Free the NutriAsia 19! No U.S. Aid to Philippine National Police!

While community and faith leaders gathered for an ecumenical mass on Monday, July 30 amidst the NutriaAsia picket line, Philippine National Police violently dispersed the line and arrested 19 people. The arrestees included Eric Tandoc and Hiyas Saturay, two longtime community organizers from Southern California who were part of a group four journalists covering the NutriAsia strike. Police went so far as to beat and bloody Leticia Espino, an elderly woman and organizer of Kadamay, the largest urban poor alliance in the Philippines.   She is now in the hospital without funds to pay her hospital bill.

We condemn the violent breakup of the ecumenical mass and the disrespect of the people’s sacred ceremony that affirms human dignity and the workers’ struggle, and we demand an end to the repression of activists and faith leaders.

We condemn the continued media blackout and the crackdown on journalists, and we demand the immediate release of the journalists and all those detained.

We condemn the brutal treatment and repression of striking workers and their allies, and we call for the broadest solidarity with NutriAsia workers.

We cannot downplay any role of the U.S. training and support for the Philippine National Police in the violence against faith leaders, the elderly, or striking workers. While the Philippine National Police claimed that protestors and journalists held drugs and guns, the 20,000 killings at the hands of the Duterte regime have shown the planting of evidence as a worn out and obvious framing tactic when the killings are clearly intentional and out of control. As U.S. based peoples, we condemn and we demand an end to all form of US military aid or training to the PNP.

Stop the repression of activists and faith leaders!

Stop the repression of trade unions!

No US aid to Philippine National Police!

Free the NutriAsia 19!

Actions:

 

1. 1. Mobilize labor groups to sign onto Trade Union Solidarity Letter. Add Trade Union Names directly to google doc.
   2. Donate to the fund set up for NutriAsia workers on behalf of the Asian Pacific American Labor Association.
   3. Boycott Nutriasia brands & products: Mang Tomas, Jufran, Datu Puti, Golden Fiesta, etc.
   4. During the media blackout on the NutriAsia strike, write statements of support and raise awareness on the situation, particularly amongst workers and trade unions.

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