PRESS RELEASE
22 October 2012
Filipino President told: We don't like NZ dairy going to a country where activists and journalists are killed
Philippine solidarity groups in New Zealand are concerned that over 1000 activists and journalists have been killed from
former president Arroyo and the number is still rising under the current Aquino presidency. Gathered at the farm of
milk-producing cows, members of the Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) conveyed a message to Filipino
President Benigno Simeon Aquino III: "We don't like our milk going to a country where activists are tortured and
killed."
"When the previous President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, came to New Zealand in 2007, Helen Clark raised the human rights
issue with her. We challenge John Key to do the same with President Aquino. Considering that the Philippines is one of
New Zealand’s trade and economic partners, we believe that the attainment of political stability and resolution of the
human rights crisis in the Philippines should also concern the New Zealand government," Murray Horton, Secretary of
Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA) stated.
In a joint letter, Helen Kelly, President of NZ Council of Trade Unions together with leaders of church-based groups Pax
Christi, Christian World Service, United Methodist Church and Asian Council Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand
joined calls for President Aquino to address continuing human rights abuses in light of reported 113 victims of
extra-judicial killings under Aquino's watch.
Helen Te Hira of Auckland Philippines Solidarity (APS) further noted, "We’re greatly disturbed that such killings
continue under Aquino’s watch, especially as the victims are our indigenous brothers and sisters defending their
Papatuanuku (the land) and resisting mining plunder in their communities. Te Hira, a Maori (indigenous of NZ) activist,
says: "In the Māori world view, land gives birth to all things, including humankind, and provides the physical and
spiritual basis for life."
The latest victims were members of the B'laan tribe, Juvy Capion and her two sons who were massacred by the Philippine
army. Juvy was a member of Kalgad, an organization of the B'laan tribe that is opposed to the entry of
Xstrata-Sagittarius Mines, Inc (SMI) as there are about 30,000 Blaan who will be displaced from their ancestral lands
with the entry and operation of Australia's Xstrata-SMI.
Reference:
Murray Horton, Secretary of Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa (PSNA)