Statement on the Arrests of Kara Taggaoa and Larry Valbuena

The ILPS Commission 8 (Youth Commission) vehemently condemns the arrest of Kara Taggaoa and Larry Valbuena earlier this morning, October 10, 2022. After their arraignment at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for the ludicrous case of Robbery which was filed against them weeks ago, police showed up and arrested them, without a warrant, for Direct Assault.

Kara Taggaoa is the current International Officer of Kilusang Mayo Uno and was part of the ILPS youth commission when she was the National Spokesperson for League of Filipino Students, the largest anti-imperialist youth group in the Philippines. She is also a proud part of the indigenous peoples of the Igorot of the Cordilleras, northern Philippines, who have a long tradition of struggling against colonizers, dictators, and multinationals. Taggaoa is also a student of Sociology at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. Ka Larry Valbuena is the president of the Pasiklab Operators and Drivers Association-PISTON. Jeepney drivers in the Philippines have long fought against corporate-driven jeepney modernization which will replace traditional jeepneys with those provided by multinational corporations which will bury jeepney drivers into massive debts.

We believe that this arrest is an attack against workers and their advocates. Taggaoa has been part of many partnerships with workers unions around the world in advocating for just wages and livable work conditions especially with the worsening plight of workers brought by COVID-19 lockdowns and inutile responses to the livelihoods of ordinary people. She has also engaged with other international bodies including the International Labor Organization to help amplify the voices of workers in the Philippines and around the globe. As a student, she understands that the call for safe resumption of classes, student aid, and democratic rights tie with the workers’ struggle to support their families, including their children.

As the Marcos, Jr. administration continues to kowtow to the interests of U.S. Imperialism by begging for arms and aid for police and military aid, we only expect this regime to be a continuation, if not the worsening of the deteriorating conditions of human rights for workers and other marginalized sectors in the Philippines. The U.S. government funnels the taxpayers’ money of ordinary Americans to support the bloody counter-insurgency program in the Philippines which has resulted in arrests, instances of red-tagging, and killings. During the pandemic, the Duterte administration chose to impose neoliberal policies such as the CREATE Law, which massively reduced the tax of the biggest capitalists, in order to beg for foreign and local investment while the number of unemployed reached 7.4% last January and aid remains scant.

We call on the freedom-loving youth around the world to stand up against injustices and denounce such attacks against the youth and the working class.

Unionism and activism are not terrorism! Free Kara Taggaoa and Larry Valbuena! Drop the trumped-up charges against Kara and Larry!

#FreeKaraAndLarry
#LongLiveInternationalSolidarity