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| Clipart by Isis |
WOMEN UNITE AGAINST PLUNDER AND IMPERIALIST GREED!
Today marks the 102 years of recognizing the valour of women in advancing rights and welfare in a society ruled by few and suffered by many. As regional chapter of GABRIELA Philippines we would like to express our deepest greetings to our sisters, comrades and friends whom had shown support in the international and local struggle of women.
As we celebrate the 102ndyear of International Women's Day, there are still a lot of challenges to triumph over and to pave a clear path to our national democratic aspirations as women from our sisters and our children.
The Philippine marginalized women everyday experiences the same as women in the world. Tangled with domestic labour, victims of cheap labour cost and in the end, is still vulnerable to all forms of sexual abuse or the abuse based on gender.
The imperialist’s trapestry of conspiracy and aggression had reached our homes and had started tearing our family and solidarity apart. Its plunder with our resources at the expense of a country’s citizen had been very clear cut this year. The favouring of foreign mining and logging companies, depletes not only the natural resources of our country but also it lessens the chance for national industrialization of land and resources that we have been pushing all along. Because we believe that national industrialization will a pave way towards socio-economic justice.
We would like to take the opportunity of sharing the grief, and the pain of the continuing injustice. We take on to the lives of our 3 Kurdish sisters killed in Paris; they are massacred this year in the hope that it will sow fear to the Kurdish women fighting for national liberation. We salute our sisters with their undying devotion towards the emancipation of women. Just 4 days before the international Women’s Day a leader from Mindanao is shot dead, Councillor Cristina San Jose was one of the victims of calamities in the Mindanao region, and she was one of the leaders who triumphantly exposed the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s mediocrity in giving food packs. They have ransacked and have taken the foods that were supposedly being given to them. Comrade Cristina’s death brought thousands of other calamity survivors into deep sorrow. On the other hand it had shown the same face aggression and human rights violations to women standing against anti-imperialist policies.
Also we would like to solicit your support with the continuing presence of US Troops in our lands, waters and air. We are aware that it has came to your attention what happened to our world heritage the Tubbataha Reef, one of the few surviving stretches of coral atolls in the world. A minesweeper, USS Guardian grounds on the corals itself, since January, the estimated damage had cost more than 10 000 square meters and still continue to aggravate the damage. We cannot accept the explanation that it is a mechanical error, with the advance modern warfare of the United States has. It not only now that Philippine sovereignty was put into question, the presence of a drone in Masbate picked-up by fisher folks, the dumping of Glenn Marine Defense’s Toxic material in Subic Bay. Last year, a fisher folk from Zamboanga died because a US vessel mistakenly hit him while his making some living.
The last year’s joint military exercises done by the US Army and Armed Forces of the Philippines bore fruit of showcasing US forces towards China. These military exercises had born no fruit for the locals, but only more abuse to women in the locality. According to the Visiting Forces Agreement they are entitled of rest and recreation and by no segue at all it is prostitution.
Few days ago we were saddened by the death of an anti-imperialist president in the person of Hugo Chavez; he has been a model president and leader. Favouring the people’s need instead the capitalist’s greed of extracting their rich oil resources for profit. We extend our condolences to his daughters, his family and the Venezuelan people. Chavez and the Venezuelan’s aspiration for a better society will live on.
The global challenges on food, landlessness, poverty and gender violence continues, we may have joined One Billion Rising, globally but it doesn’t stop there. There’s a great need in organizing and training of women and leaders in advancing their rights in parliament or in streets.
We hope for the success of your own International Women’s Day!###