“It is clear that BS Aquino is undeserving of the office he holds –  we need an honorable President to lead, represent and uphold the rights and interests of the Filipino people!”

An open letter to the Filipino people

copy furnished:
Philippine Embassy in Austria at [email protected]
Office of the President at [email protected] / [email protected]
Office of the Philippine Senate President at  [email protected]
Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives at https://www.facebook.com/HouseSpeakerFelicianoBelmonteJr,
European Parliament President Martin Shulz at  https://www.facebook.com/PresidentEP,
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr. Angela Merkel at [email protected] and Belgium Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo at [email protected] )

We at Migrante Austria denounce BS Aquino’s current European tour as a costly junket, an absolute waste of time and money.

BS Aquino definitely lacks the dignity and integrity needed to effectively foster better relations with foreign governments.

Here are just a few of the issues of concern to us, Filipinos in Europe:

He has a human rights record that is incompatible with democracy. From July 2010 to March 2014, Karapatan, a Philippine-based human rights watchdog, has documented cases of 192 victims of extrajudicial killings, 21 cases of enforced disappearance, 94 of torture and 631 cases of illegal arrests and detention.  Included in these figures are twenty-six journalists reportedly murdered since President Aquino took office. It is no wonder that the Asian Human Rights Commission ranked the Philippines as the 3rd most dangerous place for journalists and activists – from trade union activists to human rights defenders alike. We underscore the fact that up to now 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. All of these are attributable to his Oplan Bayanihan.

Since he “took over, what can be seen is the indisputable trend of worsening poverty and living condition…
From 2010 to 2014 (first quarter), the number of Filipino families that consider themselves poor is growing by 700,000 a year (or 3.5 million Filipinos annually at 5 members per family)
From 2010 to 2013, the number of Filipino families that experience hunger is increasing by 200,000 a year (or 1 million Filipinos annually)

From 2010 to 2013, the number of jobless Filipino workers is expanding by 500,000 a year.” http://arnoldpadilla.wordpress.com/2014/05/06/poverty-trends/

He remains deaf and blind to the plight of an ever-growing number of Filipinos who choose to be exploited cruelly as undocumented domestic helpers here in Europe and any other place imaginable or even risk their lives in war- torn countries rather than return to the Philippines. This is the harsh indication of Aquino’s Labor Export Policy (LEP) failure to uplift the economy and solve unemployment and poverty in the Philippines.

He has been rightfully accused of the “highest betrayal of Philippine sovereignty” with the signing of the defense agreement, which it called “the resurrection of US military bases in the Philippines using the Chinese incursion hysteria to justify the return of (more) troops and nuclear-powered war vessels …“

He stubbornly refuses to give up the system of discretionary funds despite the decision of the Supreme Court declaring the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional. He willfully and knowingly disbursed the astronomical amount of P174B through the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), his very own scheme that “became a source of corruption and a tool to control other branches of government.”.

Almost one year after the vast devastation caused in the Philippines by the tropical cyclone Haiyan (Yolanda),  he takes a mendicant gesture and continues to ask assistance from international donors (including Europe) while snubbing survivors demanding the delivery relief and rehabilitation… there are still  around 15,000 survivors living in tent cities, bunk houses and evacuation centers and hundreds of farmers are still asking for the relief while waiting for the harvest of their rice and other products… Hundreds of workers are unemployed because the business and commerce have not been fully restored…”

Contrary to his claims, he has failed to negotiate in good faith and to honour the ground rules of the peace talks between the government and the NDFP that is being mediated by the Kingdom of Norway: the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHRIHL), the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and other agreements since 1992.

BS Aquino has no business going on junkets – the Filipino people need public funds for social services, national industrialization and genuine land reform!

It is clear that BS Aquino is undeserving of the office he holds –  we need an honorable President to lead, represent and uphold the rights and interests of the Filipino people!

Migrante Austria
Email: [email protected]

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