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Building Bridges of International Solidarity: Bay Area delegation to conduct Cultural Storytelling Mission

International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines - Northern California Network

Media Advisory For Immediate Release Contact: Katie Joaquin, ICHRP Northern CA January 1, 2017, [email protected]

On the occasions of MLK Day, Donald Trump’s inauguration, and Philippine Peace Talks, Mission to the Philippines will cover stories of Political Prisoners, Indigenous Peoples & Muslims – will transmit messages of solidarity from these communities to people in the U.S.

[OAKLAND, CA] - Bay Area activists, cultural workers, and members of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Northern California Network depart this week for a cultural storytelling and solidarity mission that will cover the stories of communities experiencing political repression in the Philippines and draw links to the stories of people in the Bay Area and the U.S.

Delegates will integrate with Political Prisoners, Indigenous Peoples, Muslim and other communities experiencing political repression in order to document their stories using photo, video, song, and writing and to gather messages of solidarity from them to communities facing similar forms of oppression in the U.S.

The delegation will release stories and solidarity statements from communities in the Philippines weekly and on the occasions of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the inauguration of Donald Trump, and the anticipated third round of Peace Talks between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

WHO: Bay area human rights activists and cultural workers a part of Anakbayan East Bay, Critical Resistance, Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project, BAYAN-USA, Indigenous Solidarity Action Organizing Project, and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines - Northern California Network

WHEN & WHERE: January 4 - 7: Integrations with Political Prisoners and consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in Luzon January 8 - 15: Integrations with Talaingod Manobo tribe suffering from military displacement and health crises and indigenous Salugpongan schools in Mindanao January 16 - 23: Integrations with Cultural Workers, Political Prisoners, Human Rights Attorneys, and Health Workers tending to victims of psychological warfare

Interviews during the course of the mission available upon request. Use of quotes, photos and videos released can be used, reposted and/or shared with credit.

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The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Northern California is a network of organizations, and faith, civic, and environmental justice leaders concerned about the human rights situation in the Philippines and committed to a campaign for just and lasting peace in the country. For more on the campaign, follow #JustPeacePH or visit www.humanrightsphilippines.net

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[anakbayaneastbay]

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.