[nyfoil-l] [foil] Emergency picket Monday 6pm @ Philippine Consulate

[Dave Pugh]

Update, Sunday, July 11

The fate of Filipino workers, Angelo de la Cruz, the
Filipino worker held by alleged Iraqi insurgents, is
still not confirmed.  It appears he has not been
released, as claimed by the Arroyo government.

The deadline given by his captors for the Phils to
withdraw its 51 troops from Iraq is today (Sunday)
around 2pm.

In the Phils and around the world Filipinos are
holding vigils and rallies in an attempt to save
Angelo's life.  Arroyo says she doesn't want to withdraw
the 51 soldiers one month before schedule because she
doesn't want to look bad to the "international
community."  (Guess she means Bush!)

Please come out for a picket at the Philippine
Consulate on Monday [July 12] from 6 - 7pm.  It's at:
556 Fifth Ave at 46th St.

If you can, please make a placard.  The main slogans
they're using in the Philippines are:

Save the life of Angelo de la Cruz!
Filipino troops out of Iraq now!

The 1st slogan may change, but the second one is less
likely to change given Arroyo's track record of subservience
to the US.  We'll have to watch the news on Monday.
(See below for pictures of the continuing peace vigil in Manila.]

Please come out on Monday!!  Bring friends!  We need
solidarity statements, chant leaders, chanters, people with
energy, flag bearers, flyer-distributors, placard-holders, and
people to speak/read poetry.

NISPOP-NY

________________________________________________________________

PRESS STATEMENT & BACKGROUNDER
July 10, 2004
Contact:  Amanda Vender, 212-561-1567
nispop at nispop.org         www.nispop.org


Angelo de la Cruz, a 46 year-old Filipino truck driver and overseas  
worker in Iraq, was recently taken hostage by apparent Iraqi  
insurgents.  As of Saturday July 10, his captors are demanding that the  
Philippine government agree to pull out its 51 soldiers from Iraq by  
July 20, or else they will kill de la Cruz at the expiration of their  
Sunday deadline.  Mr. De la Cruz is the father of 8 children.  He was  
forced to find work abroad in order to rescue his family from the  
poverty experienced by 80% of the Filipino people.

The Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines (NISPOP)  
said that President Macapagal-Arroyo should have pulled out the 51  
Filipino soldiers long ago.
  “In addition to the 51 troops, she should pull out all 4,100 Filipino  
workers who are directly servicing the US military’s day-to-day  
operations in Iraq,” said Amanda Vender of NISPOP.  These Filipino  
contract workers are serving food, cleaning toilets, and providing  
other vital logistical support for US troops in Iraq.

  “We should not be surprised when anyone working for the US occupation  
in Iraq is kidnapped or killed,” continued Vender.  “The message is  
clear: Iraqis do not want to be colonized.  They do not want to be  
harassed, killed and tortured by US soldiers.  Iraq and its oil  
resources should be used to the benefit of the Iraqi people, not for  
the Rockefeller family’s Exxon-Mobil, Dick Cheney’s Halliburton, George  
Bush’s Carlyle Group, and the like.”

NISPOP, in partnership with GABRIELA Network NY/NJ, will hold an  
emergency demonstration in front of the Philippine Consulate on Monday,  
July 12, to demand the end of Philippine and US intervention in Iraq.   
The demonstration will take place from 6pm to 7pm at 556 Fifth Avenue  
at 46th Street.

The Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines is a  
grassroots organization dedicated to supporting the Filipino people’s  
struggle for self-determination and social and economic justice. NISPOP  
works to end US intervention in the Philippines, to promote the human  
rights of Filipinos and other immigrants in the US, and to build  
international people’s solidarity.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
----------------


Recent Photos of the Vigil in Manila:

From: 	  iteknobayan at edsamail.com.ph
Subject: 	Fotos/Text: Vigil at Plaza Miranda to save the life of OFW  
hostage
Date: 	July 11, 2004 4:30:30 PM EDT
	
For photos and text of the vigil at Plaza Miranda in downtown Manila of  
various sectoral organizations (BAYAN, Migrante, GABRIELA)
to save the life of Angelo de la Cruz, and to demand that Philippine  
troops be pulled out of Iraq now, please click onto:

http://www.geocities.com/arkibo04/vigil/vigil.htm


	
_______________________________________________
Foil-l mailing list
Foil-l at insaf.net
http://insaf.net/mailman/listinfo/foil-l_insaf.net