US-RP VFA: Blueprint for Aggression and Abuse- Gabriela Women’s Party

“The US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement is the very blueprint of a warmonger that is the United States in the Philippines. The Arroyo administration is hell-bent in embracing this lopsided agreement, putting the lives of Filipino women and children in constant peril.”

This is the statement of Gabriela Women's Party Secretary General Cristina Palabay as partylist leaders and members joined today's march and protest at the US Embassy in Manila to commemorate the 6th anniversary of United States invasion of Iraq and calling for the termination of the US-RP VFA.

“The US invasion of Iraq and Arroyo’s continued implementation of the US-RP VFA have both caused immense violence and death of the women and people. They target the general population of countries and rape and abuse our women and children,” Palabay said.

According to Palabay, there are still countless unresolved cases of violence brought about by the presence of US troops in the country, including that of Nicole, the 22-year old Filipina who was allegedly raped by Lance Corporal Daniel Smith in Subic. This is the same thing that happened in Iraq, where justice remains elusive for the millions of victims of US aggression in Iraq.

“While the international community continues to condemn the unprecedented aggression of US in Iraq six years ago, we Filipinas decry the unbridled support of the Arroyo administration in these unjust wars and its puppetry in upholding unequal agreements that violate our sovereignty and our people,” Palabay concluded.