Demand the OR State Treasury Divest from Chevron!
To the Oregon State Treasury:

Brandon Lee, a U.S. citizen, had been living in the Philippines for nearly a decade before he became a target of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte regime’s ruthless war on activists. Lee was working as an advocate with the Cordillera People’s Alliance and as a journalist with The Northern Dispatch, drawing attention to the devastation wrought by extractive corporate projects on Indigenous land. But in August of 2019, Lee’s work in the Cordilleras was brought to a devastating halt: after being harassed and surveilled by paramilitary groups, he was shot outside his home by unknown assailants. Paralyzed from the chest down, Brandon was airlifted in October 2019 back home to San Francisco, where he continues to struggle alongside the Filipino people today as a member of San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.

The Cordillera region, where Brandon Lee was living, working, and fighting corporate extraction, is an exquisitely beautiful area in the northern Philippines. Known for its magnificent mountain ranges, rich mineral deposits, tropical pine forests, and rolling rice terraces, the Cordilleras have been home to Indigenous people for thousands of years. Given its rich resources, the region has long been a target of corporate plunder, and the people and ecosystems that make the Cordilleras so remarkable are in grave danger.

Multinational corporations and the Philippine military have occupied the Cordilleras for decades, ravaging the land with destructive mining projects and mega dams, and devastating Indigenous lives. The most recent example of this pattern is Chevron’s Kalinga geothermal project on Indigenous ancestral lands. Despite the emphatic opposition of the Cordillera people to the project, Philippine President Duterte has illegally forced it through and continues to protect Chevron's operations by waging attacks against land defenders in the form of harassment, torture, aerial bombings, arrest and murder. Recently, Windel Bolinget, chairperson of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (the alliance of Indigenous groups where Brandon Lee had been working) had a “shoot to kill” order issued against him after he was falsely accused of murder. He was forced to turn himself in to the National Bureau of Investigation for his own safety. Although Chevron greenwashes its activities, presenting itself as a human rights advocate and leader in sustainability, it is patently clear that this is false.

The Oregon state government currently invests its assets in Chevron by means of BlackRock, an American multinational investment management corporation. Due to its status as the world’s largest asset manager, it has been called the world’s largest “shadow bank;” recently, it has been criticized for its climate change inaction and role in the deforestation of the Amazon. BlackRock (and, therefore, the Oregon State Treasury) has large holdings in Chevron - a major contributor to climate chaos and ecosystem degradation worldwide.

As Oregonians, we are appalled to see investments for our government benefit from exploitation in the Philippines by Chevron. Even as U.S. lawmakers are working to introduce the Philippine Human Rights Act, which would suspend U.S. military aid to the Philippines until such time as human rights abuses cease and the responsible state forces are held accountable, the Oregon State Treasury’s investments in Chevron are contributing to the Duterte regime’s ability to trample on human rights. This is directly antithetical to the progressive and sustainable goals Oregon state has for itself and widely projects as it's image.

We the undersigned Oregon residents, organizations, and allies stand together in saying “No more in our name!” We will no longer be complicit in the perpetuation of attacks on land defenders in the Cordillera. The signers of this petition call on the Oregon State Treasury to take a stand for human rights and divest all of its assets from Chevron!
Sign in to Google to save your progress. Learn more
First and last name *
Email address *
Zip code *
Are you with an organization or affiliation? If so, what organization or affiliation? *
Are you signing on as an individual or for your organization to endorse?
Clear selection
Comments
Submit
Clear form
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
This content is neither created nor endorsed by Google. Report Abuse - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy