NEW YORK, United States – No justice, no peace! Stop the killings in the Philippines! President Benigno Aquino IIIs dialogue with students and guests of Columbia University in New York got interrupted twice when youth activists stood up to protest his alleged inaction on impunity in the Philippines, and the supposed corruption of aid for Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) victims. Three activists from Bayan USA, Anakbayan, and Gabriela cut the President short as he was answering questions on media killings in the Philippines at the universitys World Leaders Forum on Tuesday, September 23. People who are basically political activists in the Philippines, they are just fighting for what they’re believing. It’s a slap on the face of the Filipino people for you to stand there and [say] that a killing is a killing. You have to be [careful] when you talk to an international audience. I have family members in the Philippines, said a male activist who interrupted Aquino midway his answer. Then another female activist also stood up and began shouting. I look up to your mother! I am a Filipino woman. I saw her as a hero. A modern day hero. And what do you do? You want a charter change to extend your presidency? Now I see the reality of what your family has done. I have been to Hacienda Luisita, she said, referring to the estate of the familys president where farmers were killed in a 2004 strike.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 22:04:43 +0000