Focus on the Global South - Philippines Programme

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Statements and Declarations

Philippine Government Should Sever Ties with Israel

Monday, 19 January 2009 16:06 administrator
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STATEMENT ON ISRAEL'S WAR CRIMES

by the Stop the War Coalition-Philippines
5 January 2008

We at Stop the War Coalition Philippines, a broad coalition of civil society organizations, social movements, labor unions, political parties, human rights, women's, students, religious and other organizations, strongly condemn Israel's war crimes against the people of Gaza and the international community.

These latest attacks are not only disproportionate, they are completely unjustifiable.

At the root of the continuing tragedy in the Middle East is the continuing illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel. That Israel is able to continue this occupation and that it is able to bomb and kill indiscriminately without restraint points to the incapacity of the international community, including the United Nations and the world's governments, to uphold peace and justice. It is this unwillingness to act that will ensure that more blood and tears will flow from this escalating war.

We in the Philippines must help stop this war not only because thousands of Filipino migrant workers are caught in the crossfire but because we have a stake in creating a world with peace and justice.
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MEDIA STATEMENT: Biazon did not find

Friday, 03 October 2008 06:21 administrator
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Biazon did not find 'US bases' in Zambo because he was looking for the wrong kind
US bases in the south different from Subic and Clark, says think-tank

"If Senator Rodolfo Biazon was looking for US military bases such as the ones the US had in Subic and Clark, then he really was not going to find them. What the US now has in Zamboanga City are military bases of the new, more sophisticated kind. Unlike in the past, these bases hide within local military bases, they don't fly the American flag, they have more austere facilities but are no less of a "base" in their functions."

This was the reaction of researcher Herbert Docena of the Bangkok-based international think-tank Focus on the Global South to Senator Biazon's claim that there are no US bases in the South after the latter visited facilities in Zamboanga City last October 2.

Docena, who has written a number of reports on the issue has been monitoring and researching the US military presence in the Philippines and in the region for the last six years.
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STATEMENT: US Troops Out of Mindanao; Genuine Self-Determination for Moros Now

Monday, 15 September 2008 16:11 administrator
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The United States' involvement in the war in Mindanao can no longer be denied. Several times in the last month, at the height of Philippine military offensives against Moro fighters, US soldiers were repeatedly seen with Filipino troops, helping recover bombs, evacuating casualties, or joining Filipino troops in Philippine military camps throughout Mindanao. The Philippine military itself categorically confirmed that the US military has been providing it with "technical assistance" in pursuit of Moro rebels.

All these continue a pattern of reports that have accumulated in the last few years: Just in February, a Filipino general confirmed that it was the crew of a US spy plane that provided the intelligence which resulted in an operation in which eight civilians, including a pregnant woman and two children, were killed in Maimbung, Sulu.



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Statement of Mindanao NGOs and Coalitions on the Peace Talks

Thursday, 07 August 2008 17:59 administrator
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This week, the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front stood on the verge of signing an agreement touted to bring an end to the decades-long war in Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. This sparked an uproar and the Philippine Supreme Court subsequently stepped in to prevent the signing. Below is a statement from a number of mainly Mindanao-based as well as national peace coalitions and formations on the issue.

We speak in behalf of the women, children and the displaced civilian communities in Mindanao who stand to benefit from the successful conclusion of the GRP-MILF peace process.  We dare to speak because of dire survival.  For many decades now, our lives depict the curse of the so-called “collateral damage” in this long internecine armed conflict.  We want to finally put an end to the war in Mindanao.  We cannot allow this cycle of violence to further victimize our children and the next generation.
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