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ALBRIGHT'S ARRIVAL
MET WITH WOMEN'S PROTEST
PRESS RELEASE
July 26, 1998
Members of the militant women's organization GABRIELA met the arrival of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright with a protest action against the Visiting Forces Agreement this afternoon.
The group chanting "No, Albright, VFA is not alright!" staged the picket in front of the Manila Hotel where Albright is expected to join the ongoing ASEAN Ministerial Meeting. Part of Albright's agenda in her visit is to hold bilateral talks with the Philippine government on VFA.
"We are here to tell US Secretary of State Albright that we do not want
another round of abuses of our women and children. We do not want our women
and children prostituted. And we do not want the sovereignty of our country
trampled" said Marion Tan, spokesperson of GABRIELA.
The militant women's group said that "the presence of US military personnel
always result in an increase of prostituted women and children, especially in
the context of widespread poverty." The group cited that the number of
entertainment joints in Magsaysay Ave. alone in Olongapo City, site of the Subic
Naval Base, reached a peak of 330 while the number of "entertainers"
reached 32,000 in the whole city.
The group, also criticizing the 'immunity clause' of the agreement said that "VFA will protect the US military servicemen. But who will protect our women and children they will abuse?" Between 1981 to 1988, fifteen cases of sexual abuse involving children aged 11 to 16 years old and 82 cases involving young women aged 16 and above were filed against US servicemen. All these cases were dismissed. These are only the official documented cases while many more went unreported.
At the same time, the group called US Ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Hubbard "delusional" when the ambassador claimed that majority of the Filipino people support VFA. "He need only look back in the recent history of our country when the Filipino people clamored for the eviction of the US military bases which culminated with the Senate's rejection of the Military Bases Agreement" Tan added.
President Joseph Estrada, who once opposed US military presence in the country, is now pushing for the ratification of the VFA. The group will continue their protest along with other organizations under Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) on a mass action tomorrow on President Estrada's first State of the Nation Address.
