The bloody dispersal of activists in Kidapawan, the Philippines, by Philippine police last week was yesterday condemned by Taiwanese and Philippine workers and activists in a protest outside the Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan.
Philippine residents of Taoyuan’s Serve the People migrant worker shelter made up the majority of about 30 protesters, who prayed for farmers and police officers injured in last week’s clash.
The protesters shouted “Rice not bullets!” in Mandarin, Tagalog and Visaya, blasting Philippine police for opening fire last week on farmers who had blocked a main highway in Mindanao, demanding rice and subsidies following a drought.
The Philippine Senate is conducting an investigation into whether police or farmers initiated the clash.
Protesters said that at least two people were killed and 350 were injured, while 70 people were arrested.
“So far farmers have not received any government aide,” Serve the People Association director Lennon Wong (汪英達) said, calling on the Philippine government to provide subsidies for farmers affected by the drought, while dropping the charges against the farmers and lifting the blockade of a church sheltering them.
“We are here as migrant workers, but most of us are sons, daughters or grandchildren of farmers,” said Gilda Banugan, chairperson of the Philippine migrant worker political party, Migrante. “These farmers are responsible for bringing food to the tables of the entire nation. They endure exhaustion and hunger to cultivate the land under severe weather conditions, and yet how did we return the favor? Instead of paying attention to their simple request for food we returned the favor with bullets.”
“It is my government’s moral obligation to provide justice and honor to those who lost their lives in the Kidapawan incident,” said Jasmin Ruas of Women Migrant Workers Taiwan (Migranteng Kababaihan sa Taiwan). “They should give [the farmers] back their hard-earned money and they should give honor and justice to the families who lost loved ones in the attack.”
The protest was organized by members of the Taiwan Committee for Philippine Concerns, with members of the Taiwanese Association for Human Rights (TAHR) and several other Taiwanese civil groups participating.
“The Philippine government has signed numerous international human rights treaties and promised to abide by international standards, so their lack of action [to aide farmers] and the killing of farmers is totally unacceptable,” TAHR vice secretary-general Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔) said. “The farmers were virtually barehanded and unarmed other than sling-shots or stones from the ground.”
Candles and photographs were placed on the ground in front of protesters who concluded their protest with a song calling farmers the “true heroes” of the Phillippines.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it