Groups asks US to end military, political aid to Arroyo
MANILA, Philippines — Scoring President Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (SONA) as a pack of lies, militant groups based in the United States called on American taxpayers to demand the end of US military and political aid to the Arroyo government.
In a statement, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-USA) said it is time to end "another year of lies, deception and treason" from a government that continues to fail the Filipino people.
"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," the group said in a statement on the Kilusan website Monday afternoon.
According to the US-based group, Mrs Arroyo's ouster is the first step to "pressuring" for a new type of government, one that truly imbibes pro-poor and pro-worker ideals particularly to the plight of Filipino workers who migrate to other countries to look for jobs that are otherwise not available in the country.
"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," the group added.
It called for an end to government corruption, a rollback of rice and oil prices, abolition of rice cartels, the removal of US troops from the Philippines, an end to human trafficking, and scrapping of the overseas remittance tax.
According to the group, the Arroyo government's boasts of so-called economic growth and progress for the Filipino people are belied with the sights in the streets and countryside.
It said 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, long power outages and brownouts due to skyrocketing energy rates, and squatter children picking garbage to find food.
Also, it said it will 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 for 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," it said.
On the other hand, it said Filipinos in the US suffer from human rights violations that occur without any intervention from Philippine consular officers representing the Arroyo government in the US.
Even 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 its 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," it said.
Yet, it said the Arroyo clique 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," it said. - GMANews.TV
In a statement, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-USA) said it is time to end "another year of lies, deception and treason" from a government that continues to fail the Filipino people.
"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," the group said in a statement on the Kilusan website Monday afternoon.
According to the US-based group, Mrs Arroyo's ouster is the first step to "pressuring" for a new type of government, one that truly imbibes pro-poor and pro-worker ideals particularly to the plight of Filipino workers who migrate to other countries to look for jobs that are otherwise not available in the country.
"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," the group added.
It called for an end to government corruption, a rollback of rice and oil prices, abolition of rice cartels, the removal of US troops from the Philippines, an end to human trafficking, and scrapping of the overseas remittance tax.
According to the group, the Arroyo government's boasts of so-called economic growth and progress for the Filipino people are belied with the sights in the streets and countryside.
It said 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, long power outages and brownouts due to skyrocketing energy rates, and squatter children picking garbage to find food.
Also, it said it will 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 for 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," it said.
On the other hand, it said Filipinos in the US suffer from human rights violations that occur without any intervention from Philippine consular officers representing the Arroyo government in the US.
Even 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 its 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," it said.
Yet, it said the Arroyo clique 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," it said. - GMANews.TV
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