Focus on the Global South - Philippines Programme

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Deglobalization

MEDIA RELEASE on the arrest and detention of our colleague Joseph Purugganan in Seoul Korea

Monday, 08 November 2010 17:00 administrator
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6 November 2010 11:14 P.M.

A program officer of Focus on the Global South-Philippines, Joseph Purugganan, was detained upon arrival at 5 P.M. of Saturday, November 6, at the Inchon International Airport by the Korean Immigration Police.

Detained with Mr. Purugganan were Maria Lorena Macabuag of Migrant Forum Asia, musician/poet and Asian Public Intellectual Fellow Jess Santiago, Josua Mata of Alliance of Progressive Labor, Rogelio Soluta of the Kilusang Mayo Uno and Paul Quinto of Ibon Philippines.  

The six Filipinos were set to attend a people’s summit on the G20 together with other public interest advocates and campaigners from Asia and other parts of the world.  The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions organized this parallel meeting for civil society organizations and had invited Mr. Purugganan and the others.

The Filipinos, after hours of detention, were forced to go back to Manila through a 9:35 P.M. [Korean time] Cebu Pacific flight.  In a text message sent by Ms. Macabuag to Manila, the immigration informed them “they were blacklisted by the Korean government and would not be allowed to enter,” but no reason was given for their being blacklisted.

Mr. Purugganan has always participated actively on behalf of Focus in regional as well as international campaigns on trade and climate justice.  He joined Focus in February 2003, during which he helped coordinate the nationwide campaign of the Stop the New Round Coalition to derail the WTO-Doha round negotiations, the same negotiations which former Senator and running mate of the President, Mr. Mar Roxas, also objected to.  

Focus is baffled as to why the Korean government will prevent Mr. Purugganan from participating in a legitimate event, organized by a Korean organization. He was granted a visa when he applied in the Korean Embassy in the Philippines, and was given no indication that he was blacklisted or would be maltreated when he arrived in Seoul.

"This is indicative of the growing intolerance of many countries to public interest activities during big international meetings," said Jenina Joy Chavez, Philippine Coordinator of Focus on the Global South. “Focus condemns the shabby treatment by the Korean Immigration Police of Mr. Purugganan and the other Filipinos. They have not done and do not intend to do anything wrong, and thus did not deserve such disrespect,"stressed Ms. Chavez.

Ms. Chavez further said that "the incident is a foreign affairs matter which the Philippine Government should address. Our government should not allow any Filipino to be treated this way and should show capacity and responsibility to protect Filipinos abroad."

She also said that Focus will write to the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President to give details of the activity Mr. Purugganan was invited to, his personal background and how he was treated by the Korean Immigration police, and ask that proper diplomatic action be taken.

Note: Mr. Purugganan arrived at the Terminal 3 of NAIA at past 11 P.M. of November 6 via Cebu Paficic. Focus will have a debriefing with him and send updates shortly. Please find a photo of one of the activists being manhandled by Korean Immigration Police. We will verify with Mr. Purugganan if he was the person in photo.

 FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH-PHILIPPINES PROGRAMME

Contact Information:

Ms. Jenina Joy Chavez -  09189026716

Clarissa V. Militante - 09212750731

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Akbayan Congressman Calls for Retaliatory Ban on Entry of Korean Nationals

Monday, 08 November 2010 03:53 administrator
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PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
7 November 2010

Statement of Condemnation of the South Korean Government’s detention and deportation of 6 Filipino Activists

Rep. Walden Bello, Akbayan (Citizens Action Party)

This representation condemns in the strongest terms the South Korean Government’s baseless decision to prohibit six Filipino activists, namely Josua Mata of Alliance of Progressive Labor, Joseph Purugganan of Focus on the Global South, Maria Lorena Macabuag of Migrant Forum Asia, musician/poet and Asian Public Intellectual Fellow Jess Santiago, Rogelio Soluta of the Kilusang Mayo Uno and Paul Quinto of Ibon Philippines, from entering South Korea and participating in the Seoul International People’s Conference organized by Put People First! Korean People’s G20 Response Action network

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Deglobalization - reflections of a Filipino MP

Saturday, 03 April 2010 15:50 administrator
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From New Internationalist, March 2010, Issue 430

Walden Bello* wonders why, despite the mirage of neoliberal economics, alternatives should still appear so tentative.

Over the last two years the international financial crisis has deepened into a crisis of the real economy. With the collapse of demand in the US and other markets in the North, the export-oriented economy – the ‘globalized’ model that has reigned for the past 30 years – has begun to unravel.

This has brought stagnation and recession to the model’s most successful examples: the economies of East Asia. Singapore’s economy is expected to have contracted by two per cent in 2009; South Korea, the ‘Asian Tiger’ par excellence, to register zero growth. Japan has not snapped out of nearly two decades of stagnation. In China, millions of jobs in export-oriented industries continue to be lost, even as the economy is said to be on the path to economic recovery

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SNR Statement on Doha Negotiations and the WTO Ministerial

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 23:51 administrator
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Presented to the Special Committee on Globalization
House of Representatives
18 November 2009

On behalf of the Stop the New Round Coalition (SNR) a network of around 40 national and regional level groups and movements, I would like to thank the Special Committee for the opportunity to present our views on the Doha multilateral trade talks and the upcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting in Geneva.

SNR would like to highlight for the attention of the Committee the following issues and concerns:

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Trade Network urge RP and EU negotiators to disclose contents of Cooperation Agreement

Wednesday, 11 February 2009 12:07 administrator
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Groups fear EU's aggressive trade agenda is driving the talks

EU-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Campaign Network-Philippines*
Secretariat Office, 19-Maginhawa St., Teachers’ Village, Diliman Quezon City. Tel (63)2-4331676

Press Release
11  February 2009

 Reacting to news reports about the launch of the formal negotiations for a comprehensive partnership and cooperation agreement between EU and the Philippines, the EU-ASEAN FTA Campaign Network * urged both the EU and Philippine governments to disclose to the public the contents of the cooperation agreement.
 
"If indeed the PCA will be for the mutual benefit of both EU and the Philippines then why are the negotiations shrouded in secrecy" asked Alice Raymundo of_Task Force Food Sovereignty (TFFS). " We have been trying to get a copy of the draft texts of the agreement through the EC office in Manila and our very own Department of Foreign Affairs but our requests have been ignored," Ms._Raymundo_added.
 
The PCA is supposed to address a broad range of issues that would define EU-RP partnership and cooperation including political issues and human rights. The PCA however has also been described as a pre-requisite for a free trade deal with the EU.
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