Wednesday, August 15, 2007
UPDATE ON THE GABNET 3
Hot off the press.
x_magsalita.
After about an hour of negotiation at the Immigration Counter, the
GABNET 3, with the help of Rep. Liza Maza and GABRIELA Attorney Alnie
Foja, were able to make the case that they were not terrorists and had
the right to travel back to the US.
They are currently on their flights to SF and LA along with Katrina Socco.
CHEERS TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK. The advocacy in the
States definitely pushed the Embassy and the Philippine Government to
allow them to leave!
You will all receive a full update from the GABNet 3 once they return.
I just wanted to relay to all of you what I was able to gather from
the text messaging and reports from Liza and Alnie when they exited.
ISULONG!
See you all soon.....
--
Jollene Levid
--
GABRIELA Network
(www.gabnet.org)
x_magsalita.
After about an hour of negotiation at the Immigration Counter, the
GABNET 3, with the help of Rep. Liza Maza and GABRIELA Attorney Alnie
Foja, were able to make the case that they were not terrorists and had
the right to travel back to the US.
They are currently on their flights to SF and LA along with Katrina Socco.
CHEERS TO ALL OF YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK. The advocacy in the
States definitely pushed the Embassy and the Philippine Government to
allow them to leave!
You will all receive a full update from the GABNet 3 once they return.
I just wanted to relay to all of you what I was able to gather from
the text messaging and reports from Liza and Alnie when they exited.
ISULONG!
See you all soon.....
--
Jollene Levid
--
GABRIELA Network
(www.gabnet.org)
Saturday, August 11, 2007
FREE THE GABNET THREE!
I know that I don't blog often and I was very upset to find that out about Dr. Enrile. I've met her twice before and she is an amazing, inspirational PINAY.
What angers me most is that this really hits close to home. That there is STILL political repression that affect and disconnect Philippine America even more.
x_magsalita
Dear Friends, Allies, and Supporters
The San Diego delegation for the 10th Women's International Solidarity
Affair in the Philippines has returned. We can't wait to share our experiences with you and report on our different exposure trips.
Unfortunately, our National Chairperson, Annalisa Enrile, did not make
it back with us, although we were all supposed to be on the same flight.
Below are the details.
Please take the time today to fax the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines to
demand her release back to the U.S. Below is a sample letter. Please
change it up a little and add your personal touch. Our goal is to have
at least 50 letters from San Diego get to the U.S. Embassy in the
Philippines.
We should also be ready to picket the Philippine Embassy on August 15,
in the event that Ninotchka Rosca and Judith Mirkinson are also detained
at the airport. Watch for the email on Aug. 14 and/or 15.
If anyone has media contacts, please email me directly so that we can
coordinate our media campaign. Attached is Annalisa's statement to the
U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.
In Solidarity,
Emelyn
Emelyn dela Pena, Director
UCSD Women's Center
-----Original Message-----
From: GABRIELA Network Secretary General [mailto:secgen@gabnet.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 8:26 AM
To: gabnet@gabnet.org
Subject: URGENT ACTION - GABNET 3 "HELD" IN PHILIPPINES
Dear GABNet members, allies and friends:
On August 5, 2007, GABRIELA Network USA National Chairperson Dr.
Annalisa Enrile was barred from leaving the Philippines. She was not
allowed to board her return flight home to the US. She was told that
she is on a "watchlist." Two other GABNet women--Judith Mirkinson and
Ninotchka Rosca--are reportedly on the same "watchlist."
Dr. Enrile, Ms. Mirkinson and Ms. Rosca were in the Philippines, along
with other GABNet members and officers, for the 10th bi-annual Women's
Solidarity Affair in the Philippines. The GABNet 3 also led the
GABNet-co-sponsored human rights mission to the Philippines with US
women lawyers in May-June 2006.
We are demanding that the Philippine government "release" the GABNet 3
and allow them to return home. We need your HELP in pressuring the US
Embassy and the US Ambassador to the Philippines to act on behalf of
these 3 US citizens/permanent resident and demand that the Philippines
"release" them at once.
ACTION - WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY, AUGUST 9TH: FAX the US Embassy,
American Citizen Service, 011 63 2 522-3242 and/or Ambassador Kenney,
011 63 2 522-4361. Below is a sample letter. Please re-word. And
please distribute this call to action far and wide. Stay tuned for more
action/s.
---------
US Ambassador to the Philippines
Manila, Philippines
I wish to voice my concern about the status of US citizens Dr. Annalisa
Enrile and human and women's rights activists Judith Mirkinson, and of
US permanent resident Ninotchka Rosca, a writer and novelist. Dr. Enrile
was prevented from boarding her return flight from Manila to Los Angeles
on August 5th and was informed that she was on a "hold" order from the
Philippine Department of Justice. It has been subsequently reported that
both Ms. Mirkinson and Ms. Rosca are on the same "hold" list.
Considering that 90 women organizers, activists and leaders have been
assassinated in the Philippines since 2001, and considering that the
Philippines is second only to Iraq in the number of writers and media
people murdered, we are urging the US embassy and your office to demand
that the Philippine government stop holding these three women hostage
and let them return to their lives and work in the US.
Signed:
Name
Address
---------
Thank you.
Onward,
Doris Mendoza
Secretary General
GABRIELA Network USA
PO Box 403, Times Square Station
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212) 592-3507
Mobile: (718) 753-0257
Email: secgen@gabnet.org
---
August 8, 2007
Her Excellency Kristie A. Kenney
Ambassador
Embassy of the United States of America
Roxas Boulevard, Manila
Philippines
Your Excellency:
I am an American citizen, an assistant professor of the University of Southern California who recently brought and led a graduate class of 25 for direct field experience on the subject “Feminist Theory and Social Change.”
I am requesting the Embassy’s assistance because the Philippine government is refusing to let me return to the United States even though I know of no charges or cases against my person. Furthermore, I have been and am being shuffled from the Department of Justice to the Bureau of Immigration to some office called NICA. Since August 5, 2007 when I was stopped from boarding my flight home, I have not been told any specific reason as to why I am being prevented from returning to my home country.
My human and civil rights are being violated by this surrealist procedure dictated by some unknown entity/person. This is causing me extreme distress, as well as jeopardizing my professional standing and causing me financial hardship. As I have not made provisions to stay in the Philippines beyond August 5, I am practically a homeless person, dependent on the good will of friends for my board and lodging. I am of mind to sue whoever gave the “hold” order for actual and punitive damages, which are accumulating daily.
It would be good if the Embassy can help me find out the basis for this hold order and its veracity, as well as its origins so that I may seek justice. Please find attached my signed declaration on the events of the past four days. I may be reached at 0918-273-0744.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Annalisa Vicente Enrile, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work
Chronology of Events
On August 5, 2007, 8 p.m., I checked in my luggage for my flight back to Los Angeles via Philippine Airlines. I was accompanied by three other women who were all US citizens. Five of my students who were on the same flight had gone ahead and checked in without incident. Twenty students and an instructor who had earlier flights also were able to leave without incident.
I paid my airport terminal fee and proceeded to the Immigration booth to have my passport exit-stamped. The agent scanned my passport and then called a supervisor over. The two conferred. They asked me my name and I gave them my name: Annalisa Vicente Enrile. They said I was on the watchlist. I asked them what that meant and what was a watchlist. They said I couldn’t leave the country; that I needed to get clearance from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. They then returned my boarding pass, having written “offloaded” on it. They also returned my passport.
As it was already quite late, I had my bags taken off the plane and proceeded to a friend’s house so I could wait for office hours. The next day, I went to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation where they told me I had to file an affidavit of denial because the name on the “watchlist” didn’t have a middle name nor a birthdate on it. I had to seek the help of a lawyer to prepare this affidavit.
When I tried to file the affidavit of denial, the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation told me to get clearance from the Department of Justice. By this time, I was so exhausted and traumatized that I asked a lawyer-friend to help me get the clearance. At the Department of Justice, she was told to get a clearance for me from NICA. At NICA, she was told to go back to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. Today, August 8th, we were told by the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation that we should go to the Department of Justice.
At this point, it became clear that this process was one of intimidation and harassment, that there was actually no legal nor ethical basis to hold me in the Philippines and to prevent me from returning to my home country. This is such an overt violation of my civil and human rights that I decided to seek the help of the US Embassy in Manila, which in accordance with the stated foreign policy of the US government, should be in support of open, clear and democratic processes, and should be fostering respect for civil and human rights, first and foremost for it’s own citizens.
Annalisa Vicente Enrile, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work
What angers me most is that this really hits close to home. That there is STILL political repression that affect and disconnect Philippine America even more.
x_magsalita
Dear Friends, Allies, and Supporters
The San Diego delegation for the 10th Women's International Solidarity
Affair in the Philippines has returned. We can't wait to share our experiences with you and report on our different exposure trips.
Unfortunately, our National Chairperson, Annalisa Enrile, did not make
it back with us, although we were all supposed to be on the same flight.
Below are the details.
Please take the time today to fax the U.S. Embassy in the Philippines to
demand her release back to the U.S. Below is a sample letter. Please
change it up a little and add your personal touch. Our goal is to have
at least 50 letters from San Diego get to the U.S. Embassy in the
Philippines.
We should also be ready to picket the Philippine Embassy on August 15,
in the event that Ninotchka Rosca and Judith Mirkinson are also detained
at the airport. Watch for the email on Aug. 14 and/or 15.
If anyone has media contacts, please email me directly so that we can
coordinate our media campaign. Attached is Annalisa's statement to the
U.S. Embassy in the Philippines.
In Solidarity,
Emelyn
Emelyn dela Pena, Director
UCSD Women's Center
-----Original Message-----
From: GABRIELA Network Secretary General [mailto:secgen@gabnet.org]
Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 8:26 AM
To: gabnet@gabnet.org
Subject: URGENT ACTION - GABNET 3 "HELD" IN PHILIPPINES
Dear GABNet members, allies and friends:
On August 5, 2007, GABRIELA Network USA National Chairperson Dr.
Annalisa Enrile was barred from leaving the Philippines. She was not
allowed to board her return flight home to the US. She was told that
she is on a "watchlist." Two other GABNet women--Judith Mirkinson and
Ninotchka Rosca--are reportedly on the same "watchlist."
Dr. Enrile, Ms. Mirkinson and Ms. Rosca were in the Philippines, along
with other GABNet members and officers, for the 10th bi-annual Women's
Solidarity Affair in the Philippines. The GABNet 3 also led the
GABNet-co-sponsored human rights mission to the Philippines with US
women lawyers in May-June 2006.
We are demanding that the Philippine government "release" the GABNet 3
and allow them to return home. We need your HELP in pressuring the US
Embassy and the US Ambassador to the Philippines to act on behalf of
these 3 US citizens/permanent resident and demand that the Philippines
"release" them at once.
ACTION - WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY, AUGUST 9TH: FAX the US Embassy,
American Citizen Service, 011 63 2 522-3242 and/or Ambassador Kenney,
011 63 2 522-4361. Below is a sample letter. Please re-word. And
please distribute this call to action far and wide. Stay tuned for more
action/s.
---------
US Ambassador to the Philippines
Manila, Philippines
I wish to voice my concern about the status of US citizens Dr. Annalisa
Enrile and human and women's rights activists Judith Mirkinson, and of
US permanent resident Ninotchka Rosca, a writer and novelist. Dr. Enrile
was prevented from boarding her return flight from Manila to Los Angeles
on August 5th and was informed that she was on a "hold" order from the
Philippine Department of Justice. It has been subsequently reported that
both Ms. Mirkinson and Ms. Rosca are on the same "hold" list.
Considering that 90 women organizers, activists and leaders have been
assassinated in the Philippines since 2001, and considering that the
Philippines is second only to Iraq in the number of writers and media
people murdered, we are urging the US embassy and your office to demand
that the Philippine government stop holding these three women hostage
and let them return to their lives and work in the US.
Signed:
Name
Address
---------
Thank you.
Onward,
Doris Mendoza
Secretary General
GABRIELA Network USA
PO Box 403, Times Square Station
New York, NY 10036
Tel: (212) 592-3507
Mobile: (718) 753-0257
Email: secgen@gabnet.org
---
August 8, 2007
Her Excellency Kristie A. Kenney
Ambassador
Embassy of the United States of America
Roxas Boulevard, Manila
Philippines
Your Excellency:
I am an American citizen, an assistant professor of the University of Southern California who recently brought and led a graduate class of 25 for direct field experience on the subject “Feminist Theory and Social Change.”
I am requesting the Embassy’s assistance because the Philippine government is refusing to let me return to the United States even though I know of no charges or cases against my person. Furthermore, I have been and am being shuffled from the Department of Justice to the Bureau of Immigration to some office called NICA. Since August 5, 2007 when I was stopped from boarding my flight home, I have not been told any specific reason as to why I am being prevented from returning to my home country.
My human and civil rights are being violated by this surrealist procedure dictated by some unknown entity/person. This is causing me extreme distress, as well as jeopardizing my professional standing and causing me financial hardship. As I have not made provisions to stay in the Philippines beyond August 5, I am practically a homeless person, dependent on the good will of friends for my board and lodging. I am of mind to sue whoever gave the “hold” order for actual and punitive damages, which are accumulating daily.
It would be good if the Embassy can help me find out the basis for this hold order and its veracity, as well as its origins so that I may seek justice. Please find attached my signed declaration on the events of the past four days. I may be reached at 0918-273-0744.
Thank you very much.
Respectfully,
Annalisa Vicente Enrile, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work
Chronology of Events
On August 5, 2007, 8 p.m., I checked in my luggage for my flight back to Los Angeles via Philippine Airlines. I was accompanied by three other women who were all US citizens. Five of my students who were on the same flight had gone ahead and checked in without incident. Twenty students and an instructor who had earlier flights also were able to leave without incident.
I paid my airport terminal fee and proceeded to the Immigration booth to have my passport exit-stamped. The agent scanned my passport and then called a supervisor over. The two conferred. They asked me my name and I gave them my name: Annalisa Vicente Enrile. They said I was on the watchlist. I asked them what that meant and what was a watchlist. They said I couldn’t leave the country; that I needed to get clearance from the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. They then returned my boarding pass, having written “offloaded” on it. They also returned my passport.
As it was already quite late, I had my bags taken off the plane and proceeded to a friend’s house so I could wait for office hours. The next day, I went to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation where they told me I had to file an affidavit of denial because the name on the “watchlist” didn’t have a middle name nor a birthdate on it. I had to seek the help of a lawyer to prepare this affidavit.
When I tried to file the affidavit of denial, the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation told me to get clearance from the Department of Justice. By this time, I was so exhausted and traumatized that I asked a lawyer-friend to help me get the clearance. At the Department of Justice, she was told to get a clearance for me from NICA. At NICA, she was told to go back to the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation. Today, August 8th, we were told by the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation that we should go to the Department of Justice.
At this point, it became clear that this process was one of intimidation and harassment, that there was actually no legal nor ethical basis to hold me in the Philippines and to prevent me from returning to my home country. This is such an overt violation of my civil and human rights that I decided to seek the help of the US Embassy in Manila, which in accordance with the stated foreign policy of the US government, should be in support of open, clear and democratic processes, and should be fostering respect for civil and human rights, first and foremost for it’s own citizens.
Annalisa Vicente Enrile, Ph.D., MSW
Assistant Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work
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