|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 27, 2009
Reference: Rhonda Ramiro, 415-377-2599, secgen@bayanusa.org,
www.bayanusa.org
10 Years Too Long, 200 People Too Many: Filipinos Across the U.S. Call
for the Termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement and Justice for the
Disappeared
In the wake of the abduction of Filipino American human rights advocate
and health worker Melissa Roxas and her companions Juanito Carabeo and
John Edward Handoc one week ago in the Philippines, BAYAN-USA launches
actions against the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) today, the 10th
anniversary of the VFA's ratification. BAYAN-USA demands the termination
of the VFA and justice for victims of abduction and all human rights
violations, which have climbed to record levels in the Philippines since
the VFA was ratified on May 27, 1999.
“Human rights violations have escalated to unprecedented heights since
2001, when Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president and the U.S. launched
its ‘war on terror.’ It is no coincidence that the Visiting Forces
Agreement was ratified just two years earlier in 1999,” stated BAYAN-USA
Secretary General Rhonda Ramiro. “The VFA paved the way for U.S. military
advisers, troops and equipment to flood the Philippines and to train and
equip the Philippine military which has been implicated in 1,017
extra-judicial killings and 1,010 cases of torture. Melissa’s abduction
adds an American citizen to the list of over 200 victims of enforced
disappearance under Arroyo.”
Roxas, Carabeo, and Handoc, all members of a volunteer health worker team
preparing for a medical mission in La Paz, Tarlac, Philippines, were
reportedly abducted at gunpoint on May 19 by at least eight heavily-armed
masked men riding motorcycles and in a van without license plates. The
circumstances of their abduction typify the pattern of dozens of
politically-motivated abductions of activists critical of the Arroyo
administration, and evidence points to the military as responsible for
these acts. Roxas and Carabeo were officially surfaced on May 24 and 25,
respectively; unconfirmed reports of Handoc’s surfacing were received as
of the writing of this statement. Because the vast majority of abductions
and enforced disappearances remain unresolved, BAYAN-USA believes their
surfacing was a direct result of rapid community response and an
international campaign by BAYAN Philippines, BAYAN-USA, and the human
rights organization Karapatan.
“While we are elated that Melissa and Juanito have surfaced and that John
Edward might also have been found, we are outraged that they were even
abducted in the first place,” said Ramiro. “We call for justice for all
three, including a full investigation and prosecution of the abductors.”
“The abduction of Melissa, Juanito and John Edward is directly linked to
the VFA and U.S. military aid to the Philippines,” continued Ramiro. “The
U.S. government cannot claim ignorance or wash its hands of
responsibility, when it is U.S. advisors who are training the Philippine
military, U.S. aid that is funding the military training, and U.S. guns
and bullets that are being used to threaten and kill innocent civilians.”
|
BAYAN-USA claims that despite
its rhetoric of “change,” the administration of President Barack Obama has
clung to Bush’s foreign policy when it comes to the Philippines. Earlier
this year, President Obama phoned Philippine President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo to express support for the VFA and continuing the annual
joint military exercises known as “Balikatan” (“Shoulder-to-Shoulder”).
The estimated total expense borne by U.S. taxpayers for U.S.
militarization in the Philippines since the VFA was enacted in 1999 is a
lofty $1 billion. An additional $660 million—up from a reported $400
million just one month ago—is reportedly set to be granted to the
Philippines in the coming year.
The VFA also provides justification for the basing of U.S. troops
throughout the country, in what is widely perceived as an affront to
national sovereignty. Moreover, witnesses have observed U.S. troops
participating in combat operations, which is in violation of the VFA
itself. In the months of February-May this year alone, the “Balikatan”
exercises also led directly to the killing of a young girl and wounding of
four more children, the rape of 22 year old Filipina “Vanessa,” and the
forced displacement of tens of thousands of residents in Bicol where the
exercises were held. No one was held responsible for the killing of the
child, and although there was clear evidence that “Vanessa” was raped by a
U.S. marine, she refrained from pressing charges because she did not
believe she could obtain justice. “Vanessa’s” rape was committed just
weeks after the acquittal of U.S. Marine Daniel Smith, who was the only
American ever convicted of raping a Filipina despite reports of thousands
of rapes committed by U.S. military personnel.
“The VFA fosters a culture of militarization and violence, and both the
U.S. and Philippine military are guilty of committing human rights
violations with impunity,” stated Ramiro. “Melissa’s abduction should give
Congress and the Obama administration even more impetus to terminate the
VFA and stop pouring billions of dollars into a regime that abducts and
kills innocent people. In the face of a budget deficit in the trillions,
it is unconscionable to continue providing aid to the Arroyo government
and to perpetuate the costly VFA. Congress should cut both during the
budget appropriations process this spring and summer.”
BAYAN-USA is an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the U.S.
representing organizations of students, scholars, women, workers, and
youth. As an international chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
(BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN-USA serves as an information bureau for the
national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center
for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the U.S. BAYAN-USA’s online petition
against the VFA can be found at
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/JunkVFAnow/.
The online petition to demand
justice for Roxas, Carabeo, and Handoc can be found at
http://www.gopetition.com/online/28021.html.
# # #
|
