After a Dutch national, Canadian citizen who joined SONA rally to be deported

Kim Chatillon-Meunier, 24, was arrested at the Manila airport as she was preparing to board a flight to Hong Kong. (Facebook)

 

There are around hundreds of foreigners joining the protest against the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July which 1 of them that makes a cop cry was deported.

 

A Canadian woman is another foreigner who joined a rally in protest of the President's State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, was prevented by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) from flying out of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Friday night, September 13.

 

Kim Chatillon-Meunier, a 24-year-old Canadian student, was lining up at the immigration area for her Cebu Pacific flight 5J142 bound for Hong Kong when she was intercepted by BI officers at around 7 pm, Friday.

 

Maan Pedro, spokesperson for the BI, told Rappler that Meunier had been on the bureau's watchlist for visa violations.

 

"She participated in a political activity which is in violation of the condition of her stay as a temporary visitor in the country," Pedro said.

 

According to the human rights group Karapatan, "Kim was a delegate to the International Conference on Human Rights in the Phillippines held last July. She also joined the international solidarity and humanitarian mission in Quezon province prior to the conference. She observed the program of the rally during the State of the Nation address last July."

 

Karapatan added that Meunier visited the country primarily to meet the requirements of her internship for an international studies program of the University of Montreal. She also helped conduct research on the reproductive health conditions of women in depressed communities in Tondo, Manila, the group said.

 

The bureau's data revealed that Meunier had been admitted to the Philippines in May on a 21-day tourist visa but was granted an extension.

 

Deportation

 

The Canadian will go through the deportation process between Monday to Tuesday next week, September 16 to 17, Pedro said.

 

This means Meunier will not be allowed to enter the Philippines again after she is allowed to leave.

 

Pending her deportation, immigration officers brought Meunier to the BI detention center in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.

 

Karapatan denounced Meunier's detention, demanding respect for her rights and her immediate release.

 

"Karapatan condemns this blatant harassment and violation of rights. Like what the BI and the Aquino administration did to Dutch activist Thomas van Beersum, they are violating Chatillon's fundamental right to free expression and her right to study and support human rights issues in the Philippines," Karapatan Secretary General Tinay Palabay said.

 

Screengrab of Thomas van Beersum's Facebook profile picture showing mixed comments from his network. The photo was originally taken by Rem Zamora of ABS-CBN

Thomas van Beersum, the Dutch who joined the SONA rally that authorities violently dispersed, was earlier deported and placed in the bureau's blacklist as persona non grata.

 

READ Deported Dutch activist: 'I don't regret it'

 

He was photographed confronting PO1 Joselito Sevilla. The cop cried and photos and videos of the incident became viral, sparking public outrage and prompting the government to conduct investigations into the participation of foreigners in the rally.

 

READ: Open letter to Thomas van Beersum who made the cop cry

 

The human rights leader demanded that the BI watchlists against foreigners who attended the SONA rally be withdrawn, saying that "these are tools for harassment and suppression of fundamental rights." 

 

Rappler.com

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US President Obama to visit ASEAN in October 6-12 Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines

US President Barack Obama will make his first trip to the Philippines in October, the White House announced.

 

In a statement on Friday, September 13, the office of White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: "The President will travel to Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines from October 6-12 as part of his ongoing commitment to increase U.S. political, economic and security engagement with the Asia Pacific."

 

Manila will be Obama's last stop. He will first attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders in Bali, then the US-ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Brunei, and meet with Prime Minister Najib in Malaysia.

 

"The President will then travel to the Philippines, the fifth Asian treaty ally he has visited during his presidency," the statement said.

 

"He will meet with President Aquino to reaffirm the strong economic, people-to-people, and security links between our two countries," it said.

 

Malacañang spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Obama will be Manila October 11-12 "upon the invitation of [His Excellency] President Benigno S Aquino."

 

The two presidents will "discuss ways to further strengthen the enduring Philippines-US alliance including the expansion of our security, economic and people to people ties," the Palace said.

 

Obama's visit comes as Washington and Manila negotiate an agreement that will allow increased rotational presence of American troops in the Philippines, and give them wider access to the country's military bases. It is forged amid tension between the Philippines and China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

 

Yet Filipino activists criticized the deal as a ploy to circumvent the constitutional ban on permanent bases. It is envisioned to be an executive agreement between the US and the Philippine departments of defense, and does not require Senate ratification unlike a treaty.

 

In August, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also visited the Philippines and discussed the agreement with President Aquino.

 

Obama's trip also coincides with his administration's so-called pivot to Asia, Washington's effort to rebalance its strategic priorities to the Asia-Pacific.

 

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel first announced the trip when he visited Manila last month.

 

"I spoke with the President and he is very much looking forward to his trip to Southeast Asia and I know that the White House is preparing for that and his meetings. There's a lot to discuss," Hagel said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

 

The trip will be the 8th visit of an American president to the Southeast Asian nation. Obama is the 7th US leader to visit the Philippines, according to data from the US State Department:

 

It is also Obama's first-ever visit to the Philippines. Born in Hawaii, the American President lived in nearby Indonesia as a child.

 

Sources: The White House, US Department of State and Rappler.com

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