* * *
‘Rats’ gear for Arroyo
visit to NY
Filipinos in the
United States have formed Rapid Action Teams (Rats) that will follow and
hound President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her visit for the 2005
United Nations World Summit in Manhattan on Sept. 15 and 16.
Dubbed as "Gotta-Go-Glo,"
the hounding tour which is a joint effort led by Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan (Bayan)-USA and the local NYC for Gloria's Ouster Coalition will
begin upon the president’s arrival in New York a week before the UN
summit.
"It befits Arroyo to
have Rats follow her around the city wherever she goes," said Bayan-USA’s
Berna Ellorin. "Rats, characteristically, smell and are attracted to what
is rotten in our society. Arroyo has proven the rotten and heinous nature
of her administration and now must heed the people's call for her to step
down."
Among the other
protest events organized in NYC are RAGE 2, or Rock Against Gloria, an
all-Filipino rock concert on September 3, at the C-Note located on 157
Avenue C and 10th St. 7pm in the East Village. The first RAGE concert was
held late 2000 titled “Rock Against Erap.” Bulatlat
* * *
Ocampo to file omnibus
bill on oil industry
Responding to widespread demands for immediate and long-term relief from
oil price increases, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said Aug. 24 that he
will file an omnibus petroleum industry bill that will repeal the Oil
Deregulation Law and restore state control on the highly important
product.
The highlights of the bill will include: the setting up of a
regulatory body similar to the former Energy Regulatory Board (ERB) that
will receive and hear applications for oil price increases with public
consultations; formation of a centralized oil procurement mechanism which
shall direct the government to look for the cheapest possible sources of
petroleum products from abroad; buying back of Petron from Aramco by
reallocating a portion of principal or interest payments for Philippine
foreign debt; and the aggressive research, development, and promotion of
alternative fuel sources.
"The people demand a
reprieve from the excesses under the regime of deregulation,” said Ocampo.
“Price hikes have become too frequent, while rollbacks are few and far
between.”
Ocampo also said that
the “State should also check and stop the exploitative practices of the
oil cartel like transfer-pricing, overpricing and over-recoveries.”
Bulatlat
* * *
Int’l peasant group slams call for Chavez’s
assassination
In its recent executive committee
teleconference, the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC), the largest peasant
organization in Asia, condemned Aug. 24 the statement of Pat Robertson, a
known U.S. televangelist, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan
president Hugo Chavez.
“This is the peak of hypocrisy for a
so-called man of God calling for the assassination of anyone let alone, a
popular president who was elected and defended by his people,” said APC
secretary general and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) chair Danilo
“Ka Daning” Ramos stressing Chavez’s “sweeping reforms for the improvement
of the lives of his people, particularly the workers and peasants.”
Meanwhile APC treasurer Dr. Irene
Fernandez, a Malaysian human rights advocate who is also a Nobel Peace
Prize nominee, said that “the 700 Club should be banned from airing and
Pat Robertson should be stopped from spewing his venomous
pronouncements.”
She also challenged George W. Bush to
condemn Robertson’s statement and do a decisive action against him and his
show. “If Bush does not do this and if anything untoward happens to
President Hugo Chavez, then we will also hold him accountable for this.”
The APC is composed of more than three
million peasants from the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Bulatlat
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