.OUST THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES.

>> Before you rock your "NEW ERA FILIPINO FITTED" tilted to the side of your dome..
Let me drop some knowledge about the inhumane state of corruption & chaos my beloved homeland THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES is experiencing due to the regime of Pres. Macapagal Arroyo. Every story about the struggles of my family, friends & relatives living in the Philippines cuts my soul deep & inspires me to spread awareness to my fellow Filipinos living here in the States regarding this very serious issue.




In the Philippines, in 2007 alone there were over 16,000 human rights violations under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's regime, including torture, displacement, extra-judicial killings, and enforced disappearances of hundreds of men and women from among political activists, peasants, workers, journalists, church people, lawyers and other civilians from various sectors of Philippine society.

According to a GMA News (not named after her) poll, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is rated by Filipino citizens to be the most corrupt president in the history of the Philippines, more so than Joseph Estrada, the president she succeeded, and even more than dictator and martial law holder Fidel Ramos. Both Estrada and Ramos required "People Power" revolutions to oust them from power, and they had lower corruption ratings than GMA. Where's the People Power now?

This video compilation was produced in order to show the terrible events occurring in the Philippines to the world. These events are not covered by CNN or other American news networks because GMA is one of George W. Bush's strongest allies in the War on Terror. Their unique relationship and parallels are displayed in the video. While the killings and kidnappings in the Philippines are not at dangerously genocidal levels such as Sudan or the Congo or Kenya or Burma, they are arguably the most invisible atrocities to the world, America, and especially the Filipino American population in the United States, who as the second largest Asian American population in the country are similarly just as invisible.

This video also shows the importance of the Writ of Amparo, an act similar to the Freedom of Information Act that allows Filipino citizens to discover the whereabouts of their deceased family and friends and disallow the military denial of plausibility. Please be sure to check out the websites at the end of the film, as they can provide you with more information about the Writ of Amparo and the extrajudicial violations going on in the Philippines today.

PRIVILEGE IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR IGNORANCE AND INACTION. EDUCATION = EMPOWERMENT.

Originally showed 01/31/08 at the "BitterSweets: Hope. Activism. Chocolate." event at the University of Michigan. Created by Kenneth Valdevieso Uy, Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies minor at the University of Michigan.