Skip to content

Philippines

Junk The VFA! Tubbataha Disaster Shows How Us Military Presence Is Poisonous To The Philippines! — Bayan USA

Filipino-Americans under the banner of BAYAN USA are calling on Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to terminate the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) as protesters descended upon the US Embassy in Manila yesterday to rally against the disaster surrounding the USS Guardian, a US naval minesweeper that got stuck onto the Tubbataha Reef in the Sulu Sea over one month ago.

‘Shock And Awe’ Has Failed In Philippines Drug War, Enforcement Chief Says

MANILA (Reuters) - Colonel Romeo Caramat oversaw the bloodiest day in the blood-soaked war on drugs in the Philippines – 32 people killed in 24 hours in the province north of Manila where he was police chief in 2017. Now the head of drug enforcement for the Philippine National Police, Caramat said that ultra-violent approach to curbing illicit drugs had not been effective. "Shock and awe definitely did not work," he told Reuters in an interview, speaking out for the first time on the issue. "Drug supply is still rampant."

Manila’s New Mayor Wants Solar Panels, Rainwater Collectors For City’s Schools

Manila's new mayor wants to turn the city's public schools into a living lesson in sustainability. Mayor Francisco "Isko" Moreno Domagoso unveiled a plan Tuesday to install solar panels and rainwater collectors on the roofs of primary and secondary schools in the Philippines' capital city, the Manila Bulletin reported. He said the initiative would raise environmental awareness in students. "If they are seeing these types of facilities, and it can be done since it's not even rocket science, they will know how to care for the environment," Domagoso told reporters, according to the Manila Bulletin.

Filipino Muslim Rights Activist Denied Entry To US

A Filipino Muslim activist has been denied entry into the United States and is believed to be held at San Francisco International Airport, a human rights group in the Philippines reported. The Sandugo-Movement of Moro and Indigenous Peoples for Self-Determination, a group based in Mindanao, said Jerome Aladdin Succor Aba has been in the airport's holding facility since his arrival on April 17. It was believed that Aba, chairman of the group Suara Bangsamoro, was detained by American immigration officials over "visa problems." The activist was supposed to speak before religious and U.S. government officials, including members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Aba was also scheduled to speak on the human rights situation in the Philippines at the National Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice in Washington D.C. on April 20-23.

Thousands Rally Against Duterte ‘Dictatorship’

By Manuel Mogato and Roli Ng for Reuters. MANILA (Reuters) - Thousands of Filipinos rallied on Thursday to denounce Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte and warn of what they called an emerging dictatorship, in a major show of dissent against the controversial but hugely popular leader. Politicians, indigenous people, priests, businessmen, and left-wing activists held marches and church masses accusing Duterte of authoritarianism and protesting at policies including a ferocious war on drugs that has killed thousands. Signs saying “Stop The Killings” and “No To Martial Rule” reflected fears that Duterte would one day deliver on his threat to declare nationwide military rule like that imposed by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Thousands Demand End To Killings In Duterte’s Drug War

By Staff of Al Jazeera - Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets of the Philippine capital of Manila to denounce President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs, as they marked the death anniversary of one of the country's pro-democracy heroes. Human rights advocates, youth groups, and religious communities on Monday defied a tropical storm that brought steady rain to gather at the memorial of the 1986 people power revolution to call for an end to the killings in Duterte's war on drugs. Amid public pressure, Duterte said on Monday there could have been abuses in his anti-drug war policy. "There is a possibility that in some of police incidents there could be abuses. I admit that," Duterte told reporters in Manila. "These abusive police officers are destroying the credibility of the government." Al Jazeera's Jamela Alindogan, reporting from Manila, said at least 4,000 people joined in the rally, adding that a separate protest was also held in another part of the city. Protesters are demanding an independent investigation into the summary executions and police operations that left thousands of people dead. They said the president should be held accountable for the deaths. Demonstrators waved Philippine flags and carried banners that read: "Resist the Fascist!", "Stop the Killings!", and "We will fight" among others.

Filipinos Rally Outside NY Consulate, Condemn Duterte’s Martial Law

By Staff for Bayan. Filipinos from around New York and New Jersey are coming together on Monday, June 5th to condemn martial law and increasing U.S. counterinsurgency and intervention in the Philippines. The demonstration demands that martial law be immediately revoked from Mindanao and that the GRP-NDFP peace talks resume. In the wake of attacks on May 23rd between the Maute group and the Philippine military in Marawi City, the entire southernmost island of Mindanao has been placed under martial law. President Duterte has suspended the writ of habeas corpus, meaning arrests can now happen without a warrant throughout the island. Habeas corpus is vital in protecting the right to liberty and preventing torture, ill-treatment and enforced disappearance.Hundreds of Moro men began being rounded up in Davao City on the day before Ramadan started, and Duterte is threatening to expand martial law to the entire country.

Anti-U.S. Protesters Demand Action After Violent Police Response

By Staff of Associated Press - MANILA, Philippines -- Hundreds of Filipinos protesting Friday outside the presidential palace burned a mock U.S. flag and asked President Rodrigo Duterte to punish police officers for brutally dispersing an anti-U.S. rally and ramming a van into some of the activists. About 1,000 left-wing protesters, carrying placards that read “U.S. troops out now” marched 1.8 mile to the presidential palace in Manila to condemn the violent police action and seek justice for those injured.

Former American Colony Takes Center Stage In South China Sea Dispute

By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya for Mint Press News - SHANGHAI — (Analysis) The Permanent Court of Arbitration’s non-binding ruling on the territorial dispute between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines is largely misunderstood. Sovereignty or ownership of disputed land formations were never going to be adjudicated or awarded as many Filipinos and Filipinas thought or were led to believe by the past and present leadership of the Philippines. What the Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal studied were the geo-legal status definitions of the disputed territory.

The Killing Fields: Extrajudicial Killings In The Philippines

By Mark Ambay for Truthout - When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III assumed power in 2010, he promised to stop extrajudicial killings in the country. Six years later, with his term ending, he has yet to live up to his promise. Aquino won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform and a call for change and development. His mother, Corazon Aquino, was also the country's president from 1986 to 1992. Aquino has been described by critics as an inept landlord president whose policies are elitist due to his insensitivity to the plights of his countrymen and women.

Flash Mob Protests US Military Base Return In Philippines

By Nina Macapinlac for Bayan USA Northeast - NEW YORK – Filipinos and concerned allies held a flash mobilization on April 27 at Columbus Circle to condemn the return of U.S. military bases to the Philippines and to mark the second anniversary of the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Protesters unfurled a large banner at the feet of the Christopher Columbus statue to condemn unequal military agreements like EDCA and to call for the removal of all U.S. troops from the Philippines. The rally denounced the opening of five U.S. military bases in the Philippines, which was made official this past March, and called for the defense of Philippine national sovereignty.

Philippine Bishops Warn Against US Military Facilities

By Mark Saludes for UCA News - Several Catholic bishops have expressed opposition to the planned building of U.S. military facilities in five Philippine provinces in the coming months. "U.S. military bases in the country will create more problems than solutions," said Bishop Roberto Mallari of San Jose in Nueva Ecija province. One of the facilities will be built in Mallari's diocese under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the United States and Philippines.

TPP Is A Tool For US Hegemony In The Asia Pacific

By Nina Macapinlac and Matt Smith for Philippine Solidarity. New Jersey - To announce its official launch, the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee condemns to the utmost extent today’s signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) in New Zealand. As an anti-imperialist coalition of individuals and organizations, the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee opposes the TPP as a one-sided “free trade” agreement that will only benefit the interests of the global elite class at the expense of the poor and working class peoples of the world, especially in underdeveloped countries like the Philippines. Incidentally, the New Jersey Philippine Solidarity Committee also commemorates today as the 117th anniversary of the Philippine American War as part of BAYAN USA’s Philippine Solidarity Week.

Philippine People Under Attack From Washington And Own Government

By Vanessa Lucas and Azadeh Shahshahani for FPIF - The Filipino people are under attack. The Lumad, for example — an indigenous group in the southern Philippines — are being forced to leave their ancestral lands and the source of their livelihood to make way for mining operations and land conversion. Resistance is deadly. In the month of August alone, there were two massacres that left nine dead. On August 30, the army and paramilitary forces occupied the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development, an award winning school for indigenous youth.

Philippines: Funeral At The Climate Justice March

By Dakila Media. Quezon City, Philippines - Thousands of Filipinos marched for climate justice today, November 28, and converged at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. Broad groups of social movements, religious groups, trade unions, farmers, urban poor and NGOs took part in the Climate March carrying climate related issues – energy transformation; right to food, land and water; justice and reparations for affected people; protecting our common home (from Laudato Si); jobs and just transition; and carbon emissions reduction. For the artist-activist group Dakila, the climate march is crucial in ensuring that the world listens to the voice of the Filipino youth who fears for their very own survival when no deal is sealed at the COP21 in Paris. Youth members of Dakila, differing from the general festive theme of the assembly, held a funeral march carrying with them images of their own gravestone inscribed with their own epitaph.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.