EU-ASEAN Stream
Newsletter Focus on the Philippines: Number 25 | Focus on the Philippines: Number 25 |
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Bush and GMA's War is not the Filipinos' War: It is the Philippine Government that is holding Angelo dela Cruz Hostage By Iraq Solidarity Campaign
In this issue: The hostage-taking of Angelo dela Cruz, an overseas Filipino worker in Iraq last Thursday (July 8, 2004), has put the national spotlight on the war in Iraq and the fate of the 4,000 filipinos working there. Unless the Philippine government withdraws the 51-strong Philippine contingent in Iraq, dela Cruz will be executed. Unmoved by the incident and despite growing public opinion favoring withdrawal of the troops in order to save Angelo del Cruz, the Philippine government has maintained its stand against the pull-out of the troops with the no justification other than saying "we will not give in to the demands of the terrorists". Amidst repeated calls from government for the public to "just pray for Angelo" and a news blackout, various groups have gone to the streets, holding vigils and mass actions to demand the immediate withdrawal of Philippine troops in Iraq. In this issue, we feature the statement issued by Iraq Solidarity Campaign and a press release featuring international solidarity messages for Angelo. The Iraqi Solidarity Campaign (ISC) is an alliance of political blocs and organizations founded last April 19, 2004 after the outbreak of widespread uprising in Iraq. It calls for the ending of the US-led occupation and the withdrawal and evacuation of Philippine troops and workers from Iraq. It also endeavors to support the Iraqi people's resistance. ISC has spearheaded a number of actions to pressure the Philippine government to withdraw its troops. It vows to continue to educate the public on the situation in Iraq and mobilize for the withdrawal of troops and against the occupation. ISC papers can be downloaded from HYPERLINK "http://www.iraqsolidarity.blogspot.com/"www.iraqsolidarity.blogspot.com Such actions deprive the Iraqi people of their legitimate right to self-determination. Mary Foster of the Iraq Solidarity Project from Montreal, Canada, appealed to the President, to consider the consequences. The stakes are very high. For one man, Angelo de la Cruz, and his family, everything is at stake. For your own country and yourself, it is a question of whether you will stand up against pressures which have, for far too long, played out their destructive violence on the lives of people in the Philippines. These are just four of the messages that the Iraq Solidarity Campaign Philippines (ISC) has been receiving by e-mail from around the world after news broke out of the abduction of the Filipino worker. The ISC is a coalition of Filipino individuals and organizations calling for the ending of the occupation of Iraq. It has links with the anti-war organizations from all over the world that mobilized the historic 15-million march against the war on Iraq last February 15, 2003 the biggest coordinated global demonstration in history. The messages are coming from all corners of the world. This is an indication that Filipinos are not the only ones who are very worried about dela Cruz's fate, said Herbert Docena, an ISC member. ³It also shows that the demand to end the occupation and to pull out Philippine troops is not just being made by dela Cruzıs abductors but also by Iraqis and by the majority of people from around the world. The Filipino government is Fillipino government is responsible for the safety of Angelo dela Cruz, wrote Thomas Sommer of the Paris-based International Civilian Campaign for the Protection of Palestinians. But he is a victim of both his abductors and his government, Sommer added. In sending troops and poor workers to Iraq, the Arroyo government is as guilty as Bush or Blair in illegally occupying Iraq. Another letter-writer from New Zealand pointed out that in wars, it is poor people like dela Cruz who always get caught in the middle. It is ordinary people who are used as cannon fodder and are increasingly at risk with their lives for the political and economic benefits of a selected few, Martini Gotje said. >From Portugal, the Friends of Filipinas, a network with over 1,500 members, was direct to the point: No blood for oil! No foreign troops in Iraq! While we recognise the pressure the Philippines is coming under to participate in the so-called war on terror, the occupation in which you are participating will only give global oppressors more power to dictate the terms of life for people around the world, noted the Canadian group Block the Empire. We urge you to take the opportunity of the threat on de la Cruz's life to withdraw your troops from Iraq, where they are participating in the hostage-taking of an entire people. Americans are especially empathic in calling for the Philippine government not to allow dela Cruz to die. Please do not allow one more avoidable death of one of your country-men! Withdraw your troops from Iraq. Iraqis don't want them there just as they donıt want our U.S. troops there either. This unjust war should never have began, but now that it has, we have to end it as soon as possible, wrote Berit Westby from Colorado. One American from Hawaii, Vincent Pollard, who said he met then UP Economics Professor Arroyo as a Fulbright scholar in UP Diliman, urged the President to take back her "blank check" of support to Bush. Wrote Pollard: Mr. Cruz reminds me of so many Filipino colleagues and friends. Like so many of his kababayan, apparently Mr. Cruz, too, was driven by economic deprivation to work overseas. But having taken that risk, now Mr. Cruz is at risk of losing his life because his job has become enmeshed in the U.S.-led war in the Middle East. Kawawa naman siya! Ordering Filipino soldiers and other Filipinos who are physically supporting U.S. military operations to leave Iraq will show that, in the words of the 1987 constitution, the Philippines truly exercises "isang malayang patakarang panlabas," Pollard pointed out. Another American wanted to share what she learned from having a family member who served in Iraq as a member of the US Army Reserve. ³We know firsthand how misguided and immoral the war is and urge all governments to withdraw from Iraq now,² said Laura Costas, also from the US. Please bring all Phillipine troops home, Libby Hunter from Michigan pleaded. The war in Iraq is imoral, illegal, murderous, and I am ashamed of my government. These messages from around the world will be read today during the protest vigil being organized by the Iraq Solidarity Campaign and other political formations at the Welcome Rotonda starting at 5 PM. (Iraq Solidarity Campaign press release, July 9, 2003)# For the complete messages, please log on to www.iraqsolidarity.blogspot.com <HYPERLINK "http://www.iraqsolidarity.blogspot.com/"http://www.iraqsolidarity.blogspot. com/> . Appeals to Save Angelo FROM THE GLOBAL ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: As of 3 PM, 10 July 2004 CANADA: To the government of the Philippines: I urge you to withdraw your troops from Iraq immediately. The occupation of Iraq is illegal and immoral. The peoples of the world have spoken out loudly against it and our governments should heed the will of the people. The majority of the Iraqi people are asking the US and all coalition troops to leave their country immediately because the occupation is threatening the survival of Iraqis. They cannot leave their homes, or even stay at home for that matter, without the risk of violent death or injury. This is a shame on the aggressors who are invading their country. No outside military force or business interest is helping to make the country secure after the brutal invasion and occupation of Iraq. on the contrary, the coalition forces intruders are making it more chaotically unsafe. This is an outrage! I lived in Baghdad for 6 months early in the US occupation and I can tell you as an eye witness that what is being done to Iraq is morally grotesque. There is no way for foreign military powers to help, except to leave Iraq today. Every day you keep your troops in Iraq amounts to another crime against humanity. Sincerely, Stefa Shaler Vancouver, BC, Canada Please transmit my message to the Phillipine Government. I am writing to encourage your government to reconsider its support of the United States'occupation in Iraq. It is clear that the US invasion has caused terrible harm, and the US Senate report today shows that the justification for war on Iraq was completely false. I join peace-loving people around the world in urging as strongly as possible that every country get military forces out of Iraq, immediately.²
Dear President Arroyo: Please immediately withdraw your troops from Iraq. The stakes are very high. For one man, Angelo de la Cruz, and his family, everything is at stake. For the world, what is at stake is whether we will continue in a direction of ever greater oppression and violence or move towards our hope of justice and peace. For Iraqis, it is self-determination and the dream, at last, of peace and freedom. For your own country and yourself, it is a question of whether you will stand up against pressures which have, for far too long, played out their destructive violence on the lives of people in the Philippines.
Dear President Arroyo: Angelo de la Cruz is one of tens of foreigners and tens of thousands of Iraqis whose lives have been put in jeopardy by the illegal occupation in which you are participating. While we recognise the pressure the Philippines is coming under to participate in the so-called war on terror, the occupation in which you are participating will only give global oppressors more power to dictate the terms of life for people around the world. We urge you to take the opportunity of the threat on de la Cruz's life to withdraw your troops from Iraq, where they are participating in the hostage-taking of an entire people.²
Dear IHRTP colleagues from Iraq and the Middle East, Please forward this URGENT ALERT to any of your NGO contacts in Iraq. Any assistance that you can extend to help save the life of an innocent Filipino civilian and overseas contract worker and release him from being hostaged--will be greatly appreciated. We're running against time. I will also appreciate if you keep mo posted on this. Thanks a lot and best regards,²
Dear Friends, Our organization calls on all governments to end their support of the USA-UK war of occupation in Iraq. The Philippine government should immediately end its connection with this unjust and cruel war and not allow its citizens to be endangered. If your government and others were to divert funds and resources spent on the military to social and health needs, the world would be a safer place and we would be closer to true human security.
FRANCE: Withdraw all the troops from iraq!! Release Angelo dela Cruz!! Fillipino governement is responsible for the safety of Angelo dela Cruz. In sending troops and poor workers in Iraq, this governement like Bush or Blair is guilty!! Guilty to help the american administration to occupate and plund Iraq and guilty to lie to his own people when this government say it is to help and give freedom to the iraqis. Angelo dela Cruz is victim both from his abductors and his government ! Angelo dela Cruz is now a victim of the occuppation !! Release Angelo dela Cruz! Withdraw all the troops from Iraq
JAPAN: Dear President: We received the news of Mr. Angelo dela Cruzıs detention in Iraq with great concern. Also we are also greatly concerned that your government declared that it would not give in to the demands of the "terrorists" in Iraq, and rejected the withdrawal of its troops. We are informed that Mr. Angelo dela Cruz is a truck driver working for reconstruction contractors. He is one of over 4,000 Filipino workers in Iraq who because of the lack of employment opportunities in the Philippines have been left with few other choices than risk their lives abroad in order to live and feed their families If you do not withdraw your troops, we are afraid not only Angelo dela Cruz but the lives of many Filipinos working in Iraq will be in jeopardy. In Iraq, the U.S.-led occupation forces is responsible for the killing of over 10,000 innocent Iraqi civilians by the illegal war. According to a survey commissioned by the United States occupation authorities themselves, four out five Iraqis want all the foreign armed forces to leave their country. By withdrawing your troops, you will not be giving in to the demands of "terrorists". Your decision of troops withdrawal and retraction of your support to the U.S.-lead illegitimate war not only will save your own people but also be welcomed by the Iraqi people. We are informed that thousands of Filipino people are in the streets urging your government to withdraw Philippine troops and to stop supporting the war. We are convinced that all Asian governments that have supported the U.S. war should retract their support for the U.S. and withdraw troops from Iraq. There are no reasons why Asian countries should be partner to the United States in a scheme that make us an enemy of another Asian people, Iraqi people in this case. In Japan we are pressing the Japanese government headed by Prime Minister Koizumi to call back its military forces from Iraq. Your brave decision will set a good example to other Asian governments mobilized for U.S. strategic interests and earn admiration of the people all over Asia as did your government's earlier decision to get U.S. bases out. We sincerely and in a sense of extreme urgency request you to act to save the life of Mr. Angelo dela Cruz.²
We support millions of Filipino people in their demand for the withdrawal of the Filipino forces from Iraq. We, of course, stand against abduction of civilians or terrorism against them. But nothing justifies the ongoing occupation and operation of the foreign forces in Iraq. It is entirely wrong to sacrifice a life of an innocent citizen in order to maintain the unjust occupation. It is now fully proved that the attack on Iraq by the US and its allies was conducted on the false ground. The sovereignty of Iraq should be returned to the people of Iraq with any further delay. The occupation of Iraq by the foreign forces, which the Iraqi citizens in consensus abhor, should be ended out of hand, and the reconstruction of Iraq must be conducted under the UN control. We call on the Filipino government to give top priority to the life of the hostage, and make a decision to withdraw its forces from Iraq, standing for the cause that peace be restored and that the sovereignty be given back to the Iraqi people. -Yayoi Tsuchida, Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombds We really hope to see Angelo dela Cruz back home to his family. We all share Filipino peoples' feeling, for our friends had been also captured in Iraq in April. There is no justification, form the beginning, for sending troops to Iraq. To take right decision, the earlier the better. We have been trying to pull our soldiers back to Japan. Withdraw all the foreign troops from Iraq for peace, justice and to save lives. in Solidarity Asako KAGEYAMA Hokkaido Asia, Africa, Latin America Solidarity Committee KOREA: Dear IRAQ SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN-Philippines: The People's Action Against the Dispatch of Korean Troops to Iraq sends you greetings in solidarity. It was with great sadness that we received the news about the Filipino man who was taken hostage in Iraq. We want to express our sympathy to his family. We recently went through a similar experience when we were devastated by the death of Kim Seon Il in Iraq. So many lives have been lost because of this illegal war that the US and its allies launched against Iraq. We also want to lend our support to your voice and solidarity to your actions calling for the withdrawal of the Philippine government's support of the US-led occupation of Iraq. This hostage taking must not continue, but these kinds of acts result from the unjust occupation of Iraq by foreign forces, including the Philippines, and led by the US. Iraqi people do not want the Philippines to send troops to Iraq or to continue supporting the occupation. Such actions deprive the Iraqi people of their legitimate right to self-determination. We struggle with you for the end of the occupation and the immediate withdrawal of Philippine and Korean military forces from Iraq.
We are very sorry to hearing the news that a Filipino contract worker, Angelo dela Cruz has been held hostage in Iraq. We hope he can be released soon and can meet his family and friends. We strongly condemn the US administration and it's allies including the South Korean Government and the Arroyo Government in Philippines for this tragedy. However the kinnapping is a terrorism action, yet it happened because of the war and occupation of iraq by the US and the coalition forces against iraqi people's will. Therefore we believe that the only fundamental solution which can briing safe and freendom for the Filipino workers, Iraq people who are suffering from the war and occupation and is immidiate withdrwal of foreign troops and end the occupation of Iraq. This war and occupation is for the US hegemony and oil. The ordinary people like Angelo dela Cruz and South Korean worker Kim sun il who was killed recently, are sacrifying for the rich and the powers. Not only Bush adminstration but also South Korean and Philippines government drive and support this war and occupation for their sake. They are war criminals. However, there is a hope can stop the war, occupation and this tregedy. Strong anti-war movement all around the world have achieved some victory like in Spain and the other countries. War performers are so unpopular at the moment in US, UK and South Korea as well. If we build strong anti-war movement together with Iraq people and people in the world. We can stop the war and occupation. We will keep our strrugle against our own government who virtually killed Kim sun il. We belive this is the most powerful solidarity with Philippines anti-war movements. Let's fight all together CungChan Choi on behalf of All Together and Globalize from Below NEW ZEALAND: The Chagossian Support Group Waiheke Island urges the Government of the Philippines to withdraw their support of the United States led illegal war in Iraq. The US Senate Intelligence Committee blamed the CIA and fellow spy agencies for "a series of failures" which one Democrat senator said had led to a war that the US Congress would not have voted for had the intelligence been accurate. Like the Chagossian people, who were kicked off their homeland to make room for a United States base, it is ordinary people who are used as cannon fodder and are increasingly at risk with their lives for the political and economic benefits of a selected few.²
PAKISTAN: We demand that the Filipino government, alongwith all other foreign governments, immediately withdraw its troops from Iraq and end the occupation led by the imperialist government of the United States. Working people in Pakistan support all anti-imperialist movements and deplore the fact that it is working people, whether Pakistani, Filipino, Iraqi or American that are dying in George W. Bush's dirty war.
PORTUGAL: FREE ANGELO DE LA CRUZ! NO BLOOD FOR OIL! NO FOREIGN TROOPS IN IRAK!² Susana Osorio (journalist) and Ramiro Osorio (architect) and 1534 Portuguese Friends of Filipinas TURKEY: All over the world governments are putting human security to peril in the name of state security. The peace and anti-war movements are working in collaboration to resist this. We strongly believe that Angelo de la Cruz should not pay for the atrocities of the war-mongers and we call on the Philippines government to withdraw from Iraq.²
UNITED STATES: It is said that rich people make wars. Poor people pay for them in blood and money. It has certainly been true that poor Iraqis -- indeed almost all Iraqis -- have paid dearly for the war. Poor workers from the United States who can't get a job in the civilian economy join the military and they are killed and wounded. And now poor Filipinos like hostage Angelo de la Cruz are forced to sacrifice for Bush's plan to conquer the Middle East. We in the International Action Center in the United States, one of the organizations in the anti-war movement, send our solidarity to the Filipino people who are demonstrating July 10 against the sending of Filipino troops to Iraq. We join in their demand on the government of the Philippines to withdraw its unit from Iraq and to cease playing a role in the illegal occupation of that country.² John Catalinotto for the International Action Center, USA We here in the United States bear responsibility for the fact that Angelo dela Cruz's life is hanging in the balance. Our government should have never dragged our troops and the "coalition of the coerced" into this war, and we should not be sending thousands of our unemployed to do the rebuilding that the Iraqis themselves are totally capable of doing. We stand in sympathy with Angelo de la Cruz and his family, and we stand in solidarity with the many thousands of Filipinos who tried to stop your government from collaborating with this illegal invasion and are now trying to force your government to end this collaboration. We are now at a time in history where the majority of Iraqis, Americans, Filipinos and world public opinion are calling for an end to the occupation and understand full well that Iraq will never be sovereign until it is no longer occupied by both foreign troops and foreign companies profiteering from the spoils of war. We call on the government of the Philippines to sever its ties with this occupation and in the process, to spare the life of Angelo de la Cruz. We call on our government here in the United States to bring our troops home and let Iraqis get on with the job of rebuilding their beleaguered nation.² -Medea Benjamin of Global Exchange, Code Pink: Women for Peace, also a member of the US largest anti-war coalition United for Peace and Justice
To the Filipino government: I am concerned about the welfare of Angelo de la Cruz. So many innocent people have already died in this cruel and unnecessary war in Iraq. Please do not allow one more avoidable death of one of your country-men! Withdraw your troops from Iraq. Iraqis donıt want them there just as they donıt want our U.S. troops there either. This unjust war should never have began, but now that it has, we have to end it as soon as possible. There is still hope for Angelo de la Cruz, donıt let him die!!²
A member of my family served in Iraq as a member of the US Army Reserve. We know firsthand how misguided and immoral the war is and urge all governments to withdraw from Iraq now.²
Please bring all Phillipine troops home. The war in Iraq is imoral, illegal, murderous, and I am ashamed of my government.
Dear President Macapagal: In January 1996, I had the privilege of hearing your lecture to student members of the U.P. Economic Club. At the time, I was a Visiting Research Fellow and Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Political Science at the U.P.-Diliman. At the time, we met very briefly since I brought a letter for your ailing father, the former President Diosdado Macapagal. I was very concerned to read and hear about the plight of Mr. Angelo dela Cruz. Having been captured, he is now a prisoner in Iraq, and his family is worried about the possibility that Mr. Cruz will be executed as a pawn in George Bush's Middle Eastern adventures. News of the possible tragedy is being broadcast on the radio, television and World Wide Web. Mr. Cruz reminds me of so many Filipino colleagues and friends. Like so many of his kababayan, apparently Mr. Cruz, too, was driven by economic deprivation to work overseas. But having taken that risk, now Mr. Cruz is at risk of losing his life because his job has become enmeshed in the U.S.-led war in the Middle East. Kawawa naman siya! Please reconsider your earlier "blank check" support to Bush. I see no evidence that Mr. Bush cares about the plight of the ordinary Filipino. Instead, he cares about re-election. Ordering Filipino soldiers and other Filipinos who are physically supporting U.S. military operations to leave Iraq will show that, in the words of Ang 1987 Konstitusyon_ that the Republic of the Philippines truly exercises "isang malayang patakarang panlabas." Please take the next step.
My heart goes out the family Angelo dela Cruz and the people of the Philippines who are demanding the withdrawal of Filipino troops from Iraq with the hopes of saving his life. It is my opinion that these troops should not be in Iraq in the first place, as the occupation is based on bogus reasons that have been conjured up to justify this crime against the people of Iraq, which in reality is unquestionably a blatant aggressive act intended to expand United Stateıs military and economic control over the Middle East. The peoples of the Philippines and elsewhere do not want their governments to be a party to this crime against humanity. The fear mongering, misinformation, and out and out lies that the media unquestionably reports will not deter us from stopping this war and the massacre of innocent victims.
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