GMA-BUSH TALKS: DO NOT USE SULU KIDNAPPING AS AN EXCUSE FOR INCREASED US MILITARY PRESENCE IN MINDANAO -GABRIELA

With the recent Sulu kidnapping on the agenda of President Arroyo’s meeting with US President George Bush, Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Liza Largoza Maza warned against using the incident as a pretext for increased US military presence in the country.
“US military presence and intervention will not resolve kidnap for ransom incidents in Mindanao just as [...]

GABRIELA SOLONS WANT OKINAWA RAPE ON GMA’S US TRIP AGENDA

As President Arroyo sets to leave for her trip to the United States, women’s Partylist group Gabriela today called on President Arroyo to include in her agenda, the US military and government’s accountability in the rape case of Hazel, the Filipina migrant worker who was raped by a US soldier in Okinawa February of this [...]

OKINAWA RAPE CASE: SHOWCASE OF VIOLENCE, NEGLECT, INUTILITY, SERVILITY TO US MILITARY RULE

“More than being a case of sexual violence, the rape of our “kabaro”, Hazel, an Overseas Filipino Worker in Okinawa is a showcase of government neglect and inutility and of lopsided foreign military relations that the Philippines refuse to stand up against. We throw our support for Hazel and her continuing battle for justice.”
This was [...]

SIX-HOUR WORKDAY NOT ENOUGH; TEACHERS NEED P9000 ACROSS-THE-BOARD WAGE INCREASE

While the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Memorandum No. 291 giving public school teachers a six-hour workday as opposed to the previous eight-hour is a welcome change, Gabriela Women’s Party representative Luzviminda C. Ilagan said that it is not enough.
“The DepEd memo will only give teachers more time to prepare their lesson plans and perform other [...]

GABRIELA SOLON: INCREASE SALARY OF TEACHERS

Following the call of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) for a salary increase, Gabriela Women’s Party representative Luzviminda C. Ilagan urges her fellow legislators to work on giving public school teachers what is due them.
“It’s high time that we increase our teachers’ salaries. Theirs was among the lowest in the country and we must [...]

GABRIELA SOLONS CALL ON GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE ON THE DEATH OF FILIPINA OVERSEAS WORKER; EXPRESS CONCERN OVER WELFARE OF FILIPINOS ABROAD

The Gabriela Women’s Party representatives call justice for Eugenia Baja, the overseas Filipino worker who died of a mysterious cause in Saudi Arabia on February 24 and whose body has just recently been repatriated.
“The unknown nature of her death warrants an investigation. We are calling on the Philippine government to cooperate with the proper authorities [...]

GABRIELA SOLON SAYS NO TO COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM EXTENSION, YES TO GENUINE AGRARIAN REFORM

“Extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) is extending the suffering of our farmers,” Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luzviminda C. Ilagan said when asked to explain her “NO” vote to Committee Report No. 506 or the House Bill 4077 which will extend the implementation of CARP.
Ilagan explained that her vote against CARP extension does not [...]

DO NOT ABANDON ABANDO AND OTHER FILIPINOS IMPRISONED ABROAD

Gabriela Women’s Representative Luzviminda C. Ilagan asked the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to exhaust all efforts to help an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) illegally detained in Kuwait.
In a letter to DFA Sec. Alberto G. Romulo, Ilagan asked the department to provide immediate assistance to Amando Abando, an automotive mechanic who was arrested last February [...]

EMERGENCY POWERS: UNECESSARY FOR FOOD CRISIS, NECESSARY FOR POLITICAL CRISIS

Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Liza Maza today said Malacanang is gearing up into using the food crisis as an excuse to give President Arroyo more space for political maneuvers amid brewing unrest by giving her emergency powers.
“No special or emergency powers are needed by President Arroyo to properly address the food crisis. As a matter [...]

OLIVARES CONVICTION IS MALACANANG’S WARNING TO ARROYO CRITICS

“Once more press freedom suffers a serious blow with the conviction of Ms. Ninez Cacho Olivares.”
Thus said Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Liza Maza today as courts find Tribune editor and columnist Ninez Cacho Olivares guilty of libel. “Without a doubt this conviction is meant to send a chilling message against those who dare to expose, [...]