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December 12, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thousands of youth join Ayala rally
Vow "1st quarter storm" protests vs. cha-cha in '09
Thousands of youth and students from different schools, universities and
communities trooped to Ayala today to participate in the huge Inter-Faith
rally against charter change.
Umbrella alliance Youth ACT Now (Youth for Accountability and Truth Now)
led the youth and student contingents from the University of the
Philippines, Ateneo, De La Salle, Miriam College, Polytechnic University
of the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas, University of the East,
Adamson, Mapua, Lyceum, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Letran, Sta.
Isabel, University of Makati, Technological Institute of the Philippines,
Jose Rizal University, San Beda College, College of the Holy Spirit, St.
Paul University, Philippine Normal University, Arellano University, Manuel
Quezon University and Philippine Christian University, as well as some
public high schools and urban poor communities from all over Metro Manila.
Youth groups National Union of Students of the Philippines, College
Editors Guild of the Philippines, League of Filipino Students, Anakbayan,
Student Christian Movement, Kristiyanong Kabataan para sa Bayan, Liga ng
Kabataang Moro, Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan, Kabataang
Pinoy, Kalipunan ng mga Kristiyanong Kabataan sa Pilipinas and Youth
Revolt also marched with the Youth ACT Now delegation.
The youth contingent brought with them giant Christmas cards with the
message, "Our wish this Christmas: No cha-cha and No Gloria!", and "The
Filipino people's best gift to the nation is a Cha-Cha-free Christmas and
a Gloria-free New Year!".
Anakbayan chairperson Ken Ramos said, "We are gathered here today to
exercise our freedom of speech and at the same time to deliver a message,
a warning. Youth protests will continue for as long as cha-cha is being
pushed for Arroyo's benefit. We vow to sustain our protests and guard
against any attempts to amend the Constitution."
For his part, UP law student and former Student Regent Teri Ridon
criticized administration allies for downplaying the Ayala rally. "We do
not believe for one second that charter change as a tool for Arroyo's term
extension is not a reason to be worried about. We believe that the Arroyo
administration, in desperation, will utilize all of its resources and
arenas for cha-cha, including the Supreme Court when it comes to it."
According to LFS Chairperson and Youth ACT Now convener Vencer Crisostomo,
"Today's spectacular youth turnout marks the brewing of a different kind
of storm that will gain more strength when classes resume after the
holidays."
Crisostomo also hailed the recent and unprecedented united stance of the
Senate against a Congress-led effort to railroad cha-cha for dubious
motives.
"This in itself is already a victory of the youth and the people's
vigilance against the administration's attempts to ram cha-cha before the
year ends. We are prepared to unleash a First Quarter Storm against
Arroyo's charter change and tyranny in 2009." ###
Reference: Vencer Crisostomo, 09228262606/Teri Ridon, 09158513904/Ken
Ramos, 09215129678
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Students call for economic
relief, not charter change
Press Release
November 21, 2008
“The people wants economic relief, and not charter change.”
This was the reaction made by Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of
the League of Filipino Students (LFS) over reports of administration led
moves to push charter change in Congress.
“An economic recession is looming in the country but instead of talking
about measures to ease its impact on the people, Arroyo’s cohorts in
Congress, led by no less than her son, would rather want the Congress to
spend its time discussing charter change,” said Crisostomo.
The youth leader explained that in light of the global financial crisis,
it is the responsibility of the government to ease the people’s burden by
imposing ‘economic relief measures’ such as the repeal of the
‘anti-people’ policies such as the Expanded Value Added Tax and the Oil
Deregulation Law, and by legislating the P125 wage hike.
Crisostomo also belied Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel Arroyo’s claim
that the moves for charter change is not intended to extend Arroyo’s term
beyond 2010.
“Who are they kidding? We all know that the moves to change the charter is
intended to serve the administration’s bid to stay in power beyond 2010.
They even pray for it in their meetings,” said Crisostomo, referring to
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza’s cabinet meeting prayer last Tuesday.
The LFS, along with other youth groups vowed that they shall exert all
efforts to stop Arroyo’s charter change.
“Arroyo has already made the lives of many Filipinos miserable for almost
a decade. We shall not let her administration and its policies worsen our
lives even more,” said Crisostomo. ###
Reference:
Ron Villegas, Vice Chairperson and Information officer,
ronvil@gmail.com, 09239130516
Vencer Crisostomo, National Chairperson, venzie@gmail.com, 09228262606
–
Visit the NEW LFS WEBSITE:
http://www.lfs.ph
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NEWS RELEASE
December 12, 2008
Reference: ALPHONSE RIVERA, Spokesperson, SALINLAHI Alliance for
Children’s Concerns
Telephone: 439-3104
President Arroyo’s Children’s Defense Fund is Yet Another Scam
CHILD RIGHTS ADVOCATES CALL ON THE QUEEN OF SCAM
TO GET OUT OF MALACAÑANG
In a grand show of window-dressing on Human Rights Day, President Arroyo
instructed the Department of Social Welfare and Development as well as the
Council for the Welfare of Children to work on the “pooling of a
children’s defense fund which shall document and help prosecute cases of
child abuse and exploitation everywhere.”
As children victims of human rights violations, their families, and child
rights advocates gear up for the anti-charter change mobilization in Ayala
today, Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns denounced President
Arroyo’s purported children’s defense fund as yet another scam and a big
lie.
“One is led to believe that President Arroyo is pushing for the
mobilization of additional resources in aid of protecting children and
their rights. But behind this scam is the real fact that all line agencies
have completed the submission and deliberations over their 2009 budgetary
requirements at the Lower House. The operative words here are the pooling
of a children’s defense fund. These means already existing budget will
just be tied up in a package and called the Children’s Defense Fund and
nothing more,” exposed Alphonse Rivera, Salinlahi Alliance spokesperson.
“Tama na ang Panloloko, President Arroyo!” chanted the children, their
families and more than 200 child rights advocates gathered today in Makati
City. Rivera challenged the Arroyo government that “if it is indeed
sincere in protecting and upholding the rights of Filipino children, it
should start by cleaning its own backyard and putting the perpetrators of
human rights violations behind bars.”
“The children have suffered enough already under Arroyo’s administration.
She has thrown a series of scams and lies at all of us over the seven (7)
years she has been sitting in Malacañang that we have become wise to her
honey-laden but empty words. We know that she was only grandstanding on
behalf of the United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary
General on the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict, Ms. Radhika
Coomaraswamy, who is in the Philippines to monitor the situation of
children associated with armed forces or armed groups according to the
Paris Principles, a set of guidelines on children associated with armed
conflict,” added Rivera.
“If we allow Pres. Arroyo to remain in power, our country’s situation will
not get any better and the human rights situation will only worsen. This
country will run out of body bags as we President Arroyo’s ferocious army
to carry on with its brutalities against the people struggling to claim
their rights, including the children who are asserting for their rights
and freedoms. Let’s all unite and put a stop to this carnage. Let’s put a
stop to Arroyo’s cha-cha train and get the Queen of Scams out of
Malacañang sooner than 2010,” concluded Rivera.###
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