JOIN THE OUST GLORIA MOVEMENT

JOIN THE OUST GLORIA M. ARROYO MOVEMENT!

GLORIA RESIGN!

WE JOIN ALL FILIPINOS AT HOME AND ABROAD IN DEMANDING FOR THE RESIGNATION OF GLORIA M. ARROYO RIGHT NOW!

FILIPINOS ARE FED UP OF HER LIES AND DECEIT. SHE HAS TO STEP DOWN AND ACCEPT ALL LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ALL THE CRIMES COMMITTED BY HER, HER HUSBAND AND THEIR ASSOCIATES AGAINST THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.

WE ALSO REFUSE THE SERVICES OF HER PARTNER IN CRIME, NOLI DE CASTRO, HER VICE PRESIDENT AS WE BELIEVE THAT HE IS A BENEFICIARY OF THE RAMPANT CHEATING DONE DURING THE ELECTION IN 2004 THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WON BY HER OPPONENT, THE MORE POPULAR RONALD ALLAN POE, A.K.A. FERNANDO POE JR., IF NOT FOR THE 1 MILLION VOTES REPORTEDLY STOLEN BY THE INFAMOUS VOTE-RIGGER, VIRGILIO GARCILLANO, ON HER ORDER AND INSTRUCTION.

FILIPINOS DEMAND THAT GLORIA M. ARROYO BE ARRESTED, PROSECUTED AND JAILED FOR HER CRIMES TOGETHER WITH ALL HER ACCOMPLICES!

WE REQUEST FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS TO REFUSE PROVIDING HELP AND ASSISTANCE TO THIS CRIMINAL AND HER MINIONS.

CONCERNED FILIPINOS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS IN JAPAN

Filipinos in Japan Appeal to Kuwaiti Embassy for Mercy

October 31, 2007


H.E. GHASSAN AL^SAWAWI
Ambassador
Embassy of the State of Kuwait
4-13-12 Mita, Minato-ku
Tokyo 108-0073

Your Excellency,

Greetings of Peace and Goodwill!

We are members of the Filipino community in Japan belonging to The Philippine Women’s League of Japan (PWLJ), the Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP), the Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN) and Migrante-Japan. We are writing Your Excellency to inform that we plan to visit your embassy to request for a dialogue on November 13, 2007 (Tuesday) between 4:00 o’clock and 5:00 o’clock in the afternoon, and to hand in a letter of appeal addressed to His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber al-Sabah, The Amir of the State of Kuwait in connection with the case of Marilou Ranario, a Filipina domestic worker whose death sentence by hanging is now on final appeal with the Kuwait’s Court of Cassation.

As migrant Filipinos we are concerned about the fate of Marilou Ranario and the family she left behind. We wish to make an appeal to spare her life for the sake of her family and loved ones who are now anxiously waiting for the result of the final appeal.

Please be assured that we do not wish to make any unnecessary trouble, and that our only intension in coming to your embassy is to deliver our message to the Kuwaiti government, to save the life of Marilou Ranario on humanitarian considerations, and to ease the pains and sufferings of her family most especially her two young children back in the Philippines.

Thank you very much and we pray for your kind understanding.


Sincerely yours,


FIILIPINO COMMUNITY IN JAPAN
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Filipinos in Tokyo Appeal for Mercy for Filipino Domestic Helper in Kuwait

We, the members of the Coalition of Filipino Organizations in Japan, especially The Philippine Women's League of Japan, invite all Filipinos residing and working in Japan to please join us in appealing to the government of Kuwait to stop the execution of MARILOU RANARIO, 35, a former domestic helper from Surigao del Norte, and if possible reduce her sentence in the name of truth and justice.

Please copy the letter below and send it to HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH, the Amir of the State of Kuwait as follows: Sample letter of appeal to the Kuwait Amir

~~~~~~~~~~

HIS HIGHNESS SHEIKH SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH
The Amir of the State of Kuwait
Al Diwan Al Amiri,
Sief Palace – Building 100
State of Kuwait.
Telephone: +965 888881
Fax: +965 2430559
amirsoffice@da.gov.kw


September 26, 2007


Your Highness,

I am writing to appeal to you, on humanitarian grounds, to spare the life of Filipino domestic worker Marilou Ranario, whose death sentence by hanging is now under final appeal with Kuwait’s Court of Cassation. I was informed that a final decision is expected sometime early next year.

I empathize greatly with Marilou’s plight because her story is one that is largely shared by countless other migrants.

Marilou is a young mother, wife, sister and daughter who wanted little more than a better life for her family. She is a teacher by profession but poverty compelled her to leave behind her children and work in Kuwait as a domestic worker. Her husband is a jeepney driver but until today, he does not have a regular source of income. It is truly tragic that in her bid to eke out a decent living for her children, she now faces the prospect of perhaps never seeing them again.

In this regard, I hope very much that the extreme conditions Marilou may have been subject to before the tragic death of her employer is considered. According to statements by Marilou’s family, Marilou reportedly told them that she was being severly maltreated and that the night before her employer’s death, she feared greatly for her life.

In closing, I wish to thank your Highness in advance for considering my letter of appeal and again, I hope very much that Marilou’s life may indeed be spared.

Your sincerely,


Name:
Address and Phone No.

~~~~~~~~~~

OVERVIEW:

MARILOU RANARIO, 35 years old, was arrested and imprisoned for the alleged murder of her female employer NajatMahmoud Faraj Mobarak on 11 January 2005.
She was sentenced to death by hanging by Kuwait’s Courtof First Instance on 28 September 2005. She appealed the verdict but Kuwait’s Court of Appeals upheld this sentence in February 2007.

Her case is now under final appeal with the highest court, the Court of Cassation. Oral arguments are set to start this November 13th with a final verdict to be released in the first quarter of 2008.

A closer look at her case reveals that Marilou is in fact more a victim than a criminal.
Marilou is a victim of a systemic poverty so intense that it forces more than 3,000 Filipinos daily to workoverseas just to survive. In her bid to earn a decent living for her family, Marilou grasped onto the knife’s edge and went to Kuwait as a domestic worker -- even though she is a teacher by profession.

Clearly, Marilou went abroad because of her dream to give her children a better life – and not to commit a crime in a foreign land. Marilou is a victim of abuse and human rights violations. She suffered maltreatment, verbal and physical abuse from her employer. She was also not given her salary, which was much needed by her family in thePhilippines, for three months.

Marilou is also a victim of the Arroyo administration’s criminal neglect. From January to September 2005, when she was sentenced to death by hanging, Marilou received very little assistance from the Arroyo administration.

FACT SHEET:

Marilou RanarioSentenced to death in Kuwait

In fact, from January to April, she was left completely on her own because it was only in April 2005 that she was even provided a lawyer to help with her defense.

In 2005, a Migrante International campaign to expose her plight and the government’s criminal neglect of her case compelled Vice-President Noli de Castro to bring Marilou’s parents to Kuwait for a visit with Marilou in prison in October 2006. But instead of helping her case, VP de Castro may have even worsened it by boastfully assuring the family and the public that Marilou’s life would be spared – especially considering how despite the letter of forgiveness or tanazul given by the family of Marilou’s victims, the Court of Appeals affirmed in February2007, the initial verdict of death by hanging.

Under Shariah Law, the personal aspect of the Marilou’s case is already resolved with the provision of the letter of forgiveness. However, this aspect is outweighed by the public aspect which is now being heard by the Court of Cassation or Kuwait’s highest court.

A major factor that may influence the court’s final decision is the presence of a massive outpouring of national and international support in favor of Marilou.The weeks remaining until the release of the final verdict in the first quarter of 2008 is the only window of hope left for Marilou and her family.

Let us maximize this time to mount a strong campaign that will generate an overwhelming public opinion for Marilou Ranario – an abused domestic worker, a teacher by profession and a young mother whose sole and simple dream was to build a better tomorrow for her young children and her family.

CHRONOLOGY:

December 10, 2003: Marilou leaves for a 2 year contract in Kuwait as a domestic worker
July 4, 2004: Her recruitment agency transfers her to a new employer, Kuwaiti Najat MahmoudFaraj Mubarak, 45 years old; however her visa was never transferred to this employer
January 11, 2005: Marilou allegedly kills her employer; surrenders to authorities
May 11, 2005: First Court hearing is held
June 1, 2005: Court refers Marilou to have her mental status assessed; she is admitted to the Psychological Hospital; findings show Marilou was sane during the incident
September 28, 2005: Marilou is sentenced to death by hanging by Judge Saleh Al-Houty and two other associates of the Court of First Instance of the Criminal Circuit Court
December 2005: Marilou’s family finds out about the death sentence after her father calls the Department of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the case; the family is denied a copy of the appeal the DFA states it submitted to the Court of Appeals for Marilou
February 17, 2007: Court of Appeals upholds the death sentence
September 15, 2007: Campaign countdown towards justice for Marilou is launched.

Hoy Gloria, Alis Ka Na Diyan!

Madame Arroyo,



We, Filipinos in Japan,  representing Migrante International,
an alliance of Filipino migrants organizations worldwide, and
the three biggest Filipino associations in Japan with more
than thirty (30) chapters combined, namely the Kalipunan ng
mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN), Filipina Circle for
Advancement and Progress (FICAP), and Philippine Women's
League (PWL), have joined forces in denouncing your government's
rampant violation of human rights and repression of the Filipino
people's democratic and political rights.

We are outraged by the fact that your government has chosen
the  path of terrorism and violence to stop the intensifying
people's protest against your illegitimate government.  Under
the guise of Proclamation 1017, your acts of suppressing
legitimate dissent remind us of the dark years of Martial Law. 
But now that you have lifted your own brand of terrorism, we
wonder, Madame Arroyo, what  you would do next?

As peace-loving Filipinos, we cannot just watch you and be
silent about your acts of violence against our people.

We condemn in the strongest term the arrest of Anakpawis
Representative Crispin Beltran, and your order to pursue
and arrest other Partylist Congressmen belonging to Bayan
Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women's Party, members of
your rival political parties, and other civilians calling
for your immediate ouster.  We also condemn your harassment
and intimidation of media organizations critical of your
administration through your agents in the Armed Forces of
the Philippines and Philippine National Police.

Madame Arroyo, even without Proclamation 1017, we have
always considered you as a walking replica of Mr. Marcos. 
Your track record of killing, harassing and intimidating
your political opponents is clearly one for the books. 
We decry, for instance, the brutal attacks of your military
assassins, their death squads and paramilitary groups against
our people, like the murder and assassination of more than
500 human rights defenders in 2005 alone, and the abduction
of more than 150 others during the same year who until now
remain missing and unaccounted for.

We deplore your attacks on lawyers, teachers, church workers,
students, journalists and other civilians who have dared to
speak about the ills and crimes of your government, and the
thousands still who have been victims of forced evacuation,
bombings, illegal arrest and detention, torture and
harassments in our communities since you cheated your way to
Malacanang.

Frankly speaking, Madame Arroyo, it is no great surprise to
us why in so short a time, you have earned the title of Asia's
fast-rising dictator. You truly are, Madame Arroyo - a dictator
in your own disgusting right!

After lifting 1017, you vowed to continue running after
"destabilizers" and coup plotters.  What's new, Madame Arroyo?



Let us remind you, Madame Arroyo, that as concerned Filipinos in
Japan, we will never allow you - the one who cheated us, defraud
us, and robbed us of our rights -  to continue inflicting harm
and suffering to our people. You have done more than enough lying,
cheating and stealing, we cannot allow you to continue killing our
people,  and to resort to dirty tactics in order to prolong your
stay in power. We also vow to be one with the rest of the Filipino
people in seeking justice for all your crimes committed against
our nation.

Madame Arroyo, it's time for you to go, NOW not later!  You are the
scourge that is causing our sufferings, and the biggest obstacle to
our growth and development as a nation.

We are one with the Filipino people in calling for your immediate
OUSTER.  We enjoin you to let go and allow a Transitional Council
take over the helm of government until we are able to select new
leaders in a truly democratic, clean and honest election.



Your time is running out, Madame Arroyo! Step down NOW or be OUSTED!
and face the consequences of your crimes against the Filipino people.

Sincerely warning you,

Sgd. Migrante-Japan

Sgd. Kalipunan ng mga Filipinong Nagkakaisa (KAFIN)

Sgd. Filipina Circle for Advancement and Progress (FICAP)

Sgd. Philippine Women's League of Japan (PWLJ)

Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is
sin." (James 4:17)