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Railroading of anti-terror bill protested

Various cause-oriented and human rights groups picketed Congress late last week to protest reports of railroading of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2003 (ATB).

Teddy Casiño, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general, warned House Speaker Jose de Venecia, to be "not so fast.” “The ATB is too dangerous a bill to be railroaded by you and your ilk," he said.

Bayan has called the proposed act the "Anti-Sneezing Act of 2003" in reference to Rep. Marcelo Libanan's admission that the bill may penalize sneezing as an act of terrorism "depending on the intent of the person sneezing."

Casiño charged that the anti-terrorism bill is not about fighting terrorism as it [the bill] criminalizes and designates as terrorist acts the various means of dissent like strikes, mass demonstrations, barricades, rebellions and even people's uprisings.

Opposition to the bill has also come from various church organizations including the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), the Promotion of Church People’s Rights (PCPR) and others.

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Protest greets GMA’s visit in Seoul

Filipinos and South Koreans greeted President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Seoul with placards that read "U.S. Troops Out of the Philippines" and a mural depicting Arroyo as a puppet of U.S. President George Bush.

The demonstrators voiced their opposition to Arroyo’s wholehearted support for the U.S. war on terror and status of “non-NATO major ally” bestowed on the Philippines by Bush.

"It is not pride that we feel but tremendous shame. NATO is not such a reputable group to belong to for its only purpose of existence is to protect the economic interests of superpowers like the U.S. through coercion and sheer brutality," Kasammako, which groups Filipino migrants in South Korea, declared.

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Another activist leader missing in Mindoro

A month after the abduction and brutal killing of human rights activists Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy in Mindoro Oriental, another regional activist leader from Southern Tagalog has been declared missing.

Lino Bernardino, deputy secretary general of Katipunan ng Magsasaka sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) and lay worker of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines –Southern Luzon left for Occidental Mindoro on May 24 and never returned since then.

Bernardino informed his family that he was to perform his task as a lay missionary in that area. Until today, his family and friends still do not know of his whereabouts.

“We have a strong feeling that the military is again involved in this case” Edwin Alog, deputy secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Southern Tagalog (BAYAN-ST) said.

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