For Immediate Release
Press Statement
October 8, 2015

Reference:

Laura Emily Austria, Anakbayan New Jersey
(470) 309-2265, anakbayannj@gmail.com

We Congratulate the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance’s 5th General Assembly, “With Feist and Fervor, Fight State Terrorism!”

Anakbayan New Jersey sends warm and militant congratulations to Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) on their 5th General Assembly in Baguio City. On September 20, 2015, CHRA gathered 60 delegates for discussion and education on the human rights work that is currently needed in the region in the midst of the worsening attacks against indigenous peoples all over the country.

As an overseas chapter of Anakbayan Philippines, we uplift the work of human rights organizations in the Philippines and abroad. One particular example is the Justice for Freddie Ligiw campaign. CHRA was one of the first to report on the killing of Ligiw, a member of Anakbayan Abra. They reported that 29 year-old Ligiw was last seen at his home in Sitio Sukaw, Domenglay; Ligiw was supposed to see his father, Licuben, at the pacalso before heading off to the mining site in the community. His remains were found in a shallow grave with that of 49 other people. Without the reporting and support of CHRA, Freddie Ligiw’s story would have never been told.

People from the Cordillera region also attended July 2015’s International Peoples’ Tribunal in Washington, D.C. to testify about the conditions that have been created through the implementation of state repression by the Philippine government. Attorney Maria Catherine Salucon exemplifies the attacks that have been taking place in the Cordillera region. Salucon states that she had received “systematic harassments and threats” from the paramilitary. Later, she was tagged as a Red Lawyer and was placed on the Order of Battle, a hit list for the Philippine military.

In so many areas across the Philippines where indigenous people live, there are attacks and incidents of harassment by the Philippine government. We support Cordillera Human Rights Alliance and their efforts to fight state repression and state terrorism in the Cordillera region.

ACTIVISM IS NOT A CRIME! JUSTICE FOR FREDDIE LIGIW!

END IMPUNITY FROM THE CORDILLERAS TO NEW JERSEY!

FIGHT FOR NATIONAL DEMOCRACY IN THE PHILIPPINES!

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