MANILA, Dec 11, 2009—Hundreds of Filipino American women and their counterparts in the New York protest the implementation of martial law in Mindanao after the carnage happened last November 23rd.
The Filipinas for Rights and Empowerment (FIRE) in a statement said, Mrs. Arroyo’s Proclamation 1959 endangers the basic freedom of the people of Maguindanao, especially that of women and children.
Valerie Francisco, chairperson of FIRE said, martial law in Maguindanao is a “is a joke and an underhanded political move to give the very collaborative suspects of the Maguindanao Massacre, the AFP and the Ampatuan clan.
“To expect the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to deliver justice for the Ampatuan victims, when the AFP themselves are the prime suspects is a ridiculous claim,” Francisco stated.
“Moreover, this political move only shows GMA's greed and hunger to maintain power and protect her allies. Martial law in Maguindanao capitalizes on the horror of the massacre surrendering power to military forces and has deep implications for martial law in the whole country. Martial law only means more killings, arrests, abductions, human rights violations, and the militarization of communities for civilians,” she added.
FIRE fears that with the increase of militarization, women and children will be easily made victims and they are susceptible to rape and other wartime sex crimes.
“When women are arrested, they face the danger of being sexually molested or raped by the military. During times of militarization, women and children experience a sense of fear created by military control; loss of home, crops, animals for entire communities; displacement of indigenous people meaning loss of cultural identities and the destruction of their close relationship with the land; loss of education, when children cannot go to school; emotional and psychological effects of militarization; and increased poverty,” she explained. (Noel Sales Barcelona)
