La Voz

Last Thursday, a roomful of De Anza College students became witnesses in the Filipino human rights battle, according to author and San Jose State University associate professor Peter Chua.

Chua, the co-author of "Women, Culture, Development, Ethnic and Racial Studies," spoke about the effect of involvement of the United States' war on terror in the Philippines as part of the college's observance of International Women's Day.

De Anza philosophy instructor Tram Nguyen started the lecture with stories of her involvement with Amnesty International. Nguyen was elected in 2005 to the organization's board of directors.

Since the 2001 there have been over 850 killings and disappearances in the Philippines, but it's not well known, Chua said.

"This is something that people are slowly learning about," Chua said. "In a sense you are now part of the growing number of witnesses." The responsibility for witnesses of human rights violation is to talk about it, Chua said.

The hardest hit are usually the women and children of the community. "Often times women are the ones who face the burden to help rebuilt these families," Chua said.

To Nguyen, the first steps in solving the problem are knowledge getting involved with activism.

"The idea that ordinary people could engage and make a difference really affected me," said Nguyen. "It is a forum where people can come together and learn about injustices." With activism groups as Amnesty International, a power shift to the people is a recent development according to Nguyen.

"For the first time there is recourse for the ordinary citizen outside the state and the corporation," Nguyen said. "Unlike the state that rules by force, this kind of activism is a nonviolent source of power." The first National Woman's Day was observed on Feb. 28, 1909.

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