GABRIELA Solons Want Okinawa Rape On GMA’S US Trip Agenda

As President Arroyo sets to leave for her trip to the United States, women's Partylist group Gabriela today called on President Arroyo to include in her agenda, the US military and government's accountability in the rape case of Hazel, the Filipina migrant worker who was raped by a US soldier in Okinawa February of this year.

"In her meeting with the US President, it is President Arroyo's political and moral obligation as a woman and as a leader of this country, to include in her agenda, Hazel's call for justice. We challenge President Arroyo to stand up for Hazel and give substance to her government's supposed high regard for Filipino migrants," said Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza.

The Gabriela solon said "Hazel deserves, at the very least, an apology and a commitment to justice, similar to the pronouncements of US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on the rape of an Okinawan girl also in February 2008."

"Wherever there are US military bases, there are documented cases of rape and sexual abuse, of sex trafficking and prostitution. Whether in Okinawa, the Philippines or Afghanistan, the abuse of women and children is part of the social cost," said Maza.

Representatives Maza and Luz Ilagan of Gabriela, are throwing their full support to Hazel and her family. They are set to support and join Hazel's mother in a planned "Mission to Okinawa" in the following weeks. Aside from getting a thorough assessment of Hazel's case and legal options, Gabriela Women's Party and the "Mission to Okinawa" intends to also look into the situation of Filipina migrants and entertainers in Okinawa.#