September 28, 2012

LOS ANGELES— Nothing underscores the patent injustice of the case of Grace Grande and her sons than the irony of her persecutor and stalker getting away with NOT paying child support as ordered by the United States Family Court.   The cumulative amount of what Antonio owes in child support is $916,000 and running; whereas Grande is supposed to be extradited on trumped-up theft charges lodged by a Nancy Manlangit for items said to value $43,000. 

Since the court-mandated child support was ordered in 2011, with support retroactive to 2008, Congressman Patrick Antonio has failed to provide even a cent for the sons he claims to love and whom he is maneuvering to take from their mother.  Instead all efforts on his partisans’ side have concentrated on the harassment and persecution of Grande.  An extradition request will compel the incarceration of Grande and open the door for the father to assume custody over her children. 

The final hearing on Grande’s petition for political asylum was halted upon US government prosecutors’ contention that federal extradition hearings take precedence over immigration court hearings.  The US prosecutors were so pleased with the outcome that they bare-faced laughed at Grande’s supporters who picketed the courthouse last Monday. 

In general, a request for extradition by a foreign government is proof prima facie that the petitioner for asylum has credible fear of persecution and bodily harm.  Instead, this established procedure for political asylum cases was turned on its head, its spirit of justice perverted – all to accommodate Antonio’s desire to take away two boys from their mother and to throw her in jail.  By doing so, he also avoids child support obligations. 

The Association of Filipinas, Feminists Fighting Imperialism, Re-feudalization, and Marginalization (AF3IRM) and the Mariposa Center for Change denounce the Philippine government’s extradition request.  AF3IRM and Mariposa denounce the kowtowing being done by the US judicial system to a warlord politician.  AF3IRM and Mariposa denounce the repulsive stealth by which the two governments collude to violate Ms. Grande’s human, women’s and mother rights.                                                                                

AF3IRM and the Mariposa Center for Change continue to Stand with Grace – a victory for Grande is a victory for all women.  No woman should be forced to surrender her mother rights.  No woman should be compelled into sexual slavery. No woman should be forced to return to her abuser. Women are not property to be passed back and forth between individuals or between nations. Women are not pawns to be used to enhance a man’s ego and machismo. 

Stand with Grace – for mothers’ rights, for women’s rights, and for human rights.  Join us in a 50-state and 2-country offensive.   Help Grace by organizing public forums, writing to the Philippine Embassy, and organizing committees so as to make a loud noise.

CONDEMN THE THEFT OF MOTHERS’ RIGHTS. 

AFFIRM WOMEN’S RIGHT TO PHYSICAL INTEGRITY.

STAND BY OUR RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHO AND WHEN TO LOVE.

BREAK THE SILENCE.  END THE STEALTH. 

STAND WITH GRACE.

For more information on the Stand with Grace campaign, please visit the AF3IRM website (www.af3irm.org) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/standwithgrace). 

Press Contacts:

Jollene Levid, AF3IRM National Chairperson, chair@af3irm.org, 323-356-4748

Ivy Quicho, Mariposa Center Executive Director, ivy@mariposacenterforchange.org, 951-333-4306

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