Gabriela Solon Urges U.S.Embassy to Call for the Withdrawal of U.S.Military Aid in the Philippines

Assistant Minority leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Liza Maza today said that the US Embassy should not only investigate the alleged abduction and torture of Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines but also move for the withdrawal of US military aid in the country pending results of such investigation.

“As long as this case of abduction and torture  and all other cases of human rights violations are left unsolved, and perpetrators of such crimes who are allegedly members of the AFP are unpunished, activists whether Filipino or American citizens are constantly facing threats to their life, security and safety,” Maza said.

The Gabriela solon also scored the AFP leadership and the Office of the Solicitor General’s Bernardo Villar for continuously spreading lies by saying that such incident was fabricated and stage-managed.

“Their malicious pronouncements only manifest that they are never serious in helping the victims in seeking justice. While they continue to ruin the
credibility of the victims, all the more that the people suspect that they are hiding something,” Maza said.

Maza also stressed that since 2001, under the Arroyo administration, not a single case of human rights violations has been solved. As human rights group Karapatan documented these cases, extra-judicial killings, torture, forced disappearances and abduction continue to escalate.

“Once and for all, the Arroyo administration must address these dreadful cases of human rights violations. These must stop and perpetrators of these crimes must be prosecuted in no time,” Maza concluded.