‘Sayyaf rebels, not US troops, are true abusers of women’

It is the Abu Sayyaf who are the abusers of our women and not the American forces who have been called in to assist the government in crushing the bandits, President Arroyo said yesterday.

"It appears that the world is upside down," she said, "when (people) say that when we ask the Americans to train our soldiers to crush the Abu Sayyaf ... it is anti-women. The Abu Sayyaf are the anti-women and not those who try to crush them."

Mrs. Arroyo, reacting to denunciations by some women’s groups that the presence of American soldiers in the military exercises has given rise to prostitution in the South, said: "If we talk about the rights of women in the Philippines and in the southern part of the country, we must rid the country of the terrorism of the Abu Sayyaf (to) put an end to the rape of our women."

In the strongest terms, the President denounced the rape of the women kidnapped and held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf bandits in two separate speeches she made yesterday on the occasion of the celebration of International Women’s Day.

Mrs. Arroyo addressed the 79th commencement exercises of the Philippine Women’s University at the Philippine International Convention Center on Roxas Boulevard, and the ceremonial launching of the Framework Plans for Women at the Philippine Sports Arena in Pasig City.

"The Abu Sayyaf has made it part of their terrorism campaign to rape our women," the President said.

She also pointed out that the US war against terrorism exposed to the world the abuses against women committed by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. This government supported the al-Qaeda international terrorist network which the Abu Sayyaf bandits in the Philippines are believed to have links to, she added.