PHILIPPINES: Indigenous peoples’ organizations across Asia call for immediate end to continued killings and abuses of Lumads in Mindanao

20 October 2015 – More than seventy indigenous peoples’ organizations across Asia are calling for an end to the continued killings of and other abuses against Lumads in Mindanao in their joint letter of appeal letter to President Benigno Aquino III after another Lumad leader was killed last September. These organizations also call for an independent and transparent investigation on the roles and accountability of both the paramilitary forces and the Philippine Army in the violence against the Lumads who are the indigenous peoples of southern Philippines in the island of Mindanao […]

Filipino Solidarity Activists Call for Inclusion of Genuine Peace and Democratization in Burma in PH-MYA Bilateral Talks

One hundred (100) solidarity activists belonging to the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines (FBCP) today held a symbolic action in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to press for Burmese people’s demands in the second day of Burmese President Thein Sein’s visit to the Philippines […]

Philippine Activists Call to Postpone Gas and Trans-Burma Pipeline Projects; Urge Thein Sein Regime to Exercise Social and Environmental Responsibility

Philippine solidarity activists today joined the Global Day of Action against the construction of oil and gas pipelines in Burma called the Shwe Gas and Trans-Burma Pipelines Project led by Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and the Chinese state-owned China National Petroleum Company […]

Rally for the Commemoration of 4th years of Saffron Revolution: We Want Real Change for Burma

On the 4th anniversary of the Saffron Revolution, Solidaritas Indonesia for ASEAN People (SIAP), KontraS, Imparsial, FPPI, PBHI,LBH Pers and YLBHI, as Indonesian civil society who is also part of the community of the ASEAN people […]

End Oppression Now! Support a Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in Burma!

More than 50 people representing the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines held a demonstration in front of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at Roxas Blvd in Manila calling on the Philippine government to support the international call for the creation of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma. The demonstrators held a program to commemorate the 23rd year anniversary of the violent crackdown on Burma’s national people’s uprising outside of the DFA building while a short ceremony was happening inside to celebrate the 44th year since the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) […]

Letter to President of Republic of the Philippines by members of Free Burma Coalition – Philippines

Today, pro-democracy groups around the world observe the 23rd Anniversary of the EDSA-inspired August 8,1988 national uprising in Burma. Mr. President, today is the day when more than10,000 peaceful demonstrators were shot, arrested and killed […]

Filipino solidarity activists lambast Burmese junta’s “bogus” prisoner amnesty

About a hundred of Filipino solidarity activists under the Free Burma Coalition-Philippines (FBC-Phils) today held a solidarity action in front of the Myanmar (Burma) Embassy in Makati City, Philippines in line with the international celebration of Aung San Suu Kyi’s 66th birthday on June 19 […]

President Aquino Should Lead Move to Probe Burma

By Patrick Pierce

President Benigno Aquino III, whose father fought and died at the hands of Ferdinand Marcos’ military dictatorship and whose late mother was the leader and inspiration of the People Power uprising that re-established civilian rule and political freedom for Filipinos, should know what the people of neighboring Burma are going through. Despite recent elections and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, Burma’s military still controls political life.

Former military officers have formed the post-election government. Parliament is dominated by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party. A quarter of legislators consist of active military officers. The military and those who led the dictatorship remain unaccountable to any independent civilian authority and continue to commit massive violations of civil and political as well as economic and social human rights with impunity […]

Philippinas March in Solidarity with the Women of Burma

The women of Free Burma Coalition Philippines (FBC-Phils) held a rally to mark International Women’s Day, standing in unity with all the other women around the world in expressing their commitment to end injustice, impunity and all forms of violence against women.

FBC-Phils drew attention to the women of Burma who continue to suffer from all forms of abuses perpetrated by a brutal military government that is unelected and unwanted by their own people. The ruling military junta of Burma systematically uses rape as a weapon of war, victimizing women and children of different ethnicities all over the country […]

Suu Kyi sees ASEAN role in restoring democracy — Loren

Aung San Suu Kyi believes that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) would play a vital role in restoring democratic institutions in her country, according to Sen. Loren Legarda. After a meeting with the pro-democracy icon in Yangon, Myanmar, Legarda called on the Philippine government to continue playing an active role in moving for the restoration of democratic institutions in the country still ruled by a military junta […]