The Ecumenical Network on the Philippines (ENP) held its conference last 29-31 May at the Garret Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston (north of Chicago), Illinois. The ENP is a USA-wide network of people involved in Philippine solidarity work and church people who had worked in the Philippines.

True to the conference theme, which was: "The Philippines: 100 Years of Faith and Struggle", there was a lot of discussion re the role of the church (both positive and negative) in the Philippines in the past. Sr. Marianni Dimaranan, the conference's special guest, gave a historical review of the Philippine solidarity work in the US and its many contributions to the struggle of the Filipino people. The conference was also a time for sharings and for inspiring each other to continue with their work, inspite of the many difficulties facing solidarity workers today.

On the evening of 30 May, Pintig, a Philippine cultural group, presented a very moving performance of "The Bells of Balangiga". Filipino groups in the US have been campaigning for some years now for the return of the bells stolen by US troops from Balangiga, Samar during the Philippine-American war.

The conference participants also signed a petition urging President Clinton to "publicly accept moral responsibility for toxic contamination'' in former US military facilities in the Philippines.

"Under the environmental principle that polluters must pay, the US should take financial responsibility for the cleanup of its former military bases in the Philippines." Members of the Philippine Group of Minnesota and the US Working Group of the People's Task Force for Bases Cleanup had drafted the petition.

Before the conference closed on 31 May, the participants elected a new executive committee and agreed on the overall directions of their work for the immediate future.