Start:	Jul 20, '08 08:30a
Location:	Assembly point is at the Baguio Post Office.

The Second BAGUIO LGBT PRIDE PARADE:

Lesbians for National Democracy (LESBOND)
Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (PROGAY- Baguio)
BIND
Cordillera Womens Education, Action & Research Center (CWEARC)
Gabriela Women's Party
Thunderbirds Association in the Cordillera & Suburbs, Inc. (TACSI)
Gagamba Bar
Baden Powell Inn
Rumours
Stargazer
Samurai Male Entertainment Bar
Samurai Comedy Bar
D' 4th Comedy Bar
PhilHair
SonyT Productions

The Baguio Pride Network is Baguio City's broadest network of
Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People and advocates.

Hosting this year's LGBT Pride Parade happening on July 20, 2008
at 8:30am.

Assembly point is at the Baguio Post Office.

For inquiries email at:
baguiopride2008@yahoo.com

July 14, 2008

Aussie activists to hand out condoms to protest Pope's visit

By News Editor

Activists in Sydney are challenging "draconian" laws that outlaw condom distribution, and T-shirts and placards that could "annoy" Catholic pilgrims as some 500,000 people are expected to be present at the Pope's final mass on Sunday.

Thousands of protestors are planning to rally and hand out condoms this Saturday on Oxford Street and Anzac Parade ahead of an overnight vigil and papal Mass at Randwick racecourse to rally against the church's attitude homosexuality, contraception and abortion. News of the regulations have spurred more creative slogans - a T-shirt by Sydney designer Tristan Parry reads: ''5,500 dollars - a small price to pay for annoying Catholics.'' The Sydney Morning Herald online carried a picture of a more loaded T-shirt reading: ''The Pope touched me Down Under,'' a pun on Catholic sex abuse scandals which dog the pontiff on his travels. Under the temporary regulations, a person may be fined A$5,500 for causing annoyance at a World Youth Day event. However, under temporary laws, anyone handing out condoms and/or wearing T-shirts with slogans deemed annoying to Catholics may be arrested or face an A$5,500 dollar (US$5,200) fine. The sweeping new regulations were announced by the New South Wales police to limit behaviour that may cause "annoyance or inconvenience to participants" during Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit in Australia to celebrate World Youth Day (WYD). The laws will apply in the month of July; and in WYD-declared areas including areas of downtown Sydney, transport interchanges and the pilgrimage route, also taking in a radius of 500 metres around the zones. The World Youth event was founded by the Pope's predecessor, John Paul II in 1986 and will run from 15 to 20 July. Billed as the largest event Australia has ever hosted, it will culminate in a Papal Mass in front of an expected 500,000 people at Randwick racecourse next Sunday. Two activists from the NoToPope Coalition of gay and lesbian, religious, and atheist groups have challenged the validity of the powers in court. The court is expected to hand down its judgment on Tuesday, the official start of the six-day WYD event. "These laws are very draconian and we have the right to protest and say our piece," Rachel Evans, organiser of the NoToPope Coalition, told reporters outside the court. "Criticising WYD ethics includes promoting contraception, access to abortion and conducting any criticism of the reactionary views of some Catholic Church leaders." "We’re not planning to get into any trouble, we don’t want to condemn Catholic youth for being Catholics. We want to condemn the Pope for being homophobic," Evans was quoted as saying in a media report. She said the Pope's teachings contributed to 67,000 women dying every year from backyard abortions and a suicide rate among gay youth that is seven times the average. Anna Katzman, the president of the New South Wales Bar Association, said making someone's inconvenience the basis of a criminal offense was "unnecessary and repugnant." "If I was to wear a T-shirt proclaiming that 'World Youth Day is a waste of public money' and refuse to remove it when an officer... asks me to, I would commit a criminal offense," Katzman said. "How ridiculous is that?" The event is said to cost taxpayers some A$150 million. As he did during his US trip in April, Benedict is expected to offer apologies to Australian victims of sexual abuse by priests. Meanwhile, Australia's senior Catholic leader, Sydney Archbishop George Pell, came under fire last week following the reopening of a 25-year-old sexual abuse case. In 2003, Pell sent a letter to Anthony Jones in which he dismissed Jones' complaint of rape against Father Terrence Goodall despite a church investigation that upheld the allegations. Pell said Tuesday that his letter was "badly worded" but stood by his conclusion that the act had been consensual. He said he based his decision on Jones' age - he was 29 - at the time of the alleged rape and Goodall's Goodall's insistence that the act had been consensual.

Related Sites

Notopope.com

FROM http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/article.php?articleid=2256&viewarticle=1

July 7, 2008

Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkatta hold India's first countrywide pride marches

By Mayur Suresh

Fridae's Delhi correspondent Mayur Suresh reports on the three pride marches in the capital, Bangalore and Kolkatta on Jun 29 - the first time it has been coordinated on a national scale.

“Section 377 Quit India!” was on of the chants shouted at Delhi’s first Queer Pride Parade on Jun 29, alluding to the ‘Quit India movement’ launched by Mahatma Gandhi in 1942, five years before India’s independence from the United Kingdom. In some senses, there’s been a sense of history for the queer rights movement in the last couple of months. First, the Delhi High Court began hearings on the challenge India’s sodomy law and on the on Jun 29, the cities of Bangalore and Delhi had their first Pride Parades, joining Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta) which has had its Rainbow Pride Walk since 1999. This year’s pride marches were certainly not the first public celebrations of queerness or of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) identities in the country. Kolkatta’s Rainbow Pride Week was first organised in 1999, and was made an annual event in 2001. In 2002, the Hijra Habba, or the Festival of Hijras (the generic name given to the transgender community in South Asia) was organised in Bangalore. What is significant about this year? Firstly, the pride marches were organised and coordinated on a national scale with queer activists in different cities acting in concert with each other. Mario D’Penha, a historian and queer rights activist in Delhi says: “It’s really amazing that activists from around the country are coordinating the events. While each city will obviously lend its own flavour to the pride parades, it’s great that we can speak about a national day on which people come out to celebrate queerness.” Secondly, and perhaps most heartening, is the number of people that attended the pride marches in the two cities. “We got a larger than expected turnout of about 700 people,” said Siddharth Narrain, an queer rights activist in the southern city of Bangalore. Activists in Delhi estimated the strength of the parade at about 400 people although only 150 people were expected. Kolkatta’s parade attracted a crowd of about 400 people. The Rainbow Pride Walk in Kolkata, is part of a week-long celebration. Every year diverse human rights movements working in the city and nationally come together to organise film shows, art exhibitions, discussions and dance performances to in celebration of LGBT identities and to create spaces for dialogue and understanding devoid of hate, stigma and harassment. At this year’s walk, people sang ‘We Shall overcome’ in an overcast as they walked from College Square and up the Esplanade. The walk ended with a candle vigil in the rain at Kandapara in memory of friends we have been lost to violence, HIV and abuse. While there were no floats or go-go boys in Delhi’s parade, the route of the parade was awash with colour. Loud cheers erupted as queer rights activists were joined by professionals, taxi drivers, families and friends and unfurled a 20 metre long rainbow flag. Hand held rainbow flags were distributed as the parade was joined by a duo of dhol (drum) players. Families, dogs and babies in strollers joined the parade as drag queens danced to the beat heady beat of the drums. Colourful masks were handed out to people who were not comfortable revealing their faces, a reminder that it is still a difficult struggle to be out in India. The parade ended with a candle light vigil at Jantar Mantar, a historic site in the centre of the city, a site at which many social movements have held protests and vigils. At the vigil, Lesley Esteves - a writer and lesbian rights activist - made the point that while we must celebrate queerness, and the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities, we must not forget that many people still live in the shadows of the law and discrimination by society. “This is for all the people who are still in the closet, this is for every lesbian that has committed suicide, this is for all the people who must live as people they are not,” said Esteves who was nearly moved to tears. Bangalore’s march, titled Bangalore Pride, began at the National College grounds, passed through the historic centre of the city and one of its more conservative neighbourhoods and ended at the Puttana Chetty Town Hall where the crowd swelled to over 700 people. Anniruddh Vasudevan, a writer who attended the Bangalore Pride writes: “One corner of the college grounds turned into a carnival zone in less than half an hour. More and more people arrived; hugs and laughter ruled for a while. Painting of faces followed. Some people wondered aloud if they should wear the masks, or paint their faces, or just walk as they were. The decisions, I could see, were very important to all of us… [It was] a psychedelic gathering of not just hijras, kothis, drag queens, sex workers, bisexuals, lesbians and gay men, but also our siblings, friends, and other allies… Then the drummers arrived. And the dancing began. With their superb dancing, the hijras, kothis and drag queens declared the parade open.” The crowd wore t-shirts and held up placards, some of which said ‘God Made me Gay’ or slightly more tongue-in-cheek, ‘377 sucks.’ All this took place three days before the Delhi High Court was scheduled to resume hearings on a constitutional challenge to section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, India’s sodomy statute. However, due to some procedural complications, the case has now been scheduled to be heard on Jul 21 by a bench headed by the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. While there were some somber moments in all three cities, in memory of friends long passed and in solidarity with those still struggling to come out, overall, the pride parades were marked by music, colour and by a sense of joy and celebration. As one activist put it, “While it’s also a protest, what we’re really here to do, is to party, because we’re happy to be who we are and we really need to spread the joy.” And as Anniruddhan writes, “That the most spontaneous response to happiness is happiness, testifies to what is natural and what is not.” Mayur Suresh is a lawyer in New Delhi. Related Articles Indian LGBTs march this weekend to protest anti-gay laws

Start:	Aug 3, '08 06:00a
End:	Aug 3, '08 11:00a
Location:	Quezon City Memorial Circle

Host: Amnesty International Philippines
Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008
Time: 6:00am - 11:00am
Location: Quezon City Memorial Circle
Street: Quezon City Circle
City/Town: Quezon City, Philippines


Human rights in China and the Beijing Olympics
http://www.amnesty.org/en/china-olympics

With Beijing hosting this year’s Olympic Games, Amnesty International hopes the event can create a positive human rights legacy for China. The Chinese authorities pledged that human rights would improve through the hosting of the Games. Amnesty International will hold them to their word.

We are monitoring China’s human rights performance, particularly in areas linked to preparations for the Olympics. We will judge their progress and inform the world.

Our aim is to assess the impact of the Games on human rights in China, to highlight important related issues and to get the world involved.

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27759

Iran 4 July 2008

Alarm over bill that would extend death penalty to online crimes

Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by a draft law that would extend the death penalty to crimes committed online. Passed by parliament on first reading on 2 July, the proposed law would, for example, apply the death penalty to bloggers and website editors who "promote corruption, prostitution or apostasy."

"This proposal is horrifying," Reporters Without Borders said. "Iranian Internet users and bloggers already have to cope with very aggressive filtering policies. The passage of such a law, based on ill-defined concepts and giving judges a lot of room for interpretation, would have disastrous consequences for online freedom. We urge the parliament's members to oppose this bill and instead to starting working on a moratorium on the death penalty."

The press freedom organisation added: "Death sentences were already passed last year on two journalists - Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed "Hiva" Botimar - after judicial proceedings marked by many irregularities. They have been held for more than a year without any certainty as to what will happen to them, and we urge the authorities to free them at once."

Submitted by a score of pro-government parliamentarians and consisting of 13 articles with the declared aim of "reinforcing the penalties for crimes against society's moral security," the bill was passed on first reading by 180 votes in favour, 29 against and 10 abstentions.

Article 2 of the bill lists the crimes that are already subject to the death penalty, including armed robbery, rape and creating prostitution networks. If the law is adopted, "the creation of blogs and websites promoting corruption, prostitution and apostasy" will also become capital crimes.

According to article 3, judges will be able to decide whether the person found guilty of these crimes is "mohareb" (enemy of God) or "corrupter on earth." Article 190 of the criminal code stipulates that these crimes are punishable by "hanging" or by "amputation of the right hand and left foot."

A blogger, Mojtaba Saminejad, was tried before a Tehran court in 2005 on a charge of "insulting the prophets," which carries the death penalty. In the end, the court acquitted him.

Hassanpour, 28, and Botimar, 30, were sentenced to death on 16 July 2007 by a revolutionary court in the Kurdish city of Marivan on charges of "subversive activities against national security," spying and "separatist propaganda." Their convictions were overturned by the supreme court in Tehran on procedural grounds. The Marivan court reimposed the death sentence on Botimar in April of this year, while Hassanpour is awaiting a new trial.

A journalist is also under sentence of death in neighbouring Afghanistan. It is Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, of Jahan-e Naw ("The New World) who was arrested on 27 October 2007 in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif and was given the death sentence on 22 January, at the end of a trial held behind closed doors and without any lawyer acting for the defence.

Kambakhsh was arrested after downloading a controversial article from an Iranian website that quoted suras from the Koran about women. He was convicted of blasphemy although it was established that he was not the article's author.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080608-141442/Gay-Pregnant-and-Marked-for-Harassment

Sunday Inquirer Magazine / Sunday Inq Mag http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/sim/sim/view/20080608-141442/Gay-Pregnant-and-Marked-for-Harassment FEATURE FEATURE : Gay, Pregnant and Marked for Harassment By Jonas Bagas Philippine Daily Inquirer Posted date: June 08, 2008 MANILA, Philippines - Remember the “flower platoon”? Back when the Reserve Officers Training Course (ROTC) was still mandatory for male college students, it symbolized discrimination against gay students. Real men marched in real platoons; gay students were with their pansy fellows in the flower platoon. Their only duty was to cheer for their manly counterparts or run errands for them. Well, the “flower platoon” disappeared with the abolition of compulsory ROTC in 2001, but the underlying biases that created it still persist. They come in the form of unwritten rules or the ubiquitous “morality clause” in the student manual. They are meant to crack the whip on what some sectors still describe as “moral deviants”—lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT), as well as unmarried pregnant students. Some schools run by religious congregations or organizations, like St. Joseph’s College in Quezon City, ask unwed pregnant students to drop out or take a leave of absence until after they deliver their babies. An admissions officer at the Saint Pedro Poveda College in Quezon City says the issue is simply about being consistent with the Catholic faith. “Pregnancy outside of marriage sends the wrong message about premarital sex,” she explains. But for women’s rights activists, policies against pregnant students are discriminatory. Dr. Guy Estrada-Claudio of the UP Center for Women Studies believes that these policies are very judgmental on women’s sexuality. “It punishes women in the end. To be pregnant, women have to be in a heterosexual marriage. They are not given a choice,” she says. She cautions, too, about the danger of schools being complicit in sexual abuse, especially if the context of the pregnancy is unknown. “Schools could be punishing students who are in fact victims of rape or incest,” she adds. Not all Catholic schools discriminate against unmarried pregnant students though. The College of the Holy Spirit in Manila and Miriam College in Quezon City, for instance, have taken a progressive stance on the issue. In De La Salle University, however, while unmarried pregnant students are not punished, the prohibition could apply to unmarried pregnant female faculty members, if the rather vague clause “public scandal” in the faculty manual were applied. Notes DLSU professor Natty Manauat: “The rule is contained in a broad and vague morality clause in the faculty manual, but I don’t think it has ever been applied. But that’s exactly the problem—it is there and it can be arbitrarily imposed.” The same vague policies on morality hound lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, who are brought under control through their attire and physical appearance. In the Philippine Normal University in Manila, effeminate gay students are barred from sporting long hair, using make-up, or wearing earrings while inside the university. Curiously though, masculine and ostensibly heterosexual students are allowed to wear long hair and earrings, and even apply foundation on their face. In San Beda College in Manila, masculinity tests used to be imposed on presumably gay students. Students can’t enrol if they fail the arbitrary test administered by a panel composed of school officials and faculty members who rate a student according to their perception of masculinity. Even in the more liberal enclave of the University of the Philippines, discrimination still exists. Perci Cendaña, the first openly gay chair of the UP University Student Council, recounts that during the campaign period, homophobes resorted to nasty tactics against him. “There were even graffiti in some men’s restrooms during the campaign period with phrases like ‘Perci Kadiri’ and ‘Bading ’wag iboto.’ It was a great disappointment because this was UP,” he says. How then does one address discrimination and stigma against LGBT students and unmarried pregnant students? The Student Council Alliance of the Philippines, a broad network of student councils and governments, views discrimination as a sign of a poor democracy. “Education knows no sex, religion, physical status or gender,” says SCAP Sec. Gen. Bianca Lapus. SCAP has been pushing for the passage of the Students Rights and Welfare Bill (HB2584) to ensure equality inside schools and campuses. Also pending in Congress is the Anti-Discrimination Bill (HB956), authored by Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel in partnership with the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy Network (LAGABLAB), which would penalize discrimination against LGBTs in schools, workplaces, and other areas. Unless these bills are enacted, kicking stigma out of our schools remains a test we all have to face and pass.

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©Copyright 2001-2008 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company

Below is the letter of invitation we circulated to people in 2005 when the Arroyo Administration had implemented CPR: callibrated pre-emptive response and a policy on "no permit, no rallies". We, in the LGBT community thought we had to share in the burden and responsibility of upholding the rights and freedoms of all Filipino people--heterosexuals, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, transsexuals, and others. To highlight the community's conviction and aspiration we also used CPR to mean Celebrating Pride and Rights. En route to historic Plaza Miranda in Quiapo there were about 3,000 of us, probably more, participants and spectators cheering, jubilant, proud and most of all, DEFIANT and BRAVE.

With the recent attacks on the humanity of LGBTs in the Philippines--1) Jan-jan's dignity stripped with the humiliation he suffered from the hands of Cebu doctors and nurses at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and with the un-Christian statements of the Cebu Monsignor all these because Jan-jan, the victim, is poor and gay; 2) the bar and bath raids involving police extortion and higher TV ratings; 3) the Makati-Ayala "policy" disallowing transgenders and transsexuals from entering certain bars and establishments to curb "prostitution" which dampened the anniversary celebration of Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines; and 4) the Catholic Church's ban on gays to  participate in the Santacruzan/Flores de Mayo with Manila Archbishop calling such participation as "horrendous" and "an insult to the Blessed Mother"--and with the long-standing and continuing socio-economic discrimination and structural-systemic violence towards the poor people of this country, I have a feeling it's time once again to assert the recognition, protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms of the Filipino lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and poor, marginalized people.

What do you think?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

December 8, 2005


Dear Friends,

Warm rainbow greetings from LGBT Freedom March Organizing Committee!

For ten years now, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBTs) have been marching in Manila and Quezon City to celebrate diversity, equality and human rights. In an event we call the "Annual LGBT Pride March", we have gathered LGBTs, non-government organizations, members of various communities and sectors. These Pride marches called for an end to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation; lobbied for the passage of an anti-discrimination law; advocated for access to sexual health services and information for LGBTs; and pushed for political participation and representation.

The current political crisis in this country presents threats to our freedoms and liberties, both as Filipinos and as LGBTs. We continue to experience discrimination, harassment, abuse and violence because of our gender identity and expression and sexual orientation. Yet the state – which is bound to respect, protect, and promote our human rights – has not done its duty.

In this light, we wish to voice out and express our concern at the current crisis in our country. On this tenth year of the Pride March – which we have called the Freedom March – we want to express support to the call for systemic and structural change. The theme for this year is, "CPR: Celebrating Pride and Rights".

On December 10, 2005, in celebration of International Human Rights Day, we are inviting you to join us as we march in the streets of Manila. The parade will be held in the vicinity of España going to Plaza Miranda, with assembly time set at 3 pm in front of UST. The parade is expected to start at 4 pm and end at 5 pm at Plaza Miranda. A program with performances and speeches depicting LGBT pride will be held from 5pm to 8 pm at Plaza Miranda. We have secured a permit from the mayor's office to enable us to hold the parade and program. We hope you will join us in this important event and express your support and solidarity to the aspiration for change of all LGBTs, and of all Filipinos.

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Malu S. Marin and Bruce P. Amoroto
For the LGBT Freedom March Committee

The first time I heard (and saw) this song performed was at the Finale of American Idol Season 7 and since then it stuck in my head. And I smile upon realizing that the love I have recently found as well as my calling to defend human rights and to help bring about social change (for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, transsexuals, intersex, and all oppressed, marginalized, and discriminated people in the world) speaks of a common theme. While development and human rights work mean that change does not happen overnight, Carsten has also reminded me that I can't save the world (alone) and that I need to take things one day at a time.

"To believe, to trust, and to have faith in love and change and to take things one step at a time." -- my motto from now on.

I love you muffin!

PEOPLE LIKE US

An Open Letter of a Transgender Woman in the Philippines

[25 May 2008 / Sunday / 6.04 AM to 6.45 AM]

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt

My friends and I have been made to feel inferior approximately five hours before I wrote this letter. I'd like to sweep this incident under the proverbial rug but there is no more space to accommodate it.

On the 24th of May 2008, my friends and I were celebrating the anniversary of our organization the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines  (STRAP), the first transsexual women's support group and transgender  rights advocacy organization in the Philippines. We settled to celebrate it in Ice Vodka Bar, located in Greenbelt 3, 3rd level Ayala Center, Makati City, Metro Manila. It was my first time in that bar. Two in our group have been there before and they had nothing bad to say about it.

There were five of us. I was leading the way. The bouncer stopped us. I asked why. His reason was we were dressed "inappropriately". We were rather dressed decently, tastefully, and most importantly just like any other human being who lives her life as female 24 hours a day.

I asked for the manager. The bouncer was nice enough to let me in. The manager, Ms Belle Castro, accommodated me. I don't know if I spelled her name right. I asked for a business card but she had none available. Her telling feature though was her braced teeth.

I complained. Ms Castro listened to me. I found her sympathetic, even respectful as she addressed me all throughout as ma'am. She told me the following:

1. (Referring to my friends, and obviously to me) That "people like them" aren't allowed in our bar every Fridays & Saturdays;

2. That that was an agreement between all the bars in Greenbelt (she particularly mentioned their bar, Absinthe, and Café Havana) and Ayala Corporation, the company which owns the Greenbelt Complex;

3. That the reason for this policy is: "Marami kasing foreigner na nag-kocomplain at napepeke daw sila sa mga katulad nila." Loosely translated in English: "There are lots of foreigners complaining because they mistake people like them as real women"; and

4. That they have a "choice" to implement the policy.

I felt terribly hurt and uncontrollably agitated. This transphobic act is not the first time that it happened to me, to my friends, to people like us. To say that this has become almost a routine is an understatement.

I have shouted at Ms Castro several times, asking her why I'm f***ing experiencing racism in my own country and what gave f***ing foreigners the right to demand to block people like us to enter bars in our very own country.

Ms Castro tried to hush me by pulling the "It's our choice card" and asked me to talk decently. I am not proud at all of using the F-word as my intensifier and of letting my emotions ran raw and wild. My warm apologies to Ms Castro for losing my cool. Just like any of us, I know, she was just doing her job.

This may not be the proper forum to raise this concern. But is there any reliable legal forum to address this issue? Reality check: there is no antidiscrimination law in this country. And if you're discriminated, there seems to be a notion that you're supposed to blame yourself for bringing such an unfortunate event to yourself.

So, I'd just stand up through this open letter.

I am standing for myself. I am standing for people like us. I am standing up because I, am, very, tired of this incivility. We have long endured this kind of treatment for far too long. Enough.

I'll not go as far as campaigning for a boycott as it is definitely the simple workers that would suffer from any loss in revenue such an act may cause.

People like us would like to be treated just like any other human being. Just like those foreigners who complained about our existence: With dignity.

You know the civilized and ethical thing to do: Stop discrimination in your  establishments.

Bigotry is never ethical nor a sound business strategy.

Warmly,

Ms Sass Rogando Sasot

Sass is one of the founding members of the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) [www.tsphilippines.com], an Associate Member of Transgender ASIA Research Centre, and a member of Ang Ladlad Party.

To have a dialogue with her regarding this incident, you may reach her at srsasot@... or through her mobile at +639276257010.

STOP LESBIAN-GAY-BISEXUAL-TRANSPHOBIA!
DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY NOW!
PASS THE PHILIPPINE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL NOW!

Supporting gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender human beings, promoting the respect and protection of sexual diversity and equality in the Philippines

MEDIA RELEASE
Reference: Prof. Danilo Arao
Department of Journalism
College of Mass Communications
University of the Philippines Diliman
Contact Number: 09178332726

*UP COMMUNITY JOINS MARCH 14 COMMUNAL ACTION FOR TRUTH, JUSTICE AND CHANGE*

Faculty, students, staff and alumni of UP Manila will participate in the March 14, 2008 Communal Action for Truth, Justice and Change in Liwasang Bonifacio. This participation is in line with the UP Diliman's University Council resolutions last February 27, 2008 declaring Gloria Arroyo and Romulo Neri must resign and the March 10, 2008 declaration of the University Council of UP Manila "support(ing) the call of the Filipino people for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign now!" (Please see complete text of UP Manila declaration at the end of this statement)

UP Diliman community's March 14 activities will kick off at 7:00 am with the launching of miniature hot air balloons calling for truth, justice and change at 7 am in the UP Sunken Garden in UP by AGHAM, an organization of scientists. At 12 noon, a program on the AS (Palma Hall) steps will be held by the mutisectoral groups in UP Diliman prior to departure for Liwasang Bonifacio.

The UP Diliman and UP Manila contingents will join forces in Liwasang Bonifacio where the program will include the performance of UP Diliman's Kontra Gapi, the resident gamelan or music and dance ensemble. Media coverage is requested for the above activities.

*Declaration of the University Council*
University of the Philippines Manila
March 10, 2008

* *
*TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND GOOD GOVERNANCE*

We are once again confronted with a serious political crisis caused by the series of exposes of big-time corruption and bribery involving top officials of the Arroyo administration. As responsible and concerned members of the University of the Philippines Manila academic community, we believe it is our duty and right to make our voices heard and to take a stand on the social ills affecting everyone of us.

We believe that integrity and accountability in public office have been severely compromised putting in serious doubt the credibility and legitimacy of the present political dispensation and therefore its capacity to govern.

We are gravely concerned with the persistence of a culture of impunity with the government's indifference and inutility in prosecuting and punishing all those involved in cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture. We condemn the continued disappearance of two UP students: *Sherlyn Cadapan* and *Karen Empeno*. There is no place for these human rights violations in a democratic society.

We are outraged by moves of the Arroyo administration to silence witnesses to anomalies and prevent people from participating in peaceful assemblies to express their sentiments.

As professors of UP Manila, we cannot teach our students integrity, service, justice, and good governance if we remain silent in the face of the present national crisis in leadership with such severity as the one we are facing now. We cannot be silent that in the midst of hunger, disease, and other forms of deprivations of our people, billions of public money go into the private bank accounts of unscrupulous government officials and their relatives.

As the Health Science Center of the University of the Philippines System, we are appalled by the deteriorating health conditions and violations of the peoples' right to health. Money that should be used to help save lives, prevent the rise of infectious diseases, and improve the well-being of ordinary Filipinos, and even to fund universal health care, are lost through a system that is permeated by graft and corruption from the barangay level to the highest level of government.

Thus, we are convinced that the search for truth, justice, and good governance in the midst of charges and allegations must be relentlessly pursued especially at this time that the moral ascendancy of the Arroyo administration is being raised.

As an academic institution, we state our stand for truth, accountability, and justice.

- We *CONDEMN* the culture of corruption and impunity characterizing the present political dispensation, and continue to assert for real change in governance by exercising the people's rights of peaceful assembly, to information, and to take active steps to ensure that our fundamental rights and freedoms are protected.

- We* JOIN* the Filipino people in asserting their rights by being actively involved in the search for truth and justice.

- *We SUPPORT the call of the Filipino people for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign now! *

We are one with the Filipino people in their struggle for the truth, justice, and good governance.

*Members of the University Council, UP Manila*
*10 March 2008*