LET THE STONES CRY OUT!

A Community Forum on Peace & Justice in the Philippines

When: Sunday, December 16th, 7pm-9:30pm

Where: Alwan for the Arts, 16 Beaver Street, 4th Floor in Manhattan (Beaver is between Broad and New Streets, one block east of Whitehall and Bowling Green)Trains: 4/5 to Bowling Green; J/M/Z to Broad Street; R/W to Whitehall St.; 1 to Rector Street; 2/3 to Wall Street; A/C to Broadway-Nassau

Last March 2007, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a landmark public hearing on the state of extrajudicial killings, enforced abductions, and various other human rights violations on the Philippines. The hearing was spawned from a massive transnational initiative of peace advocates to send an ecumenical Philippine delegation to the United Nations in Geneva to report on the Philippine human rights crisis from the church perspective. The said delegation was also in Washington this year to testify in front of the US Senate. Their final document presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) was entitled "Let The Stones Cry Out", after the biblical passage.

The March 2007 hearing advanced a broad network of legislative advocates in the United States to lobby for the inclusion of restrictive language on both the Senate and House proposals for US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for the Philippines the coming fiscal year, with widescale opinion that the 4th largest disbursement of US military aid abroad goes towards the training and advising of a Philippine military well-documented in committing these human rights violations. The said Congressional deliberations are currently ongoing.

To date, since the ascension of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into the Philippine presidency in 2001, a record-breaking 886 have died from extrajudicial killings, over 370 have been victimized by frustrated summary execution attempts, and over 220 have disappeared. An additional 396,000 have been victimized by various forms of human rights violations in 6,990 incidents from January 2001 through November 2006 alone.

Panel Speakers include:

Katrina Abarcar
Director
Katarungan: Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Washington DC

Rev. Marma Urbano
Member, General Secretariat,
United Church of Christ in the Philippines; Philippine Peace Delegation to the United Nations March 2007

Emerito Salud, Esq.
Advocacy Director,
National Federation of Filipino-American Associations (NaFFAA) Region 1;
Movement for a Free Philippines

Cultural performances by:
Luis Francia
Award-winning Filipino-American writer & poet, "Eye of the Fish"
Anakbayan Youth Chorale
Plus an NYC book-launching of Bobby Tuazon's new book, "Oligarchic Politics"

This event is organized by the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), a grassroots public education and action group of advocates for the Philippines. This event is FREE, but DONATIONS are strongly encouraged (NO ONE WILL BE TURNED AWAY)for more information, email nychrp@yahoo.com

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A Political Jaywalker's public announcement courtesy of Fidel Umaga

human rights