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Stand with Standing Rock: Resist Imperialist Attack on Environment & Indigenous Sovereignty

For Immediate Release March 10, 2017 References: Megan Zapanta, Anakbayan East Bay, [email protected] Shina Robinson, Anakbayan East Bay, [email protected]

Oakland, CA - On February 7, the US Army Corps of Engineers granted an easement to allow the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline underneath the Missouri River. If built, this pipeline will endanger not only the water of millions, but also the ancestral land and way of life of the Sioux tribe who have been fighting colonialism, genocide, and dishonored treaties for over 500 years.

This January, five Anakbayan East Bay members travelled through the Philippines on a solidarity mission with the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Northern California Chapter. An objective of our trip was connecting movements resisting state repression. Everywhere we shared stories from Standing Rock and the solidarity delegations that many of our members and allies went on to defend indigenous land from oil corporations. This was an important point of connection to make with the Talaingod Manobo people, who are indigenous to the Pantaron Mountains of the Southern Mindanao Region of the Philippines.

We spent about a week with the Talaingod Manobo people at the Salupongan International School for indigenous youth in Nasilaban. Companies involved in extractive industries, like mining and lumber, have ravaged the natural resources of Mindanao. Since the 1990s, Alcantara & Sons, a lumber company, bolstered by private security, paramilitary groups and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have devastated the rainforests around the Talaingod Manobo communities. Since then, the Talaingod Manobos have engaged in armed conflict to defend their land. Every few years, the intensity of military attacks have forced them to evacuate to Davao, the capital city of Mindanao. They most recently evacuated in March of 2014 and are just now beginning to re-settle their villages. Some of the communities that had fled are still living in the Bakwit, an evacuation center in United Church of Christ of the Philippines Haran in Davao.

Most of our delegation returned home the week after the US president's inauguration. The same week, among a slew of other oppressive directives, the current administration issued an executive order to expedite approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline and reopen the approval process of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Both pipeline projects would not only endanger water sources that millions of people rely on, but would bulldoze sacred ancestral burial sites and devastate ancestral land of the area’s First Nations peoples. Bringing only a few temporary jobs in a polluting and dying industry, the mostly male workers living in the “man camps” commit extreme sexual violence against indigenous women and girls. It’s fitting that the resistance that has inspired thousands to physically join the sacred camps in stopping the pipeline is being led by indigenous women and youth. From creating incredibly organized camps grounded in ceremony, which drew representatives from 300 native tribes and coordinated 10,000 volunteers, organizing en masse all over the country, to fierce and innovative multimedia documentation projects, vibrant indigenous leadership is showing us the way to defend the sacred.

Like the native people who started the encampments at Standing Rock, the Talaingod Manobo people are on the frontlines of defending the natural resources of the Southern Mindanao region. They keep returning to live on land where they have been under attack—refusing to cede their ancestral home to corporate greed and plunder. They are investing in the land and its stewardship by creating Salupongan International, a network of indigenous communities organized in defense of the ancestral land. Salupongan International have started schools in communities like Nasilaban to train their youth as the next generation of leaders and caretakers of the land. Now they are on their way to building a health center so they can live and thrive despite the continuing military aggression.

The Army Corps of Engineers may have granted the easement. President Agent Orange and his appointees, directly tied to fossil fuel money, want to continue their abuse of people and planet. But we are learning from our indigenous relatives around the world how to resist and divest from the capitalist system. More importantly, we are learning to honor each other and the sacred and start creating for ourselves outside of these corrupt systems. Whether it is the Lakota Sioux in the heart of empire or the Talaingod Manobo fighting US imperialism’s global grabs for resources, Indigenous People continue to be the main front of resistance against the crises of climate and capitalism. They are caretakers of radically caring, connected, life-affirming cultures antithetical to the greed and materialism tearing societies apart and devastating the environment.

Anakbayan East Bay stands with the Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and indigenous peoples of the world in the fight for self-determination and to defend the sacred. We stand with the Native Nations Rising as they confront imperialist hate mongers and fossil fuel puppet politicians in Washington DC this week. We stand united for collective liberation.

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For Immediate Release:

October 22,2016

Reference: Nicole Manzana, Chairperson, [email protected] 

Anakbayan East Bay stands in solidarity with Sandugo and all anti-imperialist protesters calling for the the US to remove all military presence in the Philippines. We call for the end of Oplan Bayanihan, the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement, and the Visiting Forces Agreement. We demand that Col. Marcelino Pedrozo Jr. and all involved PNP be prosecuted for their crimes during the violent dispersal. We urge President Duterte to take a stand on the incident and move forward in pursuing an independent foreign policy.

Anakbayan East Bay strongly condemns the violent dispersal of protestors at the US embassy on October 19, 2016. About 1,000 activists from Kilusan ng Moro at Mamamayang Katutubo para sa Sariling Pagpapasya (Sandugo), a newly formed alliance of Moro and indigenous peoples, and BAYAN Philippines protested at the US embassy gates to oppose US military intervention and support Duterte's calls for independent foreign policy. Sandugo called for an end to US-backed militarization of their communities, which has resulted in landgrabbing, human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, and displacement and has infringed on the rights of Moro and indigenous peoples to self-determination. Militarization protects the interests of the US financial elite and the puppets of US imperialism in the Philippines.

Protesters were already being hosed as they were marching down the streets to the embassy gates. They peacefully conducted most of their program. During the final speech, Col. Marcelino Pedrozo Jr. ordered the violent dispersal of the protestors. The police began striking protesters and media personnel with batons. The Philippines National Police (PNP) shot tear gas and began hosing protesters. A cop van rammed violently into the crowd, driving back and forth over people several times. As protesters ran down the street to disperse, cops followed to capture and arrest them. Police slammed protestors and their jeepneys with batons as they were dispersing. 29 were arrested and over 50 injured. 11 of the injured protestors were hospitalized. Among those arrested include minors and health workers tending to the injured protesters. The group marched to Manila Police District to demand the release of those arrested. The 29 were released the same afternoon.

The Philippine army and police protect the oppressive and exploitative interests of the US to extract the natural wealth and resources from the Philippines, especially from the ancestral land of indigenous peoples. Philippine state forces receive funding, training and equipment directly from the US, and models its counterinsurgency programs--which create paramilitaries and murder indigenous leaders--after US counterinsurgency programs. Dismissed as part of a tribal war, these foreign-backed, government-initiated calamities operate under the guise of counterinsurgency.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Urban Shield militarizes local law enforcement by increasing the use of militarized weaponry and tactics. Supposedly designed as an emergency preparedness activity, Urban Shield is an international expo that heightens state repression that has resulted in police killings, SWAT raids, and surveillance technologies. This is only one example of US sponsored international militarization and repression. BART police officers even participate in annual joint trainings in the Philippines with the PNP. From the streets of Oakland, CA to remote tribal villages in the Philippine countryside, the US asserts its military presence to strengthen its imperialist control over the Philippines and its own people.

#kabayan4change #justpeacePH #Endstaterepression

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Fact Finding Mission at Fort Magsaysay

For Immediate Release:

September 27,2016

Reference: Roberta Ryan, Secretary General, [email protected]

Anakbayan East Bay strongly condemns the brutal massacre of four unarmed farmers at Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation (FMMR) at Nueva Ecija, Philippines.

On September 3, 2016, over 40 farmers entered Lot 28 of FMMR to participate in bungkalan or collective farming as a part of the organization Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid na Nagkakaisa 3100 (ALMANA), which roughly translated means Alliance of United Farmers. At 2:30PM, the first gunshot was heard, followed by 30 minutes to an hour of continuous shooting. The farmers scattered and ran. The first casualty was Eligio Barbado, who was shot and fell off the roof of a hut as he attempted to escape. After the shooting ended, members of ALMANA accounted for one another and found that 3 farmers were missing. Sisters Baby Mercado and Violeta Mercado and Gaudencio Bagalay were found huddled underneath a bed in a hut. Their bodies were unrecognizable: 21 gunshot wounds were found in one victim, several exit wounds, arms and limbs detached from the bodies. 3 of the victims were new recruits, and it had been their first day to farm on the land.

On September 12, 2016, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) organized a fact finding mission to validate details of the incident, collect history of the land and human rights violations, assess immediate needs of the survivors, and show solidarity and support for the victims. Over 20 participants from regional, national, and international organizations interviewed survivors of the massacre and families of victims and investigated the scene of the crime. These are the findings and observations generated by the delegation.

HISTORY OF AGRARIAN DISPUTE (See KMP statement for further details): Since 1993, the farmers have advocated for the land to be distributed among the farmers. After the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, 3,100 hectares (Lots 18, 23, 28, and 29) of Fort Magsaysay (73,000 hectares total) was granted to the surviving farmers. Farmers organized themselves and formed ALMANA, in an advanced system under which farmers can apply and get approved to farm on a plot of land. Farmers must be able to till their plot of land and not yet own land. New ALMANA recruits are oriented on the risks of the area, given the long history of harassment. Under the bogus Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the farmers of Fort Magsaysay legally own the land. However, landgrabbers, including the military, politicians, and bureaucrat capitalists, and their goons have harassed farmers and demolished/divested property. Survivors testified that men entered the hut of landgrabber and suspected perpetrator Colonel Rigor the night before the massacre. The first gunshot was heard from Rigor's hut. After the massacre, goons blocked off the area of the incident so that farmers could not enter then went to Rigor's hut. Landgrabber, Marcos crony, and suspected perpetrator Cuevas owns nearby resorts and a mini zoo and plans to build a resort at Lot 29. Areas are fenced off with signs that say "No Trespassing," on the land that rightfully belongs to farmers of ALMANA.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS: Farmers at Fort Magsaysay have long suffered harassment and surveillance, escalating to the systematic and brutal killings on September 3. In January 2015, huts were torched and burned down. In March 2016, farmers heard indiscriminate firing. More recently in July 2016, someone was shot. They have recovered and are currently out of the hospital. In mid August 2016, the month leading up to the massacre, farmers were harassed by Col. Rigor's goons and caretaker (from notes: surprise visit, 4 others confront surprise "tungkol"). On August 26, farmers heard 2 gunshots at 9:00PM and 9:30PM. Before the massacre on September 3, survivors allegedly heard a helicopter that may have transported weaponry or goons. The state of the bodies and bullet shells found demonstrates the excessive brutality with which the victims were killed. They were shot in excess with long rifles at close range.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE: Local government and state authorities have not responded to or acted on the massacre. Possible connivance is suspected. On the day of the massacre, Palayan PNP arrived at 4pm at the nearby army bunkhouse but did not enter the premise, claiming it was not within their jurisdiction. Laur PNP arrived at 5PM but did not enter, claiming it was raining too hard. The bodies were retrieved by the state at 11PM, meaning they were laying out for at least 8 hours. The fact finding mission delegation visited the nearby 7th infantry division bunkhouse during the mission, inquiring a statement or response. The representative stated that if the perpetrators were connected to Colonel Rigor, they would not do anything because it would not be within their jurisdiction.

TAMPERING OF EVIDENCE & SURVEILLANCE: Houses were destroyed, including the houses where the bodies were found. Homes of survivors were ransacked. While it was reported that victims had as many as 21 gunshot wounds, only 6 bullet shells total were found. The delegation noted being followed on the road on the way to the fact finding mission and binoculars from Col. Rigor's hut.

CONTINUED HARASSMENT AND DISPOSITION OF SURVIVORS: Survivors reported that unidentified military personnel visited wounded victims in the hospital and families of victims in their homes, in a continuation of harassment and intimidation. Families who lived and worked at Lot 28 are not able to return to the site of the massacre out of trauma and have fled to a nearby community. There is a high need for psychosocial, legal, and medical assistance.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

Launch an immediate and independent investigation to be done by a special body.

Assertion of the farmers' right to till and the genuine distribution of the disputed 3,100 hectares of land at Fort Magsaysay.

Further organizing, consolidating, and strengthening ALMANA.

Pursue legal redress and the persecution of perpetrators.

Further assistance from organizations: livelihood, medical, psychosocial, legal.

Pursue dialogues with relevant governmental departments.

Condemn the inaction of the 7th infantry division and perpetuation of impunity.

Disband and disarm all paramilitary groups and private armies.

Liberation in the Philippines is rooted in our collective right to the land. Our right to exist peacefully, to have our basic needs met, to defend ourselves against harassment, intimidation, and death by corporations and the state.

Stop killing our farmers!

Disband private armies!

End the culture of impunity!

Land to the tillers!

Justice for the victims of Fort Magsaysay Massacre!  

#JustPeacePH #stopthekillings #kababayan4change #landislife #magsaysaymassacre

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Rice Not Bullets! Bigas Hindi Bala! Justice for the Victims of the Kidapawan Massacre!

For Immediate Release

Reference: Nicole Manzana, Anakbayan East Bay, Chairperson

On the morning of April 1st, 2016 a group of 5,000 farmers and community members staged a peaceful protest in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato. As a result of El Nino and climate change, this region has been in a state of severe drought which has led affected community members to join forces to demand immediate relief and aid from the Philippine government.

While community members called for 15,000 sacks of rice and calamity funds, both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) instead opened fire into the crowd which killed 5, injured 100, and led to 87 missing (including children) which are believed to be abducted by the police and soldiers to unknown destinations.

Anakbayan East Bay strongly condemns the violent attacks on the farmers and indigenous peoples of the North Cotabato region. “The Philippine government and the police are criminal for opening fire against community members simply asking for food, aid and relief. Shame on the Philippine government because three years after Typhoon Haiyan, they are still ill equipped to serve the needs of the masses affected by climate change. They are withholding relief goods and making the lives of people most affected secondary to corporate profits and development,” stated Nicole Manzana, Chairperson of Anakbayan East Bay.

The US Congress recently increased military aid to the Philippines to $66 million dollars financed by the pockets of US taxpayers. Anakbayan East Bay calls on US taxpayers to spread awareness and demand stop supporting the Aquino government that continues to increase human rights violations and mass bloodshed against farmers and indigenous peoples!  We call on the immediate distribution of relief to the farmers for their livelihood and not bullets that lead to their deaths! We demand genuine agrarian reform and a government that clearly uplifts the rights and needs of the people!

Justice for the North Cotabato farmers!

Bigas hindi bala! Rice not bullets!

Stop Lumad killings!

Fight for genuine agrarian reform!

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BAYAN USA’s ACTION CALLS:

Take Action NOW to Demand Accountability for Police and Military Violence Against Farmers and Indigenous People Protesting the Government’s Withholding of Food Aid!

PROTEST: At the Philippine Embassy or local Philippine Consulates

CALL: the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC to protest the violent dispersal and killing of peaceful protesters, demand accountability, and demand the immediate release of food aid to farmers. Call, Office of the Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr., Tel: [phone]

WRITE: President Aquino to register your condemnation of the violence of state forces against farmers and indigenous people.  Cc members of the U.S. Congress Appropriations Committee.

EDUCATE: Conduct activities to educate the community about this issue and to urge them to take action

HOST: a delegation of Lumad indigenous people from Mindanao is coming to the U.S. from April – May. Host a speaking engagement for them to educate more members of your community about the issues of indigenous people. Contact [email protected] for more information.

*A YouCaring site has also been set up for donations. Please spread widely to your contacts!

#bigashindibala #ricenotbullets #stopthelumadkillings

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A-Z Mga Tala ng Paalaala sa Babaylang Mandirigma

by A. Zapantista -  saudades. kilig. magulo.

Always a student 

Ancestor from the future

Astig AF

Be

your word

your thought

your reason for rising

Be curious, be kind, be aware

Be humble or get humbled

Build with each other

Build our capacity to heal together

Build our capacity to serve the people

Compassionate, courageous conversation is what we here for

Cry, sweat, laugh, play

Create collectively

Dream big

Ego small

Fearless is not the absence of fear

but the courage to transform it into love & power

Give thanks to community

who struggles with

who eats with

who learns with

who loves with

who heals with

who cries with

who sings with

who laughs with

who fights for

who bleeds for

who prays for

who loves

who hugs

who taught

you & the masses!

Integrity

it’s ok to say

i don’t know

& no

& not yet

& not anymore, not now, never

with dignity & compassion

i am not my pain or trauma

Joy in struggle, struggle in joy

Kasamaship—fight, fly, flow toward freedom

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward in the same direction.—Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Mamas hold up more than half the sky

Principled & disciplined

to be most accountable to community

to hold community accountable

Physical exercise keeps me aware of my limitations, allows me to expand & grow

Queen of humility is who we be

Resistance, resilience, sensitivity: our scars reveal our beauty (Kintsukuroi)

Say ‘yes’ to what we want

Say ‘no’ to what we don’t

Leave space to breathe into pain, uncertainty, confusion

Trust your struggle

Teach & learn

with dignity, vulnerability, humility

Understand before being understood

Vagina=Perfect. & not requisite for being a woman

Work in your lane

learn your strengths

welcome apologies

don’t expect perfection

from me or you

apologize when you fuck up

it is okay to fuck up

even if you say sorry to you

at this very moment

we are doing the best we can

with what we know

with where we at

with what we got

We are answered prayers

X your demons, celebrate victories. Asdang! Abante! Padayon! Pa’alante! Isulong!

You are extraordinary

di pangkaraniwan

Zodiac signs can tell us about ourselves, our week, our focus. But ultimately our struggle is grounded in the masses☺

Part of “Tinig Ng Taong Bayan: Babaylan Mandirigma,” an Anakbayan East Bay Zine for International Working Women’s Day.

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Coming soon (this weekend!), Anakbayan East Bay's new zine for International Working Women's Day and Gabriela Congress! We are Babaylang Mandirigma!

#anakbayan east bay #zine #ABEB

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Here's how some of Anakbayan East Bay spent a part of the MLK weekend! We educate, organize, and mobilize our communities to serve the people and win collective liberation.

To get involved wherever you are (you don't have to be Filipino/a!), contact [email protected]. If you live in the SF Bay Area in the East Bay, send us a direct message!

#KabataanUnite16 #abusa16 #anakbayan east bay #kabataan magkaisa

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In honor of the anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre TOMORROW (January 22), call the Philippines embassy TODAY and demand an end to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA)! Support Philippines sovereignty and keep US troops out of our homeland!  ‪#‎JunkEDCA‬!

#junkEDCA

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Anakbayan East Bay members spent an empowering weekend in Seattle for Anakbayan-USA’s 2nd National Congress and Kabataan Magkaisa Youth & Student Conference. Anakbayan East Bay members were excited to meet and build with Anakbayan members and kasamas from across the country. The theme for the next three years is: Upsurge! Unite the Youth to Fight for Our Liberation! ABEB is bringing that theme home to the East Bay and we are inspired and ready to continue the struggle by growing and strengthening the movement!

#anakbayan east bay #ABUSA16 #KabataanUnite16 #abeb

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The Seahawks are heading to North Carolina! But do you know what will be happening right here in Seattle? 200 Filipino youth and student leaders from around the nation will be uniting on issues that are happening in their communities. We invite you to meet all these leaders during our Kultural Solidarity Night! #kabataanunite16 #gohawks (at Southside Commons)

#ABUSA16 #KabataanUnite16

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Kabataan Magkaisa

#KabataanUnite16 #ABUSA16 #anakbayan east bay

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Fil-Am Youth Join Call to Stop Urban Shield Demos

ANAKBAYAN EAST BAY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 2, 2014

Reference: Megan Zapanta, Chairperson, Anakbayan East Bay, [email protected]

Fil-Am Youth Join Call to Stop Urban Shield Demos

Oakland, California--From August 30-September 5, demonstrators will take to the streets to protest Urban Shield, a SWAT Team training and weapons expo program taking place in Oakland starting September 5.

Many Filipinos, including Anakbayan East Bay members, live and work in Oakland alongside other working communities of color. We oppose turning our home into a training ground for the atrocities that law enforcement and military units commit against people of color from Oakland to Palestine to the Philippines.

Protesters from all over the Bay Area call on the City of Oakland and Marriott to withdraw from the event on grounds of ending police violence in our neighborhoods and supporting self-determination for people abroad.

“We’ve had enough of police brutality, racial profiling and militarization here in Oakland and the Philippines.” said Megan Zapanta, Anakbayan East Bay Chairperson and Oakland resident. “This is a showcase for the same US-funded terror the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) commits. Just a few weeks ago, two more Anakbayan members were abducted and detained on trumped up charges by the AFP. And they’re a drop in the bucket of 204 victims of extrajudicial killings, 21 victims of enforced disappearances, 99 cases of tortures and 664 illegal arrest and detentions as of June of this year.”

In past years, repressive regimes including Israeli forces responsible for the massacre of Palestinians have participated in the training, which innovates strategies and technology used to defend a US imperialist agenda. Consistently, the US props up regimes willing to sacrifice the needs of  their in favor of those of the U.S. and foreign corporations that want an economic hold on resource rich regions like the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific.

Police will showcase weapons currently being used against peaceful protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. Here in Oakland, local police have terrorized local residents from the murders of Oscar Grant and Alan Buford to the countless other citizens unjustly arrested, harassed and killed.

Demonstrators will mobilize from 4-6 on Friday, September 5 in front of the Oakland Marriott at 1001 Broadway to put an end to state-sponsored violence, police brutality and the militarization of communities locally and abroad!

For updates please go to: http://facingteargas.org/stop-urban-shield-oakland

Coalition Demands:

The City of Oakland must defund all activities related to Urban Shield and all city agencies must withdraw their participation in Urban Shield.

An end to all City collaborations with the Apartheid State of Israel.

The City of Oakland must invest in community-based programs proven to decrease violence and harm instead of in the increased militarization of its police force and emergency services.

We call on our communities to continue fighting back and resisting state violence and repression.

END POLICE BRUTALITY AND REPRESSION IN THE US!

STOP US IMPERIALISM AND MILITARISM AROUND THE WORLD!

END TAX DOLLARS FUNDING MILITARISM!

LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY!

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Founded in 2007, Anakbayan East Bay is a chapter of Anakbayan Philippines, a comprehensive national democratic mass organization of Filipino youth in the Philippines. Anakbayan unites youth from all backgrounds to achieve national democracy with a socialist perspective.

#anakbayan east bay #abeb #urban shield #oakland #militarization #police brutality

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On July 28, Philippine President Noynoy Aquino will be delivering his State of the Nation Address (SONA). He will be highlighting the improvements and accomplishments of his administration to the rest of the Filipino people that he is supposed to serve. Often times, he neglects to address the true conditions of the Philippines, amidst an ever worsening economic crisis, and rampant graft and corruption in the Philippine government (especially the Pork Barrel Scam!). In response to his SONA, Filipinos in the Bay Area will be gathering to rally in front of the Philippine Consulate, and expose the TRUE conditions of Filipinos around the world.

Oppose the corruption and lies! Show people power and rise up with us for Filipinos all over the world! Join us on Monday, July 28, at 5pm. We will meet at Union Square, and rally in front of the Philippine Consulate. For more information, please contact BAYAN NorCal staff at: [email protected]

#sona ng bayan #peoples sona #anakbayan east bay #abeb

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Some pics from recent actions that ABEB members have mobilized out to. Great to see the people in the streets!

#anakbayan east bay #aspacnot4sale #usoutofaspac

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In December 2012, a group of Anakbayan East Bay members stayed at the UCCP Haran house in Davao City in Mindanao while on expo. Today, around 1,000 indigenous people are staying there because their were forced off of their own land.

More than a thousand Indigenous People (Lumads) are now in exodus after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) persistently tormented their communities. Manobo men, women and children have traveled all the way from Talaingod to Davao City to seek refuge and expose the violations of their right to ancestral land and self-determination.

#anakbayan east bay #philippines #land is life #defend talaingod #militarization #indigenous

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Anakbayan East Bay Condemns the murder of Youth Activist, Freddie “Fermin” Ligiw and family!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2014 Anakbayan East Bay Condemns the murder of Youth Activist, Freddie “Fermin” Ligiw and family! References: Megan Zapanta, Secretary General Justine Santos, Educational Officer Nicole Manzana, Member Marianna Zapanta, Member [email protected] Anakbayan East Bay, in solidarity with Filipino youth globally, demand justice for Freddie "Fermin" Ligiw and his family, and condemn the continued human rights abuses and state-sponsored violence committed against the masses. On March 2, 2014, Freddie Ligiw, a member of Anakbayan in the northern province of Abra, along with his brother, Eddie, and his father, Licuben, were murdered by suspected members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). According to the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), Freddie Ligiw was preparing to meet with Human Rights workers and give testimony on how the AFP 41st Infantry Battalion forcibly used him as a guide and human shield while carrying out operations against the New People’s Army in the area at the time he, along with his family, was abducted, tortured and murdered. Their bodies were found in a shallow grave with their hands tied behind their backs. Although we are miles from the homeland, youth and students in the East Bay must stand together in exposing the ongoing violence and corruption in the Philippines. In recent months, US Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged $40 million dollars in military aid to the Philippines, funds which will only intensify the brutal acts of the AFP and human rights violations in the Philippines.   "Almost half of my hard earned monthly paycheck goes to federal taxes. It pisses me off that that money is supporting heinous crimes against innocent people. That money should be used to educate the people, not murder them." Chris Guevarra, Anakbayan East Bay Vice Chair. Living in the state of California, where thousands of youth exit educational institutions in debt due to skyrocketing costs of tuition and economic interests place profit over people, we must be assertive when our U.S. tax dollars are wrongfully spent on bloody crimes and supporting atrocious military acts instead of basic necessities, such as our education and social services.   Karapatan, a human rights organization in the Philippines, reports that between July 2010 and August 2013, there have been 152 extrajudicial killings, 18 enforced disappearances, 80 instances of torture and at least 168 unsuccessful assassination attempts. Moreover, in 2014 alone, Karapatan has already documented at least 6 extrajudicial killings.   These blatant human rights abuses together with talks of increased military presence in the Philippines, reinforce our fears that Aquino is not a pro-people leader but another puppet of the US government.  Further, we condemn the relentless support of the Aquino regime of U.S. economic and imperialist interests at the expense of the lives of the Filipino people, particularly those courageously struggling alongside the masses for true justice and genuine national democracy. Anakbayan East Bay stands against human rights violations and demands that justice be served for our fallen comrade and his family. We hold President Aquino accountable, as commander-in-chief of the AFP, and demand that he prosecute the perpetrators of the unjust murder. We call on the Philippine government to cease all U.S. military aid to the Philippines, which only backs the continuous rise of human rights abuses.  We demand the government to own up to their actions, abolish political impunity and to stop the killings! Join us in our fight to end state-sponsored violence against the masses. Justice for Freddie “Fermin” Ligiw and his family! US Out of the Philippines! Walang pagbabago sa ilalim ni BS Aquino! Click here to read the full statement from Anakbayan-USA.   #StoptheKillings #Justice4FreddieLigiw #USOutNow

#stopthekillings #justice4freddieligiw #USOutNow #Anakbayan #stop the killings #anakbayan east bay #philipinnes

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Filipino youth unite in our call for justice for Freddie "Fermin" Ligiw and his family.

On March 2, suspected members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) tortured and murdered Ligiw, an Anakbayan member in Tingguian, province of Abra, along with his brother and father.

According to the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), Freddie Ligiw was preparing to give testimony on how the AFP 41st Infantry Battalian forcibly used him as a guide and human shield at the time of his brutal abduction.

Anakbayan East Bay calls for justice for our fallen comrade and his family. Join us in our fight to end state-sponsored murder.

Click here to read the full statement from Anakbayan-USA.

#StoptheKillings

#stopthekillings #anakbayan #anakbayan east bay #stop the killings #philippines