EDSA events in US stress defense of press freedom in PH
Rally participants hold their fists high, their mouths covered with duct tapes, to protest the attempt to silence the press with possibility of non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum
SAN FRANCISCO — This year’s commemoration of the 1986 EDSA Revolution included protests in San Francisco, New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Chicago against President Rodrigo Duterte’s attempt to close down Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN.
Filipino human rights groups in San Francisco were joined by ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel (TFC) rank and file employees, managers, supporters and Eugenio Lopez Jr’s widow, Chita Lopez, in a lively picket in front of the Philippine Consulate on Sutter Street.
Speakers from groups like the Filipino American Human Rights Alliance (FAHRA), US Pinoys for Good Government (USPGG), Fil-Am Press Club, Malaya Movement recalled the horrors of Marcos dictatorship and denounced poverty, corruption, alleged human rights violations and harassment of political dissenters in the Philippines today.
ABS-CBN titan Eugenio Lopez Jr.’s widow, Chita Lopez, joins Georgina Rufino (to her left) and Georgina’s mom, Susan Rufino (to Chita’s right), in a picket of Philippine flags in a in front of the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum
Carrying banners and posters with Never Again to Martial Law, Uphold Freedom of the Press, Speech and Expression, Solidarity with ABS-CBN, Renew the Franchise, chanting protesters offered candles for victims of Marcos’ martial law and current extrajudicial killings.
Rally organizer Ago Pedalizo said, “If we lose ABS-CBN, it is going to have a domino effect. And that is how tyranny stays in power. The essence of the celebration today is to win back what we have gained 34 years ago,” Pedalizo emphasized. “We can’t sit idly seeing the massive erosion of press freedom. ABS-CBN and TFC have been consistently supportive of the struggle of immigrants for legal rights and World War II veterans for due recognition of US military service.”
Co-organizer Donny de Leon recalled the 1972 Marcos shutdown of ABS-CBN and said that history was repeating itself as “another dictator is trying to shut down ABS-CBN again.”
Rally participants listen as speaker Ago Pedalizo (extreme right) of Filipino America Human Rights Alliance (FAHRA) reiterates on the need to protect the gains of 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.
Former Philippine newspaper editor Regina Yatco told INQUIRER.net, “This current regime is symptomatic of acts implemented during Martial law, when extrajudicial killings were government sanctioned, and now the blatant attempt to shut down freedom of the press by trying to silence ABS CBN due to a grudge. I fear (Duterte’s) overreach of power (will have) grave consequences.”
Film star, former beauty queen, EDSA participant Maria Isabel Lopez proudly proclaimed her affiliation with the network, where she has made a lot of soap operas and movies.
Film star, former beauty queen and EDSA veteran twice over Maria Isabel Lopez (extreme left) and former Philippine newspaper editor Regina Yatco (extreme right) vow to fight for freedom of the press, expression and speech as artists and media workers. INQUIRER/Jun Nucum
“The closure of ABS-CBN should not be used for one’s personal vendetta. We hope that the government realizes that the viewing of teleseryes in the afternoon eases the lives of the impoverished Filipinos and even those victims on the war on drugs. Free the artist! I am an artist and we have to learn about the lessons of the past.”
“We don’t want another dictatorship like Martial Law again because that’s starting back to square one,” stressed Millennial Georgina Rufino, who joined her mother, Susan, at the rally.
Fellow millennial Julian Jaravata of Malaya Movement said that the youth of today could continuously draw inspiration from what happened in the 1986 EDSA Revolution.
