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For the past 17 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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NEW YORK --- The outrage that is sweeping Manila has reached the shores of New York.
Angry Filipino Americans rallied in Queens, Monday night, and campaigned for a freeze on bank to bank dollar remittances to the Philippines to pressure President Gloria Arroyo to resign.
Similarly, on Tuesday night, about 50 Filipinos protested in the Filipino commercial district of Woodside, Queens that was timed to coincide with protest actions in Manila and other cities in the US and in other countries.
Assailing the scandal-riddled Arroyo government, Justice Not War in the Philippines, Damayan and Network in solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP), urged Filipino workers abroad to use door-to-door remittance and not the bank remittance to protest the “illegitimate, corrupt” presidency.
“Arroyo only worsened the country’s poverty by raising the price of oil and commodities, preventing the increase of worker’s wages, imposing heavy taxes, and destroying livelihoods,” said Analisa Caballes, coordinator of Damayan. She said stopping bank-to-bank remittances will force the government to heed the calls of suffering migrant workers.
Filipinos in the U.S. remit over $4 billion a year to the Philippines. This dollar infusion has been widely regarded as the only thing that is keeping the economy afloat.
Reduced bank remittances will lead to reduced government commission on remittances. This would further squeeze the government budget and will cause further economic distress.
Global yearly remittances are about $8 billion. Filipino groups in other foreign countries also called for a freeze on remittances.
Amanda Vender of NISPOP said the corruption in Arroyo’s government was reminiscent of former president Joseph Estrada’s illegal actions as shown by Arroyo’s relationship with jueteng (illegal gambling ) lords who give kickbacks to government and police officials, including Arroyo’s husband and son.
“Arroyo’s thievery and corrupt cronyism knows no comparison in its degree of maliciousness and greed,” said Vender. Protesters on Monday night carried candles, recited nationalistic poems, sang protest songs , and brandished placards to voice out their indignation over the political turmoil in the Philippines..
Casting a cloud on Arroyo’s ability to govern, Marie Obana, of the Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan ( Coalition of the Children of the Motherland), said Arroyo has lost the respect of people she has vowed to serve. Obana said majority of poor Filipinos need genuine land reform, jobs and health services which the government failed to provide for the suffering masses.
On Tuesday, Dr. Robyn Rodriguez, an immigration scholar from Rutgers University, and spokesperson for the New York Coalition for Gloria’s Ouster (N.Y.C. 4 G.L.O), said Filipinos overseas are expressing solidarity to the growing movement in the Philippines calling for Arroyo to step down.
“This day is significant because right now Filipinos all over the world are simultaneously coming together in mass mobilizations, especially here in the United States, to say that even though we are overseas, we have not forgotten our homeland, and we want this fake and illegitimatepresident to step down,” she said.
International protest actions in New York, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, all pushed for Gloria’s resignation, and coincided with the same protests being done in Manila.
In New York on Tuesday, community organizations Philippine Forum, Anakbayan NY/NJ, New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, as well as teachers, domestic workers, lawyers, and youth led the broad spectrum of Filipinos calling for Arroyo’s resignation.
After exposes of illegal gambling and massive electoral fraud in last year’s elections, the Arroyo government has been slammed by a growing mass movement calling for regime change. Ten members of her Cabinet resigned, some of them publicly criticizing Arroyo’s economic and political policies.
Arroyo has been hit hard by daily rallies in Metro Manila , specifically last Wednesday where about 40,000 protestors rallied in financial district of Makati.
Arroyo reiterated in a nationwide address that she won’t step down.
Meanwhile more rallies are scheduled in New York and elsewhere in the U.S. On Monday night, Gabriela Women’s group will hold a rally in front of the Philippine Consulate on Fifth Ave. Rallies will also be held in Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.
“These rallies, however, “goes beyond the jueteng and elections scandal,” said Berna Ellorin of the New York Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines.”
“The people placed their trust in Arroyo after ousting a corrupt Estrada regime back in 2001. But instead of taking us forward, Gloria has taken us 100 steps backwards,” she said.
Protestors expressed support for the creation of a transitional national council that would act as a consultative body that would decide on the courses of action the country would take.
“Plainly and simply, [Vice President] Noli de Castro is not an option,” said New York Coalition’s Rodriguez.
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HELLO GARCI. They can get creative. Protesters do not only bring placards and streamers; they also bring other props that catch the imagination of passersby and onlookers. These New York rallyists also played the "Hello Garci" rington, which has become popular in Manila.
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NEW YORK --- It was the first time the “Hello Garci” ringtone was heard blaring from a cassette player at a busy intersection in Queen’s Woodside district here as Filipino-Americans and migrant workers chanted “Gloria resign or be ousted” on Tuesday.
The Queens rally was held almost simultaneously as massive rallies calling for the unseating of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo likewise rocked the Philippines.
“Hello Garci” became a popular cellular phone ring tone in the Philippines. It was a spin-off from the tapes that surfa ced in the Philippines.
The tapes supposedly caught the voice of a woman who sounded like President Arroyo telling an elections official to make sure that she keeps a one million-vote lead from her rival.
Days after the tapes came out, President Arroyo admitted talking to an official of the Commission on Election and apologized for her “lapse in judgment”.
Protesters amused onlookers and passersby when they displayed a giant cellphone with the label “Cinungaling” (a play on the popular mobile phone brand Cingular) and featuring Gloria’s face playfully read “Press # to delete. Oust Gloria!”.
Cinungaling is also a corruption of the Filipino word “sinungaling” which means “liar” in English.
Most of the Filipinos who passed by some 20 members of the alliance “USA 4 GMA’s Resignation” at the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and 69th Street agreed with the protesters.
Some readily received leaflets given to them. Some others joined the group in chanting anti-Arroyo slogans. A few also got hold of placards and momentarily stayed to join the protest.
But there were also who expressed exasperation over how the cycle of corruption and bad governance would continue even though Arroyo decides to step down.
Berna Ellorin, spokesperson of the New York Committee for the Human Rights in the Philippines, explained they don’t want Vice President Noli de Castro to succeed as the country’s chief executive once the post is vacated.
“We want the establishment of a ruling council where key sectors of the country are represented,” she said, adding the past two people power did not usher in meaningful development because needed structural economic and political changes were not effected.
On Monday, another group of Filipino migrant workers and a US-based youth organization staged their own protest action calling for Arroyo’s resignation. Tuesday’s protest also saw similar show of outrage in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Jose. The US is home to the biggest number of Filipinos living outside of the Philippines.
Linda Abad, organizer of DAMAYAN, an organization of Filipino domestic workers, said the Arroyo administration most of the time failed to address needs of migrant workers despite their huge contribution in keeping the country’s economy afloat.
The two protest actions also gained support from American Human Rights organizations which took the Arroyo government to task for the worsening human rights condition in the Philippines.
Toni Arenstan, spokesperson of the New York-based International Action Center (IAC), accused Arroyo of allowing herself to become a puppet of the Bush government which, among others, led to the country’s involvement with the US’ war on terror campaign.
Ultimately, it should be the Filipino people, not the ruling elite or the US government, who must decide what is good for the country, explained Amanda Vender of the Network In Solidarity with the Peoples of the Philippines (NISPOP).
Vender said her organization will continue to join similar protests urging for the resignation of Arroyo until she heeds the call. She confirmed they will be joining the July 18 picket at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan.
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MANILA --- The wealth of presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo jumped more than 1,500 times in 11 years.
Documents obtained by reporters covering the House of Representatives showed that Mikey’s net worth grew astronomically from P50,000 in 1993 when he worked for his mother, then Sen. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to more than P76 million last year, or by 1,531 times.
From P50,000 in 1993, the President’s son’s net worth increased to P320,000 in 1994 -- P120,000 in cash and P200,000 in personal effects.
In 2001, when he was Pampanga vice governor, he had P3,327,686.12 in cash, P250,000 worth of personal effects and P2,144,101.17 in shares of stock, for a net worth of P5,721,787.29.
In 2002, his wealth dwindled to P5,003,023.79 due to a decrease in his cash holdings by more than P700,000.
When Mikey became a congressman in 2004, his net worth jumped to P74,436,738.79.
His assets consisted of cash amounting to P20.1 million, personal effects worth P18 million, shares of stock valued at P25.4 million, motor vehicles worth P5.9 million, furniture and appliances valued at P1 million, and a house and lot in Lubao, Pampanga worth P4 million.
And last year, Mikey declared a net worth of P76,531,403.96. His assets consisted of the Lubao house, a new house in La Vista, Quezon City worth P8 million, cash of P13.8 million, shares of stock valued at P25.9 million, and the same amount of personal effects, vehicles and furniture as he declared the previous year.
Mikey went on official leave following the jueteng payola allegations against him.
The presidential son, one of the wealthiest members of the House of Representatives, has left for the US last week with his wife and two daughters while on official leave from the House.
His uncle, Negros Occidental Rep. Jose Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, is the third richest member, with assets valued at more than P300 million.
Iggy is being investigated by the Bureau of Internal Revenue for possible tax evasion.
It was earlier reported that before he became a congressman, the brother of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo paid no more than P19,000 in annual income tax. With assets of more than P300 million, he should be paying about P140 million. (MNS)
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MANILA, July 13, 2005 --- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not resign even in the face of massive street protests calling for her to step down and that she intends to finish her six-year term, two key Palace advisers said Wednesday.
“Will she resign? No, not ever. She will not leave the presidential palace,” said Environment and natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor, a trusted aide to Arroyo.
For his part, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Malacañang is seeking a “happy compromise” where Arroyo will finish her six-year term while amending the Constitution to allow a shift into a parliamentary form of government.
“She is standing resolute amid calls for her resignation. She will not stand down even if the rally sees half a million people taking to the streets,” Defensor told reporters.
Arroyo is clinging tenaciously to power despite the resignation of 10 top officials and calls for her to go from business groups, former political allies and ex-President Corazon Aquino.
Arroyo faces allegations that she stole last year’s election after audio tapes emerged on which a woman sounding like her is apparently heard asking an election official to fix a million-vote winning margin.
She has repeatedly said that her resignation would condemn the Philippines to political and economic turmoil, a message that her adviser underlined to reporters.
“The fact that she is standing firm has given confidence to financial markets and the business community, both here and abroad,” said Defensor, adding that the international community was used to the “way of Philippine politics.”
“If the President had shown signs of weakness, then it might be a different story,” he said.
The political crisis has taken an economic toll.
Moody’s Investors Service has cut its credit ratings outlook to negative from stable, following similar moves by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings earlier this week.
The agencies fear the crisis could distract the government from the main objective of shoring up its fiscal position.
In saying that the President intends to finish her six-year term, Ermita clarified an earlier statement by Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. saying Arroyo had agreed to be a “transition president.”
De Venecia earlier said Arroyo favored a constitutional assembly to fast-track constitutional reforms, and move into a “fast-moving parliamentary system.”
But that could cut short Arroyo’s term and make her a “transition president,” said De Venecia, while stressing it could be the “biggest legacy any president can bequeath to the country.”
“I did not recall having heard from the President she was agreeable to shortening her term,” Ermita said in a news briefing in Malacañang.
“The matter of timeline was something to be discussed by the party. Maybe it’s just an interpretation of the Speaker,” he said.
Any changes in the Constitution should consider the sitting President whose term ends in 2010, Ermita added.
Ermita said legislators should have in mind the constitutionally mandated term of Arroyo in changing the Charter.
Arroyo earlier endorsed the proposal of 17 political parties for Charter change through the constituent assembly.
Following the proposed timeline of former President Fidel Ramos, the House of Representatives and the Senate would convene as a constituent assembly to craft amendments in the Charter.
The final phase constitutes a shift to parliamentary federal form of government, and election of parliament members in May. (MNS)
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