This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com).
Vol. VI, No. 23, July 17, 2006
U.S.-based Youth
Group Joins Calls for Bolante’s Extradition
BY EMILY VITAL The League of
Filipino Students at San Francisco State University (LFS-SSU), San
Francisco, USA urged the U.S. government to deny Jocelyne “JocJoc”
Bolante political asylum. In a statement, Princess
Bustos, chairperson of LFS-SFSU said, “It would not be right for the U.S.
government to give safe haven to a wanted man like Bolante. We want to hold
Bolante accountable for his crimes against the Filipino people. The U.S.
government should immediately deport Bolante so he can face all the charges of
graft and corruption, particularly the plunder of 728 million pesos (intended to
help Filipino farmers.” Members of the LFS chapter
in San Francisco have been keeping tabs on the Bolante case ever since a dozen
of them arrived in the Philippines last week. The Filipino American students
will be attending the annual State of the Nation Address protest as part of an
international contingent representing the International League of Peoples’
Struggles (ILPS). “Surely, Bolante does not
deserve to receive ‘special treatment’ as a political refugee. We Filipino
Americans know that many regular Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have been
deported with impunity often just because they did not have their immigration
papers in order. Furthermore we find it disgusting that the Philippine
Consulate in the United States has taken great initiative to offer Bolante legal
assistance while they have barely lifted a finger while many other working
Filipinos have been torn away from a much needed livelihood in the U.S.” “It will be absolutely
outrageous if the American government will entertain a request for asylum from
an alleged criminal, yet has punished victims of circumstance such as OFWs,”
Bustos added. Since the time of the
arrest of former Agriculture Undersecretary Jocelyne “JocJoc” Bolante the front
pages of newspapers all throughout the country have been plastered with huge
headlines reporting the arrest of a “GMA point man” and the Philippine Senate
calling for the extradition of Bolante to the Philippines. The LFS-SFSU chapter also
said that the Philippine government should demonstrate its commitment to due
process and step up its efforts to extradite Bolante. “If GMA claims that she is
a just leader of the people then perhaps she should show some responsibility
towards the masses of tax paying Filipinos whose millions of hard-earned pesos
have been misused. GMA should force Bolante to return to the Philippines.” said
Bustos. Bustos also stated,
“LSF-SFSU challenges President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to hold both current and
former members of her cabinet accountable for their alleged involvement in
schemes of plunder. Obviously GMA is afraid to extradite Joc Joc since her
hands have been soiled by dirty campaign money which was originally intended to
help the people of the Philippines.” Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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Alipato Media Center Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
Posted 3:55 p.m. July 17, 2006