Migrante International condemns in strongest terms desperate efforts and attempts by the Aquino government to suppress big global protests in time for APEC2015 tomorrow, November 19.
This morning, at 9:20 in the morning, jeeps carrying protesters and members of Migrante in Pampanga were blocked by policemen at McArthur Highway and brought to the police station in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga. They were interrogated at the station for at least 30 minutes. They were only released after police got the names, addresses and contact numbers of the passengers. The jeepneys are now on their way to Manila to participate in the anti-APEC protests.
Following the blockade and detention of our Lumad brothers and sisters at the Baclaran Redemptorist Church, the forced eviction of street dwellers and urban poor communities, and threats of arrest and deportation of foreign protesters by the government, this recent harassment and suppression of people’s protests further demonstrates the PH government’s punitive actions against anti-APEC protesters.
Thousands of protesters and participants in the anti-APEC protests from Southern Tagalog and Northern Luzon are also expected to arrive in Manila today.
The Aquino government is getting desperate but peoples’ movements will prevail. Global and local activists, supporters and protesters joining the People’s Campaign Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) will not be threatened and stopped from defying state repression and the APEC’s resisting neoliberal attacks. ###