Dear friends, You are invited to a special meeting on Sunday with a Congressman from the Philippines, Rafael Mariano, who is a social movement leader very connected to food sovereignty movements in the Philippines and internationally. The meeting will be at 1 PM at the WhyHunger office, at 505 8th Avenue, suite 2100 (northwest corner of 35th Street and 8th Avenue) in Midtown Manhattan. Please see below for Rafael Mariano’s bio and his interests in meeting with food sovereignty activists in NYC. Mariano biography At the age of 20, Mariano experienced activism first-hand by joining the local youth organization Bisig ng Kabataan (Youth Arm), which advocated the rights and welfare of local farmers. In 1981, the young Mariano was elected as councilor in his hometown.
His leadership in the peasant movement blossomed in the 1980s and in 1984, Mariano became a part in the formation of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid ng Gitnang Luzon (Central Luzon Peasant Alliance) where he served as second regional vice-chairperson in 1984. In 1985, Mariano was elected as the founding general secretary of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines or KMP), a major peasant center in the Philippines. He was then elected as national vice chair of the organization in 1990 and as national chair in 1993. During his stint with KMP, Mariano also served in the international left movement with the International League of People’s Struggle, International Alliance Against Agro-chemical Transnational Corporations, Pesticide Action Network-Asia and the Pacific Task Force on Food Sovereignty, and Philippines-Korea Committee for Peace and Reunification in the Korean Peninsula. >From 1998 to 2004, Mariano served as national chair of the Bagong Alyansang >Makabayan (New Patriotic Alliance or BAYAN), the political center of the >mainstream national democratic movement. As a Congressman: In 2004, Mariano, together with the late labor leader Crispin Beltran, was elected as representative of the Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) party-list in the House of Representatives. In 21 May 2008, he replaced Beltran in the 14th Congress after the latter's death. Anakpawis was re-elected in 2010 with Mariano as its number one nominee. During his term in congress, Mariano has been part of the national democratic minority bloc in Congress together with representatives fromBayan Muna, Gabriela, Kabataan Party-list, and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers party-list. He has been an active oppositionist against theArroyo administration and an advocate of pro-labor bills, such as the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and the P125 Wage Increase Bill. To date, he has authored and co-authored 111 House measures. In May 2006, Mariano, together with four congressmen from the national democratic bloc were detained inside the Batasang Pambansa on charges of rebellion filed by the Department of Justice. They were famously called the "Batasan 5." Mariano has openly rejected the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), a law that seeks to amend and extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program by five years, saying that it still has pro-landlord provisions. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digest: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post: <mailto:[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
