• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

GUEST: Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Secretary General of KARAPATAN, the National Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights in the Philippines

In late February, Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared emergency rule alleging a conspiracy by political opponents to oust her. Ironically the alleged conspiracy toook place on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the fall of former dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Presidential proclamation 1017, which established emergency temporary rule, was eventually lifted. But human rights observers say vestiges of the effective martial rule still remain. I’m joined in studio today by Marie Hilao-Enriquez Secretary-General of KARAPATAN, the National Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights. She has just been in New York to submit a human rights report on the Philippines to the United Nations.

Marie has been a leading figure in the Philippine human rights movement for the past 30 years. She was a victim of human rights violations and a political prisoner under the Marcos dictatorship. Members of her family were also victims of human rights violations, with one sister tortured and murdered by the military while another two siblings were unlawfully imprisoned. Today, Marie is active in exposing human rights violations in the Philippines under the Arroyo regime.

For more information, visit www.bayanusa.org.

Marie Hilao-Enriquez will speak at a forum called “PHILIPPINES UNDER FIRE” on March 24, at SEIU Local 660, 500 South Virgil Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90020. The event is open to the public.