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Isang kontemporaryong kwento ng paglikas

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Nagpapasalamat si Evelyn Cordonia na nakabalik na siya sa Pilipinas at ang kanyang pamilya matapos ang matinding paghihirap sa walang habas na pambobomba ng Israel sa Gaza. Isa siya sa mga Pilipinong napilitang sumunod sa utos ng Israel na lumikas mula sa Gaza sa pagsisimula ng panibagong giyera noong Oktubre 7.

Hindi lamang ang matinding takot mula sa mga bomba ang kanilang dinanas. Nagpahirap din sa kanila ang iba’t ibang uri ng karahasan mula sa kaniyang tinutuguriang “kabila.” Si Evelyn ay 18 taong nanirahan sa Gaza, kasama ang kanyang Palestinong asawa at kanilang anak.

“Wala kaming kuryente, walang tubig, walang wi-fi dahil pinutol lahat ito ng kabila. Nasira ang aming sasakyan kaya wala kaming magamit sa paglikas,” ani Evelyn sa isang media forum sa Lungsod Quezon noong Biyernes.

Hindi lamang galing sa lumulusob na zionistang estado ng Israel ang utos na lumikas na ang lahat sa Gaza. Panay na rin ang tawag ng embahada ng Pilipinas sa Amman, Jordan kina Evelyn at iba pang Pilipino na umalis na sa Gaza dahil sa bantang delubyo.

Sa kabutihang palad, may sasakyan ang isa nilang kapitbahay na gusto na ring lumikas. Subalit ang sasakyang iyon ay wala namang gasolina. “Kaya kinailangan naming ilipat ang gasolina mula sa sira naming sasakyan sa kanilang sasakyan,” kwento ni Evelyn.

Pagdating ng pamilya sa Raffa Crossing papasok ng Ehipto mula sa Gaza, inakala nina Evelyn na ligtas na silang mag-anak. Subalit tanging si Evelyn lamang ang naisumiteng pangalan ng embahada sa listahan at wala ang kaniyang asawa at anak. “Hindi ko maiwan ang aking mag-ama,” aniya kung kaya hindi siya tumawid.

Si Evelyn habang kausap ang mamamahayag sa Pilipinas. (Litrato ni Lito Ocampo)

Bumalik ang mag-anak sa kanilang bahay at kinailangan nilang magbayad ng mahal sa isang drayber upang sila’y ibalik sa binobombang erya. Muli nilang dinanas ang pagpapa-ulan ng bomba ng Israel gabi-gabi. “Naroon kami sa basement ng aming apartment building, patong-patong kami sa isang sulok, sinusubukang takpan ng aming mga katawan ang isa’t isa,” kanyang kwento.

Makalipas ang ilang araw ay may nahanap siyang isa pang kapitbahay na may generator kaya nakapag-charge ng telepono si Evelyn. Kumontak siya sa embahada ng Pilipinas at nakiusap na isama ang kanyang anak at asawa sa listahan ng mga lilikas. Muli silang pinabalik sa crossing sa kabila ng tumindi pang panganib sa biyahe.

“Ngunit sa pagbalik namin doon, ang anak ko lamang ang naidagdag, wala ang aking asawa sa listahan. Muli kaming nagpasya na walang lalabas ng Gaza na hindi kami kumpletong mag-anak,” kwento ni Evelyn.

Naulit ang kanilang hilakbot sa  muling pag-uwi upang hintayin ang pag-aayos ng embahada sa listahan. Sa ikatlong pagbabalik sa crossing, nasa listahan na ang kanyang asawa. Ngunit hindi agad binuksan ng Ehipto ang border at dalawang araw pa silang naghintay, walang matuluyan o masilungan man lamang. “Naglatag kami ng karton sa sahig kahit maginaw na,” ani Evelyn. Noon napagtanto nina Evelyn na sa kanilang panic, kung ano-ano na lamang ang kanilang nabitbit sa kanilang paglikas. “May nai-empake nga akong sapatos na walang pares,” aniya.

Photo by Ash Hayes on Unsplash

Sa kabila ng kanilang mahirap na kalagayan, pinagana ni Evelyn ang kanyang angking tapang at pagka-malikhain.  Gamit ang natitira nilang pera, namili si Evelyn sa mga kapwa bakwit ng kung ano-anong maaring ibenta. “Tinawag ko itong Manila Market. Ang kinita ko roon ay ipinambili ko naman ng aming kailangan, lalo na ng pagkain,” kanyang kwento.

Matapos ang dalawang araw at gabi, nakatawid na sila sa Ehipto. “Pangatlong batch na kami ng mga Pilipinong nakalabas sa Gaza,” aniya.

Subalit may panibagong hamon ang mga bakwit na tulad nina Evelyn pagdating dito sa Pilipinas. Samantalang may mga kapatid pa siyang nagpapatuloy sa kanila ng ilang araw, ninanais niyang may mas permanente silang matutuluyan habang naririto sa bansa. Umaalingawngaw sa kanyang isipan ang tanong sa kanya ng kanilang anak” “Paano na ang buhay natin, Mama?”

Para kay Evelyn, ang Gaza at Palestina ang kanilang tahanan at nais pa rin nilang bumalik sa lalong madaling panahon. Kung  tutuusin, si Evelyn at ang kanyang pamilya ay parang sina Maria, Jose at Hesus na lumikas mula sa Palestina patungong Ehipto mahigit dalawang libong taon na ang nakakaraan. Tulad nila, sana ay makabalik rin sila sa lalong madaling panahon. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Stop bombing Gaza hospitals!’ Filipino health groups tell Israel

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Filipino health professionals and organizations called for an immediate stop to attacks on hospitals and civilians in Gaza as the Israeli siege of Palestinian territory enters its sixth week.

Fifty six doctors, nurses, other health workers and students in a petition said hospitals and other health facilities in the besieged territory must be spared from further attacks by Israeli military forces that started last October 7.

Officers and members of the Health Alliance for Democracy, Health Action for Human Rights, Council for Health and Development, Alliance of Health Workers, Community Medical Practitioners and Advocates Association, Filipino Nurses United, Philippine Medical Students Association (PMSA) and the Philippine Nursing Students Association called on Israel to uphold International Humanitarian Law that excludes hospitals from the list of military targets.

The petition was also signed by employees unions and associations of the National Children’s Hospital, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine, Philippine General Hospital, Tondo Medical Center, Philippine Heart Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center and Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center chapter of the PMSA.

“We denounce the November 15 raid of Israeli Defense Force in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Thousands were affected, vulnerable patients trapped, staff and other civilians displaced as they run out of medical supplies and fuel,” the petitioners said.

The petitioners also said they strongly condemn the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital bombing on October 17 that killed around 500 people and injured thousands more.

The groups, citing United Nations (UN) reports, said hospitals in North Gaza suffer heavy strikes and forcing almost all health facilities in the area to cease operations.

Some 1,000 kidney failure patients as well as 2,000 cancer patients and 130 premature babies in incubators are at immediate risk of death due to the collapse of the health care system, the groups cited.

Israel also repeatedly issued evacuation orders to hospitals and other medical facilities in Gaza, which the World Health Organization said is a “death sentence to the sick and injured.”

“We grieve for the more than 11,078 people killed, more than 4,600 of whom are children. We sympathize with the 27,490 people injured, and 1.6 million internally displaced. During the first month of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, over 300 Gazans died each day, bringing the death toll to more than 12,000,” the petition further said.

The petitioners also said they salute the doctors, nurses and other health and humanitarian workers who continue treating the wounded and sick amid Israel’s evacuation orders and attacks despite, deaths among their ranks and threats to their lives.

As of November 12, over 102 UN employees have been killed inside Gaza, alongside 182 health care workers.

“We call for the protection of all civilians, medical and humanitarian personnel, and unimpeded access to essential humanitarian supplies, including food, water, shelter, medicine, fuel and electricity,” the groups said, adding they stand with the Palestinian people in their struggle for peace and freedom in Palestine. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)

Fil-Ams join largest pro-Palestine rally in US history

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Hundreds of Filipinos joined the largest pro-Palestine rally in United States of America (USA) history held in Washington DC last Saturday, November 4, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN USA) reported.

Over 300 Filipinos for Palestine members and allies participated in the historic National March on Washington for a Free Palestine event attended by over 300,000 protesters as Israel’s punitive action against Gazans enters its second month.

The Filipino-Americans said they demand an immediate ceasefire between Hamas and the State of Israel, for the latter to end its siege on Gaza, and for the US and the Philippines to end its support for Israel.

“As Filipinos, we know what it’s like to struggle against foreign occupation and domination, what it is like to fight for national liberation across generations,” BAYAN USA said.

“Long Live Gaza!” Filipinos for Palestine participants to the US|National March on Washington for a Free Palestine shout. (Photo by Malaya Movement-New Jersey)

“Philippine and Palestinian liberation are inextricably linked because we have a common enemy. So let us rise up and link arms across our movements and build anti-imperialist solidarity,” the group added.

The latest conflict began after Palestinian group Hamas conducted military strikes against Israel last October 7 that also killed civilians, including four overseas Filipino workers.

Hamas took as prisoners hundreds of Israelis they said they shall be freed in exchange for thousands of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli prisons.

The State of Israel responded with massive air and ground strikes against all 2.2 million Gazans.

The Palestinian health ministry reported that at least 9770 people, 4,008 of whom were children, have been killed in nearly a month of Israeli strikes.

The massive rally in Washington came after the US government last October 18 vetoed the Brazil-led resolution at the United Nations (UN) calling for a ceasefire in Palestine.

The Philippine government abstained from voting on the resolution, the only Southeast Asian government that did not support the proposed measure. 

This prompted BAYAN in the Philippines to spearhead a protest action at the Israeli Embassy in Manila last Tuesday, October 31.

At the Manila rally, BAYAN president Renato Reyes revealed the Philippines had been the third largest buyer of Israeli weapons from 2018 to 2022 used among others in former president Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody drug war that is under investigation by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, The Netherlands.

In Manila, pro-Palestine independence advocates protested at the Israeli Embassy last October 31. (Photo by Altermidya)

In Washington DC, BAYAN USA stated they demand an immediate end to the purchasing of weapons from Israel it said funnels hundreds of millions of dollars toward death rather than the needs of Filipinos.

“The Marcos administration’s silence on Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people is unacceptable. It is also a death sentence for the tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers in occupied Palestine, who are also seen as ‘collateral damage’ by Israel in its attacks against Palestine,” BAYAN USA said.

The Filipinos for Palestine contingent was organized by BAYAN USA, Malaya Movement, Kabataan Alliance, Anakbayan USA, and GABRIELA USA that were among the over 500 endorsers of the march. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

BAYAN calls on Filipinos to stand with Palestinians

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The country’ biggest alliance of progressive organizations called on the Filipino people to stand behind Palestine in the latest act of genocide by the State of Israel.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) in a statement said more than 8,000 Palestinians, 3,500 of whom were children, have died since Israeli retaliation started after the October 7 attacks of Hamas.

“Israeli bombs have indiscriminately destroyed Palestinian homes, schools, hospitals and places of worship. Electric, water, internet and phone services had been cut off and food and other aid could not enter Gaza,” BAYAN said.

The group said the Israeli siege against the entire Palestinian people actually begun 75 years ago when Zionists started taking over vast territories of what used to be Palestine under the Ottoman Empire.

“The Israeli occupation of the Palestinians had been cruel. The looting of land and killing and imprisonment of Palestinians are nonstop. These are what drive them to resist with both unarmed and armed means,” BAYAN said.

BAYAN said the Palestinian resistance is similar to the revolution led by the Katipunan against Spanish colonialism or the struggles of Macario Sakay and General Antonio Luna against American colonialism in the Philippines.

The alliance added that the Western-backed Israeli genocide in Palestine violates international humanitarian law, a rule United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appealed should be observed in full measure.

In a public briefing in Egypt this weekend, Guterres also said a 20-truck convoy is awaiting permission to be allowed into the besieged territory, noting the irony that just across the border, Palestinian children, women and elderly are starving while food aid awaits to be delivered.

In its appeal, BAYAN noted the deaths of at least four Filipinos since Hamas attacked and others who may be held hostage in Gaza are in danger from Israeli bombs raining daily into the territory.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan also called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza. (BAYAN photo)

“There are many similarities between Filipinos and Palestinians. We both have a history of resistance against colonialism,” BAYAN added.

The alliance called on the Filipinos to join the call to end the bombing of civilians in Gaza and for the Palestinians to be allowed to return to their ancestral lands as the long-term solution to the war. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Filipino activists condemn Israel’s massacre of Palestinians

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A few hours after the massacre of 61 Palestinian civilians in Gaza by Israeli forces, activists held a protest action along EDSA in Quezon City Tuesday afternoon.

Various organizations led by the International League of People’s Struggles-Philippines condemned the latest massacre while the United States of America opened its new Embassy in Jerusalem.