Group Hug

A very moving event today: a group of Filipino youth, most of them reared in the USA, went on an "exposure trip" to the Philippines last November. Today they told the stories they heard, showed photographs and videos, and made an earnest appeal for support for people in the Philippines. Their points:

Stop the killings: end Duterte's "war on drugs," which is an excuse for silencing his opponents and the indigenous and Muslim people in the country. So far over 20,000 people have been killed and far more "disappeared."

Lift martial law in Mindanao (in effect for over a year now).

Say no to another fascist dictatorship.

End the system of political dynasties & corruption in the Philippines.

Stand for democracy.

At the end of the three-hour program, the presenters engaged in a group hug.

More general information is here. The women's movement called Gabriela is especially fierce in protecting women from slavery, sex trafficking, and abuse.