The US Court Martial recently dismissed the rape charges against an American soldier stationed in Okinawa, Japan who was accused of raping a Filipina migrant worker. BY BULATLAT The US Court Martial recently dismissed the rape charges against an American soldier stationed in Okinawa, Japan who was accused of raping a Filipina migrant worker. On…
Tags: Visiting Forces Agreement
Filipino Migrant Groups Condemn ‘Brutal’ Anti-VFA Rally Dispersal; Call for More EDSAs to Gain Genuine Freedom
Filipino migrant organizations in the United States and Canada condemned what they called the “brutal” treatment of activists marching to the US Embassy in Manila on Feb. 25. BY AUBREY MAKILAN-DELA CRUZ MIGRANT WATCH Bulatlat Filipino migrant organizations in the United States and Canada condemned what they called the “brutal” treatment of activists marching to…
Groups Appeal SC Ruling, Hit Sol-Gen Motion on VFA Case
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat The multi-secrtoral group Bagong Alyansang makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance), together with other cause-oriented groups and individual petitioners, filed today a motion for reconsideration on the custody of L/Cpl. Daniel Smith of the US Marines, who was convicted in the SUbic rape case, and the constitutionality of the Visiting…
Bayan Hits Romulo for Bungling Talks on Smith Custody
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance) slammed the Arroyo government for ‘conveniently placing the future of the negotiations on the custody of convicted rapist Daniel Smith in the hands of so-called American treaty experts.’ Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo was told that US State Department…
Group Urges Arroyo: Get Smith; Sack DFA, DILG Heads
BY BULATLAT The multi-sectoral group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) has called on the Arroyo administration to to immediately regain custody of convicted rapist L/Cpl. Daniel Smith and to sack Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno. This call comes on the heels of yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling that…
US Troops Are Here to Stay, Concealed in Bases Within AFP Camps
Since losing a number of its major overseas bases in the 1990s, the US has had to make shifts in its basing strategy. It now increasingly relies on what its Department of Defense calls “Cooperative Security Locations” (CSLs), and there is now less emphasis on “Main Operating Bases” (MOBs). The US has a number of…
US Troops Back
Seventeen years ago, the Philippine Senate voted to reject the renewal of the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, ending more than 40 years of US military presence and activity in the Philippines. The decision was met with acclaim from nearly all quarters, indicating it had broad support from the population. Within a year, the Filipino people once…
Group to Question US Troops’ Presence in SC Oral Arguments
Apart from the issues of custody arising from the Subic Rape case, Bayan said that it also plans to question the “duration and scope of the seemingly permanent presence of US troops in Mindanao.” Bulatlat.com Vol. VIII, No. 31, September 7-13, 2008 The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-New Patriotic Alliance), through its lawyers, would…
From VAT, VAW to VFA: GWP Takes on Women’s Struggles
As Congress opens, the only women’s party-list group in the House of Representatives continues to uphold women’s rights and welfare through legislation. The Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) shares with Bulatlat its priority bills and resolutions, which include scrapping the Value-Added Tax and the Visiting Forces Agreement, tackling human trafficking, working for maternity leave extension, legislating…
Militants Score Extension of MLSA, Seek Congressional Review
The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) urged Congress to look into the reported extension of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA). Bayan maintained that the circumstances surrounding the extension of the pact are ‘shrouded in secrecy…[and]…raises serious questions regarding the real intentions of both the Philippine and U.S. governments. BY…
Militants Assail Signing of Philippines-Aussie Defense Pact
BY EMILY VITAL Bulatlat Breaking News May 31, 2007 – 6:02pm Some 60 members of militant groups staged a picket in front of the Australian Embassy in Makati City, May 31, to protest the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the Philippines and Australia. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is in Australia for a…