Help the Sagada 11: Backpacking Punk Rockers Victimised in the Philippines
Petition: sign the petition here petitiononline.com/sagada/
====================================
from: manila.indymedia.org
All that Rundren Berloize Lao, 24, from Davao City and his group were looking for was adventure. They headed to the idyllic mountain resort town of Sagada, in Mountain Province. But they barely cheated death. Luckily one escaped and they all live to tell their story of torture at the hands of police officers… The Sagada 11, grassroots peace activists and participants in the broad punk community are victims of institutionalized repression by the Philippine State
=====================================
from: infoshop.org
Wednesday, February 22 2006 @ 10:24 PM PST
PHILIPPINES–ELEVEN backpackers from different parts of the country, mostly in their teens, was arrested and tortured by Philippine National Police on February 14 at the Halsema Highway checkpoint while they were aboard on a dump truck, hitching their way going to Sagada Mt. Province.
===================================
from: news.inq7.net
Clamor grows for backpackers’ release
Feb 24, 2006
Updated 09:26pm (Mla time)
Vincent Cabreza Desiree Caluza
Inquirer
BAGUIO CITY — The controversy hounding the arrest of 11 backpackers for their alleged role in an attack on a military detachment in Benguet has drawn the attention of some of the country‚Äôs amateur musicians.
On Friday, 30 members of punk and rock bands from Pangasinan, Metro Manila, Tarlac, Laguna and Davao City, set up camp at a park here to demand the release of the 11 backpackers who were accused of being New People’s Army rebels.
Beverly Longid, vice chair of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, said the backpackers are musicians who belong to a crusade called “Punk’s Not Dead.”
Longid said the group arrived a few days early to see this year’s Baguio Flower Festival parades, so they hitched a ride to Sagada, Mt. Province only to be detained at a police checkpoint in Buguias, Benguet, on Feb. 14.
The backpackers’ parents appealed for their release, saying their children were tortured.
more from: here
=======================
SALAMAT SA NAG PAGAWAS ANI NGA MENSAHE