Bulatlat - The Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine

This story was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 5, March 5-11, 2006

Pickets in Netherlands Greet Proclamation No. 1017

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s issuance of Proclamation No. 1017, placing the Philippines under a state of national emergency, was greeted by pickets at The Hague and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

BY BULATLAT

Chanting “Gloria Arroyo, weg, weg weg!” (out, out, out), protesters picketed the Philippine embassy in The Hague March 1 to condemn the arrests of progressive party list congressmen and the raid on several opposition newspapers precipitated by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Feb. 24 issuance of Proclamation 1017.

The protesters from the Nederlands-Filippijnse Solidariteitsbeweging (Philippine Solidarity Group-Netherlands) and MIGRANTE Europe were joined by activists from the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) and HTIF (Confederation of Workers from Turkey in Europe).

They distributed statements to passers-by and shouted slogans calling for Gloria Arroyo’s ouster. The statements were signed by several Filipino organizations in the Netherlands like Pinay sa Holland (Filipinas in Holland), Migrante Party List-Netherlands, Kabalikat (shoulder to shoulder), Linkap, Migrante-Netherlands, Committee DEFEND, ILPS-NL and some friends of the Filipino people.

The protesters were joined by Guido van Leemput, international secretary of the Socialist Party of the Netherlands, which has several seats in the Dutch Parliament. He said he went to the picket as an individual concerned over the situation in the Philippines. He said he plans to bring the issue for discussion within his party so that their members of parliament can call the attention of the Dutch Parliament regarding the alarming situation in the Philippines.

Representatives of the protesters went inside the embassy to discuss their concern with Philippine embassy officials.

The protesters vowed to continue with their mass actions in the next few days and weeks even months, until the state of emergency is lifted, those arrested released and Gloria Arroyo steps down from the presidency.

The next day, Amsterdam-based Filipinos held a picket at the Dam Square, the city’s main plaza. Calling on European governments to withdraw support from the Macapagal-Arroyo regime, the protesters also demanded the lifting of Proclamation No. 1017, the release of all persons detained during the proclamation, respect for freedom of expression and civil liberties, and a stop to media repression.

Macapagal-Arroyo lifted Proclamation No. 1017 on March 3.

But Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita had earlier admitted that the “crackdown” on “destabilizers” would continue even after Proclamation No. 1017 is lifted. Likewise, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Arturo Lomibao said the lifting of the proclamation would not halt the formulation and implementation of editorial guidelines for media. Bulatlat

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