Hear the "hello garci" tape

I was fortunate to have obtained a digital copy of the controversial audio tape in which you can hear the current Malacanang resident talking to different persons in several conversations revolving around the 2004 presidential election.

Hear it! It's evil.

For me, GMA should resign immediately before the Filipino people oust her. The clock is ticking...

The complete transcript is available at http://www.philippineupdate.com/complete-transcript.pdf.

RINGTONES

Want a ‘Hello Garci’ ringtone? Download it at www.txtpower.org.

You have the right to avail of the ringtone (if you want to) just like you have a right to know who really won in last year’s elections…

Ipaglaban ang malayang Pilipinas!



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Asian Lawyers criticize Gloria

Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL)
4 September 2005

ASIAN LAWYERS CONDEMN KILLINGS OF LAWYERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

The Fourth Conference of Lawyers in Asia and the Pacific (COLAP 4) held in Seoul on September 2-3, 2005 issued a Joint Declaration yesterday condemning human rights violations in many Asian counties including the killings of Philippine lawyers which it considered as an attack against the human rights of the Filipino people.

This Declaration followed the scathing criticism of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government from Jitendra Sharma in his keynote speech, for failing to act on the spate of killings and harassment of lawyers in the Philippines. Mr. Sharma, who is the President of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and one of the largest international organizations of lawyers, specifically mentioned the killing of BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) chairman Atty. Norman Bocar as the latest of a series of killings that causes concern for lawyers from all over the world.

The Conference, which was attended by about 250 lawyers, law professors and law students from Korea, Japan, US, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, China, Pakistan, New Zealand, Vietnam and the Philippines declared that "human rights of the people in Asia and the Pacific continue to be violated in many counties, and this must be condemned. In the Philippines, several lawyers who represented people's causes and judges have recently been assassinated, reflecting on the situation in the region." The COLAP "confirmed the need for peace and solidarity movements to secure human rights" in the region and the world.

The Philippines was represented by Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares and Atty. Edre U. Olalia, two of the convenors of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL). Olalia also acts as the Vice President of the International Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL) which has earlier denounced in May the previous killings and viewed the Philippines as a "dangerous place" for lawyers and judges.

The Joint Declaration also opposed the US war of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan for "economic, political, and military dominance of the region" and called for the immediate withdrawal of US troops. The assembly also scored "anti-terrorism¡" measures which violate human rights of the people in several countries including the Philippines. The COLAP lawyers also oppose the "ideology of neo-liberal globalization adversely impacting on the lives of workers and farmers" and which increases exploitation of peoples. COLAP furthermore recognized the need to rectify the rights of migrant workers which are disregarded in many countries including Korea where there are an estimated 55,000 Filipino migrant workers.

In a show of solidarity, COLAP 4 through Prof. Osamu Niikura, Secretary General of the Japan Lawyers Association, asked the Philippines during the closing ceremonies to host the next Asian-Pacific lawyers' conference or COLAP 5 in Manila in 2007. #

Reference: Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares
CODAL Spokesperson

Justice for Rev. Raul Domingo!

September 4, 2005

STOP POLITICAL KILLINGS! JUSTICE FOR REV. RAUL DOMINGO AND ALL VICTIMS OF STATE REPRESSION! OUST THE FASCIST AND FRAUDULENT ARROYO REGIME!

TWO WEEKS AFTER HE WAS SHOT BY TWO SUSPECTED MILITARY AGENTS, REV. RAUL DOMINGO PASSED AWAY THIS MORNING, SEPTEMBER 4, 2005 AT THE PHILLIPINE LUNG CENTER. Last August 20, he was shot four times by two men riding in motorcycle in Barangay San Jose, Puerto Prinsesa City, Palawan. From the provincial hospital, he was brought to Manila where doctors tried hard to stabilize his condition. But his lung was badly hit by his assassins. He fell into coma then finally passed away this morning.

We in the Kapatirang Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan) and Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR) condemn in strongest terms the endless and ruthless wave of political killings targeting human rights workers and peace activists including faithful church workers who live out the prophetic mission and ministry of the church. We join the wife and five children of Rev. Domingo in demanding justice and immediate end to the wave of political killings under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.

Arroyo will fly to New York next week to represent the Philippines in the United Nations (UN) gathering. We urge Filipinos and all concerned citizens to stage protest rallies to expose and oppose the Arroyo regime's brutal policy of repression and gross human rights violations. With the death of the impeachment complaint against Arroyo, we demand more than ever that this fraudulent and fascist president must be ousted, arrested and prosecuted for high crimes of graft, corruption and systematic killings in the Philippines.

Under Arroyo, it is deplorable that aside from being listed as one of the "most dangerous place for journalists," our country has become one of the most dangerous place for activist priests and pastors, peasant and labor leaders, lawyers and all activist citizens perceived to be enemies of the state. Despite urgent calls from the Filipino people and the international community to stop the political repression, GMA turned deaf to the cries of poor mothers, widows, children and all the people seeking justice for the victims of human rights violations.

We mourn the death of another prophet who, like the late Rev. Edison Lapuz, Joel Baclao, Fr. William Tadena and others was brutally silenced by the state. Rev. Domingo was a dedicated pastor of the United Church of the Philippines (UCCP). As Key Minister of the Palawan Associate Conference (PAC) -District II, he was active in the life of the church especially in the PAC- Church Workers Organization and Christian Witness and Service (CWS) program of the UCCP. As an activist in the promotion of human rights and social justice, he served as a dedicated leader of the provincial chapter of the human rights alliance (KARAPATAN), KASIMBAYAN and the multi-sectoral alliance Bagong Alyansang Makabayan. For all his social involvements, especially in denouncing military abuses and large-scale mining in the Southern Tagalog region, Rev. Domingo became a victim of grave threats and harassment in the last several years before he was shot on August 20.

Ms Norma Dollaga
General Secretary
Kapatirang Simbahan para sa Bayan (Kasimbayan)

Fr. Jerry Sabado, OCarm
National Council Member
Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR)

Contact: 4107623