LOS ANGELES – A group of over 40 Filipino protesters marched in front of the Philippine Consulate General Los Angeles hours before President Benigno Aquino III was set to make his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Despite being thousands of miles away, the protesters from BAYAN USA, Gabriela USA, AnakBayan LA, Habi Arts, Sigaw, and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), among others, felt that they needed to make their voices and agenda heard.
"We want to make sure that President Aquino knows what our demands are," said Kuusela Hilo of Bayan-USA citing the group’s four K’s - Katarungan [Justice], Kalayaan [Sovereignty], Karapatan [Rights], and Kabuhayan [Livelihood].
Hilo said the groups are demanding for Aquino to investigate and prosecute President Gloria Arroyo and all perpetrators of human rights violations; terminate the US-RPVisiting Forces Agreement; end state-sponsored violence and stop the killings of activists along with terminating Operation Plan Bantay Laya and all counter-insurgency program; and institute a living wage increase.
"We want action, not excuses, from President Aquino," added Bernadette Ellorin, Chair of Bayan. "If President Aquino feels weighed down by the mess left by [former President Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo, he can shed the former president’s legacy by abandoning Arroyo’s failed policies and implementing programs that provide decent jobs, redistribute land, safeguard national sovereignty, and end state-sponsored terror by the armed forces and paramilitary."
The demonstration in Los Angeles coincided with a larger nation and worldwide protest expressing various activists group’s concern about the continuing human rights violations, culture of impunity and other abuses in the Philippines.
( Published July 28, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )
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