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On the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of People Power, we human rights defenders under the banner of Karapatan salute the swelling ranks of Filipinos calling for the removal of the thieving, murderous and puppet Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime.

We put our faith in the Filipino people because they yearn for change and work for it, contrary to the administration's "people power fatigue" line which is a self-serving rant from those deathly afraid of suffering the same fate as the late dictator Marcos and plunderer Estrada, both ousted by people power.

Congress called upon to immediately enact laws against enforced disappearance and torture

At the hearing of the Committee on human rights, the human rights alliance Karapatan today called upon members of Congress to immediately enact a law against enforced disappearance and torture in the face of the abduction of NBN-ZTE probe witness Rodolfo Noel “Jun” Lozada, Jr. by military personnel and new cases of enforced disappearances in Negros Oriental and Pampanga.

The case of Lozada, according to Karapatan, bears the mark of enforced disappearance as defined in HB 2263, consistent with the definition of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Human rights groups join a caravan to oppose the term extension of Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., a day before his birthday.

"Today, on the eve of General Esperon's birthday, we present to him this symbolic cake to remind him how he served the Filipino people by violating their rights rather than protecting them," Jigs Clamor, deputy secretary general of Karapatan, said.

The families of victims of enforced disappearance today commiserates with surfaced ZTE scandal witness Rodolfo Lozada Jr. and urge him to be strong enough to tell his story, and prove how the Arroyo regime and its cohorts lied through their teeth.

As we tremble at the thought that the President and Commander-In-Chief doesn't have any compunction in violating human rights - as evidenced by the police's abduction yesterday at the airport of a rich and known personality like Mr. Rodolfo Lozada, Jr., star witness to the anomalous ZTE deal -- we are enraged at the systematic, brazen deception that this regime put out to cover up gross human rights violations.