Migrante Europe

Category: Press release

  • Enough of B. S. Aquino, Corrupt and Brutal Ruler! Never again to another Marcos dictatorship!

    13 September 2014

    (Statement on the visit of BS Aquino to Europe)

    WE view with utmost indignation the visit of Philippine president BS Aquino to Europe from Sept. 14-20. His visit on an expensive chartered flight is a waste of the people’s money better spent on the victims of typhoons and housing and employment for the country’s urban poor and millions of jobless Filipinos.

    He and his coterie will be traveling around Europe principally seeking to repair what is, in fact, the irreparably damaged image of his regime’s supposed ‘righteous path’ that has been exposed to be rotten and crooked before the eyes of the Filipino people and the international community. He will beg for increased political and material support from major European governments as his regime suffers political isolation in the Philippines and further sinks into the quagmire of corruption scandals involving the theft of public funds by his family and close allies not seen since the time of the Marcos dictatorship.

    He is following the footsteps of the much-hated dictator Ferdinand Marcos by seeking an extension of his term despite being forbidden by the Philippine constitution, which he will try to dismantle by using the fiscal resources of the government that is under his absolute disposal.

    As concerned citizens and residents of Europe, we demand answers on several urgent issues affecting the Filipino people:

    *Where is the money raised in Europe for the rehabilitation of the victims of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan)? Where is the rehabilitation, almost one year after the disaster?

    *Where are the trillions of pesos of public funds used as “pork barrel” under such names as Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), etc.? Despite having usurped absolute control over public funds, how come essential social services remain starved of much-needed funds?

    *Why all the posturing on defending Philippine sovereignty on the issue of China’s claims, while on the other hand, signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) allowing US troops to occupy every corner of the Philippines?

    *Where is justice and human rights under Aquino’s regime? Gross and systematic violations of human rights persist despite having received large funds from the EU to enhance human rights in the Philippines! There is still no justice for two European citizens murdered under Aquino’s counterinsurgency scheme — missionaries Fr. Pops Tentorio of Italy and Willem Geertman of the Netherlands. He won’t rein in impunity, because he knows that his Oplan Bayanihan equals human rights violations.

    *Why continue to hype about the country’s supposed economic progress, when it’s only Aquino’s clan and business allies that benefit, and that the majority of the people continue to suffer under very poor and inhuman conditions? Why hype about progress when the number of Filipino migrants in search of jobs continues to increase in Europe and the rest of the world?

    *Why the continued intransigence in continuing peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) towards a just and lasting peace, which the European Parliament has endorsed?

    We join in solidarity with the Filipino people in firmly opposing BS Aquino’s scheme to extend his term and become another Marcos. Aquino´s ambition to become another Marcos assassinates the democratic legacy not only of his parents, but all of those who fought and died fighting the Marcos dictatorship.

    We join the people in calling for the prosecution of ALL involved in the pork barrel scam and all forms of corruption — from BS Aquino to his close political allies and family members. We call for an end to impunity and a stop to the political killings! We call on the solidarity of our European friends to join us in asking European governments: STOP political support and aid to the corrupt, oppressive, fascist, puppet and rotten Aquino regime!

    Initial Signatories:

    *    International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
    *    BAYAN Europe
    *    Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines – United Kingdom (CHRP-UK)
    *    Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands
    *    ICHRP-Rome, Italy
    *    MIGRANTE Europe – (Migrante Austria, Migrante Denmark, Migrante Geneva, Migrante Milan, Migrante Netherlands, Umangat-Migrante Rome, Ugnayan ng mga Pilipino sa Belgium, Migrante-UK, Filipino Domestic Workers-London, Filipino Scholars in Berlin, Concerned Filipino-Germans in Berlin and Hamburg, Makabayang Samahan ng mga Pilipino-Netherlands)

    References:

    CANON BARRY NAYLOR
    Chairperson, Global Council
    International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)
    and Honorary Chairperson of the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines – United Kingdom (CHRP-UK)
    Office: +44 (0) 116 261 5371
    Email: [email protected]

    REV. CESAR TAGUBA
    MIGRANTE Europe
    Email: [email protected]

  • Filipinos in Europe say “Enough of B***S***!”

    PRESS RELEASE
    11 September 2014

    Progressive Filipinos in Europe will hold protest actions against Philippine President BS Aquino when he visits several European countries from September 14 to 20. They want the governments and peoples of Europe to join them in telling the world “Enough of BS Aquino!”.

    This was expressed by Rev. Cesar Taguba of Migrante Europe, which coordinates a network of progressive Filipino organizations in Europe. Majority of Filipino compatriots continue to support rehabilitation efforts of the victims of typhoon Yolanda, and are actively campaigning against the pork barrel.

    “BS Aquino is going on a costly public relations tour in Europe to try to repair the irreparably damaged image of his supposed ‘righteous path’ that has been exposed to be rotten and crooked,” stressed Taguba.

    Reverend Taguba said Filipinos in Europe are rightfully seething with anger since last year when the inutility of BS Aquino was exposed with his handling of the Yolanda (Haiyan) disaster, and later with the public exposure that he is the biggest user of the so-called “pork barrel” funds (DAP), which the Philippine Supreme Court declared unconstitutional.

    “He (Aquino) has become a lameduck president, exposed as the number one user of pork barrel, a traitor to the Philippine Constitution for signing the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) which allows the basing of US troops in the country, and an enemy of human rights,” Taguba says. The increasing number of undocumented Filipinos in Europe, working as domestic helpers, he says, is the starkest indication of Aquino’s failure to uplift the economy and solve unemployment and poverty in the Philippines.

    Recently, Taguba says, Aquino wants to be another Ferdinand Marcos, for wanting to extend his term as president, which the Philippine constitution forbids, in order to divert public attention away from his corruption and coddling of his political allies involved in stealing billions of public funds. The term extension issue, Taguba explains, has prompted a scathing editorial from the influential New York Times, that warned him against “political mischief” and virtually blew up Aquino’s remaining reputation in the international community as a defender of his parents’ democratic ideals.

    Taguba says Filipinos in Europe and their European friends will conduct meetings and discussions on the issues in the Philippines, hold mass actions, lobby European governments to stop aid to the Aquino government, and probably hound Aquino as he trots around several countries in Europe.

    Aquino is scheduled to visit Spain (Sept. 14-15), Brussels (Sept. 15-16), France (Sept. 17-18) and Germany (Sept. 19-20). Meanwhile, Filipinos and environmentalists are preparing to picket BS Aquino during his attendance in the UN Global Climate Summit in New York after his Europe junket.

    Reference:

    Grace Punongbayan
    MIGRANTE Europe
    Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    [email protected]
    +31-6-33056411