From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Mon Mar 1 09:22:43 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 12:22:43 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1035] Re: Help Stop Union Busting in Ohio by Japanese Transnational In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.19990225163338.007cf6a0@popserver.sfu.ca> Message-ID: >From owner-sid-l@rm-rstar.sfu.ca Fri Feb 26 14:03:32 1999 Received: by corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (1.65/waf) via UUCP; Mon, 01 Mar 99 11:16:52 +1200 for gattwd Received: from rm-rstar.sfu.ca (root@[142.58.120.21]) by tofu.ch.planet.gen.nz (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA25128 for ; Fri, 26 Feb 1999 14:03:32 +1300 (NZDT) Received: from sid (rs35-annex3.sfu.ca [142.58.123.35]) by rm-rstar.sfu.ca (8.9.1/8.9.1/SFU-5.0H) with SMTP id RAA26998; Thu, 25 Feb 1999 17:12:27 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19990225163338.007cf6a0@popserver.sfu.ca> X-Sender: shniad@popserver.sfu.ca (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 16:33:38 -0800 To: ccpa@policyalternatives.ca From: Sid Shniad Subject: Help Stop Union Busting in Ohio by Japanese Transnational Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear union brothers and sisters and other friends and supporters: In the past I have sent you requests for letters on behalf of Mexican workers or independent unions. This time I am writing to ask for your assistance in sending e-mails in support of a new UE Local in Ohio. Please take a minute to send the sample e-mail or to write your own, and to help us circulate this request! In Solidarity, Robin Alexander UE Director of International Labor Affairs ******** Please help UE Stop Unionbusting by Japanese Transnational The United Electrical Workers' Union (UE) asks for your solidarity and immediate assistance in the fight to stop unionbusting by Kobe Steel, a giant Japanese multinational with plants in the U.S. Please join this fight for workers' rights by sending protest messages to corporate officials at the e-mail addresses below. More than three months ago, the 120 workers at Kobe's Glastic plastics plant in Jefferson, Ohio, voted to unionize. However, Kobe, a billion dollar global giant, is intent on busting their newly formed union instead of negotiating a union contract. Kobe/Glastic representatives have brought nothing but arrogance and insults to the few bargaining sessions held to date. Recently, when local union leaders tried to expose these sham negotiations in reports to fellow workers in the plant cafeteria, management tried to silence them! Issues the workers are seeking to resolve in negotiations include health and safety problems and a huge wage disparity between their plant and a Kobe/Glastic unionized facility in nearby Cleveland. At the Jefferson plant, an overwhelming number of production workers suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome, with many already having had surgery on both wrists. Wages in Jefferson are 25 - 50% less than in Cleveland. The members of newly organized UE Local 758 want respect from the company, democracy in their workplace, and a union contract to improve their wages and conditions. Protest messages urging an end to union busting and a beginning of good faith negotiations should be sent to: Masahiro Kumamoto, Kobe Steel President and CEO at and Glenn Grant, Glastic Corp.President and CEO at . A sample e-mail protest message appears below. When you send your protest to company officials please copy your e-mail to UE at . Additional solidarity messages may also be sent to UE Local 758 in care of the same e-mail address. Sample E-Mail: Mr. Masahiro Kumamoto President and CEO Kobe Steel www-admin@kobelco.co.jp Mr. Glenn Grant President and CEO Glastic Corp sales@glastic.com I am outraged to hear of the abuse of workers' rights occurring at Kobe/Glastic's Jefferson, Ohio, location. I urge you to immediately begin negotiating regularly with union representatives there with the intention of signing a union contract within a few weeks. If your unionbusting continues, there is sure to be permanent damage to Kobe's public image in the U.S. and around the globe. Please let me know once you have signed a contract with the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), Local 758. cc: UE, organize@ranknfile-ue.org Robin Alexander UE Director of International Labor Affairs One Gateway Center, Suite 1400 420 Fort Duquesne Blvd. PGH., PA. 15222-1416 412-471-8919 412-471-8999 FAX HTTP://www.igc.apc.org/unitedelect/ (See alert section every two weeks for labor and related news from Mexico). From bayan at iname.com Wed Mar 3 08:10:30 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 07:10:30 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1036] Estrada brings peace a step back Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990303071030.006a5bc0@pop.skyinet.net> MEDIA RELEASE 23 February 1999 Estrada brings peace a step back The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) today challenged President Estrada to prove his sincerity at pursuing the promise of EDSA by going back to the negotiating table with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and resolve the root causes of the armed conflict. "It is tragic that Estrada has to make an announcement that would further damage the precarious status of the peace talks on the day of the anniversary of EDSA," said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro Casi?o referring to the President's "bluff" to cancel the release of some 50 political prisoners in light of the capture of two prisoners of war (POW), one of them a general, by the New People's Army. "If Estrada is truly sincere in what he said yesterday, then he should abandon his stubborn macho attitude towards resolving the armed conflict and work for a more diplomatic approach in working for the release of the two POWs," said Casi?o. "Estrada has a severe attitude problem. The attitude of a budding dictator," he said. "The problem with him is that he thinks he can solve everything through brute force just like what happens in most of his movies. "Estrada and his advisers should recognize that the basic reason why the NPA is strengthening and now has the capability to launch tactical offensives is that more and more people are getting disillusioned with the government. Especially under his administration which quickly restored the power and the privileges of the Marcoses and their cronies and which is aiming to return the fascist and oppressive measures of martial law," said Casi?o. Thirteen years after EDSA the pursuit for a genuine and lasting peace becomes even more farfetched. The Estrada government, Bayan said, has refused to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law which it already signed with the NDF. "Yesterday's EDSA anniversary rites was nothing but a farce. How can Estrada say that he will continue with the battle against poverty when he has refused to address the roots of the people's unrest and when he stubbornly refuses to negotiate with forces who represent the revolutionary aspirations of the people?" said Casi?o. ### From bayan at iname.com Wed Mar 3 08:15:07 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 07:15:07 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1037] BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990303071507.006a4bb4@pop.skyinet.net> NEWS RELEASE 26 February 1999 BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension THE MILITANT Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today warned that President Joseph Estrada's supension of the peace talks would pave the way for more human rights abuses and a possible crackdown on groups and individuals tagged as sympathizers of the CPP-NPA-NDF. "President Estrada's announcement is dangerous to many cause-oriented groups, NGOs and individuals who have been identified by the military as sympathetic to the NDF. They may be subjected to witch hunts and other forms of harrasment by overzealous military and police agents who view the suspension as a license for them to go back to their martial law ways," said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro A. Casi?o. "The military and police are not known to discriminate between the underground revolutionary organizations like the NDF and groups involved in the open, legal mass movement. Many leaders of perfectly legitimate people's organizations and NGOs have, in the past, been victims of the military's anti-insurgency operations," said Casi?o. Bayan said the most vulnerable to human rights abuses and harrassments are groups and individuals based in the countryside, where military operations against the Communist-led rebellion continue. "Police and military personnel in the countryside are fond of labelling whole communities and families as NPA sympathizers. They will most likely imitate President Estrada's macho posturings on innocent community organizers, leaders and groups critical of the government," said Casi?o. Bayan reiterated its call on the government to resume the peace talks "so that the roots of the rebellion can be addressed without resorting to more military operations, bombings and human rights abuses." Cause-oriented organizations point out that peace negotiations must not be set aside "especially in these times of crisis." #### --------------------------------------------------------- B A Y A N Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or New Patriotic Alliance No. 23 Maamo Street, Sikatuna Village Quezon City, PHILIPPINES Telephone: (63-2) 435-9151 Telefax: (63-2) 922-5211 Email: Bayan webpage URL: http://www.bigfoot.com/~bayan-phils ----------------------------------------------------------- From ppc at philonline.com Thu Mar 4 19:33:51 1999 From: ppc at philonline.com (ppc) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 19:33:51 +0900 (JST) Subject: [asia-apec 1038] Re: BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension Message-ID: <199903041033.TAA19996@mail.jca.ax.apc.org> Dear Teddy, Laarni, Feedback sa press release na ito. Generally, alarmist ang laman kung kayat hindi credible. Alam naman natin na ang dahilan ng suspension ng peace talks at hindi pagpayag ng Estrada gov't na makipag-negotiate sa NDF peace panel hinggil sa POWs ay dahil nais nilang maliitin ang nagawa ng NPA na kumuha ng isang heneral at iba pang mga opisyales ng AFP/PNP bilang bihag. Such an act is a slap on the face of the Estrada government as to the strength of the CPP/NPA/NDF and the concommitant weakness of the regime's armed forces. Kaya ang mga militarist hardliners, nakumbinsi si Estrada (sinakayan ang kanyang siga-siga at macho self-image) na the thing for the gov't to do is to bring the NDF to its knees by ordering massive "rescue" operations quesejoda kung mapinsala ang mamamayan sa lugar na mini-militarize at di bale nang mamatay/masaktan mismo ang mga bihag dahil "bahagi naman ng trabaho nila yung kumuha ng ganoong risgo"! Bilang dagdag na pressure, sinuspende ang peace talks at hindi pa nasiyahan doon, sinuspende pati ang Jasig (kahit labag ito sa Jasig mismo) para takutin ang NDF. Ganitong-ganito ang linya ng mga hardliners sa GRP peace panel tulad nila H. Dee noong nangyari ang POW capture sa Rodriguez town last October 97. Pero hindi sila nag-prevail kundi cooler and saner heads na may nakikita ring political gains mula sa pakikipag-nego sa NDF ang nakakumbinse kay FVR na nego is the way to go sa isyu ng POWs. (remember JdV, the ex-future president of RP?) Kaso, hindi naman nila nahuhuli ang mga NPA na bumihag sa mga opisyal militar at pulis ng GRP. Kahit na anu pang pa-macho ni Erap, he has nothing to show for it. He is even restrained from ordering the arrests of the NDF consultants whose safety have been compromised by suspension of Jasig because clearly they are engaged in trying to bring an end to this impasse and they are not exactly hiding like rabbits or cowering in fear because of the govt's rantings. Pwera na lang kung sobrang pagmamatigas ng ulo ang gagawin ni Estrada, habang tumatagal ang sitwasyon na walang end in sight (1.e. no rescue) at parami ng parami ang nagsasabing dapat maging mahinahon at huwag padalus-dalos at huwag sarhan ang pintuan sa negosasyon, lalong matatali ang kamay ni Estrada na maghuhuli ng NDF consultants (20 ang sinabi nilang may warrants of arrest). Pwera na lang kung mag-hurumentado na lang siya... Di lalo namang hindi niya magagawa basta-basta na mag-crackdown sa mga legal organizations. Masyado siyang mahahalata doon. Kaya ang linyang ito ng press statement ay mali dahil binibigyan ng credence ang pananakot ni Estrada. Kung usapin naman ng pagiging pasista ng rehimen, marami namang ebidensya diyan na hindi kailangang gamitin ang suspension ng ptalks. (AMong other reasons, mahinang ebidensya o argumento ito.) Patuloy na militarisasyon sa kanayunan, violations ng human and democratic rights ng masa at ng ihl sa pag-giyera nito sa rebolusyonaryong pwersa, and banta ng warratless arrests, cha-cha para i-curtail ang civil rights ng mamamayan, atbp. Hindi ako sang-ayon na mag-create tayo ng "crackdown" scenario para maipaliwanag natin ang pusisyon ng By dito sa isyu. Palagay ko kaya rin hindi pinick-up ng media ay dahil walang gasinong credibility ang ating linya. I suggest huwag na nating ilagay sa webpage o kung nandoon na, tanggalin na lang. See other comments below marked with *. At 07:15 3/3/99 +0800, you wrote: >NEWS RELEASE >26 February 1999 > >BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension > >THE MILITANT Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today warned that President Joseph >Estrada's supension of the peace talks would pave the way for more human >rights abuses and a possible crackdown on groups and individuals tagged as >sympathizers of the CPP-NPA-NDF. > >"President Estrada's announcement is dangerous to many cause-oriented >groups, NGOs and individuals who have been identified by the military as >sympathetic to the NDF. They may be subjected to witch hunts and other >forms of harrasment by overzealous military and police agents who view the >suspension as a license for them to go back to their martial law ways," >said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro A. Casi?o. > >"The military and police are not known to discriminate between the >underground revolutionary organizations like the NDF and groups involved in >the open, legal mass movement. *ang legitimacy ay hindi solo ng open, legal groups. syempre ang pagiging legal ay katangian ng mga huli di tuald ng NDF na ilegal but that doesn't make rev organizations any less legitimate politically. Many leaders of perfectly legitimate >people's organizations and NGOs have, in the past, been victims of the >military's anti-insurgency operations," said Casi?o. > *Actually nangyayari na nga dahil sa militarization nila ng lugar kung saan naghihinala silang tinatago ang POWs. We don't even have to speculate that this will happen. Credible sources that this is so is the statement of the churchpeople and muslim leaders that appeared i paid ad last sunday. >Bayan said the most vulnerable to human rights abuses and harrassments >are groups and individuals based in the countryside, where military operations >against the Communist-led rebellion continue. > >"Police and military personnel in the countryside are fond of labelling >whole communities and families as NPA sympathizers. They will most likely >imitate President Estrada's macho posturings on innocent community >organizers, leaders and groups critical of the government," said Casi?o. > >Bayan reiterated its call on the government to resume the peace talks "so >that the roots of the rebellion can be addressed without resorting to more >military operations, bombings and human rights abuses." > >Cause-oriented organizations point out that peace negotiations must not be >set aside "especially in these times of crisis." #### > > > --------------------------------------------------------- > B A Y A N > Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or New Patriotic Alliance > No. 23 Maamo Street, Sikatuna Village > Quezon City, PHILIPPINES > Telephone: (63-2) 435-9151 Telefax: (63-2) 922-5211 > Email: > Bayan webpage URL: > http://www.bigfoot.com/~bayan-phils > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > > From ppc at philonline.com Thu Mar 4 19:33:36 1999 From: ppc at philonline.com (ppc) Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 19:33:36 +0900 (JST) Subject: [asia-apec 1039] Re: Estrada brings peace a step back Message-ID: <199903041033.TAA19992@mail.jca.ax.apc.org> Dear Laarni and Teddy muli, Generally, okay naman ang linya nito pero nababawasan ng effectiveness ng ilang kahinaan. 1)yung sa intro pa lamang, naniniwala pa ba ang Bayan sa "sinseridad" ni erap at kanyang gubyerno considering everything -- its basic character as representative and protector of the interests of the ruling classes -- at yung mismong ginagawa na niya ngayon bilang presidente na wala pa siyang 1 taon? at ano naman yung "promise of edsa"; at ano namn ang mapaka-galing o sagrado sa anibersaryo ng edsa... pero sa bandang huli sinabi rin ng press statement na edsa is a farce, kaya lang too late na ito. 2) "If Estrada is truly sincere in what he said yesterday, then he should abandon his stubborn macho attitude towards resolving the armed conflict and work for a more diplomatic approach in working for the release of the two POWs," said Casi?o. estrada's macho porma is not inconsistent with his "sincerity". hindi malinaw ang nais nating sabihin sa pag-contrapose dito. dapat mas ipakita ang substance ng panlabas na anyo ng pa-macho -- yung pagiging militarist at fascist ng oryentasyun ni erap (gaya ng hinabol sa sinabi ng statement na "attitude problem"). 3) mas maigi ring gamitin ang salitang "negotiated solution" hindi "diplomatic" dahil may connotation ang huling salita sa maluwag na paggamit. At 07:10 3/3/99 +0800, you wrote: > > >MEDIA RELEASE >23 February 1999 > >Estrada brings peace a step back > >The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) today challenged President Estrada >to prove his sincerity at pursuing the promise of EDSA by going back to the >negotiating table with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines >(NDFP) and resolve the root causes of the armed conflict. > >"It is tragic that Estrada has to make an announcement that would further >damage the precarious status of the peace talks on the day of the >anniversary of EDSA," said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro Casi?o >referring to the President's "bluff" to cancel the release of some 50 >political prisoners in light of the capture of two prisoners of war (POW), >one of them a general, by the New People's Army. > >"If Estrada is truly sincere in what he said yesterday, then he should >abandon his stubborn macho attitude towards resolving the armed conflict >and work for a more diplomatic approach in working for the release of the >two POWs," said Casi?o. > >"Estrada has a severe attitude problem. The attitude of a budding >dictator," he said. > >"The problem with him is that he thinks he can solve everything through >brute force just like what happens in most of his movies. > >"Estrada and his advisers should recognize that the basic reason why the >NPA is strengthening and now has the capability to launch tactical >offensives is that more and more people are getting disillusioned with the >government. Especially under his administration which quickly restored the >power and the privileges of the Marcoses and their cronies and which is >aiming to return the fascist and oppressive measures of martial law," said >Casi?o. > >Thirteen years after EDSA the pursuit for a genuine and lasting peace >becomes even more farfetched. The Estrada government, Bayan said, has >refused to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human >Rights and International Humanitarian Law which it already signed with the >NDF. > >"Yesterday's EDSA anniversary rites was nothing but a farce. How can >Estrada say that he will continue with the battle against poverty when he >has refused to address the roots of the people's unrest and when he >stubbornly refuses to negotiate with forces who represent the revolutionary >aspirations of the people?" said Casi?o. ### > > > > From bayan at iname.com Thu Mar 4 20:54:53 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 19:54:53 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1040] Fishers asked Congress to repeal fish code Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990304195453.006a378c@pop.skyinet.net> From: PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas Date: February 23, 1999 Fishers ask Congress to repeal fish code, seek congressional inquiry on massive dumping of imported fishery products Two militant fisherfolk organizations staged a rally at the House of Representatives this morning to press for the immediate and unconditional repeal of the Fisheries Code of 1998 and urged Congress to probe reports on the massive flooding of imported fish products in major fish ports across the country. PAMALAKAYA, an alliance of fisherfolk organizations, and NACFAR (Nationwide Coalition of Fisherfolk for Aquatic Reform), in a joint statement, urged the Philippine Congress to repeal the Fisheries Code because it has proven to be anti-fisherfolk and pro-monopoly. The groups said Congress should also look into the massive dumping of imported fish products as it severely affects the country's domestic fish production and consumption. "Millions of fisherfolk have been driven to absolute poverty that is why the protest against the Fisheries Code is widespread enough to merit its immediate and unconditional repeal by Congress", the groups said in a statement. According to Rodolfo Sambajon, Pamalakaya's chairperson, the country is exporting more than 70 percent of its produce to fish importing countries like US, Japan, Hongkong, South Korea and Taiwan. He said in 1995, a total of 43.8M kilos of prime fishery products were exported. He said this would have been enough to supply the yearly fish need of more than 280,000 poor Filipino families or approximately 16.8M Filipinos. He said that 60-70 percent of Philippine domestic need relied on the fish catch of small fisherfolk. Sambajon pointed out that massive flooding of imported and cheap fishery products from Papua New Guinea, Pacific Thrust, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Panama, Chile and Peru is killing small fish producers in the country. He said that some 32M kilos of fish from these countries have been imported for the same period by virtue of agreements entered into by the Philippine government under WTO and APEC. Marilyn Guzman, NACFAR national coordinator, re-echoed the call for a stop to the import and export liberalization policies of the Estrada government. She said that Navotas fishers have reported tens of thousand tons of imported fishery items from Thailand are dumped in Navotas fish port and are sold at twenty to fifty pesos per kilo cheaper compared to the prevailing market price. Guzman said government should at once stop export and import liberalization policies before it is too late. "We can assure the Filipinos of their fish needs at cheaper prices only if we break existing monopolies in fisheries and allow the fisherfolk to enjoy the fruits of their labor through genuine land and fisheries reforms," she added.# From dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id Fri Mar 5 17:52:12 1999 From: dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id (Dete Aliyah) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 15:52:12 +0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1041] Fishers asked Congress to repeal fish code Message-ID: <00aa01be66e5$75c45e60$101da8c0@info3.nusa.or.id> From: PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas Date: February 23, 1999 Fishers ask Congress to repeal fish code, seek congressional inquiry on massive dumping of imported fishery products Two militant fisherfolk organizations staged a rally at the House of Representatives this morning to press for the immediate and unconditional repeal of the Fisheries Code of 1998 and urged Congress to probe reports on the massive flooding of imported fish products in major fish ports across the country. PAMALAKAYA, an alliance of fisherfolk organizations, and NACFAR (Nationwide Coalition of Fisherfolk for Aquatic Reform), in a joint statement, urged the Philippine Congress to repeal the Fisheries Code because it has proven to be anti-fisherfolk and pro-monopoly. The groups said Congress should also look into the massive dumping of imported fish products as it severely affects the country's domestic fish production and consumption. "Millions of fisherfolk have been driven to absolute poverty that is why the protest against the Fisheries Code is widespread enough to merit its immediate and unconditional repeal by Congress", the groups said in a statement. According to Rodolfo Sambajon, Pamalakaya's chairperson, the country is exporting more than 70 percent of its produce to fish importing countries like US, Japan, Hongkong, South Korea and Taiwan. He said in 1995, a total of 43.8M kilos of prime fishery products were exported. He said this would have been enough to supply the yearly fish need of more than 280,000 poor Filipino families or approximately 16.8M Filipinos. He said that 60-70 percent of Philippine domestic need relied on the fish catch of small fisherfolk. Sambajon pointed out that massive flooding of imported and cheap fishery products from Papua New Guinea, Pacific Thrust, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Panama, Chile and Peru is killing small fish producers in the country. He said that some 32M kilos of fish from these countries have been imported for the same period by virtue of agreements entered into by the Philippine government under WTO and APEC. Marilyn Guzman, NACFAR national coordinator, re-echoed the call for a stop to the import and export liberalization policies of the Estrada government. She said that Navotas fishers have reported tens of thousand tons of imported fishery items from Thailand are dumped in Navotas fish port and are sold at twenty to fifty pesos per kilo cheaper compared to the prevailing market price. Guzman said government should at once stop export and import liberalization policies before it is too late. "We can assure the Filipinos of their fish needs at cheaper prices only if we break existing monopolies in fisheries and allow the fisherfolk to enjoy the fruits of their labor through genuine land and fisheries reforms," she added.# From dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id Fri Mar 5 17:53:14 1999 From: dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id (Dete Aliyah) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 15:53:14 +0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1042] Estrada brings peace a step back Message-ID: <00dc01be66e5$9b26ae60$101da8c0@info3.nusa.or.id> Dear Laarni and Teddy muli, Generally, okay naman ang linya nito pero nababawasan ng effectiveness ng ilang kahinaan. 1)yung sa intro pa lamang, naniniwala pa ba ang Bayan sa "sinseridad" ni erap at kanyang gubyerno considering everything -- its basic character as representative and protector of the interests of the ruling classes -- at yung mismong ginagawa na niya ngayon bilang presidente na wala pa siyang 1 taon? at ano naman yung "promise of edsa"; at ano namn ang mapaka-galing o sagrado sa anibersaryo ng edsa... pero sa bandang huli sinabi rin ng press statement na edsa is a farce, kaya lang too late na ito. 2) "If Estrada is truly sincere in what he said yesterday, then he should abandon his stubborn macho attitude towards resolving the armed conflict and work for a more diplomatic approach in working for the release of the two POWs," said Casiqo. estrada's macho porma is not inconsistent with his "sincerity". hindi malinaw ang nais nating sabihin sa pag-contrapose dito. dapat mas ipakita ang substance ng panlabas na anyo ng pa-macho -- yung pagiging militarist at fascist ng oryentasyun ni erap (gaya ng hinabol sa sinabi ng statement na "attitude problem"). 3) mas maigi ring gamitin ang salitang "negotiated solution" hindi "diplomatic" dahil may connotation ang huling salita sa maluwag na paggamit. At 07:10 3/3/99 +0800, you wrote: > > >MEDIA RELEASE >23 February 1999 > >Estrada brings peace a step back > >The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) today challenged President Estrada >to prove his sincerity at pursuing the promise of EDSA by going back to the >negotiating table with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines >(NDFP) and resolve the root causes of the armed conflict. > >"It is tragic that Estrada has to make an announcement that would further >damage the precarious status of the peace talks on the day of the >anniversary of EDSA," said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro Casiqo >referring to the President's "bluff" to cancel the release of some 50 >political prisoners in light of the capture of two prisoners of war (POW), >one of them a general, by the New People's Army. > >"If Estrada is truly sincere in what he said yesterday, then he should >abandon his stubborn macho attitude towards resolving the armed conflict >and work for a more diplomatic approach in working for the release of the >two POWs," said Casiqo. > >"Estrada has a severe attitude problem. The attitude of a budding >dictator," he said. > >"The problem with him is that he thinks he can solve everything through >brute force just like what happens in most of his movies. > >"Estrada and his advisers should recognize that the basic reason why the >NPA is strengthening and now has the capability to launch tactical >offensives is that more and more people are getting disillusioned with the >government. Especially under his administration which quickly restored the >power and the privileges of the Marcoses and their cronies and which is >aiming to return the fascist and oppressive measures of martial law," said >Casiqo. > >Thirteen years after EDSA the pursuit for a genuine and lasting peace >becomes even more farfetched. The Estrada government, Bayan said, has >refused to implement the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human >Rights and International Humanitarian Law which it already signed with the >NDF. > >"Yesterday's EDSA anniversary rites was nothing but a farce. How can >Estrada say that he will continue with the battle against poverty when he >has refused to address the roots of the people's unrest and when he >stubbornly refuses to negotiate with forces who represent the revolutionary >aspirations of the people?" said Casiqo. ### > > > > From dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id Fri Mar 5 17:53:09 1999 From: dete at nusanet.nusa.or.id (Dete Aliyah) Date: Fri, 5 Mar 1999 15:53:09 +0700 Subject: [asia-apec 1043] BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension Message-ID: <00d701be66e5$98241cc0$101da8c0@info3.nusa.or.id> Dear Teddy, Laarni, Feedback sa press release na ito. Generally, alarmist ang laman kung kayat hindi credible. Alam naman natin na ang dahilan ng suspension ng peace talks at hindi pagpayag ng Estrada gov't na makipag-negotiate sa NDF peace panel hinggil sa POWs ay dahil nais nilang maliitin ang nagawa ng NPA na kumuha ng isang heneral at iba pang mga opisyales ng AFP/PNP bilang bihag. Such an act is a slap on the face of the Estrada government as to the strength of the CPP/NPA/NDF and the concommitant weakness of the regime's armed forces. Kaya ang mga militarist hardliners, nakumbinsi si Estrada (sinakayan ang kanyang siga-siga at macho self-image) na the thing for the gov't to do is to bring the NDF to its knees by ordering massive "rescue" operations quesejoda kung mapinsala ang mamamayan sa lugar na mini-militarize at di bale nang mamatay/masaktan mismo ang mga bihag dahil "bahagi naman ng trabaho nila yung kumuha ng ganoong risgo"! Bilang dagdag na pressure, sinuspende ang peace talks at hindi pa nasiyahan doon, sinuspende pati ang Jasig (kahit labag ito sa Jasig mismo) para takutin ang NDF. Ganitong-ganito ang linya ng mga hardliners sa GRP peace panel tulad nila H. Dee noong nangyari ang POW capture sa Rodriguez town last October 97. Pero hindi sila nag-prevail kundi cooler and saner heads na may nakikita ring political gains mula sa pakikipag-nego sa NDF ang nakakumbinse kay FVR na nego is the way to go sa isyu ng POWs. (remember JdV, the ex-future president of RP?) Kaso, hindi naman nila nahuhuli ang mga NPA na bumihag sa mga opisyal militar at pulis ng GRP. Kahit na anu pang pa-macho ni Erap, he has nothing to show for it. He is even restrained from ordering the arrests of the NDF consultants whose safety have been compromised by suspension of Jasig because clearly they are engaged in trying to bring an end to this impasse and they are not exactly hiding like rabbits or cowering in fear because of the govt's rantings. Pwera na lang kung sobrang pagmamatigas ng ulo ang gagawin ni Estrada, habang tumatagal ang sitwasyon na walang end in sight (1.e. no rescue) at parami ng parami ang nagsasabing dapat maging mahinahon at huwag padalus-dalos at huwag sarhan ang pintuan sa negosasyon, lalong matatali ang kamay ni Estrada na maghuhuli ng NDF consultants (20 ang sinabi nilang may warrants of arrest). Pwera na lang kung mag-hurumentado na lang siya... Di lalo namang hindi niya magagawa basta-basta na mag-crackdown sa mga legal organizations. Masyado siyang mahahalata doon. Kaya ang linyang ito ng press statement ay mali dahil binibigyan ng credence ang pananakot ni Estrada. Kung usapin naman ng pagiging pasista ng rehimen, marami namang ebidensya diyan na hindi kailangang gamitin ang suspension ng ptalks. (AMong other reasons, mahinang ebidensya o argumento ito.) Patuloy na militarisasyon sa kanayunan, violations ng human and democratic rights ng masa at ng ihl sa pag-giyera nito sa rebolusyonaryong pwersa, and banta ng warratless arrests, cha-cha para i-curtail ang civil rights ng mamamayan, atbp. Hindi ako sang-ayon na mag-create tayo ng "crackdown" scenario para maipaliwanag natin ang pusisyon ng By dito sa isyu. Palagay ko kaya rin hindi pinick-up ng media ay dahil walang gasinong credibility ang ating linya. I suggest huwag na nating ilagay sa webpage o kung nandoon na, tanggalin na lang. See other comments below marked with *. At 07:15 3/3/99 +0800, you wrote: >NEWS RELEASE >26 February 1999 > >BAYAN warns of witch hunt with peace talks suspension > >THE MILITANT Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today warned that President Joseph >Estrada's supension of the peace talks would pave the way for more human >rights abuses and a possible crackdown on groups and individuals tagged as >sympathizers of the CPP-NPA-NDF. > >"President Estrada's announcement is dangerous to many cause-oriented >groups, NGOs and individuals who have been identified by the military as >sympathetic to the NDF. They may be subjected to witch hunts and other >forms of harrasment by overzealous military and police agents who view the >suspension as a license for them to go back to their martial law ways," >said Bayan Deputy Secretary General Teodoro A. Casiqo. > >"The military and police are not known to discriminate between the >underground revolutionary organizations like the NDF and groups involved in >the open, legal mass movement. *ang legitimacy ay hindi solo ng open, legal groups. syempre ang pagiging legal ay katangian ng mga huli di tuald ng NDF na ilegal but that doesn't make rev organizations any less legitimate politically. Many leaders of perfectly legitimate >people's organizations and NGOs have, in the past, been victims of the >military's anti-insurgency operations," said Casiqo. > *Actually nangyayari na nga dahil sa militarization nila ng lugar kung saan naghihinala silang tinatago ang POWs. We don't even have to speculate that this will happen. Credible sources that this is so is the statement of the churchpeople and muslim leaders that appeared i paid ad last sunday. >Bayan said the most vulnerable to human rights abuses and harrassments >are groups and individuals based in the countryside, where military operations >against the Communist-led rebellion continue. > >"Police and military personnel in the countryside are fond of labelling >whole communities and families as NPA sympathizers. They will most likely >imitate President Estrada's macho posturings on innocent community >organizers, leaders and groups critical of the government," said Casiqo. > >Bayan reiterated its call on the government to resume the peace talks "so >that the roots of the rebellion can be addressed without resorting to more >military operations, bombings and human rights abuses." > >Cause-oriented organizations point out that peace negotiations must not be >set aside "especially in these times of crisis." #### > > > --------------------------------------------------------- > B A Y A N > Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or New Patriotic Alliance > No. 23 Maamo Street, Sikatuna Village > Quezon City, PHILIPPINES > Telephone: (63-2) 435-9151 Telefax: (63-2) 922-5211 > Email: > Bayan webpage URL: > http://www.bigfoot.com/~bayan-phils > ----------------------------------------------------------- > > > From bayan at iname.com Sun Mar 7 15:30:11 1999 From: bayan at iname.com (BAYAN) Date: Sun, 07 Mar 1999 14:30:11 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1044] DEMAND FOR U.S. APOLOGY FOR WAR CRIMES AGAINST THE FILIPINO PEOPLE Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990307143011.006a6d34@pop.skyinet.net> Signature Campaign demanding an apology from the United States government for the war crimes it committed on the Filipino people during the Filipino-American War of 1899-1916 4 February 1999 WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON President of the United States of America The White House Washington D.C. Dear Sir: We have not forgotten. Exactly 100 years ago, the United States began the forcible annexation of the Philippines. On the night of February 4, 1899, American soldiers opened fire on Filipino revolutionary forces in San Juan and Caloocan, signalling the start of the Filipino-American War. This event was preceded by the infamous Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898, under which your government, turning its back on its commitment to support the Philippine Revolution, bought the Philippines from Spain for $20 million. These and other acts of treachery snatched the Filipino people's victory over Spanish colonial rule. Thus began America's 17-year (1899-1916) military and political aggression against the newly-formed Philippine democratic republic. Under the guise of your President William McKinley's "Benevolent Assimilation," which purported to civilize the "savage race" of Filipinos, your government and powerful corporate elite proceeded to turn the Philippines into a dumping ground for excess goods and capital, and an outpost for its expansionist designs on China and the rest of Asia. Even then, among the American people there was an extensive campaign against the violent colonization of the Philippines. This was led by the Anti-Imperialist League, which had among its members such personages as Mark Twain and William Jennings Bryan of your own Democratic Party. The League opposed the American conquest of the Philippines as it violated all the democratic tenets of your constitution. The Filipino-American War - which pitted the invading military forces of a powerful industrialized nation against poorly armed Filipinos - resulted in more than a million casualties among our people, mostly civilians. As early as May 1901, going into the third year of the war, Gen. Franklin Bell, who led the American campaign against Filipino revolutionaries in Batangas province, told the New York Times that there were already 600,000 Filipino casualties. To wage this imperialist war of subjugation, the United States had to spend $400,000,000 (as reported by Cablenews America, October 9, 1907). Who can forget the relentless shelling by American battleships of towns and villages along Manila Bay from February 4-10, 1899, causing the deaths of thousands of Filipino men, women and children? Who can forget the concentration camps, the wanton slaughter of farm animals and the torching of crops by the troops of Gen. Bell to isolate the guerrilla forces of Gen. Miguel Malvar in Batangas? In that province alone in 1902, more than 1/3 of the 298,000 population was exterminated during the all-out American offensive. Through the "kill and burn" policy of Gen. Jacob Smith, which turned Samar province into a "howling wilderness" in 1901, 7,000 Filipinos, mostly civilians, died. Their cries for justice echo till this day. Your government preaches the need to bring to the International Court of Justice the Serb leaders in Bosnia and in the government of Yugoslavia for the alleged crimes of genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the leaders of the Khmer Rouge for their alleged crimes against the people of Cambodia. And your government glosses over its wars of aggression against the Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian people, which snuffed out the lives of more than seven million people in the 60s and 70s and its instigation of the massacre of more than one million people in Indonesia in 1965-66. We remind you that your government started in the Philippines atrocities that it would unleash against the peoples in Southeast Asia. Your invading forces during the Filipino- Amerrican War, which at its peak reached 150,000, were themselves guilty of grievous crimes against humanity - massacre of civilians, torture and starvation of prisoners, rape of women and pillage of villages. Mark Twain himself bewailed the massacre of 600 Muslims, young and old, in Bud-dajo in the province of Jolo (Comments on the Killings of 600 Moros, 1906). After your bloody conquest of the Philippines, your government proceeded to plunder the riches of our homeland, most notably the extraction of billions of dollars worth of gold from the mountains of Northern Luzon. And to suppress all resistance to your colonial rule, you enacted such oppressive laws as the Flag Law, which made it illegal to display the flags of the Katipunan or the Malolos Republic, and the Brigandage Act of 1902, which declared Filipino revolutionaries henceforth as bandits deserving execution. With the last law, your hanged, among others, Gen. Macario Sakay and Col. Lucio de Vega, both outstanding officers of our Philippine Revolutionary Army. Mr. President, the United States of America has always claimed to be the bastion of democracy and human rights; but your government now stands accused of crimes against humanity. The US government violated these very same principles when it waged its war of aggression against the Filipino people 100 years ago. The United States appointed itself the savior of a nation and then committed genocide against its people. We therefore demand that the United States government issue an immediate and unconditional apology to the Filipino people for the death, misery and havoc it wrought on our nation. We demand that it admit to the world the great wrongs it inflicted against our people during the Filipino-American War. Only with your government's acceptance of its guilt can truth and justice begin to be served. PRINTED NAME SIGNATURE From ngls at undp.org Tue Mar 9 21:56:32 1999 From: ngls at undp.org (UN-NGLS (NY Office)) Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 12:56:32 +0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1045] Financing for Dev't: NGO Dialogue at UN HQ, New York Message-ID: <199903091756.MAA05907@nygate.undp.org> Financing for Development: NGO dialogue with the vice-chairs and delegations, taking place at UN Headquarters in New York. _________________________________________________________ The Financing for Development working group will continue with meetings in the week of 15 March 1999. The Vice-Chairpersons of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group of the General Assembly on financing for development are inviting members of the ECOSOC accredited NGO community to a dialogue on the forthcoming series of informal intergovernmental consultations on the agenda and scope of a high-level intergovernmental forum on financing for development to be held in 2001. The dialogue will be held on 15 March at 3pm [Conference Room to be announced] before the opening of the first series of informal intergovernmental consultations. NGOs are therefore invited to share their views on the major issues that should be considered in the Financing for Development process, under the major elements entitled: (1) Mobilizing domestic resources for development; (2) Mobilizing international private financial flows for development; (3) International financial cooperation for development; and (4) External debt (bilateral, multilateral and commercial) . See below for key elements identified in the Index Report (A/53/470). All interested delegations are invited to join the vice-chairpersons in hearing the views of civil society on these issues. For further information, see the Financing for Development website: http://www.un.org/esa/analysis/ffd.htm _________________________________________________________ Key Elements identified in the Index Report (excerpted from A/53/470): II. Recurring themes and key elements identified by stakeholders 1. Mobilizing domestic resources for development Domestic human development and capacity-building - Education and training - Health and environmental protection - Development of the private sector Economic policies and measures - Fiscal policy and institutions - Monetary policy and institutions -Savings policy -Tax policy and institutions - Income distribution and income concentration Domestic financial markets and institutions - Capital markets - Financial institutions -Banking system -Microfinancing and microcredit institutions - Domestic pension funds Public administration and governance - Domestic business legal framework - Effective enforcement of laws and anti-corruption programmes - Public participation in economic policy-making - Policy coordination and coherence 2. Mobilizing international private financial flows for development Private capital flows for capacity-building - Education and training -Development of local entrepreneurs - Sustainable development Utilization of different investment channels - Foreign direct investment - Private short-term financial flows - Foreign portfolio investment - Management and production contractual relations - Project finance and management Domestic policies on international private financial flows -Privatization programmes - Supervisory and regulatory arrangements -Incentive and investment promotion programmes - Financial market liberalization -Credit guarantee programmes - Disclosure of financial information International policies on international private financial flows - Bilateral and multilateral investment agreements - Cross-border mergers and acquisitions - International accounting and reporting standards -Cross-border illicit payments - Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) - Market evaluations and assessments Management of international private financial flows - Management of currencies - Management of volatility and its effects on development - Management of environmental and social effects - Leverage of international private financial resources Distribution of private investment flows - Least developed countries - Sub-Saharan Africa -Small island developing countries 3. International financial cooperation for development International support for capacity-building - Education and training - Health and environment - Poverty alleviation and humanitarian assistance - Private sector development Development cooperation arrangements -Donor country policies and actions --Overall level of financial flows --Donor coordination --Conditionality - Recipient countries' policies and actions - Meeting commitments made at United Nations conferences Official development assistance (ODA) -Bilateral assistance -Regional cooperation --Regional development banks --South-South aid programmes - Multilateral assistance - International financial institutions and assistance - United Nations system - Multi-bilateral aid Non-governmental assistance (non-governmental organizations, foundations) Effectiveness of international assistance -Measurement and criteria for evaluation Specific country groups 4. External debt (bilateral, multilateral and commercial) Bilateral public sector debt Multilateral public sector debt -Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative Commercial market -Private sector debt -Public sector debt Aspects of external debt -Management, monitoring and sustainability -Consequences and impacts -Alleviation and new solutions -Responsibilities, problems and actions Debt conversion -Debt-for-nature swaps -Debt-for-equity swaps -Other debt-for-development swaps Specific country groups - Low-income countries - Middle-income countries From panap at panap.po.my Tue Mar 9 18:07:08 1999 From: panap at panap.po.my (PAN Asia Pacific) Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 17:07:08 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1046] World Bank in India Message-ID: For your information: In the APPA resolutions, participants condemned the construction of a dam financed by the World Bank in Southern India. We also condemned World Bank financed mega-power projects in general. Two weeks ago, IPS reported that the World Bank was going ahead with a $210 million energy loan to India as part of $1 billion loan scheme that will take place over the next eight years. The bulk of these loans will go towards the construction of power projects in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The initial loan is aimed at "improving power transmission and privatising the state's public-sector electricity board." The Andhra Pradesh programme will be modeled on recent World Bank loans to the eastern state of Orissa. In Orissa, the World Bank offered a 10-year, $375 million loan to finance the construction of a privatised coal-fired plant. Several foreign TNCs were commissioned for the construction and others have been involved in investment. The project reduced the price of power for industry by 26 percent, and a number of foreign companies relocated or opened new operations in the area to take advantage of the low energy costs. Meanwhile, for residents in the area, electricity rates rose by up to five times and privatisation schemes demanded by the World Bank increased unemployment. The plant forced thousands off their lands, and the local river, once a source of drinking water and fish, is now completely polluted. The IPS also reports that the project in Andhra Pradesh will utilise the burning of sludge, known as 'orimulsion'-- a process that has been rejected in North America and Europe because of its toxicity. (see Abid Aslam, "World Bank approves power loan", IPS, Feb. 18, 1999) -Devlin, PAN-AP From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Wed Mar 10 15:21:58 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Wed, 10 Mar 1999 18:21:58 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1047] APEC - The Tripe Behind The Hype Message-ID: (From "The Big Picture", February 1999, GATT Watchdog, PO Box 1905, Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand) Selling APEC To the Masses - The Tripe Behind the Hype - Aziz Choudry "There is no downside to opening up world trade", Jim Bolger told the 1996 APEC Trade Ministers meeting in Christchurch. "All you have to do is overcome political barriers, in other words, attitudinal barriers". Ah yes, those "attitudinal barriers". These must be the kinds of things that the much-publicised gaggle of press secretaries and others that make up the "communications" team in the Prime Minister's Office hope to deal to, as the minority government stumbles on further into 1999, and as Jenny Shipley celebrates over a year in the top job. The level of anxiety coming from officials as we move on through the year when New Zealand chairs APEC is almost tangible, going way beyond worries about Jenny Shipley's performance in Kuala Lumpur and whether Auckland has enough hotel rooms to cope next September. With increasing scepticism about APEC's worth and relevance coming from media, business, political commentators and economists alike, selling APEC to New Zealanders, particularly Aucklanders, is a daunting task. It must feel a bit like trying to sell tickets on the Titanic - after the iceberg has hit. The spin doctors assigned to APEC have their work cut out for them. Many people have grown tired of the inflated hype that has characterised so many government pronouncements on international trade issues and market reforms for so long. Some openly challenge the legitimacy and soundness of APEC as a forum for economic policy-making, and dispute the received wisdom of the free market's cheerleaders. The PR wizards will certainly need to do far better than whoever scripted the outpourings of praise for the troubled forum that Shipley, McKinnon, Lockwood Smith and co. returned with from Malaysia. McKinnon unconvincingly described the APEC meetings as "remarkable", Smith called the outcome "an excellent response to the crisis". But the Weekend Australian's view rang closer to the truth -"an event that swings between the ominous and the ludicrous." In documents obtained under the Official Information Act, the government's "communications strategy and branding exercise" for APEC 1999 is outlined, which aims to quickly establish "an overall brand image in the market place", but "will not focus on the complex substance of the APEC process such as trade liberalisation or facilitation". True to form, there is no acknowledgement of the need for full, open, balanced debate about the benefits or otherwise of APEC and New Zealand's economic direction. There's no sign of rethinking the economic model and looking at alternative options. Jenny Shipley is stressing the importance of "building broader support for APEC among the wider communities of which we are part" as a key theme for APEC 1999. But her public statements and the government's overall APEC communications strategy merely echo the quiet desperation of APEC's true believers around the region. At the last two APEC Summits, held while the 'Asian' economic crisis deepened and broadened, Ministerial Meeting joint statements have only just stopped short of tacitly acknowledging that the forum's credibility is on the line. APEC faces a crisis of legitimacy as the economic agenda which underpins it is questioned, and countries become ambivalent about further trade and investment liberalisation. The solution? More PR. In Vancouver ministers endorsed a public relations campaign because "support among the people of the region for continuing trade and investment liberalisation is essential". Last May, the Singapore-based APEC Secretariat called for proposals from communications consultants to help raise "understanding and support for liberalization". In Kuala Lumpur, behind all the rhetoric, the free trade and investment push - symbolised by the early voluntary sector liberalisation initiative - all but stalled, and APEC again failed to address an economic crisis which had by now assumed global proportions. Rather than deal with the crisis and reexamine the market model of economic development "[m]inisters tasked officials to develop effective communication strategies to build community understanding for liberalization" A "keynote seminar on communicating the impact of trade liberalization in Auckland in June 1999" was announced as part of this. This will not be a forum to discuss and debate APEC's free trade, free market vision, but to help find new improved ways to sell the message that APEC is good for us. Back home, the PR contingent already looks like it badly needs help. Public relations advice given to the Auckland City Council to sell APEC to the public is almost laughable: "don't provide information in a proactive way until close to the event...the message should state that APEC is good (and why)". It's not hard to see why the public are being kept in the dark about the real impact APEC will have on the city. After all, the government itself is waiting for instructions from visiting delegations. In a "Questions and Answers on APEC" document sent to the Council in September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it won't know about the severity of the traffic disruption, whether rubbish collection, mail and courier deliveries will be affected during the Leaders' Summit until sometime in 1999. Decisions on these are all "subject to the security requirements of overseas delegations." A comforting thought. Maybe they're waiting to see how many leaders, especially Clinton, actually decide to come. The government's spin doctors and the APEC TaskForce believe they can win over our hearts and minds with a mix of saying nothing and swamping us with gushy "messages" promoting this year's APEC circus. This could be a major miscalculation on their part. (Aziz Choudry works for GATT Watchdog on international trade issues and their impact on New Zealand. He recently returned from Kuala Lumpur where he spoke at the Asia-Pacific Peoples Assembly, a non-governmental forum on APEC and globalisation) From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Sun Mar 14 16:34:16 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 19:34:16 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1048] APEC 99: Auckland Security Message-ID: New Zealand Herald 13-14 March 1999 P1 Police out to thwart snipers By Tony Wall The huge Apec security operation is already buzzing Auckland (Photograph: EYE IN THE SKY: An Air Force Iroquois helicopter skirted the Sky Tower and other central city high-rises yesterday as Apec security preparations gather pace) Police marksmen are seeking out potential snipers' nests in central Auckland to prevent an assassination during the Apec conference. Armed offenders squad officers are also securing strategic positions in office buildings opposite hotels where world leaders will stay, so they can station sharpshooters in the event of trouble. An Air Force Iroquois helicopter was used yesterday on a training flight linked with Apec preparations. It was seen hovering close to several high-rise buildings. With six months to go before the conference, police are methodically going through buildings, from basement to rooftop, preparing a register of vantage points. It is part of a huge security operation that will involve emergency services and the armed forces. During a visit last month, the FBI director, Judge Louis Freeh, warned New Zealand to be on guard, saying the conference here would be "a target of opportunity". One building police checked is Krukziener House in Albert St, opposite the Stamford Plaza hotel, which will host some of the 21 world leaders expected. Grant Hoskins, general manager of 2001 Internet Travel, which occupies space on the first floor, said police had surveyed his office as it had an almost perfect line of sight into the hotel foyer. "We're an ideal sniper's spot". Mr Hoskins said an armed offender squad officer used binoculars to survey the streets, recording angles and distances. He also asked for contact details of office keyholders but added that that did not really matter, "because if we had to get in there we'd just break the doors down." The Operation Apec commander Detective Superintendent Peter Marshall, said the inspections covered all aspects of buildings' security. Other security measures included restriction of public access to certain areas and road closures for motorcades. All police leave would be cancelled during the conference, and court cases and training postponed. The Navy will have a 100-strong decontamination force stationed on a frigate to foil any chemical weapons attack by terrorists. And a parliamentary select committee is considering legislation that would allow foreign agents to carry handguns. ENDS Letters To the Editor letters@herald.co.nz From gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz Thu Mar 18 09:33:25 1999 From: gattwd at corso.ch.planet.gen.nz (Gatt Watchdog) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 12:33:25 +1200 Subject: [asia-apec 1049] APEC-related break-in story (NZ) Message-ID: Letters to the editor letters@herald.co.nz NZ Herald. March 18 1999 Secrecy slip by Clark has SIS fuming By Eugene Bingham Labour leader Helen Clark has let slip why intelligence agents broke into activist Aziz Choudry's house, saying they were not actually after him. Her disclosure of sensitive security matters is understood to have left the Government and the service fuming, although both refused to comment yesterday. Helen Clark, who as Leader of the Opposition receives regular briefings on state security, refused to comment further yesterday. In a magazine interview she said two Security Intelligence Service officers who were caught breaking into Mr Choudry's Christchurch home were interested in overseas visitors staying with him. It is the first time anyone in authority has alluded to the reason for the bungled 1996 break-in. The details are deemed so secret that the Government is arguing through the courts that it should not have to reveal them to a High Court judge in private. Helen Clark's statement has credence because she would have been briefed on the case by the head of the SIS, Don McIver. "The hardest thing for me on this is there are a lot of things I can't say as I'm one of the few people the SIS briefs about the general nature of the activities," she told North & South magazine. "They burgled [Mr Choudry's] house, yes, but not because of him," she said. "I think it's clear to everyone that it was not aimed at him. He had visitors who were of interest and when you've got people coming to New Zealand on visitors' visas who have got links with groups who could have an interest, someone will make inquiries." Mr Choudry, who is suing the SIS over the break-in, said the only person staying with him at the time was Dr Alejandro Villamar Calderon, a Mexican researcher and campaigner. Dr Calderon had been invited to a free-trade conference organised by Mr Choudry and fellow anti-Apec campaigners in Christchurch. But Mr Choudry said he doubted the service would have been interested in Dr Calderon and the Mexican had not even been invited to New Zealand at the time the Prime Minister signed a warrant authorising the SIS operation. "The warrant was issued in September 1995. I had my first face-to-face contact meeting with Alejandro in November...and he was not invited to come until late December 1995" ENDS GATT Watchdog media release MEDIA RELEASE 18 March 1999 WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH? APEC DAMAGE CONTROL MOTIVE SUSPECTED It seems that the SIS and GATT Watchdog finally have something in common as both are angry - albeit for different reasons - over Helen Clark's comments in the April 1999 edition of North and South magazine that the SIS broke into Aziz Choudry's house because of their interest in someone staying at his house who came to New Zealand on a visitor's visa, said spokeswoman Leigh Cookson. "It is not the first time I have heard this rumour. I wonder why Ms Clark finds it necessary to repeat this dubious assertion every time she is asked about the case. Ms Clark's "slip" goes hand in hand with the cosmetic changes made to the definition of security in the SIS Amendment Bill No 2. We can only assume that this assertion is designed to allay the very real fears that New Zealanders who are organising in opposition to this year's APEC meetings may have their homes invaded by the SIS". "I pointed out to Ms Clark during the GATT Watchdog submission to the Intelligence and Security Committee on the SIS Amendment Bill that the only visitor on a visitor's visa staying at Mr Choudry's house during the time the SIS broke into his house (during a GATT Watchdog organised alternative conference on APEC) was Dr Alejandro Villamar Calderon, a Mexican academic and government employee. Neither GATT Watchdog nor Mr Choudry had met Dr Villamar when the interception warrant was issued on 5 December 1995. It is impossible for the warrant to have been issued because of SIS interest in Dr Villamar's visit to Mr Choudry's house when neither man knew the other at the time unless the SIS have some ability to see into the future that they are also keeping secret." The warrant issued by the SIS supposedly authorised the interception of 'any oral, written and/or electronic communications of some person or persons for a period of twelve months from the date of the warrant. Obviously the SIS could not have planned to intercept communications relating to Dr Villamar in September 1995. "It would seem that either the SIS Director-General Don McIver misled Ms Clark about the reason for the warrant or she has some other reason for telling this story. I suggest that if it is the former that she should talk to Mr McIver again and ask him to explain how a warrant supposedly aimed at a visitor no-one had met in September 1995 could have been issued." "It seems obvious that Ms Clark's remarks about the case fall into the category of political damage control over the Labour Party's support for the SIS Amendment Bill. A Bill which if passed still allows the SIS to break into the houses of New Zealanders who are opposed to the policies of the government - something Labour hopes to be later this year" From kevin.li at graduate.hku.hk Thu Mar 18 14:34:48 1999 From: kevin.li at graduate.hku.hk (Kevin Li) Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 13:34:48 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1050] Conference: Whose Development?, 27-28 March @ HK Message-ID: <36F09077.82DDB488@graduate.hku.hk> Conference: Whose Development? - Hong Kong Critiques on Developmentalism 27-28 March, 1999. Co-organizers: Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (ARENA), Greenpeace China, Hong Kong Women Workers' Association, Hong Kong Philosophy Society, Invisible Booklink, Birdnest Project For contacts, please e-mail to hunghom@gurlmail.com Film Show 27 March 1999 (Saturday) Room 105, Chong Yuet Ming Amenities Center, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road. 1. Dams and anti-dam movements 3:00-5:00 p.m. A. Narmada Diary Director: Anand Patwardhan 60 mins., India, 1995 For nearly a decade the people of the Narmada valley, a majority of them Adivasis (indigenous people of India), have resisted the dam. In the face of their unity the World Bank had to withdraw its funding for the project. But Indian government officials, either induced by kickbacks that often accompany large projects or seduced by the now discredited rhetoric of the fifties when large dams were considered to be "the temples of modern India", have steadfastly refused to halt construction. A Narmada Diary documents five years in the life of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) which has spearheaded the agitation against the dam. With their insistence on non-violence and their determination to drown rather than shift out of their homes and land, the people of the Narmada valley have become symbols of a global struggle against unjust and unsustainable development. B. Slide show with talk Host Kevin Li Internet Researcher, International Rivers Network. A member of Birdnest Project Anti-Meinung Dam Movement - The struggle to conserve the water resources of south Taiwan Chong Siu-mei A member of Meinung People's Association (in Mandarin) 2. Green Movement and "Anti-movement" 5:30-7:00 p.m. Overturn the sky and ground Director: Chow Wing-yee 40 mins., Canada/Hong Kong, 1999 The complexities, capitalism, patriarchy, and professionalism within local environmental issues are each other the causes, and results in the current approach of local green movement. How can we give a prescription so that local green movement can be transformed into revoluntionary force? How do the other social movements response to the conservative cultural hegemony? What can the green movement gain from these responses? This film investigates this problem by looking at the nearby examples, including environmental and regional political problems in Tsing Yi, Women and development in New Territories, and Urban air pollution problems. Discussion Man Si Wai Lecturer, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project Lo Sze Ping Campaigner, Greenpeace China. A member of Birdnest Project 3. Urban Community Movement 8:00-10:00 p.m. Our home in Kang Le Lane Director: Huang Sun-quan 80 mins., Taiwan, 1999 The struggle over destruction on the land prepared for Taipei Park No. 14 and 15 is a movement of huge contrast and ambiguity. The city government gained strong mainstream public support, while the marginalized dwellers do not insist on defending home, and the opposition voices of college teachers and students are not fully reflected. In the process of struggle, they give up the debate on urban issues, and concentrate on the ideological conflict, while the land developers are hungry for a piece of green land nearby. The bulldozers eventually scrapped the collective memory and "illegal" houses of 50 years, whereas the video record every piece of matters, which tell us the movement as an un-recovered wound and the breaking history of Taipei city. Response and Sharing Huang Li-ling A member of The Organization of Urban Re-s Huang Sun-quan Director of "Our home in Kang Le Lane". Chief editor of "Pots" Journal (in Mandarin) Seminar March 28 1999 (Sunday) Hong Kong Federation of Students 9/F., Wai Tak Commercial Building, 7-9 Mongkok Road, Mongkok, Kowloon. (Just the opposite to Dynasty Cinema) (A map will be provided upon request) 1. The Myth of Housing Commodification 9:30 - 10:45 a.m. Host Lo Sze Ping Campaigner of Greenpeace China. A member of Birdnest Project A. Housing Reform in Hong Kong: Critique from the perspective of social justice Lai On Kwok Lecturer, Department of Social Policy, Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. B. The Privatization of Public Housing: Problems and Response Ip Chiu Ping Representative from Hong Kong People's Council for Public Housing Policy 2. Community development and spatial politics: the case of Hunghom 11:00 - 1:00 a.m. Host Ip Iam Chong A member of Grassroots Co-operative. A member of Birdnest Project A. Why Community Planning is lacking in Hong Kong? -- Using the South East Kowloon Development Plan as an illustration Dr. Ng Mee Kam Associate Professor, Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Hong Kong B. Hunghom Old District: its People, History and the question of Redevelopment Sze Pang Cheung Research student, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project C. Being a Community organizer in Hunghom Old District: Some reflections So Ngai Long A representative of Public Housing Council 3. "Community" identity: constructions and contests 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. Host Sze Pang Cheung Research student, Department of Sociology, The University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project A. The concept of "Community" for Community Organizers in Hong Kong Leung Chi Yuen Former community organizer B. Professional's participation in Urban Movement: The Case of Taiwan Huang Li-ling A member of The Organization of Urban Re-s C. Ientity Construction and Spatial Politics of Foreign Domestic Workers in Hong Kong Aida Jean N. Manipon Coordinator, ARENA (Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives) (in English) 4. The ecofeminist search for autonomous voices 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Host Man Si Wai Lecturer, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. A member of Birdnest Project A. "Public/Private" Dichotomy as an Oppressive Social Structure for Women Mary Ann King Hong Kong Women Christian Council B. Women's Status in Hong Kong: Social Development vs Economic Miracle Linda To Executive member, Hong Kong Women Workers' Association C. "Living in Blood and Flesh": A Drama performance by Ziteng Ziteng is a concern organization for Sex workers D. Comic Exhibition Lily Lau Feminist Artist (Translation will be provided in the conference.) From alarm at HK.Super.NET Fri Mar 19 18:57:40 1999 From: alarm at HK.Super.NET (ALARM) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 17:57:40 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1051] New Resource Materials Message-ID: <4.0.1.19990319175154.00de1b70@pc02> Dear friends, Two resource materials were recently published which might be of interest to you. 1) Thailand: Class Struggle in an Era of Economic Crisis by Prof Ji Giles Ungpakorn This book is an account of the modern Thai working class in the late 1990s. The emphasis is placed, not on the weakness and suffering of Thai workers, but on their potential and actual strengths to determine the future of society. The book argues that by studying the relationship between rank and file workers and union officials from a "bottom-upwards" perspective, and by looking at the main ideological influences among Thai workers, it is possible to make a more realistic assessment of the working class than most previous accounts. There is a chapter on women workers which discusses sexuality, a chapter on bank workers as part of the working class and also an anthropological profile of eight rank and file working class activists. An important theme throughout the book is the impact of the present economic crisis on the Thai working class and the relationship between the labour movement and the struggle for democracy. Inquiries: Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail: amrc@hk.super.net; 2) Third Report on Working Conditions in China by Coalition for the Charter on the Safe Production of Toys This report is about the result of the investigation made on the twelve factories in the export processing zones in Guangdong Province. Most of them are suppliers or subcontractors of major toy transnational companies (TNCs) like Mattel, Tyco, Disney, Hasbro, McDonalds, Tomy and VTech which produce popular toys, i.e., Barbie dolls, teletubbies, Disney cartoon characters and McDonald's happy meals. A thorough research was made not only on the working conditions of the toy workers, but also on the role of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Inquiries: Ms May Wong, Toy Campaign Coordinator, c/o Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail: amrc@hk.super.net; Check the details at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc From alarm at HK.Super.NET Fri Mar 19 18:57:38 1999 From: alarm at HK.Super.NET (ALARM) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 17:57:38 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1052] New Resouce Materials Message-ID: <199903191005.SAA12260@tsingyi.pacific.net.hk> Dear friends, Two resource materials were recently published which might be of interest to you. 1) Thailand: Class Struggle in an Era of Economic Crisis by Prof Ji Giles Ungpakorn This book is an account of the modern Thai working class in the late 1990s. The emphasis is placed, not on the weakness and suffering of Thai workers, but on their potential and actual strengths to determine the future of society. The book argues that by studying the relationship between rank and file workers and union officials from a "bottom-upwards" perspective, and by looking at the main ideological influences among Thai workers, it is possible to make a more realistic assessment of the working class than most previous accounts. There is a chapter on women workers which discusses sexuality, a chapter on bank workers as part of the working class and also an anthropological profile of eight rank and file working class activists. An important theme throughout the book is the impact of the present economic crisis on the Thai working class and the relationship between the labour movement and the struggle for democracy. Inquiries: Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail: amrc@hk.super.net; 2) Third Report on Working Conditions in China by Coalition for the Charter on the Safe Production of Toys This report is about the result of the investigation made on the twelve factories in the export processing zones in Guangdong Province. Most of them are suppliers or subcontractors of major toy transnational companies (TNCs) like Mattel, Tyco, Disney, Hasbro, McDonalds, Tomy and VTech which produce popular toys, i.e., Barbie dolls, teletubbies, Disney cartoon characters and McDonald's happy meals. A thorough research was made not only on the working conditions of the toy workers, but also on the role of the All China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU). Inquiries: Ms May Wong, Toy Campaign Coordinator, c/o Asia Monitor Resource Center (AMRC), 444 Nathan Road, 8-B, Kowloon, Hong Kong, tel: 852-2332-1346; fax: 852-2385-5319; e-mail: amrc@hk.super.net; Check the details at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc From alarm at HK.Super.NET Fri Mar 19 19:04:00 1999 From: alarm at HK.Super.NET (ALARM) Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 18:04:00 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1053] Alternative Activities to the APEC AGENDA; Globalisation and Labour Laws Message-ID: <199903191009.SAA12855@tsingyi.pacific.net.hk> Dear friends, Check out the following articles -- I. On APEC (at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc/campaign.htm) a. Know about the series of activities being organized in Aotearoa/New Zealand leading to a 2 day Conference to be held in Auckland on 11-12 September 1999 (the same time as the APEC Leaders Summit.) b. Check out the article "APEC, Maori and the Treaty" c. "The Crisis in Context: Chossudovsky on the "Crisis" and past issues of the ALARM Update can also be found at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc/alarm.htm II. Articles on globalisation and labour laws from Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Aotearoa/New Zealand, China, etc. can be found at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc/alu.htm From agr726 at hyd.zoooom.net.pk Sat Mar 27 14:40:46 1999 From: agr726 at hyd.zoooom.net.pk (Dr. Aslam Pervez Umrani) Date: Sat, 27 Mar 1999 05:40:46 -0000 Subject: [asia-apec 1054] The Chotiari Reservoir Project Sindh Pakistan Message-ID: <01be7814$5d05e8e0$29123ad1@oemcomputer> The Chotiari Reservoir Project Pakistan Network for Rivers, Dams and People (PNRDP) Sindh would like to provide basic facts about the construction of Chotiari Reservoir in Sindh, Pakistan, and its effects on environment and people of that region. These facts are taken from the Chotiari Reservoir Independent Study 1998. The Chotiari Reservoir Project is designed to increase the storage capacity of lakes in district Sangher, Sindh, Pakistan. In order to increase the irrigation discharge for agriculture in the Umarkot district. The initial proposed capacity of the reservoir was 0.95 MAF (million acre-feet) of water, which will be increased to 2.5 times. Even in present proposed capacity, it will be flooding an area of approximately 100 square miles and engulfing 46 villages and 45,000 acres of cultivated or grazing land. However, after completion of the project, 150000 acres new land will be brought under the plough. In the past, always bureaucrats, people from other provinces and feudal lords get hold of newly developed lands. The construction cost of the project is likely to escalate to over RS. 5 billion (100 million US Dollars), compared to the previous estimates of RS. 1.5 billion (30 million US Dollars). This project is assisted by group of donors led by World Bank that includes, IDA, ADB, ODA (now DFID), Swiss Development Corporation, OPEC, Saudi Fund for Development, Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and CIDA. The construction of the reservoir was assisted by the Saudi Fund for Development, whereas World Bank through Government of Pakistan funded the resettlement plan. The Chotiari lake area is characterised by wetlands, reverine forests, desert scrubs and sand dunes, which provides an ecological richness, and it? s a haven for migratory birds, hog-deer, local species of crocodile, and a variety of fish species. Chotiari also supports grazing, fishing and agricultural activities of indigenous people. Due to this project, families living in the area for many generations would be forced to vacate their lands and traditional way of life in the name of so called progress. Herdsmen who for generations have used the existing lake fringes as pasture land will now have to move away in search of grazing sites, which will increase grazing pressure in other areas. Fishing communities harmonised with the ecology of the lakes would be stranded on the shores of this vast reservoir. With the substantial increase in water level of the lakes all existing grass and tree species will be drowned, which will be changing the natural eco-system forever. The likely increase in water seepage and water logging will contribute to the destruction of adjacent areas. Risking the loss of good arable lands and increasing the stress over the fauna and flora of the area. In addition to inherent adverse impact associated with the construction of the reservoir there have been significant wrong doings associated with the land acquisition, compensation and resettlement plans as well as with mitigation measures for adverse environmental impacts. We can find no justification for continuing this project because: 1. Additional water 2.24 MAF for the reservoir would be diverted from the water presently flowing to the Indus delta. This would very adversely affect the ecology of delta region, such as mangroo forest of coastal area, destruction of agricultural lands of coastal area due to increase in sea water level in delta. 2. Chotiari project planning was done without conducting systematic and detailed geological hydraulic and ecological survey of the reservoir area and surrounding lands. 3. No revised cost benefit analysis exists for this project, despite the fact that original estimated cost has gone up three times. 4. The affected communities were not made part of participation process in project planning. In consequence, the present resettlement plan does not address the actual problems of agricultural, herdsmen and fishermen communities. The existing resettlement plan and relocation site will produce impoverishment, food and other insecurities for majority of resettlers. Thus we think that all construction activities at the reservoir should be stopped until new survey for ecological impacts on local environment is carried out. Dr Aslam Pervez Umrani PhD Interim Convenor Pakistan Network of Rivers Dams & People Sindh Chapter Editor: Sustainable Livestock and Agriculture Production (SLAP), Address: House No. 60, Al-Abbas Housing Society, New Wehdat Colony, Hyderabad, Pakistan. Email: agr726@hyd.zoooom.net.pk http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3770/ From alarm at HK.Super.NET Wed Mar 31 13:04:35 1999 From: alarm at HK.Super.NET (ALARM) Date: Wed, 31 Mar 1999 12:04:35 +0800 Subject: [asia-apec 1055] APEC (ALARM) Update Message-ID: <4.0.1.19990331115001.00dda400@pc02> Check out the following articles at http://www.hk.super.net/~amrc I. March 1999 Update a. Russian Workers Face Renewed Crises with Determination b. Globalisation-in-Review i. Jeans Giant Announces Massive Job Losses: NAFTA Blamed ii. WTO Faces Image Problems iii. WTO's Committee on Trade and Development and Committee on Trade and Environment Meetings iv. Japan Plans to Create 770,000 Jobs in 2 Years v. Goodyear Unions Set-Up Global Network c. Alternatives to the APEC Agenda d. "APEC, Maori and the Treaty" II. Past Issues of the ALARM Update III. Articles on Globalisation and Labour Laws covering countries from Australia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Aotearoa/New Zealand, China, etc.