MIGRANTE Europe condemns the reported harassment and detention by Gloria Arroyos goons and the Presidential Security Group of two Filipino migrant protesters who attended a forum with her at the Collegio Filipino (a religious school for Filipino clerics) today June 3, 2007.
It is well within the rights of the Filipino migrants to protest Glorias visit to Italy using taxpayers money to promote abroad the political repression of her regime. As citizens and residents of Europe, Filipino migrants are entitled and protected in the exercise of their rights to peaceful assembly and expression, unlike in the death-squad regime of Gloria Arroyo.
This harassment by Glorias goons and the PSG of protesting Filipino migrants is in sharp contrast to the tolerance shown earlier by the Italian police to the same protesters who were allowed 15 minutes to show their streamers and placards, when they mounted a lightning picket upon Glorias arrival at her hotel the day before.
According to UMANGAT-Rome, one of the organizers of the protest actions, the statements they were supposed to peacefully distribute among compatriots attending the forum were illegally confiscated, and two of their members were arrested and detained by Arroyos goons and the Presidential Security Group inside the building until Gloria finished the program. The PSG also reportedly told the two detained migrants that the protests against GMA were orchestrated by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The incident, however small, highlights the repression and fascism of Gloria Arroyo wherever she goes, even outside Philippine territory. Like her penchant for drinking too much, Arroyos regime is intoxicated with arrogance and the use of force that it rejects the calls of the international community to stop its crimes against the people that are punishable under international laws. Arroyo does not care to use harassment, even abroad, among Filipino migrants, to save herself the embarrassment of being isolated and exposed further for her crimes.
Filipinos in Europe join their compatriots in Rome, Italy, particularly the militant Filipino domestic workers, in condemning the visit of Gloria to Italy, the harassment, the unabated political killings, abductions and political repression in the homefront.
Stop the Political Killings and Abductions!
Stop Human Rights Violations in the Philippines!
Oust GMA!
Free Ka Crispin Beltran!
MIGRANTE Europe
Bayan International-Europe
The Netherlands
