We sent the following message to Philippine Embassy in Japan as our solidarity with people in the Philippines.
yours sincerely,
Hikaru Kasahara (APA-Japan)
To: .President Makapagal Aroyo of the Republic of the Philippines
From: Concerned Citizens of Japan
Ms. President
We the undersigned citizens of Japan who have been working for the promotion of friendly relations between Japan and the Philippines, shocked by and deeply concerned about the state of emergency you have declared, present our urgent request to you that you will lift it immediately.
We call upon you to release immediately all the Philippine citizens, whom we consider our sisters and brothers, who have been arrested under the martial law you have declared.
We call upon you to respect the freedom of expression of your people, by lifting all ban on meetings and demonstrations, and guaranteeing the freedom of expression of the press and of all other media.
We call upon you to stop immediately any action by the police or by the army molesting the citizens of the Philippines, our sisters and brothers.
We would like to remind you that your ways of holding to power by recourse to emergency and media control would not work even for your purposes but would only damage your image in a global community where alternative media and global networks of information and people's solidarity are already powerful and effective..
We address this appeal to you representing the serious concern of the people of Japan who feel deeply solidary with the people of the Philippines in our common search for a more democratic, more just and more peaceful Asia.
Very truly yours,
Asian Peace Alliance (APA)- Japan
Nikken Building 2F, Waseda-cho75, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0042 JAPAN tel/fax: +81-3-5273-8362 Email:
