’99 Seattle International SEATTLE
PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY
PA’99
4501 15th Ave. Suite 101
Seattle, WA 98108
Tel: (206) 721-6355
Tel/Fax: (206) 763-9611
Seattle International People’s Assembly,
March-Rally
Program
November
28 – 30, 1999
Seattle,
Washington
The Peoples'
Assembly Committee (PAC) and Sentenaryo ng Bayan, a Filipino organization,
invite you to SAY NO TO WTO! in the Seattle
International Peoples' Assembly to be held at the Filipino Community
Center, Martin Luther
King Jr. Way
in Seattle, Washington on November 28-30 and a March-Rally on November 30 in downtown Seattle. These activities are being held in time for
the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO). They are
part of the numerous activities to be undertaken in November and December by
the Seattle-based coalition, Network Opposed to WTO.
The 3rd WTO
Ministerial Meeting will be held in Seattle on November 29 to December 3. A review of the Agreement on Agriculture
(AOA) will be a major part of the agenda. While the pre-1994 GATT did not
include agriculture, after the Uruguay Round, which also gave rise to WTO,
fulfillment of commitments to the AOA was pushed through regional formations
like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) and others. AOA has
proven disastrous to the agriculture and fisheries sectors. As a result, peasants, women, fisherfolk and
other anti-WTO and anti-globalization advocates worldwide have started a
campaign to take agriculture out of WTO.
The current
WTO meeting may well start the Millennium Round of GATT negotiations and open
up new and expanded areas of coverage of agreements. It is also expected that MAI advocates will try to sneak in a
rehash of the investments liberalization agreement which was defeated at the
Overseas Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last year. In contraposition, anti-WTO activists will
campaign to reject any rehashed MAI and to quash attempts to start a new
Millennium Round of negotiations.
Say No to
WTO! -- the Seattle International Peoples' Assembly and March-Rally continues
the struggle against globalization initiated in 1996 by the People's Conference
Against Imperialist Globalization (PCAIG) and the People's Caravan Against APEC
in Manila. The torch was passed on to the NO to APEC Coalition which convened the Vancouver conference, PCAIG - Continuing
the Resistance, as a counterpoint to the 1997 APEC Leaders Summit. To be
mentioned likewise are the Anti-Imperialist World Peasant Summit (AIWPS) held
in Manila in 1996 and the Asia Pacific People’s Assembly with the theme
“Confronting Globalization: Asserting People’s Rights” in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.
Representatives
of people's organizations, citizen's movements, churches and NGOs from
different parts of the world will join hands in the Seattle International
Peoples’ Assembly and March-Rally to reiterate their opposition to the AOA,
WTO, MAI and imperialist globalization.
The Seattle
International People's Assembly will also highlight the continuing one hundred
years of resistance against foreign domination by the Filipino people.
OBJECTIVES:
1.
To make
people aware of the disastrous effects of the WTO, AOA, MAI and all schemes of
imperialist globalization on the peoples of the world.
2.
To expand
linkages, forge stronger unities and establish cooperation in international
campaigns with other anti-AOA/WTO and anti-imperialist groups and individuals
worldwide.
3.
To further
advance our work of building anti-imperialist resistance in North America.
NOVEMBER 28
09:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon Arrival and registration
of delegates
12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. Lunch
01:00 p.m. Opening of the Peoples' Assembly
· Welcome Address
Ace Saturay, Sentenaryo ng Bayan and
Rev. Lucy Hitchcock, Rainier Unitarian
Universalist Congregation
·
Introduction of Delegations
Fr. Art Balagat, Migrante International
·
Logistical Announcements
Mario Santos, Secretariat
01:45 p.m. Statements of Solidarity
·
Sally Soriano, Washington Fair Trade/No To WTO!
·
Dr. Carolina P. Araullo, BAYAN and
People's Campaign Against Imperialist
Globalization
·
Cecille Diocson, NO to APEC Coalition,Vancouver
Cultural
Number
02:15 Keynote
Address:
The Need to Advance the People’s Resistance
Against
Imperialist
Globalization!
Prof. Jose Maria Sison
International
Network for Philippine Studies
Chief
Political Consultant, National Democratic Front of the
Philippines
(NDFP)
02:45 Coffee/Tea
Break
03:00 The People Say No to WTO!
Panel
of Speakers:
There's No Such Thing as Free Trade Nor
Fair Trade
Under
Imperialist Globalization
Dr. Pao Yu Ching, Taiwan and USA
Don't Let MAI In:
Oppose
Inclusion of Investments Liberalization in WTO
Maude
Barlow, Canada
Council
of Canadians and
International
Forum on Globalization (IFG)
American Trade Unionists Spurn WTO
Philip
Koritz, Seattle, USA
Philippine
Workers Support Committee
WTO and Environmental Justice
Richard
Moore, USA (invited)
Southwest
Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (SNEEJ)
04:00 Open
Forum/Sharing
04:30 Coffee/Tea
Break
05:00 Anti-Imperialist Struggle and Resistance
Among the Filipino Community
in the US
Jay
Mendoza, Los Angeles, USA
Pilipino
Workers Center and Alliance of Filipino Immigrants and
Advocates
(AFIA)
05:30 – 07:30 Say No to WTO, Youth and Student Caucus
05:30 Korean People’s Action Against Investment
Treaties and
WTO
New Round
Lee Changgeun, Korea
KoPA,
Policy and Information Center for International Solidarity
05:45 With Globalization Comes US Aggression
Panel
of Speakers:
· The
Case of Yugoslavia
Richard Becker, International Action
Center (IAC)
·
The Case of Cuba
Fernando
Ramirez de Estenoz (invited)
06:15 Open
Forum
06:45 Dinner
07:30 Film Showing and Q&A session
“Pressure
Point” – documentary by
Malcolm Guy, Magnus Isacsson
and Anna Paskal about the Montreal
blockade of MAI called “operation
salami”
Film Showing
“Junk
APEC” – a documentary
produced by Bayan and AsiaVisions
about
the 1996 APEC Ministerial meeting in the Philippines and the
nationwide
and international people’s movement against imperialist
globalization
NOVEMBER 29
09:00 am Cultural
number
09:15 Solidarity Messages
·
Raymond Lotta, RCP-USA
·
Jim McMann, WWP, Seattle
·
Seattle Mumia Defense Committee
09:30 Report of the Youth and Student (YS) Caucus
·
Designated Representative from the YS Caucus
09:45 Keynote
Address:
Take
agriculture out of the WTO! Resist Imperialist Globalization!
Rafael
Mariano, Philippines
Chairperson,
BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance)
Chairperson,
KMP (Peasant Movement of the Philippines)
10:15 No to AOA!
Panel of Speakers:
·
Rafael Alegria, Honduras
International Operational Secretariat, La
Via Campesina
·
Mika Iba, Japan
Network for Safe and Secure Food and
Environment
11:00 Open
Forum and Sharing
11:30 Coffee/Tea
Break
11:45 Anti-Imperialist Struggle and Resistance
Among Filipino Communities in Canada
Cecilia
Diocson, Canada
Network
Opposed to APEC
12:00 pm Lunch
Break
01:00 Cultural
Presentation
01:15 Women Say NO to WTO!
Panel
of Speakers sponsored by GABRIEL and APWLD
·
Liza Largoza-Maza, Philippines
GABRIELA
·
Sarojeni Rengam, Malaysia
Pesticide Action Network - Asia Pacific
(PAN-AP)
Paper to be read by Jennifer Mourin, PAN-AP
·
Ravadee Prasertcharoensuk and
Cholada Montreevat, Thailand
Task Force on Women & Environment and
Task Force on Rural & Indigenous Women, APWLD
· Chie Abad, USA
Global Exchange
02:30 Open
Forum and Sharing
03:30 Coffee/Tea
Break
03:45 Cultural
Presentation
04:00 Presentation of Statement Against the WTO
and
Imperialist Globalization
Dr.
Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
BAYAN
Vice-Chairperson
PCAIG
05:00 Closing Ceremony
Closing
Remarks
Christene
Reyes, Sentenaryo ng Bayan
Cultural
Number
06:00 Dinner
06:30 Film Premiere Showing and Q & A Session
“Golf
War” – a documentary by
Jen Schradie and Matt DeVries about
land, golf and revolution in the
Philippines
07:30 SOLIDARITY NIGHT
Songs,
dances, poetry reading and more!
NOVEMBER
30
08:00 - 10:00 am Bilateral
Consultation with Japanese and Korean Farmers Organizations
Venue
to be announced
March-Rally “No to WTO! No to imperialist
globalization!”
11:00 Assembly
-- International District at 4th and Jackson
11:30 March
to downtown Seattle
12:00 –01:00 pm Rally Program
– 4th and Pine
01:00 Join
the AFL-CIO/People for Fair Trade march towards
the
site of the WTO Ministerial Meeting, Seattle Convention Center
07:00 “Food-Cultural
Evening” celebrating rice cultures
Unitarian
Universalist Church on 4620 South Findlay St.