workers has even worsened. Instead of providing jobs in the homeland, the
government even pushes its people to find work abroad, relying much on the
OFWs' remittances to sustain the Philippine economy," Jonna Baldres of
BAYAN USA says.
But also with the worsening crises in the belly of the beast, with the
dollar also plunging in value, the remittances become less which makes it
harder for OFWs to sustain their living conditions abroad; as more often
than not, they send all the money they earned to their families back home.
"And all these happen while the First Family and its cronies, with not
even the slightest show of compassion for the OFWs and its people who were
recently struck by the typhoon Frank, bask in the amassed wealth from the
taxes that they impose upon the people -- spending lavishly on tours to
the US to ask for the US government for more funds (which also come in
form of tax dollars) for the war on terror, being the US imperialist's
staunchest ally in Asia," adds Baldres.
In this time of the year when the President delivers her State of the
Nation Address and claims progress in the economic, political, military
and social affairs of the country, BAYAN USA -- with the thousands of
Filipino people who will be joining the march on the 28th and with actions
happening simultaneously back in their home cities in the US -- will
expose the lies of the administration and will show the world what the
real State of the Nation is, and has been, under the hands of the fascist,
puppet and corrupt US-Arroyo regime since its rise into power in 2001. And
that is, a socio-economic and political crisis-ridden nation, with the
captain – which is the President herself -- abandoning its sinking ship,
much like how she fled when the MV Princess of the Stars sunk and killed
900 people due to the typhoon that struck the nation during the past
month.
BAYAN USA is the first overseas chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
(BAYAN), with over 12 member organizations all over the US from different
sectors, including youth, women and workers.
OUST GLORIA!
END GOV'T CORRUPTION IN THE PHILIPPINES!
CONTROL THE PRICE OF OIL! ABOLISH THE RICE CARTELS!
CUT US FINANCIAL AID TO THE ARROYO GOV'T!
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Health Alliance for Democracy
(HEAD)
2/F Doña Anita Bldg, 284 E. Rodriguez Ave., Quezon City
Telefax: (02) 725 4760 Email: headphil@gmail.com
Press Statement
25 July 2008
The People's Health Belies Any Claim of Progress
HEAD Statement on Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA)
2008
One need look no further than the state of people's health and the state
of health care in the country to belie any claim of progress in Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA). After more than 8
years of Mrs. Arroyo's leadership, the people's health and the people's
lives are worse than ever.
Amidst the overflowing hyperbole and self-emulation that has characterized
Mrs. Arroyo's annual SONA, there will be no mention of the continuous
hunger and malnutrition aggravated by the rice crisis, there will be no
mention of the perennial diseases perpetuated by wretched living
conditions, and there will be no mention of deaths caused by the shrinking
health services under her regime.
The government promotes medical tourism and kidneys of the poor for sale.
State-run hospitals are being sold or privatized. Overworked gov't doctors
are forced to work under difficult conditions with very little resources
and support. Nurses and caregivers are treated like bananas and tuna for
export and are included in trade agreements. This is Gloria on track of
SONA targets.
Seven out of every 10 Filipinos die without medical attention. Ten mothers
die daily of pregnancy- and childbirth-related causes. Only 30% of the
population has access to essential medicine. The average hospital bill is
three times the average monthly income. This is Gloria and her SONA out of
touch with Philippine reality.
Mrs. Arroyo will mention the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality
Medicines Act of 2008 (Republic Act 9205) amongst her achievements. But
this law, with its pro-business and token measures, signals yet another
landmark failure of government to find a tenable and effective solution to
an issue that has literally been a thorn on the side of the Filipino
people.
Mrs. Arroyo will also mention the special role of the Philippine Health
Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and its expansion to supposedly cover
more of the poor. But she will not explain why the Department of Health
has become incapable of ensuring the people's right to health.
Mrs. Arroyo will mention many of her so-called legacies. But she will not
mention her legacy of retailing health care - the piecemeal selling of
various aspects of health: health services, health personnel, and human
organs.
For those in the health sector, the Arroyo regime is distinguished by its
consistent failure to address the needs of the people, its insistence on
making healthcare a profitable business venture, and its commodification
of health workers and professionals.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as "the state of
complete physical, mental and social well being, and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity". Under the globalization and neoliberal
economic policies of the Arroyo regime, there is neither well-being nor
the absence of disease in the Philippines today. There is only a life
deprived of dignity and the most fundamental needs.
The state of the nation is sick, no thanks to Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Dr. Darby S. Santiago
Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos
Vice-Chair, 0916 214 5724
Dr. Geneve E. Rivera
Secretary-General, 0920 460 3712
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