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Major Programs & Recent Accomplishments
NISPOP was formed in May 2000 to educate the public about conditions in the Philippines, to build opposition to US intervention in the Philippines and to offer solidarity to the Filipino people’s struggle for a just and lasting peace. NISPOP members include non-Filipinos who have been to the Philippines through a church or volunteer program, and Filipinos and Filipino-Americans who are concerned about the continuing deterioration of the Filipino people’s livelihood and the violent repression and inhumane reprisal perpetrated by the state against legitimate forms of dissent expressed by peasants, workers and other sectors of society.
In March 2003 NISPOP started to organize US-born Filipino youth and young adults after being encouraged to do so by some partner Filipino organizations in the area. NISPOP formed a youth collective called Ugnayan. Ugnayan members further developed NISPOP’s Philippines 101 series to better reach Filipino youth and organized a learning trip to the Philippines in the summer of 2004 in which 10 youth participated.
At the NISPOP retreat in January 2005, members unanimously decided that Ugnayan would become its own organization catering to the needs and interests of Filipino youth while continuing to work closely with NISPOP. NISPOP remains an issue-based solidarity organization open to people of all ages and backgrounds.
MAJOR PROGRAMS
Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign: Builds resistance to US military intervention in the Philippines and the violation of human rights of Filipino civilians. We conduct educational activities, mass mobilizations, advocacy and alliance-building.
Philippines Reality Tour: Facilitates yearly trips so that we can understand the realities of life in the Philippines as most Filipinos live it, and understand how Filipinos have chosen to struggle for national liberation and self-determination.
Education for Action: Educational forums, workshops,
film showings, public speaking, and regular dissemination of news and
updates from the Filipino social justice movement.
NISPOP has regularly offered a 4-part course called “Philippines
101.” The curriculum covers the history and current issues in the
Philippines including corporate globalization and US intervention, all
in an interactive and multi-media workshop style.
MAJOR RECENT ACTIVITIES
December 2002: Launched a week of activities to highlight the deteriorating human rights condition in the Philippines. The events included an ecumenical religious service, a film showing at NYU, a slide show at the Catholic Worker House, and letter-writing to encourage investigations into the killing of an unarmed Moro civilian by a US soldier in the Philippines.
January 2003: Hosted Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Secretary General of KARAPATAN Human Rights Alliance of the Philippines. NISPOP facilitated her stay in New York in which she spoke on national and local radio programs about the current human rights situation in the Philippines and US intervention, visited with a member of the US Congress, and spoke at forums at the UN Church Center, District Council 1707 and NYU Law School.
January 18, 2003: Organized a joint Filipino-Korean contingent to the rally in Washington, DC to oppose US war on Iraq. Over 150 activists participated. This relationship with Korean organizations continues. Joint activities have been conducted with the goal of educating the public about the common struggle of the Korean and Filipino peoples against US intervention.
February 23, 2003: Launched the campaign “Justice Not War in the Philippines” (JNW) to build opposition to the presence of US troops in the Philippines. Representatives from various sectors such as faith, youth, labor, and people of color attended. The JNW campaign has developed a website and materials (educational materials, t-shirts, buttons) that have been used by concerned citizens and NISPOP contacts in Portland, OR, New York, Denver, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia. It has also held forums, rallies and social events to educate and build opposition to US military intervention in the Philippines.
September 27, 2003: Held “RECLAIM: (re)affirming our culture of resistance,” an evening of performance and celebration commemorating the anniversary of martial law in the Philippines (September 21, 1972) and the removal of the US military bases (September 16, 1991). The event was organized by a planning collective of youth organizers new to NISPOP and attended by some 200 Filipino and US-born Filipino youths.
January 2004: Held NISPOP’s first annual leadership retreat at the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes in Upstate New York. Fourteen participants took part in a leadership training on organizing, discussed and studied current events related to the Philippines and Iraq, planned for the coming year, and recreated in the snow.
March 20, 2004: The Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign (JNW) organized a contingent of 100 Filipinos and supporters to rally to oppose US intervention in Iraq and the Philippines.
July 11 and 16, 2004: The Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign (JNW) organized a picket at the Philippine Consulate to demand the pull-out of Philippine troops from Iraq so that a Filipino hostage in Iraq would be freed. After massive protest around the world forced the Philippines to withdraw its troops and the hostage was freed, we held a victory rally in the Filipino community in Woodside, Queens.
August 29, 2004: The Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign (JNW) organized a contingent of 100 Filipinos and supporters to rally at the Republic National Convention.
November 18, 2004, Ugnayan youth organized a report-back in which 70 friends, family members and interested individuals learned about the youths’ experience in the Philippines through slides, skits and songs.
January 28-30, 2005: NISPOP’s second annual leadership retreat at the Presbyterian Camp at Holmes in Upstate New York. Fourteen participants studied and discussed the current situation in the Philippines, assessed the previous year and planned for 2005. The attendees unanimously decided that the Ugnayan youth collective would become its own organization, and made plans for the transition.
In February 2005, two NISPOP members and Reality Tour participants gave five workshops at a union organizing conference in Ottawa, Canada.
March 3, 2004: Organized a forum, in partnership with Broadway United Church of Christ, on the current situation in Iraq and the Philippines. Panelists included the President of Veterans for Peace, Filipina author and GABRIELA Network founder, Ninotchka Rosca, and a church worker who has organized humanitarian missions to Iraq. 40 people attended.
March 19, 2005: The Justice Not War in the Philippines Campaign (JNW) organized a contingent of 75 Filipinos and supporters to rally to oppose the US occupation of Iraq on the second anniversary of the current conflict. JNW joined the larger demonstration that marched from Harlem to Central Park. JNW marched with CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, BAYANusa and several other people of color organizations.
May 16-29, 2005: Hosted two women from Mindanao, a Moro youth leader and a Catholic sister from InPeace Mindanao. Organized two open forums in partnership with Broadway United Church of Christ and the International Action Center, and set up a special sharing with Ugnayan Filipino Youth and DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association.
Network in Solidarity with the People of the Philippines
(NISPOP)
PO Box 721340
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
212-561-1567
nispop@nispop.org
www.nispop.org