San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

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San Francisco Bay Area

Filipino Mother of Two Faces Imminent Deportation
From Immigration Equality:

"Immigration Equality is calling on legislators to act on behalf of a Northern California family that may soon be torn apart because the parents are lesbians.  Because immigration laws discriminate against lesbian and gay couples, Shirley Tan will likely be deported this Friday, April 3. Tan will be separated from her life partner Jaylynn “Jay” Mercado, their 12-year-old twin sons, and Jay’s 76-year-old mother, for whom Tan is the primary caretaker.  The deportation will send Tan back to the Philippines, where she was a victim of extreme violence... Unlike straight Americans, Mercado cannot sponsor her partner of 23 years for immigration. The Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) would remedy this discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans and allow them to sponsor their partners for immigration. The bill, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy in the Senate and Rep. Jerrold Nadler in the House, has 110 cosponsors in Congress..."

UPDATE: "Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA-12), [a co-sponsor of the UAFA], successfully reached out to immigration officials and asked to delay the deportation of Shirley Tan so she can assemble more facts in Shirley's case. While this  action will delay Shirley's deportation for a few weeks, passage of the UAFA will be necessary to ensure that Jaylynn "Jay" Mercado and Shirley can keep their family intact in their home in Pacifica, CA..."

Take  action today on behalf of an estimated 37,000 same-sex couples in the United States where one partner is a non-citizen.
 

The Philippines

Justice for the Triple Abductions of Melissa Roxas, Juanito Carabeo, and John Edward Handoc!
Sign the open letter calling for policy-makers to issue a strong statement to the Arroyo government, Philippine Department of National Defense, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to investigate, arrest, and prosecute the abductors of Melissa Roxas, Juanito Carabeo, and John Edward Handoc to the fullest extent of the law.

Melissa was abducted along with two others, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc, last May 19th at around 1:30pm in Sitio Bagong Sikat, Bgy. Kapanikian, La Paz, Tarlac. Based on reports filed by the human rights group Karapatan and the La Paz police, Roxas and her companions were taken by at least 8 fully-armed, bonnet-clad men on board two motorcycles and a Besta van without any plate numbers.  

Though Melissa and her companions have since surfaced on May 25th, the fight for justice is far from over. Melissa's abductors still roam free and unprosecuted in the Philippines.
 
End Unequal Relations Between the  Philippines and the US!
Sign the online petition calling for President Barack Obama to junk the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) today.

We demand:
• That in the interest of justice, the U.S. government surrender custody of convicted rapist Daniel Smith to Philippine authorities
• That the U.S. government terminate the R.P.-U.S. Visiting Forces Agreement for being an unequal pact saddled with legal problems
• That the U.S. government recall the U.S. troops stationed in the Philippines and cease any further deployment under any pretext
• That the U.S. Congress terminate military aid to the Philippines and exclude the Philippines from any allocation of military aid in future years.

The Humanitarian Crisis in Mindanao
An unprecedented humanitarian crisis has brought about tremendous suffering, illness, and death to more than 500,000 war refugees in Mindanao, Philippines. The numbers continue to rise as they crowd evacuation centers, makeshift tents or shelter with relatives. They are not able to return home due to all-out war offensives. Help the evacuees by knowing the issues and responding to their immediate needs like medicines, food and clothing. Visit the website kalinaw.com.ph for details on how you can extend your support.   Our work for peace starts with a kilo of rice for the hungry, a blanket to give warmth to a child, a health worker's healing touch, and an advocate's voice to end all-out war.   Act now to make this happen. Your help counts.

Surface James M. Balao!
Sign the online petition today.

Petition Text: "We are alarmed and disturbed with the enforced disappearance of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) member James M. Balao since September 17, 2008. His family has no information of his whereabouts up to this moment. We urgently call for the immediate and unconditional surfacing of James, in the spirit of upholding our basic human rights, very basic of which is the right to life and security which must not be denied to anyone.

His enforced disappearance is being attributed to his work with the legal people's movement advocating indigenous peoples rights, human rights and social justice. Balao has reported that he was being surveilled since June and this heightened until his disappearance last week. The CPA and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) point to military intelligence agents as the perpetrators of this violation.

Since the Arroyo government implemented its Operation Plan Bantay Laya in 2001, members and leaders of legal and legitimate people's organizations such as the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) have been targeted for neutralization by agents of the state and are unjustly labeled as communist fronts and terrorist organizations. Innocent lives have already been claimed as a result of this State policy of political and extrajudicial killings, and Balao is the second case of enforced disappearance to a CPA member or officer, since Ama Daniel Ngayaan was abducted in 1987.

We ask the Philippine National Police, the Armed Forces of the Philippines to fully assist the family, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance in the search for James Balao.

The State policy Oplan Bantay Laya which has labelled legal progressive organizations such as the Cordillera Peoples Alliance as "sectoral fronts" of the Communist Party of the Philippines, National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army should be immediately terminated. We call on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to sincerely implement the recommendations of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston: 'As Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, the President must take concrete steps to put an end to those aspects of counterinsurgency operations which have led to the targeting and execution of many individuals working with civil society organizations.'

We call on the Philippine Government to observe the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) and other international human rights laws and declarations such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

The search for James Balao gets more and more urgent by the minute. He must be immediately and unconditionally surfaced."

Cordillera Peoples Alliance Public Information Commission:

P.O. Box 975
No. 2 P. Guevarra Street
West Modern Site, Aurora Hill
Baguio City, Philippines 2600

Phone: 063-74-442-2115
Fax: 063-74-443-7159
Email: pic@cpaphils.org
Website: www.cpaphils.org