STATEMENT OF CONDEMNATION ON THE HARASSMENT OF A GABRIELA-YOUTH MEMBER AT THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

GABRIELA-Youth
35 Scout Delgado St. Bgy. Laging Handa, Quezon City :: 3743451,
3744423 (telefax) :: gabyouthphils@yahoo.com

PRESS STATEMENT
31 May 2006

Reference: Joan May Salvador, National Chairperson (09193158444)

GABRIELA-Youth, national organization of women youth and students in the Philippines, vehemently condemns the harassment and grave threat to the life of one of our members committed recently by a still unidentified man at the House of Representatives.

On the morning of May 26, our member was at the compound of the House of Representatives to pick up copies of bills and resolutions from the office of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education. Our chairperson was invited by committee chair Rep. Cynthia Villar to a forthcoming meeting of the committee regarding proposed measures on Tuition Fees and was requested to send a staff to pick up materials in her behalf.

On her way out of the compound, our member was stopped and dragged by an unidentified man, causing her to stumble to the ground. The man then cocked his gun, aimed it right at her face and said, "Salot kayo. Kayo ang nagdudulot ng kaguluhan." He went off immediately aboard a motorcycle and left her in fear and shock.

She eventually managed to leave the compound and report this incident to officers of our organization. This life and death situation, however, has caused tremendous trauma on this young woman. Her security is now also at risk, owing in part to the fact that her offender is still unidentified and remains at large.

GABRIELA-Youth strongly condemns this incident. The fact that this happened right inside the compound of the House of Representatives aggravates the magnitude of this incident. If a member of our organization had experienced this kind of harassment inside Congress, we could only imagine how this could also happen to other members and supporters of progressive organizations and partylists, to the staff of partylist representatives, and even to partylist representatives themselves.

Having one's life threatened at gunpoint right inside the Congress compound is a strong statement on the security situation in this government office. This should not have happened to a member of an organization who was performing legitimate business and merely responding to the requests of a Congressional committee. We strongly demand the Congress leadership to immediately investigate this incident and make the perpetrator accountable to the crime he has committed.

We decry further the current spate of political persecution against activists in the Philippines, which took as its recent victim this young woman from GABRIELA-Youth. The Arroyo administration's policy of harassment, intimidation, and murder of members of progressive organizations promotes an atmosphere of grave danger to the lives and security of the Filipino people. This government has proven time and again that it is the foremost violator of the rights of its citizens and the most serious threat to the lives of its people.

GABRIELA-Youth will not take this incident concerning our member lightly. We shall continue to expose and oppose brazen acts of political harassment such as this. We young women will not allow for the violation of our rights and the deprivation of our future by this government.