After their rally yesterday in front of the Myanmar (Burma) Embassy, activists under Free Burma Coalition-Philippines today held another rally outside the Thai Royal Embassy in Makati City and urged Thailand government, the next Chair of the ASEAN to also echo the demand for the immediate postponement of National Referendum in Burma. FBC-Phils is urging the ASEAN to likewise help in monitoring safe delivery of goods and services in disaster struck areas of the said cyclone-devastated country.

Holding banners with slogans “DO NOT POLITICIZE RELIEF DISTRIBUTION!”, said rally was attended by women activists from Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, Partido ng Manggagawa and the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID).

FBC-Phils said that the junta should postpone the National Referendum set on May 10 not just on cyclone affected areas. The military regime of Burma already made an official announcement that it would postpone the referendum but only on affected areas of Burma.

The group reiterated that it is “improper and untimely” to pursue the referendum considering that the entire country is in distress. “Relief before Referendum is the main call of the FBC-Phils.

Egoy Bans, the FBC-Phils spokesperson said, “After ensuring safe delivery of food, medicine, water and other forms of assistance to the victims, Burma should still undergo a period of rehabilitation. The people especially women and children, the most vulnerable and marginalized in times of disaster, were traumatized by the effects of the cyclone. Right now, the people are more concerned on their own survival than voting on May 10.”

While it has been reported that ASEAN is also ready to send emergency aid, FBC-Phils stressed that the role of the regional grouping should not end in sending aid to Burma. The ASEAN should monitor delivery of goods to the victims and it is just timely for the ASEAN to convince Burma to postpone the planned referendum nationwide, the group added.

DEPOLITICIZE RELIEF DISTRIBUTION!

The group however warned that the military regime may politicize aid distribution and the junta may use this to further their own agenda on May 10.

Bans explained, “We are in a situation where the junta is hell-bent to pursue the referendum and the people right now are desperate to survive. To be blunt about it, everybody including the ASEAN and aid workers should be watchful for the “goods” not to be bartered for a “YES” vote on May 10″.

THERE HAVE BEEN SIGNS!

“We are just worried because there have been signs. First, the UN and other agencies are complaining about restrictions in mobility of aid workers, and some cannot assess the victims’ needs because of tight control in communications.” explained the FBC-Phils spokesperson.

The group said that knowing the junta that is fond of dirty tricks, it can do everything even playing on the emotions of its own people.

Free Burma Coalition-Philippines
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific
Bagong Kamalayan
Partido ng Manggagawa
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

Around 70 members of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), World March of Women ??? Pilipinas, and Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) marched this morning in front of the Chinese Embassy in Makati to protest the ongoing crackdown against the Tibetan protesters.

Holding pictures of Tibetan victims of the killings, the groups denounced the restriction against international media coverage by China, preventing the world to see the real victims and perpetrators in the violence that followed the groundswell of protests last March. China has blamed the Tibetans for the violence, which pushed the Dalai Lama to threaten resignation. According to Tibetan groups, China precisely wanted that to happen towards removing moral authority from the Tibetan struggle and declaring them as terrorists.

???Numerous evidences have come out proving that Chinese police have dressed themselves up as monks and as ordinary Tibetans, held knives, robbed and set shops in Lhasa into fire,??? according to the statement of the groups. Already, at least 140 Tibetans were killed and 1000 imprisoned, most of them monks and nuns.

Speakers underscored the strategic interest of China in Tibet, which has deepened in the recent years. ???As China built roads, railways, bridges in and through Tibet, the exploitation of their resources by Canadian, Australian and Chinese corporations left the Tibetan population as among the poorest in the world. Too, China’s primary weapon research and design facility is located in the northeastern Tibetan province of Amdo,??? said Jing Geaga, Coordinator of the World March of Women in the Philippines.

Marlene Sindayen of the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) criticized the discrimination against Tibetan workers by the Chinese employers. ???Many Tibetans cannot find employment unless they speak Chinese,??? according to Sindayen. Moreover, ???virginity testing” is one of the most disturbing discriminatory practices against Tibetan women looking for employment. The purpose of the virginity test is to determine a job applicant’s “fitness” for employment. This is done by putting a hand inside a woman to check her virginity.

Cases of violence against Tibetan women, especially torture and prostitution in the hands of Chinese authorities, were denounced. According to Jean Enriquez, Executive Director of CATW-AP,

???Sexual torture, is applied to women political prisoners, including the nuns. These include use of dogs, use of lighted cigarettes, stripping prisoners naked, and penetration of the women???s orifices with electrical batons.???

???Prostitution has staggeringly increased in the face of economic hardship and discrimination against Tibetan women. But the most important factor is probably the influx of Chinese soldiers,??? added Enriquez.

The Tibetan government in exile says there are 300,000 Chinese soldiers stationed in the autonomous region alone Tibetan victims of prostitution are as young as 13 or 14.

The groups made parallels between China???s complicity in the recent killings and imprisonment of numerous monks, nuns, women, students and workers by the Military Junta in Burma, and China???s complicity in the same acts in Tibet. Jun Bans of the Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) called on the world to look intently into the incidents in Lhasa, and beyond that, understand the roots of the Tibetan people???s struggle. ???Stop the violence against the Tibetans! Let the Olympic torch light the way toward restoring freedoms to the Tibetans,??? Bans concluded.

A torch, parodying the Olympic symbol, is carried by the group. It was labeled ???torch of freedom for the Tibetans.???

Numerous evidences have come out proving that Chinese police have dressed themselves up as monks and as ordinary Tibetans, held knives, robbed and set shops in Lhasa into fire. But before such evidences came out, the Chinese authorities blamed the Tibetans for the death of five young women (which includes a Tibetan) in a clothing shop. Staging of riots as coming from dissenters has been done by Chinese authorities in the past ??? in March 1989, a group of young men in their twenties acted in a similarly organized way. They first shouted slogans, burnt some vehicles near the Ramoche Monastery, then broke into nearby stores, robbed them, and finally burnt scores of the stores. Chief Commander of Armed Police, Mr. Li Lianxiu has been reported by the media to have ordered earlier thus, “the Special Squad should immediately assign 300 members to be disguised as ordinary citizens and Tibetan monks, entering the Eight-Corner Street and other riot spots in Lhasa, to support plain-clothes police to complete the task. Burn the Scripture Pagoda at the northeast of Dazhao Temple. Smash the rice store in the business district, incite citizens to rob rice and food, attack the Tibet-Gansu Trading Company.”

After the Tiananmen Square massacre of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of students in June 1989, the Chinese government similarly turned the Chinese public’s sentiments against the students. It did so by showing staged immolation by Falun Gong practitioners in Tiananmen and by claiming that the students attacked the soldiers.

We call on the world to look intently into the incidents in Lhasa, and beyond that, understand the roots of the Tibetan people’s struggle. The upcoming Beijing Olympics is a rare opportunity that they are taking to call attention to their 50-decade struggle against an illegal occupation. This occupation has led to the brutal oppression of Tibetans, the destruction of their culture and the draining of their environmental resources — especially of its forests, minerals, grasslands. As China built roads, railways, bridges in and through Tibet, the exploitation of their resources by Canadian, Australian and Chinese corporations left the Tibetan population as among the poorest in the world.

Tibet’s strategic importance to China is further illustrated by the presence of China’s primary weapon research and design facility, known as the “Ninth Academy”, in the northeastern Tibetan province of Amdo. The facility is the most secret organization in China’s entire nuclear program and remains today an important and high security military weapons plant.

Tibetan women have historically been subjected to a wide range of violence including torture, rape and reproductive rights’ violations. Sexual torture is applied to women political prisoners. These include use of dogs, use of lighted cigarettes, stripping prisoners naked, and penetration of the women’s orifices with electrical batons. The torture perpetrated against nuns carries another destructive layer: they are forced to suffer the abuse of their religious vows. Most recently, the monks and nuns were forced to sign papers denouncing the Dalai Lama. The raping of nuns is common. Forcing nuns and monks to have sex with each other has also been reported.

Methods of enforcement of Chinese family planning policies in Tibet have been coercive. For those who do not comply with official policies, there are penalties in the form of fines, loss of jobs or reduction of pay, and loss of housing. Women are given the “option” of paying a fine or terminating a pregnancy. The fines imposed are often the equivalent of more than a month’s wages.

Many Tibetans cannot find employment unless they speak Chinese. Tibetan women (and men) have lost jobs because they, or their relatives, have been associated with political activities that the Chinese authorities call “separatist activities”.

“Virginity testing” is a most disturbing discriminatory practice against Tibetan women looking for employment. The purpose of the virginity test is to determine a job applicant’s “fitness” for employment. Women who pass the virginity test have to sign a contract promising that they will not get married or engage in sexual activity for three years.

Prostitution has staggeringly increased in the face of economic hardship, discrimination and lack of opportunities for Tibetan women. Tibetan victims of prostitution are as young as 13 or 14. The London-based Free Tibet Campaign estimates 1,000 brothels in Lhasa. But the single most important factor is probably the large inflow of Chinese soldiers. Lots of brothels are near military areas and camps, as everywhere in the world. The Tibetan government in exile says there are 300,000 Chinese soldiers stationed in the autonomous region alone.

The entire picture of the Tibetan women’s and people’s sufferings cannot be captured in this statement. But their reports to United Nations bodies bear hard statistics on their sufferings. Our sisters among the Tibetan nuns, our brothers among the exiles, our friends among the activists are calling for international action, until China heeds their call.

Stop the violence against the Tibetans! Restore their freedoms as a people! Free Tibet now!

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
World March of Women ??? Pilipinas
Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

In an En Banc meeting of the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) in Malaca??ang on Oct. 17, 2006, Pres. Gloria Arroyo said that prostituted women are like ???petty thieves and criminals.??? Therefore, to her, the women victims of prostitution should remain criminalized.

The above statement was made by Ms. Arroyo in response to the women???s sectoral council representative???s request that the anti-prostitution bill be certified as a priority bill. As we have been lobbying for 8 years now for the passage of said legislation, we might have anticipated a ???no??? for an answer, but not a statement that further stigmatizes the victims in prostitution. Her statement becomes even more ironic now that the Palace is faced with grave charges of corruption ??? theft of public resources for private gain ???, and worse, with treason for selling out Philippine sovereignty in exchange for fat Chinese loans.

We lament the fact that Philippine government officials ??? including the highest one ??? have found an ally in the Supreme Court in covering up their wrongdoings even as the victims of prostitution continue to get arrested nightly. To date, 1,031 recorded arrests for 2006 and 2007 have been gathered by the survivors??? group Bagong Kamalayan Collective, Inc. (BKCI), with the help of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP).

When arrested, the women are given the options ???to bed or to jail??? by the police. Liza Gonzales, an incest survivor who was victimized in street prostitution for 7 years, has been arrested at least 40 times, jailed for a sum of at least 2 years, sexually abused by the police for at least 15 times. The women are forced to accede to the police officers??? extraction of money or sexual advances for fear of leaving behind their children for months. ???Arbor??? is Filipino slang for sexual favor required by police officers of victims of prostitution in exchange for jail terms.

In the words of Eunice (not her real name), another officer of BKCI, ???Nasa presinto na ako noon, tapos narinig ko yung isang bos tsip nila na lumapit sa umaresto sa akin at sinabi niya na aarborin na lang daw niya ako. Walang tanung-tanong, basta ang sabi sa akin sumama na lang daw ako para huwag akong makulong. Dalidali akong pinasakay sa kotse. Labag man sa loob ko pero inisip ko na lang mas okay na ito kaysa sa makulong o magbayad, may dalawa pa akong anak na naghihintay sa akin ngayong gabi. Isang linggo niya akong ginamit nang paulit-ulit at tuwing nababagansya ako ay aarborin niya ako at dadalhin sa motel.???

Excessive Abuse of Power

Kotong or monetary extraction from the women by the police is commonplace. The women are asked to give P100-300 to be released. In the case of Gina (not her real name) who was arrested in February 2008, her cellphone and those of 2 others were taken by the police. They were told to come back and give P750 to be able to get their phones back. But when they returned to the police station, the arresting officers refused to return their phones.

Our aggregate data above only covers the cities of Manila, Quezon, Pasay, Caloocan and Makati in Metro Manila. On top of this, BKCI itself adds 68 arrests during the same time period, which were not in the records of Quezon City police. Those in the BKCI records were rescued by our organizations from jail through assertion that the women are victims and should not be jailed. We argue that pimps or buyers should be the ones arrested and prosecuted. For 2008, there are already 39 recorded arrests in Pasay for the month of January alone.

Cases Solved? O Areglo?

Highest record for vagrancy arrests was in Manila with 789 women apprehended. However, we noted that whereas the arrests recorded in Ermita station (Station 5) alone reached a total of 371, there were only 43 cases filed with the Chief Prosecutor???s Office. We wonder then as to what happened to the arrested women. Why were their cases not filed? Were they released and on what bases or conditions? Could they have suffered the same fate as Liza, Eunice, Gina and many others? Given the incidence of undocumented killings of prostituted women, we believe there is much cause to worry about numbers that do not tally, and cases that cannot be witnessed or traced.

In Pasay, the women???s desk officer attested that they are not involved in the operations involving prostituted women. According to Eunice, police officers are frequent buyers of prostituted women. The very bar in Pasay where she was trapped in was owned by a police officer. Could the women???s desk officers ??? who appear relatively enlightened on women???s issues as they believe that prostituted women are victims ??? be made to focus on domestic violence and rape issues because prostitution is an ???untouchable??? area? Could the police operators be settling the cases through favors or other means? The Pasay City records showed equal number of ???arrests??? and ???solved cases.??? Could they be protecting the industry where they gain both sexually and financially?

In Quezon City, where our organizations have been campaigning for a paradigm shift ??? to focus arrests, investigation and prosecution on the perpetrators rather than the victims ??? police officers have reduced the number of arrests of prostituted women for vagrancy. However, some stations charge the women with robbery or estafa, instead, in connivance with customers. In Caloocan, the arrests happen in broad daylight even, and not just at night when vagrancy as legally defined takes place. Delia (not her real name), a street prostitute in front of Grand Central, was incarcerated for 6 months for theft.

Makati City boasts of having no arrests, despite the notorious image of the city for being the haven for high-class prostitution establishments. We then ask, how is the city acting on the establishment owners and buyers of prostitution in their area?

The big picture is clear: victims of poverty and sexual abuse go to jail while the real criminals stay in power.

Prosecute the Real Perpetrators

The present term of Congress should finally repeal the Vagrancy Act and pass an anti-prostitution law that effectively protects victims. In time for the Filipino women???s celebration of International Women???s Day, we anticipate the immediate passage of our bill.

Hon. Francis Joseph ???Chiz??? Escudero (present in our press conference), Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and sponsor of the anti-prostitution bill, has agreed to include the buyers and the business among actors to be penalized in the new law that will amend Art. 341 and repeal Art. 202 of the Revised Penal Code. We are equally hopeful that public officials will not be exempted from punishment should they be found guilty as actors.

We have seen the commitment of good senators in investigating thefts of public resources. We expect to witness the same courage on their part to see to the very end what we work for: the shift of accountability from the victims to the real perpetrators within the prostitution industry.

As we would like to witness that high officials of our land be charged and held accountable for prostituting our sovereignty as a people, so do we expect all other pimps prosecuted. Only then can we restore our hope in seeking justice for the Filipino people, especially our women.

Prosecute the big-time thief and pimp in Malaca??ang,
Not the victims of poverty and abuse.
Pass the Anti-Prostitution Law!

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Bagong Kamalayan Collective, Inc. (BKCI)
Batis ??? AWARE
Buklod Center ??? Olongapo
Development Action for Women Network (DAWN)
Fatima Allian, Mindanao
Kanlungan Center
Lawig Bubai ??? Davao
SALIGAN
Talikala ??? Davao
WomanHealth Philippines
WomenLEAD
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) ??? Women
Sarilaya
World March of Women - Pilipinas

Previous honorees include Lea Salonga, Maria Ressa, Emily Abrera, Gaita Fores, Lizzie Zobel, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, Cheche Lazaro, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, Angel Aquino, Luchi Cruz-Valdes, and Laura Verallo de Bertotto, among others.

We are proud that our own Jean Enriquez is chosen as one of the ten incredible women.

On May 26, 2003 in the Philippines Senate, the Anti-Trafficking Law in the Philippines was finally passed. “My co-advocates and I cheered heartily, especially since CATW-AP started our work on the bill eight years earlier,” Jean recalls. These days, what keeps Jean inspired are the constant dialogue, consulataion and “strenght-sharing with partners or co-equals in the Coalition.” Jean is proud of what she calls “an endless list of collective sucesses.” “When we release women victims of prostitution from jail after dialoguing with law enforcers; when I heard of the first conviction against traffickers in Zamboanga City where a CATW-AP project was piloted; and when the young women start standing up against violence aginst women.”

Jean attributes the secret of her successes to dedication. “I chose my work because it comes from my heart, and I give my heart to it. That leaves no room for ‘mistakes.’ It is working with God/Goddess within,” she shares with conviction. She credits part of the fulfillment to her family. “In my personal life, I’m happiest about having affected my family profoundly. I found out that my own daughter embodies the same consistency in principles, in taking the side of those marginalized. My partner, a labor leader, has himself started changes in the labor center he leads by integrating work on gender issues. Those were my daughter’s and partner’s achievements, but I [am] proudest to have made an effect on them.”

Anna and Lina were recruited to work as ???chambermaids??? in Saudi Arabia in January, 2005.?? During the processing period, they were made to ???model??? various hairstyles and were photographed and videoed.?? Their ages in their passports were changed, such as Anna???s, from 19 to 23.?? Before they left, they were accompanied to shop for expensive clothes ??? including make-up and t-back underwears ??? by their local recruiter.

When they arrived at the airport, officials noticed the inconsistency in their documents as their passport indicated that they will work as janitress, their employment contract cited ???chambermaid???, and their POEA papers indicated ???nurse???.?? A man, known to the local recruiter assisted them and facilitated their exit, towards Saudi Arabia.

Arriving in Dammam in April 2005, they were fetched and brought to an enormous house.?? They were not made to work for a week.?? When they asked the ???caretaker??? inside the house as to what their work will be, Lina was told that they will be sex slaves.?? Anna and Lina were very scared and wanted to go home to the Philippines immediately but they could not leave the villa.?? The following day, a man referred to as the Prince or Chairman by the caretaker arrived and the women were ordered to enter his room and immediately take their clothes off.?? The two were shaken and begged the Prince to allow them to go home, as they cannot do what is being asked of them to do.?? They stated that they don???t like that kind of job, but the Prince was enraged and raped Anna first.?? Lina, who was sobbing uncontrollably and had difficulty breathing, was made to leave the room.

The next day, the Prince came back to use Lina this time.?? He also used Anna.?? The two were then forced to perform sexual acts, before money was thrown to their faces.?? When the Filipino recruiter called, the two young women narrated what were done to them but the recruiter allegedly did not believe them.?? They were called liars.

Lina decided to call her family and told them that she has become homesick and would want to go home, not disclosing what happened so as not to make her parents worry.?? Lina???s parents immediately went to the agency, and talked to the Filipina recruiter.?? In May 2005, they were able to return to the Philippines.?? After a week, the nightclub owner for whom the two women were made to work before going to Saudi Arabia, brought Lina to a doctor for medical examination.?? When Lina inquired on the medical results, the nightclub owner mentioned that she indeed was raped.?? Lina was suffering from deep humiliation but decided to keep the matter to herself.?? The nightclub owner and the recruiter promised Lina that they will give her a vehicle as long as she doesn???t reveal her experience to her parents.?? Lina still opted to file cases with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Department of Justice against her traffickers. She states, ???Nagpumilit akong umuwi dahil hindi ko masikmura o hindi ko kaya ang maging prostitute.???

???I insisted on going home because I couldn???t stand being a prostitute.???

In March 2006, Anna was offered P25,000 by the recruiter to submit a statement countering Lina???s charges.?? In the same year, Anna was given an affidavit to memorize for the POEA hearing.?? Anna decided to take Lina???s side.

Both pray that justice will be served, even as at least ten libel and estafa suits have been filed against them and Lina???s mother to harass the two victims.?? Anna herself stayed overnight in jail after having been served an arrest warrant for estafa, filed by her recruiters against her.?? DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzales even blamed Lina???s parents for allowing their daughter to leave.

After having approached various government agencies, the victims came to Kanlungan Center Foundation, Inc., an NGO helping migrant workers who then sought the help of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP).?? Two legal groups are now helping the victims pro-bono, these are WomenLEAD, a member organization of CATW-AP and the Quisumbing Torres Law Office.

???The Anti-Trafficking Law understands the vulnerability of victims to trafficking, given dire poverty, thus the statement of the DOJ Secretary reveals lack of understanding not only of the law but the pervading situation of Filipinos who are desperate for a living,???

states Jean Enriquez, Executive Director of CATW-AP.?? Lina???s father is a driver, while Anna???s father is a janitor.?? The mothers of both are unemployed.

Loida Bernabe, lauds the victims??? courage, saying, ???we hope that their brave disclosure will stop further victimization of Filipinas to sexual slavery, particularly in Saudi Arabia.???

Organizations such as WomanHealth, Bagong Kamalayan, the Women???s Crisis Center PREDA in Olongapo City, IMA Foundation, BUKLOD, SALIGAN, and other organizations fighting trafficking, came to the Press Conference to support the victims.

The Coalition is also pushing for the passage of the anti-prostitution bill, to complement the anti-trafficking law, as they mark today the International Day of No Prostitution.?? The bill intends to punish not only the business who profit from the system of prostitution but also the buyers.

As women ??? trafficking survivors, mothers, sisters, activists ??? we honour the nuns and monks who walked barefoot in the streets of Rangoon, Mandalay and other parts of Burma to protest against the 45-year old military regime.?? Sparked by the recent sharp fuel price hikes, the Burmese religious and people started pouring to the streets after a deadline set by the monks themselves.?? We feel their suffering and those of their people, women and men, in poverty and severe fascist rule.

We know that at least 1,228,000 children have been in forced labour to build roads, bridges for the junta.?? At least 230,000 women have been trafficked to Thailand, China and Pakistan. Rape by the Burmese military, particularly against ethnic women, is institutional and endemic throughout areas of conflict in Burma.??

We are aware that young mother activists such as Nilar Thein and Mei Mei are forced into hiding for resisting the junta.?? That nuns and lay people are targeted by beatings and perhaps even killing, in the resent uprising.?? At least 6,000 are now in prison and are missing.?? More than a hundred are confirmed dead.?? The death toll is expected to rise as more credible information trickles out of the country.

But we are heartened by their resistance, when Nilar Thein slapped a high-ranking police officer in a demonstration in 1996 for blocking the students??? march.?? Su Su Nway launched a successful lawsuit in 2000 against local officials, for organizing forced labor.?? In her words:?? ???Because we are in hiding does not mean that we are in retreat.????? Mei Mei continue to defy the junta by being in the frontline of marches since they sparked in August 2007.

This deplorable junta ought to step down now.?? The suffering of the Burmese women and people ought to end.?? We call on all women and peoples of the world to pressure the SPDC in unison, to stop immediately the repression and give way to the call for people???s democracy.?? We call on the ASEAN to expel Burma.?? We call specifically on the governments of Australia, the British Virgin Islands, China, France, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Russia, and the United States to stop their operations in the country, specifically their oil and gas investments.?? Revenues from them have been ???fuelling??? the repressive regime.

Finally, we laud the nuns, monks and protesters for being able to pressure Junta leaders to meet with Daw Aung Suu Kyi, but we remain to deplore the Junta???s conditional consent to dialogue with the opposition.

Burma, out of ASEAN now!
Democracy for the Burmese People!
Onward to Victory!

Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Alliance of Progressive Labor ??? Women (APL-Women)
Apne Aap ??? India
FORWARD ??? Thailand
Sarilaya ??? Philippines
Batis ??? AWARE?? - Philippines
Bagong Kamalayan Collective of Prositution Survivors ??? Philippines
BUKLOD ??? Philippines
Kanlungan Center Foundation, Inc. - Philippines

Responding to the release of new negotiating texts at the WTO, civil society groups from all over the world sent letters to their Trade Ministers, calling on them to acknowledge the failure of the Doha Round.

???We believe that the time has come to officially declare the Doha Round of the WTO negotiations dead and to provide the necessary space to re-think the kind of multilateral trade rules that are needed to create employment and achieve sustainable development,??? the letter states. It was signed by over 90 civil society organizations from more than 35 countries, both developed and developing.

Ever since the launch of the Round in 2001, people all over the world, including farmers, fisherfolk, workers and trade unionists, environmentalists, faith-based groups and other civil society organizations, have been denouncing the Doha talks as paying little attention to peoples??? rights and needs. ???Doha was supposed to be the ???development??? round. But what has transpired over the intervening six years has been quite the opposite???, the letter states.

The civil society groups say that it is becoming clear that the current model of trade cannot deliver on the alleged goal of the Doha Round - to promote development and lift millions of people out of poverty - and that WTO Members will never be able to agree on a deal within the current parameters. The groups ask Trade Ministers to:

• Acknowledge the failure of the Doha Round

• Institute a two year moratorium to provide the time and space necessary to re-think the model and process of global trade negotiations.

• Stimulate public discussion and debate with governments and civil society about creating alternative trade regimes

A number of groups from the Philippines signed the letter: the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL), Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ??? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP), Focus on the Global South, Global Network Asia, IBON Foundation, Inc., Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN), PAKISAMA, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM) and Tebtebba.

Cc: Pascal Lamy, WTO Director-General
Ambassador Falconer, Chair, Committee of Agriculture, Special Session;
Ambassador Stephenson, Chair, Negotiating group on Market Access

18 July 2007

Subject: Doha is dead, time to rethink the multilateral trading system

Dear Sec. Favila,

As civil society organizations and social movements committed to building a multilateral trade system that is just, sustainable and democratic, we believe that the time has come to officially declare the Doha Round of the WTO negotiations dead and to provide the necessary space to re-think the kind of multilateral trade rules that are needed to create employment and achieve sustainable development.

It is now almost six years since the Doha Agenda was launched in November 2001. What has followed since then is a litany of setbacks and/or failures ??? from the collapse of the Cancun Ministerial in 2003, followed by the July framework cobbled together in 2004, then the desperate moves of the 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial to breathe new life into the Doha agenda, which led to the suspension of the WTO negotiations in 2006 and now the recent breakdown of the G-4 talks in Potsdam.

Doha was supposed to be the ?development? round. But what has transpired over the intervening six years has been quite the opposite. Instead of coming up with a set of multilateral trade rules designed to increase the capacities of developing countries to create new jobs, eliminate poverty and build sustainable economies, the Doha Agenda has been manipulated to primarily serve the interests of the northern industrialized powers to expand market access for their transnational corporations.

All the studies that have come out since 2005 ???from the World Bank, UNCTAD, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tuft University and the Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) ??? demonstrate that the current proposals for the Doha Agenda make developing countries, and particularly the poorest countries, the biggest losers.

Millions of people all over the world, including farmers, fisherfolk, workers and trade unionists, environmentalists, faith-based groups and other civil society organizations, have been denouncing the Doha talks as promoting a ???corporate-driven??? model of trade that pays little attention to peoples??? rights and needs. Now, more than ever, world leaders must face up to the fact that the global trade regime has marginalized a vast array of communities and interests who have finally united to stop any further expansion of the system.

The Doha Agenda and Model have failed to increase the trust of WTO?s membership, let alone the public it is supposed to serve. Around the world, people have informed themselves and popular opinion has changed to the point where the WTO is suffocating from a crisis of legitimacy. And, no effort by free trade champions to ?better educate? the public or adopt ?quick fixes? can reverse this reality. Declaring the death of Doha does not mean the end of world trading system. Another multilateralism is possible, but not one that prioritizes the rights of corporations over the rights of people and the planet while reducing the power to self-govern.

We urge you to acknowledge the failure of the Doha Round now and call on you to institute a two year moratorium to provide the time and space necessary to re-think the model and process of global trade negotiations. It???s time to go back home, and start a process of reflection and consultation with your peoples that can pave the way for a new and different model of multilateral trade. The only credible option now is to stimulate public discussion and debate with governments and civil society and social movements about creating alternative trade regimes that are people, development, and environment centered.

Signed by:

ActionAid International
International
Advocacy and Monitoring Network on Sustainable Development (AM-Net)
Japan

AITEC
France
Alianza Social Continental
Regional
Alliance for Democracy
United States
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Philippines
Andhra pradesh vyavasay vruthidarula union
India
ASC - Caplo Peruano
Peru
Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM)
Hong Kong, SAR
AsiaDHRRA
Asia
Asian Farmers ??? Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA)
Asia
Asian Indigenous Women???s Network
Asia
ATTAC
Argentina
Attac Austria
Austria
ATTAC HUNGARY
Hungary
ATTAC Japan
Japan
ATTAC Norway
Norway
ATTAC Sweden
Sweden
Australian Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET)
Australia
Blue Planet Project
International
California Fair Trade Coalition
United States
Campagna riforma Banca Mondiale Italy
Italy
Campaign for the Welfare State
Norway
Campaign GENOA 2001
Greece
Canadian Council for International Co-operation
Canada
Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Canada
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
Canada
Caribbean Policy Development Center (CPDC)
Caribbean
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Austria
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women ? Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Asia
Consumers Association of Penang
Malaysia
Convergencia de Movimientos de Pueblos de las Am???cas - COMPA
Regional
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
The Netherlands
Council of Canadians
Canada
Development Fund
Norway
Ecologistas en Acci

Dear Secretary Favila,

We are alarmed over reports of a possible compromise deal on Non-agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations. The latest proposal from developing countries led by Chile for a ???middle ground??? solution represents a serious break from the position of NAMA 11 of which the Philippines is an active member.

It is clear that the United States and the European Union want to squeeze as much as they can from developing countries on NAMA as pay back for what they claim to be their own concessions in agriculture, concessions that many analysts feel are not even enough to level the playing field in agriculture. It is clear that the US and EU want an ambitious NAMA formula in order to pry open the market for industrial and fisheries sector in developing countries.

The new NAMA proposal coming as it were in the aftermath of the collapse of the G4 meeting in Potsdam, and which is projected as an initiative from developing countries plays dangerously into the strategy of the US and EU. This is exactly the opening that the US and EU were hoping for in Potsdam. The proposal hands the compromise to them in a silver platter.

The call from the new proposal for more flexibility and compromise should be seriously challenged. In Hong Kong, developing countries have already made a huge compromise when they agreed to adopt the ambitious Swiss formula for tariff reductions. Under an ambitious formula, developing countries would absorb close to 70% cuts in their industrial and fishery tariffs as opposed to the measly 25 % cuts for developed countries. Simulations done by both the WTO and international trade unions have already provided us a picture of the possible consequences on jobs and revenues under an ambitious NAMA agreement.

A coefficient for developing countries in the high teens would be a murderous compromise on the part of the Philippines. Such an ambitious formula would result in a substantial reduction of our average bound rates for industrial and fishery products and would constitute a serious erosion of our policy space. Sectors that would be adversely affected include the automotive sector, apparel, plastics, leather products and footwear, and the furniture sector which would all absorb cuts not just in bound rates but in actual applied rates. Huge cuts on bound rates would be felt in rubber products, fabricated metals, wood and wood products, and paper and paper products.

A compromise deal on NAMA would compromise jobs. Job losses could be expected in the motor vehicles sector, which employs around 39,000, the apparel sector with an even bigger employment of 370,000, the leather and footwear sector with 69,000 workers, furniture sector with 143,000 workers and plastic products which provides jobs to 54,000 workers.

We do not need to remind you that central to the NAMA 11 position is the demand to put the development objective at the heart of the NAMA negotiations. The compromise deal on NAMA undermines this very objective.

We challenge you now in this most critical time in the negotiations to exhibit leadership in NAMA 11. We challenge you to be the leading developing country voice in NAMA 11 in calling for the rejection of the new NAMA proposal.

???No deal is still better than a bad deal??? Mr. Secretary and in the interest of Filipino workers, we hope that this is still your guiding principle.

Stop the New Round! Coalition
Akbayan
Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)
Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao (AFRIM)
Association of Genuine Labor Organization (AGLO)
Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP)
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women - Asia Pacific (CATW-AP)
Confederation of Independent Unions in the Public Sector (CIU)
Convergence for Community Centered Area Development
Focus on the Global South - Philippines
Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC)
Global Network Asia
International Gender and Trade Network - Asia
Kilusang para sa Pambansang Demokraysa
Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Pilipinas (KPMP)
Labor Education and Research Network (LEARN)
Liga Manggagawa
Makabayan - Pilipinas
Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN)
Pambansang Katipunan ng Malayang Magbubukid - PKKM
Philippine Metalworkers??? Alliance (PMA)
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement (PRRM)
Resource Center for People???s Development (RCPD)
Women and Gender Institute (WAGI)