Posts tagged with political disappearances

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January 1, 2010

Films Seen in 2010 #1

Let me start the year with an attempt to write about all the films I will see throughout the year, again. I tried doing this back in 2008 but I wasn’t able to sustain it, largely because I got too busy with law school and student council activities. This time, I’ll try doing my commentaries with themes and motifs.

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November 28, 2009

Youth groups demand accountability from Arroyo for massacre in Maguindanao

This is another story I submitted for the BlogWatch project of the Philippine Online Chronicles


Youth formations and individuals from different universities, high schools and communities in Metro Manila marched last November 27 to Malacanang in order to demand accountability and justice from the Arroyo government for the election-related massacre that occurred in Maguindanao a few days earlier.

From Espana Avenue in Sampaloc, youth groups lead by Kabataan Partylist marched towards Mendiola bridge where they were stopped by police barricades and barbed wires from reaching Malacanang.

The students expressed outrage over how the Arroyo government is handling the issue. “It took four days for the government to arrest one of the Ampatuans,” said Rain Sindayen of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights – UP (STAND-UP). The Ampatuans are considered the primary suspects for the massacre in Maguindanao. “For ordinary citizens suspected of crimes, it only takes a few minutes for the police to have them arrested,” he added.

The manner by which the government is responding to the crisis reeks of political accommodation, expressed another student leader. The Ampatuans are said to be instrumental in the landslide victory of Pres. Arroyo in Maguindanao in the 2004 elections, and the electoral sweep made by the administration ticket in the same elections and in the succeeding 2007 polls. The results in Maguindanao are also suspected of being tampered as towns across the province registered almost 100% turnouts with some registering zero votes for the opposition.

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Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre Youth Protest Against Ampatuan Massacre

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May 25, 2009

Bayan calls on Arroyo government to surface Fil-Am activist Melissa Roxas and companions

Melissa RoxasThe Bagong Alyansang Makabayan is calling on the Arroyo government, the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to immediately surface Melissa Roxas, an American citizen of Filipino descent, and a member of BAYAN-USA and the cultural group Habi Arts based in Los Angeles, California.

Roxas was abducted last May 19 at around 1:30 pm in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Bgy. Kapanikian, La Paz, Tarlac. She was with two other volunteers, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc.

Based on reports filed by the human rights group Karapatan and the La Paz police, Roxas and her companions were taken by at least 8 fully-armed, bonnet-clad men on board two motorcycles and a Besta van without any plate numbers.

Since the abduction, there has been no word of the whereabouts and condition of Roxas and her companions.

Roxas is the first case of a Fil-Am activist to be abducted by suspected state security forces.

“It is indeed urgent that Melissa and her companions be surfaced. No harm must come to them. Their rights must be respected. We are outraged that these abductions continue despite repeated condemnation here and abroad,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.

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