Expelled Fil-Am legislator Justin Jones reinstated...

we overcome.”

‘Defend Phl sovereignty’

In its own message, the Federation of Free Workers (FFW) urged the citizenry to continue fighting for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

“As the Filipino nation pays tribute to the heroism and sacrifice of our veterans, the FFW also honors the sacrifices of our soldiers who continue to defend our nation’s sovereignty and protect our people. Let us stand together as a nation in upholding our rights and freedom,” FFW president Sonny Matula said in a statement.

Victoria Bellosillo, FFW Women Network president, also expressed support and gratitude to members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) stationed in the disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea.

“As they serve and defend our territorial integrity, we also remind our armed forces that it is their solemn duty to defend the dignity and human rights of our people,“ Bellosillo said. While the labor group supports all peaceful and diplomatic means to resolve the country’s territorial disputes with China, it called on the government to prepare able citizens as reserve forces on a voluntary basis to support the AFP in case of any eventuality.

The FFW stressed the need to ensure that the country is always ready to defend the nation’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. n school killed six people, including three 9-year-old children. The three broke House rules by using a bullhorn, and Republican House leaders voted to expel Jones and Pearson from the Legislature. Johnson, who is white, was spared.

Meanwhile, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners was to meet on Wednesday, April 12 to consider reappointing Pearson to his seat. Tennessee Democrats on Tuesday will press for his reinstatement.

Pearson was quoted by NBC News: “When you have people who make comments about hanging you on a tree and hanging Black people on a tree as a form of capital punishment, when you wear a dashiki on the House floor and a member gets up and they talk about your dashiki saying it’s unprofessional, they’re really sending signals that you don’t belong here.”

Democrats in Washington have rallied around Jones and Pearson since their expulsion.

Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Nashville on Friday, April 7 to meet with the “Tennessee Three,” as the group has been called, praising them for “channeling” their constituents’ voices in speaking out against gun violence.

President Joe Biden also called the lawmakers and invited them to visit the White House. He had called their expulsion “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”

In a joint statement after Jones’s reinstatement, William Lamberth and Jeremy Faison, who lead Tennessee’s House Republicans, noted that the state’s constitution “provides a pathway back for expulsion.” (Inquirer.net with reports from by NBC News and Reuters)