MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 17, 2005

CONTACTS:
Annalisa Enrile, Chairperson, GABRIELA Network
Dorotea Mendoza, Secretary General, GABRIELA Network
Tel: (212) 592-3507; Email: gabnet (at) gabnet.org


WOMEN'S GROUP GABRIELA NETWORK HOLDS NATIONWIDE VIGIL AGAINST CURTAILING
OF PRESS FREEDOM, POLITICAL KILLINGS AND REPRESSION IN THE PHILIPPINES

WHAT: Nationwide vigil to protest the war of terror in the Philippines.

WHO: Organized by GABRIELA Network, a Philippine-US women's solidarity
organization, est. 1989.

DATE: Friday, May 20, 2005

LOCATIONS and TIMES:
*****Chicago: 5PM, in front of Philippine Consulate, 30 North Michigan Ave.(just north of Madison Ave., across from millennium park)
FOR INFO CALL: 773.814.6503

Los Angeles: 12PM, in front of Philippine Consulate, 3600 Wilshire Blvd.
(at Kingsley)

New York: 6PM, in front of Philippine Consulate, 556 5th Ave. (at 46th St.)

Portland: 6PM, Federal Building, 1220 SW 3rd Ave. (SW 3rd & Madison Sts.)

San Francisco: 4PM, in front of Philippine Consulate, 447 Sutter (at Powell)

Seattle: 6PM, Westlake Center, Downtown Seattle (4th & Pike) and 7:30PM, Carlos Bulosan Exhibit Community Room, Eastern Hotel, 506
Maynard Ave. South (in Seattle's International District)

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES.

According to the international Committee to Protect Journalists, the
Philippines is
the "most murderous country" for the media in the entire world.
Politically-motivated killings of members of the press, activists, labor
leaders,
striking workers, and the harassment of anyone critical of the government
have
become routine in the Philippines. All in the name of the United States'
global war
against terror. To call attention to these repressive conditions and the
role of
the US in creating such conditions, GABRIELA Network (GABNet), a
US-Philippine
women's solidarity organization, will hold a nationwide vigil on Friday,
May 20,
2005. There will be actions in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San
Francisco, and Seattle.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, an obstinate supporter of
the US war
on terror, has failed to investigate the killing of 13 journalists in
2004, the
assassination of 11 GABRIELA and GABRIELA Women's Party members and
affiliates, the
murder and abduction of 300 activists and community leaders, and the
hundreds of
cases of human rights violations that have occurred during her term.
However, with
or without government-sponsored inquiry, conclusive reports and accounts from
witnesses point to the US-backed Philippine military and para-military
groups as the
perpetrators.

For interviews, please call (212) 592-3507 or email gabnet (at) gabnet.org. # # #