- Integrate with the masses of the National Democratic Movement of the Philippines
- Intern at the largest, most militant, human rights alliance in the Philippines, KARAPATAN: Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
- Visit Political Prisioners
- Learn about Philippine history and society
- and so much more!
Mothers of missing activists calls for “Peoples’ Manhunt” on Butcher Palparan
Joint Statement of Erlinda Cadapan and Concepcion Empeño
We welcome the issuance of warrants of arrest for Ret. Major General Jovito Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado, Master Sergeant Rizal Hilario, and Staff Sergeant Edgardo Osorio for charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention of our daughters, Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno.
The Department of Justice resolution finding probable cause against them on these charges is a product of our arduous and persevering struggle for justice and to end impunity in the country. For us, it also signifies the start of a long and rigorous trial to hold Palparan and other human rights violators accountable.
Such impunity is wrought by the brazen commission of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of human rights violations under the Macapagal-Arroyo regime. Such violations continue with impunity to this date under the Aquino administration, which has been remiss in pursuing justice for the victims and has sustained the same kind of counter-insurgency measure which terrorizes and wantonly violates human rights.
We emphasize that this significant victory is to the credit of the victims of human rights violations and their kin, the survivor-witnesses, human rights defenders, the people’s movement and the freedom-loving Filipino people – we who have kept and held the torch of justice flaming even during the darkest hours.
We call on our kababayans to help us continue this journey to achieve justice. We call on the public, with the warrants of arrest issued against Palparan et al, to join us in this peoples’ manhunt to ensure that he and his cohorts be immediately arrested, put to jail and prosecuted for the grave human rights violations they committed. We urge you to remain one with us in demanding that Karen, Sherlyn and all victims of enforced disappearances be surfaced.
We shall remain steadfast in our struggle for justice and realization of human rights in the country, as we make all human rights violators, including former Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and top civil, military and police officials accountable for their high crimes against the people.###
From Desaparecidos
December 10, 2011 in NYC: NYCHRP’s LIGHTS FOR RIGHTS!
NYCHRP’s LIGHTS FOR RIGHTS on Arkibongbayan.org!!
December 10, 2011: Human Rights for the 99%
Reference: Michael Luat, Chairperson, SFCHRP
E-mail: mic1artivista@gmail.com
Reference: Yoko Liriano, Coordinator, NYCHRP
E-mail: ytliriano@gmail.com
New York and San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines Call For Human Rights For the 99%
Advance the Struggle for Human rights in the Philippines, U.S. , and all over the World!
New York and San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines commemorated the 63rd annual International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2011. With the skyrocketing statistics of human rights violations in the Philippines, Latin America, and even in the United States, NYCHRP and SFCHRP see the need to take the stand for human rights, not just for the privileged few, but for the 99% who are politically and socially oppressed due to the increase of state repression.
The Occupy movement in the U.S. and around the world sharply articulates the financial inequities and mobilizes across class lines of the 99%. In return these inequities cause oppression and give rise to human rights abuses both in the U.S. and abroad. The rise in state political repression and human rights violations is a result of a global monopoly capitalist corporate system that protects the interests of a 1% financial oligarchy.
In San Francisco, SFCHRP marched along with Occupy activists and organizers and activists from several alliances, such as the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), the Ecumenical Forum on Filipino Concerns (EFFCON) and their allies the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) and the Progressive Workers Alliance (PWA) through the busy crowds of holiday shoppers and tourists in San Francisco’s Financial District. SFCHRP members declared their solidarity and pledge to uphold human rights for the people’s resistance movements around the world and the Occupy movement for systemic change.
During the Human Rights for the 99% rally progressive Filipino organizations expressed how activism in the Philippines could cost you your life due to the military listing of names on the order of battle list, targeting those whom lash out at the governments lack of upholding the basic human rights of the people. Michael Luat, from San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines said, “In contradiction of the economic crisis, the U.S. sends our taxes dollars of $32 million annually in military aid to the Philippines to fund the “War on Terror”, counter-insurgency programs modeled after the U.S. Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), and military training for counter-terrorist activities. On the other hand they claim to have no money to fund services for people here. Furthermore, peaceful protests on our school campuses and on our streets are increasingly ending in police initiated brutality and violence blamed on U.S. citizens exercising their constitutional rights.”
In New York City, NYCHRP, along with several other endorsing groups like the International Action Center, BAYAN USA, May 1st Coalition, and others, took to the iconic red stairs in Times Square in New York City for an action to bring attention to the need to organize for human rights. Participants handed out glow sticks to signify “Lights for Rights” and used the people’s mic to address the human rights situation in the US and the Philippines.
Jose Martin, a staunch activist from the Occupy Wall Street Movement said, “the movement is not asking for a laundry list of demands that the government can just check off– it is about creating a new system out of our own creativity! A just society with regards to human rights and general welfare!”
Lights for Rights also highlighted the case of the May 2009 abduction and torture of Fil-Am activist, Melissa Roxas. Yoko Liriano, from the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines said, “since her release in 2009, Melissa Roxas, one of our own!– has yet to find justice for the gruesome atrocities committed against her. We must remember all the victims of human rights violations and keep fighting because the fascist regimes will not stop. We need to organize and build the strongest and broadest people’s movement to combat them!”
Both NYCHRP and SFCHRP condemns the U.S. Senate for passing of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) bill due to the erosion of human rights. Based on suspicion alone the bill will allow U.S. military to imprison any person indefinitely, including U.S. citizens, without charge or trial.
SFCHRP and NYCHRP is urging the 99% to tell Congress to vote NO on this bill entitled the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) containing these provisions that violate constitutional rights of people in America. We strongly encourage communities to take action now by signing the American Civil Liberties Union petition below or at www.tinyURL.com/notoindefinitedetention because the rights and welfare of the 99% is in jeopardy.
The peoples’ movements in the Philippines, US, and all over the world will continue to expose and oppose the imperialist-motivated 1% and their crimes against the people. As key human rights organizations in the struggle for true democracy and human rights in the Philippines we call for the persecution of the human rights violators in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police and for justice to all human rights victims and for Melissa Roxas. We stand in solidarity with the Occupy movement and we will continue to fight for comprehensive human rights for the 99%. As long as there is inequality and class oppression, the oppressed majority will fight for and defend our inalienable human rights and fundamental freedoms!
###
Lights for Rights 2011
LIGHTS FOR RIGHTS
International Human Rights Day
December 10, 2011
Times Square
(Red Stairs on 47th and Broadway)
Assemble at 4:40pm
Program at 4:59 SHARP
Bring your banners, signs, blue glowsticks, flyers– demand for human rights!
Endorse Lights for Rights NYC—Commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2011
REFERENCE: Yoko Liriano (New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines; Coordinator) 808-216-7191; ytliriano@gmail.com; www.NYCHRP.info; www.lights4rights.org
Greetings of peace,
This year, International Human Rights Day comes at a time when a national movement for economic equality and fairness is spreading across the US. As people from all walks of life in the US unite against corporate greed, let us also remember the millions of civilians around the world whose lives have been taken by US military and counter-insurgency operations throughout history such as Operation Condor in South America, Operation Brother Sam in Brazil, Operation Phoenix in Vietnam, Operation Enduring Freedom in the Philippines and countless other covert CIA operations in Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Under Obama, war, militarism and counter-insurgency continue to be an integral part of US foreign policy to ensure the protection and advancement of the US corporate minority’s interests worldwide.
Here in the belly of the beast, we see the effects of this minority interest through the siphoning of public funds for war, militarism, and counter-insurgency, instead of investing in jobs, our education, housing, healthcare and our other basic human needs. At the same time, the state answers growing public outcry and resistance with intensifying political repression and the denial of civil rights.
Human rights encompass ALL facets of rights which shall remain inalienable according to the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We are calling on all those who firmly believe in human rights to commemorate International Human Rights Day on December 10, 2011. Join us as we fill the streets with flowing candlelight in honor of all those who have fought for their rights. Call for justice for those taken victim to human rights violations.
All people have the inalienable right to:
-Life, Liberty, Dignity, and Security
-Freedom of Ideas, Belief, Expression, and Assembly
-Humane Treatment
-Adequate Land, Food, Shelter, Health Care, and Education
-A Living Wage Job, Means of Livelihood, and Decent Working Conditions
-Due Process
-Freedom from oppression and exploitation
Lights for Rights NYC aims to unite all those who stand for equal civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of all people, not just for the privileged.
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS! ##
END TORTURE! ##
SURFACE THE DISAPPEARED! ##
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! ##
STOP FBI AND GOVERNMENT REPRESSION! ##
LEGALIZATION FOR ALL! ##
STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING! ##
WORKERS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS! ##
MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION, NOT FOR WAR AND OCCUPATION! ##
US TROOPS OUT##
END ALL WARS OF IMPERIALIST AGGRESSION! ##
New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) is a NYC-based grassroots community organization that shares the vision of human rights advanced by the growing mass movement for social justice in the Philippines. NYCHRP engages in advocacy work to educate, organize and mobilize Filipinos and solidarity allies to take progressive action in upholding and supporting human rights of Filipinos and all people throughout the world.
To endorse the Lights for Rights (individual leader or organization), go to www.LIGHTS4RIGHTS.org.
To become an individual or organizational member of Lights for Rights, send an e-mail to: ytliriano@gmail.com.
Results of the Fact Finding Mission Conducted on Assassination of Father Fausto Tentorio
Hold ctrl (windows) or command (mac) while clicking link to open in new tab:
Report from Fact Finding Mission of Fr. Fausto
Proposed Resolution for House of Representatives Regarding Fr. Fausto
Human Trafficking Continues Under Aquino Administration, US Watchlist Ranking Deceiving Fil-Ams Call for Investigation, Shutdown of Trafficking Operations
Press Release
October 19, 2011
References:
Jun Cruz, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON), info@nafconusa.org;
Jackelyn Mariano, BAYAN USA Northeast, bayanusa.ne@gmail.com
Human Trafficking Continues Under Aquino Administration, US Watchlist Ranking Deceiving
Fil-Ams Call for Investigation, Shutdown of Trafficking Operations
Filipino-Americans under the banners of two national alliances– the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON) and BAYAN USA– are joining forces and calling for broad multi-ethnic cooperation and support to stop the epidemic of labor trafficking, a form of human trafficking, from developing countries such as the Philippines to the United States. They state the Philippines so-called improved ranking on the US Watchlist of countries on Human Trafficking is deceiving and hypocritical as aggressive labor trafficking operations from the Philippines to the US continues under the administration of Philippine President Benigno S. “PNoy” Aquino III.
Under the joint campaign initiative “Communities United Against Labor Trafficking” the two alliances are calling attention to the government-facilitated Labor Export Program (LEP) and the culpability of its various departments such as the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency (POEA) which have dealings with foreign recruiters undertaking labor trafficking operations, such as the US-based SentosaCare LLC.
In 2006, NAFCON took the lead in assisting and advocating for the Sentosa 27+, a group of Filipino nurses and one physical therapist subjected to illegal recruitment from Manila to New York. Contracted in Manila by the Sentosa Recruitment Agency, the health workers were to work as staff nurses for SentosaCare-owned healthcare facilities in the US, while these facilities processed their H1-B work visas.
However, upon their arrival, a Sentosa representative informed the 27 that no work was available for them in their respective contracted facilities. They were hoodwinked to accept work instead as agency nurses, in which they faced workplace discrimination, abuse, lower wages and benefits, and wage theft.
Upon exercising their right to resign from their employers, SentosaCare LLC filed charges of breach of contract against the health workers.
A Common Problem
“What happened to the Sentosa nurses is unfortunately a common problem here in the US. But their inspiring example to fight for justice and to shutdown SentosaCare LLC has also inspired many other victims of labor trafficking to step forward and fight with massive community support,” states Mara Ibarra, NAFCON spokesperson.
In recent years, NAFCON and BAYAN USA have also provided assistance for Filipinos trafficked to the US as hotel workers, such as the Adman 11 in Los Angeles, the Florida 15 and the Arizona 34—cases which all involved work visa scams in the H1-B and H2-B visa categories.
“In most cases, the victims seek assistance from Philippine consular offices here in the US first, but are not offered help,” Ibarra stated.
Aquino: Failed Economic Policies & Watchlist Ranking
“This is not a Filipino problem. This is a problem of every underdeveloped country in the world with a government milking its overseas workers for remittances to prop up sinking economies they refuse to fix,” states Berna Ellorin, chairperson of BAYAN USA. “In the case of the Philippines, Aquino’s economic policies have failed to eradicate deepening poverty and joblessness, the reasons why Filipinos have no choice but to seek work abroad and often fall into these labor trafficking schemes. At the same time, the Aquino government continues to allow traffickers like SentosaCare LLC maintain their recruitment licenses with the POEA despite public outcry.”
On the Aquino administration’s boasting of its improved ranking from Tier 3 to Tier 2 on the US government’s Watchlist on Human Trafficking, Ellorin asserts—“Philippine government is NOT doing anything to stop human trafficking, as this so-called Tier 2 ranking wants to claim. It is actually pushing it. In fact, the offices and departments of the LEP and their anomalous dealings with recruiters in work visa scams look more like one big human trafficking syndicate raking in profits for the Philippine government and these traffickers than anything else.”
Shutdown Labor Trafficking Operations Now! Stop Human Trafficking!
Under “Communities United Against Labor Trafficking”, one of the key demands of the alliances is for the complete shutdown of labor trafficking operations from the Philippines by way of a Philippine Congressional investigation of the POEA, and the various agencies Filipino workers in the US are implicating in labor trafficking schemes, such as SentosaCare LLC.
A fierce proponent for a Congressional investigation has already been identified House Representative Neri Colmenares of the Bayan Muna Party List in the Philippines. Other allied representatives in the Philippine Congress have already offered their support to the call for an investigation and prosecution of agencies found guilty of labor trafficking from the Philippines.
Additional demands include the immediate release of public funds from the budgets of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and Overseas Worker Welfare Administration (OWWA) in the Philippines for legal defense and relief for Filipino victims of human trafficking to the US, many of who are forced into undocumented status because of work visa scams.
“The Philippine government has the power to right these wrongs and shutdown these labor trafficking syndicates. It also has the ample funds to assist trafficking victims. The Aquino government needs to prove in action, not just in rhetoric, which side its really on—that of the traffickers or the trafficking victims,” Ibarra ended.
A national rally against labor trafficking will take place Friday, October 21st, 9:30am in front of the Philippine Consulate General office in mid-town Manhattan. ###
Statement on the Ruthless Killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME
by The Promotion for Church People’s Response (PCPR) in the Philippines
You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you (Luke 13:34)
We express our deepest lamentation and indignant cry on the killing of a priest, Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME.
There is not enough words to express our grief on the untimely death of Fr. Tentorio, an Italian priest and missionary to the Lumad tribes of Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. He was serving the indigenous people in Mindanao since 1978 and was the head of the Tribal Filipinos Apostolate of the Diocese of Kidapawan. He was gunned down in the morning of Oct.17 , 2011 by helmet-wearing, motorcycle-riding gunmen.
We mourn with the PIME congregation and share with them the grief for the lost of a priest whose ministry has been a greater testimony of how the church can always be in the service of those who have been marginalized and made poor by the system.
We grieve with the Lumads, and the indigenous peoples across the country who has lost a man whose life has been a representation of hope, of nurturing our dream , and working together in celebrating the diversity of faith expressions but united in fulfilling the greatest commandment of loving our neighbour.
At this time when alternatives to corporate-agenda of development mocks the option of alternative, Fr. Tentorio dared to promote sustainable agriculture and community-oriented development capacity-building programs. He has been one with the Lumad community and a voice that criticized the military operations. We are certain that it is not the will of God that his life would be snuffed out from us in such undue time. His life, works and ministry has been welcomed and embraced by the tribal communities. The master who directs the bullets aimed at his head, chest and side has lorded over his life, made him a sacrifice offered unto the altar of injustice and hate.
We are greatly disturbed that killings happen and continuously happens with impunity under the current administration of Pres. Benigno Aquino. The pattern of killing of our beloved priests reminds us how the activists, rights defenders, and church peoples were killed under Gloria Macapagal Arroyo . The killing of Fr. Tentorio ushers in a very alarming situation. He was the second church people killed under present government. His death proceeded the killing Rabenio Sungit of United Church of Christ in the Philippines, a staunch advocate and supporter of justice, peace and integrity of creation. Fr. Tentorio is the 31s church people and 2nd Roman Catholic victim of killings since 2001. We have but one call, JUSTICE FOR FR. TENTORIO .
We demand the Aquino government to hasten the investigation and ensure that justice is served. Stop Killing Our Prophets!
URGENT ACTION: Church worker and brother of EJK victim also gunned down by suspected state security forces in Palawan, Philippines
Church worker and brother of EJK victim also gunned down by suspected state security forces in Palawan, Philippines
UA No: 2011-09-02
UA Date :
30 September 2011
UA Case :
Extrajudicial killing (assasination)
Victim/s :
Victim of extrajudicial killing
RABENIO SUNGIT, male, 44 years old, married with nine (9) children
· A resident of Quezon, Palawan
· An active lay leader of Taguao Outreach Congregation of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)
· Interpreter of the Pelaw’an tribe
· Leader of indigenous group PAGSAMBATAN (Pagkakaisa ng mga Katutubo or Unity of Indigenous Peoples in Palawan)
· Member of Anakpawis Partylist
· Brother of Avenio “Abe” Sungit, a member of Karapatan-Palawan and UCCP, who was also killed in February 2005
Other victims
Widowed: TRINIDAD SUNGIT
Orphaned: Nine (9) children of Rabenio Sungit with ages 19, 17, 13, 15, 11, 6, 4, 2 to 0 years old.
Place of Incident :
Public Market along Pagayona Street, Municipality of Quezon, Palawan Province
Date of Incident :
5 September 2011, at around 1:30 pm
Alleged Perpetrator(s) :
Two (2) motorcycle-riding masked men believed to be state security forces
Account of the Incident:
According to reports of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) South Luzon Jurisdiction, on September 5, 2011 at around 1:30pm, Rabenio Sungit was shot dead by an unidentified motorcycle-riding man wearing a balaclava using a .45 caliber pistol in the public market along Pagayona Street, Municipality of Quezon, Palawan Province. Rabenio was with his wife, Trinidad Sungit and their 17 year old son, when the incident happened.
Trinidad recounted that earlier of the same day, her family together with Rabenio and the children of Avenio “Abe” Sungit, (Rabenio’s brother) gathered at the UCCP local church in Quezon to receive the support from the UCCP national office for the children of Abe Sungit. After the said meeting, they went to the market to buy some goods for the family. Trinidad, who was not far from Rabenio heard two gunshots and, in an instant, saw her husband fall to the ground. Trinidad saw the gunman hurriedly leaving the scene on a motorcycle driven by another person. Her son said that he saw the perpetrators fled towards a northern direction.
Prior to the incident, Rabenio attended a Basic Human Rights Orientation Seminar in Puerto Princesa, Palawan organized by the UCCP South Luzon Jurisdiction.
Trinidad and Winio (Rabenio’s brother) said that when Rabenio was still alive, they were frequently visited by elements from the Philippine Marines. Likewise, the family also noticed that Rolbing, a nephew of Rabenio and chieftain of the Pelaw’an tribe, believed to be an informer of the military, was always inquiring about Rabenio’s whereabouts.
According to the family and members of the Pelaw’an tribal community, Rabenio was known to be a simple and gentle person. He did not engage in vices like drinking liquor and gambling, but instead focused his energies on working daily to make ends meet for his family. He was a kind, just and a respected figure- a leader of their community who stood up in defense of people’s rights. He championed the indigenous rights for ancestral lands against encroachments of large-scale mining companies and other environmentally-destructive projects.
Families and friends are further disturbed and angered by the incident as this is not the first to happen in the Sungit family and tribal community. Rabenio’s elder brother, Abe Sungit, one of the Pelaw’an leaders and Karapatan-Palawan member, a known staunch oppositionist of and organizer against destructive mining operations and human rights violations, was also a victim of extrajudicial killing. The brothers’ steadfast and active involvement in just social causes for their rights as indigenous peoples solicited ill-will from the military who tagged them as “leftists” or “communists”. Since 2003, Abe Sungit had been in the so-called “Order of Battle” list of the military after exposing human rights violations in the province. Abe was shot dead also by unidentified motorcycle-riding men in 2005.
Recommended Action:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the assassination of Rabenio Sungit.
The indemnification of the relatives of Rabenio Sungit.
The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”
The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civillians
The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.
You may send your communications to:
H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph
Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
osec@opapp.gov.ph
Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
Email: osnd@philonline.com
Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email: soj@doj.gov.ph
Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com
URGENT ACTION ALERT: Seven-year-old girl shot by drunken soldier in Compostela Valley, Mindanao, Southern Philippines
Seven-year-old girl shot by drunken soldier in
Compostela Valley, Mindanao, Southern Philippines
UA No: 2011-09-01
UA Date :
September 30, 2011
UA Case :
Extrajudicial killing (or arbitrary killing);
Victim/s :
SUNSHINE H. JABINEZ
Seven (7) years old
Grade 2 pupil of Biasong Elementary School
Resident of Purok (sub-village) 3, Biasong, Napnapan village, municipality of Pantukan, Compostela Valley province
Place of Incident :
Purok 3, Biasong, Napnapan village, municipality of Pantukan, Compostela Valley province
Date of Incident :
September 3, 2011
Alleged Perpetrator(s) :
Private First Class (Pfc.) Baltazar Ramos, a certain “Sergeant Dalipong” and “Pfc. Valdez” who all belong to the Bravo Company of the 71st Infantry Battalion, under the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army
Account of the Incident:
Around 10:05 in the evening of September 2, 2011, Adelina Jabinez had just closed her store and videoke, there being a curfew in the community on the use of videoke machine. After which, she went to sleep together with her husband Berman and their only daughter Sunshine. Sunshine was positioned near the wall of their house, next to her was Adelina, and Berman. Adelina had her arm around her daughter when at around 11:30 pm she was awakened by 2 (two) gunshots. Stunned, she immediately woke her husband. Then she heard her daughter saying “Ma, Dad, sakit…” (Ma, Dad, I’m hurt). Adelina immediately told her husband to get their flashlight because she suspected that her daughter was hit. When Adelina touched her daughter and Berman turned-on the flashlight, they saw that she was bathed in blood.
Adelina immediately went outside to check who fired the gun, and she saw Private First Class Baltazar Ramos sitting and holding the gun pointing to the direction of their house; beside him was his Detachment Commander identified only as “Sgt. Dalipong”. When PFC Ramos saw Adelina come out, he fired at the ground. She went back in and carried Sunshine outside and presented her to PFC Ramos, saying, “Naigo akong anak, sir; malooy ka, sir; tabangi ko, sir, mabuhi pa siguro ni akong anak, sir (Sir, my child was hit. Have pity on us, help us sir, my child might be able to survive)!” PFC Ramos was shocked upon seeing the wounded child, because Adelina showed him the open wound from the right buttocks of the child, the worn out blanket and shortpants covered with blood.
Adelina did not see the gun because the two other soldiers took it away from PFC Ramos. As she asked help from PFC Ramos, who was still in shock, she shouted at him “You killed my daughter!” She cried to him to look for a motorcycle and maybe they could still save Sunshine. Her husband was able to borrow a motorcycle and Sgt. Dalipong immediately tried to get on it but Adelina stopped him and told him that he was drunk and that her husband should be the one to bring Sunshine to the hospital. A neighbor, helped Adelina find four (4) other motorcycles so that they could follow immediately. When Sunshine was finally brought to the hospital at around 2am, the doctor declared that she was dead on arrival. Sunshine’s father also went to the Police Station to report the incident.
Sunshine was hit in her right buttock, and the bullet went through the spinal cord and stomach. The doctor recovered a bullet from the child, and another was found on the floor of the Jabinez’ bedroom. Adelina told PFC Ramos that if she only knew that he was drunk and was carrying a gun, she would have left the house with her daughter Sunshine to seek safety.
Earlier that evening, at about 10:00 pm at the start of the curfew hour being implemented by the military in the community, PFC Baltazar Ramos and his fellow soldiers had a drinking spree inside their detachment camp located within the vicinity of the community of Sitio Biasong. PFC Ramos was already asleep but PFC Valdez woke him up to come with him and continue drinking at Sana’s videoke store. After drinking at Sana’s videoke store, they went to Lyn-lyn Egos’ videoke store. Upon entering, PFC Ramos immediately harrased the civilians who were also drinking there. He pointed to the civilians and asked, ”Sinong astig dito (Who’s the tough guy here)?” The civilians did not answer because they were all frightened. One civilian identified only as ”Jan-Jan” was in the kitchen when PFC Ramos went inside and asked, ”Ikaw, astig ka (You, are you a tough guy)?” PFC Ramos picked up a bottle to smash on Jan-jan’s head, but to his surprise, Jan-Jan had also picked up a bottle to smash on PFC Ramos’s head. Ramos ran away and Jan-Jan chased him.
PFC Ramos ran towards their detachment; the civilians, who thought that Ramos went to get his gun, also ran away for safety. Eventually, all of the customers left Lyn-lyn’s videoke store. Ramos went back to the videoke store which the owner Lyn-lyn had locked up. Ramos, thinking that his enemy Jan-jan was still inside, begged Lyn-lyn, to open up. Lyn-lyn answered him that Jan-jan had already fled, but Ramos did not listen.
Meanwhile, the detachment commander Sgt. Dalipong, who, out of drunkenness, had fallen asleep in a chair outside the store, was awakened by PFC Ramos’ menace. Dalipong and Ramos scrambled for the K3 light machine gun, carried by the latter. Dalipong removed the magazine from the gun but didn’t check for bullets left in the chamber. Dalipong went back to sleep, as Ramos threatened Lyn-lyn to open the door, or he will strafe the house. Lyn-lyn cried for help from Dalipong and asked him to bring Ramos back to their detachment, but Dalipong’s reply was, “Wala na (He has left).” At this point, Ramos pointed the gun at the Jabinez house and fired, killing Sunshine.
PFC Ramos was arrested soon after the incident, and is now detained at Compostela Valley Rehabilitation Center. However, it was reported that though Ramos is under BJMP custody, he was free to roam within the Center’s compound. PFC Valdez and Sgt. Dalipong are in the custody of the 10th ID.
Soldiers have been deployed to Napnapan village since the start of the operation of the Napnapan Mineral Resources Inc. (NMRI) and the American company Russel Mining and Minerals Inc. On April 12, Santos Manrique, a leader of small-scale miners protesting the entry of big mining companies, was shot dead in his home.
Residents reported that the soldiers had been violating the community’s curfew hour on the use of videoke, which was only until 10 pm. Even as videoke store owners assert the implementation of curfew hour, the soldiers will just confidently ignore it and answer, ”Kami ay sundalo, kami ang masusunod (We are soldiers, we are the ones who give orders).”
Recommended Action:
Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:
The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the death by strafing of Sunshine Jabinez.
The immediate pull-out of the 71st IB of the Phil. Army from the villages in Compostela Valley, as well as the withdrawal of other military units in the civilian communities.
The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”
The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civilians.
The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.
You may send your communications to:
H. E. Benigno S. Aquino III
President of the Philippines
2/F Bonifacio Hall, Malacañang, Manila
Tel: 733-3010 loc 882/ 887
Website: president.gov.ph
Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7/F Agustin I Building, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel: 6360701 to 06 / 637-6083
Fax: 638-2216
Email: stqd@opapp.net
Website: opapp.gov.ph
Secretary Leila M. de Lima
Department of Justice (DOJ)
DOJ Main Building, Padre Faura Street, Manila
Tel: 521-1908
Fax: 523-5548
Email: doj.delime@gmail.com
Website: doj.gov.ph
Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin
Department of National Defense (DND)
DND Building, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City
Tel: 911-6193 / 911-1746
Fax 911-6213
Website: dnd.gov.ph
Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com
Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address; urgentaction@karapatan.org
URGENT ACTION Prepared by:
KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
–
AQUINO SHOULD DECISIVELY END HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS, VESTIGES OF MARTIAL LAW, IN THE PHILIPPINES– BAYAN USA
News Statement
September 21, 2011
Reference: Bernadette Ellorin, Chairperson, BAYAN USA, email: chair@bayanusa.org
AQUINO SHOULD DECISIVELY END HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS, VESTIGES OF MARTIAL LAW, IN THE PHILIPPINES– BAYAN USA
Sign the online petition to FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE PHILIPPINES
Sign the online pledge for JUSTICE FOR MELISSA ROXAS
Filipino-Americans, under the banner of BAYAN USA, and their allies are seriously doubtful over the integrity of Philippine President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III’s so-called commitment to human rights, peace and justice in the Philippines. As today marks the 39th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines by the former Marcos dictatorship in 1972, BAYAN USA warns that the Aquino administration has so far failed to scrap the vestiges of martial law, including an ongoing human rights crisis throughout the country and state corruption, since its inception. It will continue to fail and break its promises on this for as long as it remains loyal the structural framework at the root of rampant human rights violations and corruption– US intervention in the country’s economic, political, and military affairs.
US Intervention & the Philippine Human Rights Crisis
A series of cables between the US Embassy in Manila and the US State Department recently released by the whistle-blowing online site Wikileaks reveals the disturbing extent of US government interference in Philippine affairs, as well as a general compliance to the country’s deteriorating human rights and peace situation. This includes strong affirmation and multi-million monetary support for counter-insurgency programs Oplan Bantay Laya I and II that international human rights organizations have patently criticized for perpetrating extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and torture in the Philippines. The cable communications also revealed the US and Philippine government’s lack of concern for the well-being of Melissa Roxas, a US citizen who was abducted, secretly-detained, and tortured for six days by the Philippine military in 2009, as well as a distortion of the facts of the high-profile case that has spurred international uproar and support for Roxas.
As with the previous Arroyo government, human rights violations have continued under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. The Philippine human rights monitoring group Karapatan has documented 48 politically-motivated killings, 5 abductions, 29 torture cases, 151 illegal arrests, and 3010 victims of forced evacuations in rural villages in the first year of the Aquino administration alone. In addition, Aquino has failed to exert any serious effort to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the scores of human rights violations committed under the Arroyo administration. A culture of impunity for human rights abusers remains intact in the country.
Posing Roadblocks to a Just and Lasting Peace
As revealed in the Wikileaks cables, the US, Philippine, and Dutch governments collaborated in framing Professor Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), on trumped charges of murder, as well as in keeping Sison on the US Foreign Terrorist List. The 2002 listing of Sison, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military wing, the New Peoples Army (NPA) contributed to jeopardizing the peace negotiations between the Government of the Philippines (GPH) and the NDFP. The NDFP-GPH peace negotiations were set up with the aim of resolving the 40+ year-old civil war between the AFP and the CPP-NPA.
While the resumption of peace negotiations under Aquino led to the release of some NDFP consultants in detention such as Jovencio Balweg, Angelina Ipong, Glicerio Pernia, Maria Luisa Pucray and Jaime Soledad, there remains 13 NDF peace consultants and 340 political prisoners still in detention. The detention of NDF peace consultants remains in violation of the GPH’s obligation to uphold the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) and The Hague Joint Declaration.
Ninoy was a Political Prisoner
On the 39th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, it is important that Aquino remember that his own parents were victims of martial law. The son of a political prisoner who was detained, tortured, and assassinated for his political convictions, as well as a widow who after ascending to the presidency acted on behalf of her martyred husband and released all political prisoners, including Sison, Aquino can and should decisively scrap the vestiges of martial law in the country by releasing all NDF peace consultants in detention and all political prisoners in the country. Instead, Aquino is in the United States this week with the objective of lobbying for more economic aid, including military aid, from the US government. It is this loyal subservience to US imperial dictates and lack of patriotism in the form of asserting Philippine sovereignty that not only perpetuates, but necessitates state violence and repression against those who struggle for genuine nationalism and democracy.
But those who were victimized by killings and disappearances perpetrated by the Philippine state have not been silenced. Their voices resound even louder through the Filipino people’s continuing mass struggle for a truly sovereign and democratic state– a country with an industrialized, self-reliant national economy providing of jobs for its citizens as well as a fair and just land distribution program for the majority of Filipinos who live and work off of it. It is a struggle that echoes even from the Filipinos in the US, as BAYAN USA and allies are meeting Aquino’s US visit with stronger demands for the assertion of Philippine sovereignty by way of rejecting US military, economic, political interference and justice for the victims of human rights violations in the country.
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!
JUSTICE FOR MELISSA ROXAS!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS & ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES!
NEVER AGAIN TO MARTIAL LAW!
——————-
BAYAN-USA is an alliance of 15 progressive Filipino organizations in the U.S. representing youth, students, women, workers, artists, and human rights advocates. As the oldest and largest overseas chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN-USA serves as an information bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the U.S. For more information, visit www.bayanusa.org
Wikileaks Cables Reveal Contradictions and Lack of Compassion in US Embassy’s Response to Abduction, Torture of Melissa Roxas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2011
Reference: Justice for Melissa Campaign
Email: info@justiceformelissa.org
Wikileaks Cables Reveal Contradictions and Lack of Compassion in US Embassy’s Response to Abduction, Torture of Melissa Roxas
Online whistleblower Wikileaks released three classified cables earlier this month which included then-US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney’s comments on the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas from May 19-25, 2009 at the hands of the Philippine military. The cables largely confirm what the Justice for Melissa Campaign already suspected: that the US Embassy was more concerned with how Roxas’ ordeal could further expose the relationship between US military aid to the Philippines and the rampant human rights abuses being conducted by the Philippine military, than with investigating the crime and obtaining justice for Roxas. However, the Wikileaks cables also uncovered disturbing inaccuracies in the Embassy’s portrayal of its correspondence with Roxas after she was surfaced, calling into question the sincerity of the Embassy’s even minimal offerings of support.
In a cable dated June 29, 2009 Kenney stated that the Chief of the American Citizens Service of the Embassy who spoke to Roxas on May 27, 2009 reported that Roxas “was in good physical condition and that she felt safe at a relative’s home.” In reaction to this statement, Roxas said, “I can not comprehend how they could come to the illogical conclusion that I was in ‘good physical condition’ and ‘felt safe’ when I explained that I had been tortured and was traumatized by what had happened.”
According to Roxas, the Embassy official initially offered three options for her to provide more information about her case: Roxas could go to the Embassy, an Embassy representative could go to the home where Roxas was staying, or they could meet at a mutually convenient location. When Roxas said that she did not feel safe leaving the home and requested the Embassy representative to come to her, the Embassy official withdrew that option and told Roxas that she would have to rely on her own family’s resources to ensure her safety. “Essentially, they told me I was on my own,” said Roxas.
In addition, the Embassy cables depict Kenney’s concern with the public relations ramifications of Roxas’ abduction and torture, rather than concern over the ordeal itself. Kenney refers to “the press” seven times in the cables: in her description of press statements by Roxas’ legal counsel, Roxas’ first public press conference and press reports about Roxas case. Kenney commented repeatedly that supporters of Roxas would use or appeared to be using the incident “in an attempt to draw connections between U.S. military aid and human rights abuses by Philippine forces, with the apparent goal of ending U.S. financial support for the Philippine military altogether.” Kenney raised no opposition to the Philippine government’s quickly-discredited line that the abduction was conducted and “stage managed” by organizations critical of the government to make the military look bad.
The Justice for Melissa Campaign criticizes the US Embassy for abandoning its responsibility to Roxas, an American citizen, and for its lack of any meaningful assistance in pursuing justice for Roxas. The Campaign also denounces the role the US Embassy plays in ensuring the status quo in US-Philippine relations; the Embassy’s handling of Roxas’ case emboldens the culture of impunity which pervades the Philippine military as it shows that the US government will even allow human rights abuses committed against US citizens to go unpunished.
Today, on the 39th anniversary of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines, the Justice for Melissa Campaign draws inspiration from the mass movement of the 1970s and ’80s to end martial law, as we continue our campaign for justice for Melissa, justice for all victims of human rights violations and an end to the impunity which reigns in the Philippines. To take action today, please sign the Pledge of Support for Melissa Roxas and All Victims of Human Rights Violations at www.justiceformelissa.org/pledge.
###
Related Wikileaks cables:
June 29, 2009
July 24, 2009
August 13, 2009
Please feel free to forward this email or update your email preferences by clicking on the links below.
In solidarity,
Friends of Melissa Roxas
friends@justiceformelissa.org
Who Will Defend the Defenders?
Who Will Defend the Defenders?
Human Rights Lawyering Amidst Impunity
By
Atty. Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
IAPL President
Final Who Will Defend the Defenders Presentation <click to view powerpoint!
In our practice court in law school our professor would advice us: if you are strong on the law – pound on the law; if your are strong on the facts - pound on the facts; but if you are weak both on the facts and the law - pound on the table!
But in the Philippines, the security forces don’t pound on the law; they don’t pound on the facts; they don’t pound on the table … they pound on the lawyers, especially human rights lawyers.
Human rights lawyers have committed to help promote and protect the rights of the people, particularly the oppressed and marginalized, from the abuses of the few who belong to the dominant elite of our society. But, the spate of impunity is so brazen that even human rights advocates, both lawyers and non-lawyers alike, are not spared from the repressive apparatus of state forces.
This is coupled with the failure of the judicial and the legislative branches of the government to counteract the coercive undertakings of the executive branch and its security forces without respect to the rights of defenseless civilians and the so called “rule of law.” With this set-up, any semblance of order and faith that remains in the legal processes crumbles, making things worse as perpetrators are left free from any accountability.
The inadequacy, ineffectivity and failure of existing legal remedies to obliterate the climate of impunity is apparent in the cases of human rights defender Eden Marcellana, peasant leader Eddie Gumanoy and journalist – activist Beng Hernandez which, despite United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (HRC) resolutions finding the Philippine government guilty of human rights abuses, has been left unsolved as the perpetrators remain free from any accountability.
In this light, in the case of Razon vs. Tagitis[1], the Supreme Court itself recognized that it is an extremely difficult condition for the disappeared (and of those extrajudicially killed) victims’ families to get justice because it is the State itself, the party whose involvement is alleged, which investigates the incidents of enforced disappearances.
“Past experiences in other jurisdictions show that evidentiary difficulties are generally three-fold. First, there may be a deliberate concealment of the identities of the direct perpetrators. Experts note that abductors are well organized, armed and usually members of the military or police forces. Second, deliberate concealment of pertinent evidence of the disappearance is a distinct possibility. Third is the element of denial; in many cases, the state authorities deliberately deny that the enforced disappearance ever occurred.”[2]
Victimizing Human Rights Lawyers
Since 2001, state forces have been waging a systematic and conscious attack on activists, farmers, workers, indigenous peoples, journalists, human rights advocates, and even church people and people’s lawyers. As the strategy of the counterinsurgency efforts of the government, Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Plan Freedom Watch) has been linked with extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and harassments as it does not distinguish between rebels and civilians, and underground and legal organizations, such vio9lations as well as the filing of false charges have been carried out with odious brazenness and cruelty.
These patterns of human rights violations continue even with the promises of the new administration to end government abuses and excesses – which PNoy calls “utak wangwang.” 48 cases of extrajudicial killings have already been documented in the first year of the Aquino administration alone.
Out of the hundreds of civilians that were extrajudicially killed since January 2001, 27 were lawyers, 8 of whom were involved in human rights issues. The human rights lawyers who were killed were:
Atty. Juvy Magsino of Mindoro, counsel for militant groups and local official who was vocal against military abuses and mining projects affecting the people. She was riddled with bullets while driving her car.
Atty. Teresita Vidamo of the Public Attorneys Office of Las Pinas, Metro Manila. She was handling controversial land and labor disputes at the time she was shot.
Atty. Arbet Yongco of Cebu, private prosecutor in a parricide case against a cult leader belonging to a powerful family. She was shot inside her house.
Atty. Felidito Dacut of Leyte, counsel for unions and people’s organizations. He was shot by armed men riding in a motorcycle while inside a passenger jeepney on his way to buy milk for his 3-year old daughter. He was then handling cases involving human rights and labor disputes.
Atty. Norman Bocar of Samar. He was counsel for militant organizations and partylist groups when he was shot.
Atty. Gil Gojol, Former local public official, former bar president, professor and legal counsel of progressive party-list groups and peoples’ organizations.
Attys. Cynthia Oquendo and Concepcion Brizuela of Mindanao. They were part of those massacred by the powerful Ampatuan family closely affiliated with the former administration.
Atty. Brizuela, an officer of the Union of Peoples’ in Mindanao (UPLM) and founding member of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), was interviewed by a foreign mission of judges and lawyers regarding the threat on her life a year before she was killed.
During the same period, 42 other lawyers who were involved in human rights issues and cases were subjected to different forms of attacks. Human rights lawyers and their families received death threats and are subjected to constant or periodical surveillance. Some of them are harassed, intimidated, red-tagged and have their offices ransacked by unidentified armed men.
These unresolved killings and continuing attacks on lawyers and judges is an attack on the legal profession, a travesty of due process, the “rule of law” and the system of justice. As these incidents are the function of the counterinsurgency program of the government, it is not surprising that a considerable number of victimized lawyers are either counsels of entities conveniently labeled as “enemies of the state” or are themselves labelled as such.
It is very ironic that the rights of the human rights defenders are violated. Indeed, it is the height of impunity when human rights advocates themselves become the hapless victims of the climate of impunity.
This manifests that there is a deliberate and methodical effort to thwart attempts to hold perpetrators accountable for their actions. This requires no less than a reciprocally deliberate and methodical effort to defend the defenders themselves from human rights abuses through a strong mass movement, a broad network of support and campaign, and international solidarity and vigilance.
With the continuing incidents of killings ,forcible disappearance, torture and arbitrary arrests and with the perpetrators still able to evade punishment to this day, there is an obvious lack of correct pro –people political will or sincerity on the part of the Aquino administration to eradicate the climate of impunity that has long prevailed and which continues to persecute mostly those from the marginalized sectors or those who stand by them
The struggle to change this impunity that has been engendered remains a challenge to those of us in the legal profession and, of course, all other human rights defenders. The perils in our line of work and commitment as human rights lawyers which we continuously face day in and day out will not discourage us, much less demoralize our ranks, and from standing by the rights and interests of the poor and the oppressed in our society and struggling, in and outside of the courtrooms, for the causes that we believe in.
As one of our people’s lawyers has said: “It does not matter how long you have lived, what is important is what you have done to serve the people and the county.”[3] Indeed, it has been said that only those who choose to fight with the dangers of the battlefield and sacrificed the comfort of the fence live beyond irrelevance.[4]
Finally, As NUPL Chairperson Emeritus Romeo Capulong said,
“We have brave clients. They deserve brave lawyers.”
[1] GR No. 182498, February 16, 2010
[2] Razon vs. Tagitis, GR No. 182498, February 16, 2010
[3] Atty. Kathrina Castillo, NUPL National Auditor, “A Young and Fearless People’s Lawyer,” Attacks on Lawyers: Human Rights Defenders Under Siege, NUPL, 2011.
[4] Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, Message to the NUPL Founding Congress, September 15, 2007.
Final Who Will Defend the Defenders Presentation
National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers(NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.No.920-6660,Telefax No. 927- 2812
Email addresses:nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
“Visit the NUPL at http://www.nupl.net/
By calling yourselves the ‘people’s lawyer,’ you have made a remarkable choice. You decided not to remain in the sidelines. Where human rights are assaulted, you have chosen to sacrifice the comfort of the fence for the dangers of the battlefield. But only those who choose to fight on the battlefield live beyond irrelevance.” Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, in his message to the NUPL Founding Congress,Sept. 15, 2007
LOCAL ACTION ALERT: Int’l Day of the Disappeared August 30
Dear Community & Allies,
Every year on August 30th, the International community remembered the
missing and disappeared people throughout the world. The International
Day of the Disappeared on August 30 is an annual commemoration day
created to draw attention to the fate of individuals imprisoned at
places and under poor conditions unknown to their relatives and/or
legal representatives; and it calls on all governments to provide
answers to families on the fate and whereabouts of missing persons.
The observance of the date was started by the Federation of
Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared (Federación
Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de
Detenidos-Desaparecidos, or FEDEFAM) based in Costa Rica in 1982. The
tradition has been adopted by many human rights advocates and
organizations worldwide.
New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) and SFCHRP (San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines) is holding
a 2-day National Day of Action on Monday, August 29th & Tuesday,
August 30th to:
1) Commemorate the victims of enforced disappearances and other Human
Rights (HR) violations;
2) Demand the Consul General communicates to President Noy-Noy that
the International community is concern with the on-going enforced
disappearances and other human right violations happening to the
Filipino in the Philippines and that no justice has been given to
their families
3) Urge the community and our friends to get involved in this issue.
Please join us on this important day to remember and demand justice
for all the victims and press the Philippine government to take
necessary actions to help end enforced disappearances and all forms of
political persecution and repression by stopping all military
atrocities to civilians in the Philippines.
Let us not forget the victims, let us make the voices of the
disappeared heard and let us unite in demanding an end to human
atrocities.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!!! We invite and urge that you and your
organization to join us on August 29th – 30th as we dedicate time and
energies towards forward movement on the fight for justice of the
Filipino people in the Philippines.
Monday & Tuesday: PHONE AND LETTER BLAST thru phone and fax!
Pls. CALL and/or mail/ fax a letter to the Philippine Consulate with
your name. The Consul General’s info is on the bottom of the email.
If you are in a different state, please go to
http://www.philippineembassy-usa.org/ to check who the Consul General
that covers your state. A sample phone script and letter has been
attached for you as well.
CONTACT:
Consul General Mario L. de Leon Jr.
Telephone: (212) 764-1330 Ext. 308
Fax: (212) 764-6010
Contact info for San Francisco:
Consul General MARCIANO A. PAYNOR, JR
Telephone 415-433-6666
Fax 415-421-2641
Email: http://www.philippinessanfrancisco.org/philippines-sf/contact-us-sf/
Philippine Consulate
447 Sutter Street, 6th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
Contact info for LA:
CONSUL GENERAL MARY JO BERNARDO ARAGON
Telephone (213) 637-3008
Fax (213) 639-0990
Email: losangelespcg@earthlink.net
3600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 500,
Los Angeles, CA 90010 U.S.A.
Human Rights Abuses Continue Under Aquino III
News Statement
Human Rights Abuses Continue Under Aquino III
On the 38th commemoration of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos’ signing of Proclamation 1081, declaring the Philippines in a state of martial law, Filipino-American human rights advocates in New York City call on the current Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III to honor the memory of his martyred father, the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., by terminating the national counter-insurgency program known as Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL). Furthermore, Fil-Ams call on Aquino III to also honor the memory of his late mother, Corazon Cojuangco Aquino, by using his executive power to release all political prisoners in the country just as she did after succeeding the 14 year-old fascist dictatorship in 1986.
President Aquino’s father is arguably the highest profile victim of martial law in Philippine history. Even before his assassination on August 21, 1983, Ninoy Aquino spent a good chunk of his political career vehemently opposing martial rule. It was the entire Aquino family that suffered, including young Aquino III, when the high-profile opposition leader was arbitrarily thrown in jail over false charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms, and subversion. For nearly a decade, Ninoy Aquino languished in a prison cell, forcibly separated from his wife and children, under conditions that debilitated his poor health.
OBL was launched by the previous Arroyo administration in 2001. It claimed as its objective the annihilation of armed guerilla rebellion in the Philippine countryside. In the entire 9 years of the Arroyo government, OBL failed to meet this objective. Instead of ending the 40+ year old civil war between the New Peoples Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, OBL drew international flak for its targeting of thousands of unarmed civilians red-baited by the Philippine military as communist fronts that resulted in a national bloodbath of killings, abductions, torture, illegal arrests and detentions, militarization, etc.
Despite its status as a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law, the Philippine military under Arroyo bastardized the integrity of this signatory with countless egregious human rights violations, the stifling of basic civil liberties, and policies that imposed a virtual undeclared martial law in the country. Needless to say, it did all of the above with the generous financial backing of the US government.
Last month, the heir to the Aquino family legacy disappointingly announced that he would follow in Arroyo’s footsteps of US-funded counter-insurgency and extend OBL under his term. This week, Aquino III will meet with US President Barack Obama in New York City, a beloved adopted hometown of the Aquino family while in exile in the US, to sign-off on the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Compact Agreement that will seal the deal on a $434-million economic grant from the US government to the Philippines. While such a grand amount could positively contribute to the Philippines if invested in the domestic affairs of the impoverished and socially-burdened country, many are concerned that the amount will be spent instead to sophisticate trainings, weapons technology, and combat operations for OBL, and hence, assist in the proliferation of para-military death squads..
It’s been twenty-four years since a tidal wave of yellow on the streets of Manila saw the downfall of the blood-drenched Marcos administration, the lifting of the Iron Fist, and the promise of a restoration of democratic space. Twenty-four years later, with another Aquino in power, human rights advocates are left worrying how much damage to the country Ninoy and Cory Aquino fought for $434 million in US tax dollars can buy. ###
KARAPATAN UPDATE ON THE “MORONG 43″
Morong 43 and hundreds of political prisoners nationwide stage protest fast;
Filipinos here and abroad call for their immediate release
More than a hundred political prisoners in various detention centers all over the country staged a protest fast to press for their immediate release, and supported by their relatives and human rights advocates.
Around 148 political prisoners from 20 detention facilities in the National Capital Region, Ifugao, Isabela, Tuguegarao City, Bohol, Danao City, Cebu City, Bacolod City, Tacloban City, Leyte Provincial Jail, Compostela Valley, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro joined in protest of their continued unjust incarceration. High profile detainees from Camp Crame and the 43 health workers in Camp Bagong Diwa lead the protest fast of political prisoners in Metro Manila that also includes prisoners in New Bilibid Prison, Camp Karingal, and Correctional Institute for Women.
Meanwhile the relatives of the Morong 43, supporters and human rights advocates also staged a sympathy fast in front of the Ninoy Aquino monument in Quezon Avenue. President Aquino’s father, Ninoy Aquino, himself was a former political prisoner during the Marcos dictatorship.
A mass for the Morong 43 at the neaby parish of St.Peters the Apostle was officiated by Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez. Sen. Loren Legarda, Chuman Rights Commissioner Jose Mamauag, former Rep. Liza Maza, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño also attended, together with relatives and other civil libertarians.
“It has been almost one hundred days since President Noynoy Aquino assumed the presidency and yet we haven’t heard any single word from the President about the plight and release of political prisoners who were illegally arrested and detained by the previous Arroyo regime,” said Fr. Dionito Cabillas, secretary general of Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA). Dr. Julie Caguiat of the Free the 43 Health Workers Alliance, expressed disgust over the continued illegal detention and plight of the Morong 43. “They we’re detained on the basis of a faulty warrant using fictitious name. Our colleagues were tortured and sexually molested by the military.” Caguiat said. “The Morong 43 should be released now because their incarceration is patently illegal.”
On the other hand, Jigs Clamor, secretary general of Karapatan and husband of Dr. Merry Mia Clamor, one of the detained Morong 43, said, “Pres. Aquino must stop his empty rhetorics about the government’s respect for human rights since he has done nothing about respect for human rights and the plight of political prisoners”.
“The Morong 43 and all political prisoners are prisoners of conscience. They were arrested and detained because they fought against the corrupt and fascist Arroyo regime. Their continued incarceration is a sign of sick society under a government who claimed to respect for human rights,” Clamor added.
Simultaneously, the Filipino community in Canada will today hold a candle light vigil to press for the release of the Morong 43 and all political prisoners. Messages of support and solidarity from various groups from Auckland, Germany, U.S. and Canada were also sent.
Clamor said that the government must act now, and must act faster. “We are afraid that the fasting will become a full blown hunger strike and deal another political embarrassment for Aquino in the international community,” warned Clamor. ###
Statement of the Morong 43 on Sept 17 National Day of Action and Sympathy Fast
PROLONGED ILLEGAL DETENTION IS JUSTICE DENIED!
We, the Morong 43 appeal to our government for an impartial and swift justice on our case and the cases of all political prisoners in the country. For eight months, we are languishing in jail. We are being detained illegally based on a defective warrant. In addition, we are falsely accused of illegal possession of firearms and explosives while conducting a health training. Furthermore, our case in the Court of Appeals, has not been acted upon since April 2010.
While in detention, our rights are continuously violated. For the first 3 months under military detention, we had been subjected to physical and psychological torture while being handcuffed and blindfolded for six hours. Twice, our military captors blocked our motion for transfer to a civilian detention facility.
Now while in civilian detention, the court denied Judilyn Oliveros’ motion for release on recognizance, to stay out of jail, and only granted a three-month stay at the hospital.
Until now we can not understand what crime have we committed to suffer these kinds of injustices. Is it a crime and impart health knowledge and skills to community health workers in order to help deprived communities of health services?
Eight months of detention has caused suffering to our families, relatives, friends and supporters. The communities that we serve are continuously being neglected and are still suffering from basic health care.
On this day, we join the National Day of Action and Sympathy Fast to protest the continued trampling and violation of our human rights. We appeal to all freedom-loving people to help fight for and restore the respect to the rule of law and above all respect for human rights.
We ask President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to release us and all political prisoners without conditions to concretize his banner pronouncement during his State-of-the-Nation Address on respect for human rights.
Prolonged illegal detention is justice denied!
Free the 43 community health workers!
Free all political prisoners!
ARTICLES FROM KARAPATAN.ORG
HRW: MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE TRIAL MOVES FORWARD
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH PHILIPPINES UPDATE:
Many Suspects Remain at Large, Witnesses at Risk
(New York) – The start of the trial of 19 defendants in the November 2009 massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao province in the southern Philippines is a step for justice, but the government needs to arrest all those implicated and provide better protection for witnesses, Human Rights Watch said today. The killing since the massacre of five people with knowledge of abuses by the Ampatuans shows that the family still wields considerable power, Human Rights Watch said.
The murder trial is set to begin on September 8, 2010, before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in Taguig City, Metro Manila. The defendants include the lead suspect, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., then mayor of the town of Datu Unsay and the son of the former Maguindanao governor, Andal Ampatuan, Sr., 16 police officers, and two alleged members of a paramilitary force.
“The quest for justice for the victims of the Maguindanao massacre begins now,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But the dozens of suspects still at large and the threat to witnesses shows that there is a long road ahead.”
The trial involves only 19 of 195 persons accused in the massacre. Altogether, 127 suspects remain at large, including 23 members and allies of the Ampatuan family, 10 police officers, and 4 soldiers. The remaining 49 accused that are in custody have yet to be arraigned.
The massacre took place on November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao province, in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Gunmen killed members of a convoy that was en route to file the candidacy for provincial governor of Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudatu of the town of Buluan. Those killed included family members, supporters, and journalists, together with bystanders.
With fewer than half of the suspects in custody, witnesses, investigators, and others who might be deemed to be a threat to the Ampatuan family are at risk, Human Rights Watch said. At least five individuals with knowledge of Ampatuan activities have been killed since the Maguindanao massacre. Suwaib Upahm, who had worked for the Ampatuans for several years, told Human Rights Watch of three killings of drivers ordered by the Ampatuans following the massacre, including the driver of a police car that Andal Ampatuan, Jr. would often use. No charges have been filed in these cases.
Unidentified men shot and killed Upahm in Parang, Maguindanao on June 14, three months after he told private prosecutors representing journalists killed in the massacre that he would testify against the Ampatuans in exchange for protection. At the time of his death, the Justice Department was still considering his request for witness protection.
Two unidentified men on a motorcycle shot and killed Enrique Barroga, the director of the Cotabato City Assessor’s Office, while he was travelling by car on a main street in Cotabato City. He was killed two months after he had complied with a subpoena issued by government investigators regarding abuses by Ampatuan local government officials.
Human Rights Watch called on President Benigno Aquino III to direct the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate these killings immediately, including possible involvement by persons already in custody, and to prosecute all those responsible.
“Abuses in Maguindanao have not stopped with the arrest of six members of the Ampatuan family,” Pearson said. “Prompt investigation of ongoing crimes is essential to prevent further killing and to stop suspects from interfering with the trial.”
KARAPATAN to PNoy: “Stop the killings Now! Scrap the OBL and don’t embark on another counter-insurgency program”
07/15/2010 – 12:00
“It is still the same military in denial mode speaking on the current spate of extrajudicial killings going on in the country,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of the human rights group Karapatan, said, of AFP spokesman Brigadier General Jose Mabanta’s blanket denial of the AFP’s involvement in the said cases.
Karapatan has put the blame of these killin
gs squarely on P-Noy’s hands, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, especially in the light of the President’s NON-issuance of a categorical statement to the AFP to putting a stop to the extrajudicial killings, which the group says, is a license to the AFP to commit more of the same.
“We reiterate that it is not enough to be talking of human rights in the pursuit of counter-insurgency programs; it is our bitter experience that once counter-insurgency programs are implemented, violations of human rights are resultant features in the execution of such programs. Even as supposed ‘development programs’ or ‘civil-military operations or CMO’ are supposedly incorporated in such programs such as what the government did in Oplan Makabayan of the Estrada administration, the results are the same: civilians are the ones who bear the brunt of human rights violations. Oplan Bantay Laya is the worst and most brutal of these campaigns as it specifically targets legal organizations and personages resulting to a staggering body count and brazen impunity in nine years of the Arroyo regime and it is still in place,” explained an exasperated Enriquez.
Counter-insurgency (COIN) is a program directly imposed by the American Government since its aggression in the country in the early 1900’s. All COIN programs of all administrations are thus recycled COIN programs meant to silence the people’s resistance to break free from poverty resulting from government policies that benefit not the Filipino people but those of foreign, especially American, interests. OBL, the latest COIN, is anchored on the ‘war on terror’ by the US Bush government and highly supported by GMA that benefited only the Bush regime and GMA herself. Thus, the victims of OBL are now labeled as “terrorists or communist-terrorists” or supposed supporters of such. It leaves thousands of killed, tortured, illegally arrested and hundreds of thousands displaced Filipino victims in its wake and brazen impunity among its perpetrators who remain unpunished up to this day.
“Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is correct. There is no doubt that the AFP is still behind the series of political killings, and that the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL) is the operational plan behind it,” the Karapatan chairperson said. “The military has the motive and the resources to implement the attacks against progressive and unarmed individuals, which they have done so in the past nine years under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration.”
Since the implementation of the OBL, activists and civil libertarians are targeted by the military intelligence units for target research, which involves casing or surveillance, and “neutralization” or “liquidation”. Leaders and members of people’s organizations have been vilified and accused as communists or communist fronts by the military to lay the ground for liquidation and to justify the killings.
“As long as Oplan Bantay Laya is a state security policy, political killings remain a state policy. If indeed President Noynoy Aquino says that extrajudicial killing is not a policy of his administration, then he must scrap the OBL and desist from embarking on a counter-insurgency program to supposedly defeat the insurgency, as what his predecessors did, only to end up fueling more fire into the problem they vowed to end. I hope he learns his lessons well and heed our calls for him to disallow the penchant for embarking on counter-insurgency programs that only victimize the poorest sections of the Filipino people who need most the government’s protection and nurturing.
Enriquez reminded President Aquino of the findings of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston on extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, which concluded that it is the military’s counter-insurgency operations that resulted to the killings of leftist activists. “We challenge the government to show its sincerity in ending the killings, impunity and the military’s atrocities, and to implement Alston’s recommendations,” Enriquez added.
Karapatan noted that the president has yet to categorically issue an order to scrap the U.S.-inspired counter-insurgency program, OBL. “Unless P-Noy announces the scrapping of the OBL and desist from implementing similar military campaigns, the killings and impunity will continue,” concluded Enriquez.
Karapatan believes that the insurgency can only be ended by meaningfully and substantively addressing the root causes of poverty and rebellion; NOT resorting to military solution! ###
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH TOLD AQUINO TO STOP THE KILLINGS!
Reforms Needed to Promote Accountability and Disband Militias and ‘Death Squads’
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Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III
(New York) – The Philippines’ new president, Benigno Aquino, should urgently adopt measures to end killings by government security forces and militias, Human Rights Watch said in a letter delivered to Malacañang Palace today.
Human Rights Watch urged Aquino to move swiftly with clear and effective policies to carry out his campaign commitments to promote justice, end extrajudicial killings, and abolish so-called private armies.
“President Aquino takes office at a time when the Philippines faces daunting human rights challenges,” said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Now he needs to turn his promises into action by taking immediate steps to end the widespread killings and hold the killers and those who deploy them accountable.”
In his inauguration speech on June 30, 2010, Aquino said: “There can be no reconciliation without justice. When we allow crimes to go unpunished, we give consent to their occurring over and over again.” He ordered the newly appointed justice secretary, Leila de Lima, to “begin the process of providing true and complete justice for all.”
In the letter, Human Rights Watch makes specific recommendations to end impunity for killings and other human rights abuses by the security forces, by “death squads” that target suspected petty criminals and other marginalized Filipinos, and by state-backed militias controlled by local politicians.
Since June 9, when Congress proclaimed Aquino the next president, three journalists and a key witness to the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre have been killed. Since Aquino’s inauguration on June 30, another journalist and two leftist activists have been killed, while the former lawyer of a massacre witness and a journalist survived separate murder attempts.
Out of hundreds of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances since 2001, there have been only six successfully prosecuted cases, resulting in the conviction of 11 defendants. None of those convicted has been of an active member of the military, despite considerable evidence of military involvement in such crimes.
Human Rights Watch called on Aquino to take six specific steps to combat extrajudicial killings:
- Investigate police and military personnel implicated in killings and emphasize that law enforcement officers who fail to investigate such killings vigorously will themselves face investigation on criminal or disciplinary charges.
- Take immediate steps to protect the witnesses to human rights abuses and their families.
- Pass a law to criminalize and prevent enforced disappearances.
- Abolish militia forces.
- Institute tougher controls on local government procurement of weapons.
- Dismantle “death squads” and investigate government involvement.
“In numerous provinces, ruling families use militia forces and local police as their private armies,” Pearson said. “As one who has personally suffered as a result of a government-instigated killing, Aquino more than most would recognize that ending such killings would be an important and lasting legacy of his administration.”
Karapatan condemns first political killing under P-Noy
Baldomero, who
is also a municipal councilor of Lezo, Aklan and at the same time provincial coordinator of the Makabayan Coalition, is the first victim of extrajudicial killing since President Noynoy Aquino was sworn into office. An attempt was made on Baldomero’s life early this year when his house in Bgy. Sta. Cruz Bigaa, Lezo, Aklan was lobbed with a grenade by two men riding in a motorcycle.
According to initial reports, Baldomero was in front of his house, while trying to start his motorcycle to bring his child to school he was shot by two unidentified men. The attackers were armed with a 9mm pistol and long fire-arms.
Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao-Enriquez said that the incident follows the announcement of the new three-year counter-insurgency plan by the newly installed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo David. “Neither Gen. David nor President Noynoy have called to stop the killings and to end the culture of impunity that still prevails,” Enriquez said.
“The lack of declaration from President Noynoy to stop the killings and impunity, coupled by Gen. David’s pronouncement of another deadline to end insurgency, and this new wave of political killings, signals that former president Gloria Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya, is still enforced under Mr. Aquino’s term and has not let up on targeting progressive individuals”, Enriquez said. She also noted that in June, seven individuals were killed, including an Ampatuan massacre witness, and last week, a former lawyer of the Mangudadatus was ambushed.
“We are concerned that the calls for justice and the ending of impunity will only fall on deaf ears,” expressed Enriquez. “More than the ban on ‘wang-wang, President Aquino must also issue a categorical order to stop the culture of impunity and put to end the atrocities of Oplan Bantay Laya implemented by the AFP.”
Karapatan calls on the present administration to immediately conduct an investigation, and to arrest and punish the perpetrators of the Baldomero killing. “The total and complete justice announcement of Aquino is nothing if the polical killing and impunity is still prevalent and continuing”, Enriquez concluded.##
NOW THAT ARROYO HAS LOST IMMUNITY, LET THE HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA BEGIN– NYCHRP
News Statement
June 30, 2010Now that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has officially lost immunity of suit after the official inauguration of new Philippine president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the hopes and dreams of the families of the victims of Arroyo’s 9-year bloody counter-insurgency campaign, Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), for “true and complete justice” should not be dragged on any further. The Aquino electoral promise of justice and prosecution of human rights abusers that inspired Filipinos to vote for Noynoy should be fulfilled swiftly starting with the prosecution of Arroyo and her regime’s high officials that were largely responsible for the over scores of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal detentions, torture cases, summary executions of civilians and other gross human rights violations that took place from 2001-2010.
This is the chance of a lifetime for Noynoy, who should never forget that he is the son of one of the country’s highest profile victims of human rights violations– illegal detention and extrajudicial killing at the hands of the Marcos dictatorship.
In righting the wrongs of the Arroyo government by dismantling the culture of impunity for known human rights abusers, Noynoy takes concrete steps– rather than just paying lipservice– towards restoring the international community’s confidence in the Philippine government’s respect and recognition for human rights.Noynoy should also not forget that one of the benchmarks of his late mother’s legacy as Philippine president was the freeing of Marcos’ political prisoners almost immediately upon the advent of her term. This act shed a much-welcomed light after over a decade of darkness under Marcos’ draconian martial law marked by assassinations, abductions, illegal detentions, and torture of the civilian opposition to the dictatorship. Noynoy should follow in his mother’s footsteps and free the over 344 civilians wrongfully imprisoned by the Arroyo government. Noynoy follows an even darker period under Arroyo that in many ways surpasses the audacity of the Marcos dictatorship in terms of the frequency of human rights violations against civilians.
Furthermore, Arroyo’s OBL has blatantly ignored the fact that the Philippine government is signatory to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and International Human Rights Law (IHRL), which outline the international rules of engagement in warfare. The cases of nine year-old Grecil Buya and school teacher Rebelyn Pitao illustrate how the Philippine military’s counter-insurgency operations in the countryside gruesomely target and dispose of non-combatants as well. Noynoy should also ensure that the Philippine government’s ratification of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) is honored.
History has shown that the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, World Council of Churches, International Labor Organization, and other international human rights authorities have all cast their judgment down on Arroyo and OBL with scathing reports condemning gross systemic human rights violations in the country. In order to elevate the Philippines from this deep rut of shame dug by Arroyo, Noynoy must scrap US-funded OBL all together and get started on a real concrete human rights agenda. Just as the people remained vigilant against election fraud last May, the people must remain vigilant that Noynoy treads not the path of the Obama administration of high hopes yet broken electoral promises. ###
Kin Loses Trust in Courts As SC Directs CHR to Probe Burgos Abduction Further
Published on June 23, 2010
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
After almost two years, the Supreme Court finally issued a resolution on the petition for certiorari filed by Edita Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas. The petition seeks the intervention of the High Court to reverse the decision of the Court of Appeals absolving Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other military and police officials in the abduction of Jonas.
Jonas, son of p
ress freedom icon Jose “Joe” Burgos Jr., was abducted on April 28, 2007 at Ever Gotesco mall in Commonwealth, Quezon City by suspected elements of the Philippine Army.
In a 16-page resolution penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion, the Supreme Court directed the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate the disappearance of Jonas after noting significant lapses in the police investigation.
The Court en banc said lapses in the investigation conducted by the Philippine National Police-Criminal investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) prevents the court from ruling on a petition seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals’ decision absolving police and military officials implicated in the Burgos case.
The Court said the PNP-CIDG failed to identify sketches of two of the four alleged abductors of Burgos. The police also failed to verify information provided by State Prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco that four members of the Armed Forces Military Intelligence Group 15 — T/Sgt. Jason Roxas (Philippine Army), Cpl. Maria Joana Francisco (Philippine Air Force), M/Sgt. Aron Arroyo ( Philippine Air Force), and an alias T.L. — were involved in the abduction.
“Did it have to take so long for the Supreme Court to find out that the investigators made serious lapses? We were required by the Court of Appeals to submit our response in five days after it penned its resolution which we did but the Supreme Court took five weeks short of 2 years simply to say that it cannot rule on the case because there were lapses in the investigation?” Mrs. Burgos said in a letter to the justices dated June 23, a copy of which was sent to Bulatlat.
“Considering the findings of the CA and our review of the records of the present case, we conclude that the PNP and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) have so far failed to conduct an exhaustive and meaningful investigation into the disappearance of Jonas Burgos; and to exercise the extra ordinary diligence (in the performance of their duties) that the Rule on the Writ Amparo requires,” the SC said.
For Mrs. Burgos, however, the lapses were efforts to cover up the identity of the perpetrators.
“Instead of rejoicing that the high court has finally acted on our case, I can only express my disappointment. It is very sad, indeed. Instead of ruling on our petition, the Supreme Court just passed on the burden to another institution . . . prolonging our agony, diminishing our chances of finding Jonas, and to make matters worse, putting the blame on us. Why is this so your honors?” asked Mrs. Burgos.
Mrs. Burgos said they sought the help of the CHR but the investigation was closed when she was “unjustly accused of being uncooperative.” They then sought the help of the Philippine National Police and then the Armed Forces of the Philippines but were just given a run around. They then brought the case to the Department of Justice.
“And now you are asking us to go back to the CHR. Will this be a new start of going around in circles again? If the serious lapses were committed by the police, why are they not punished instead of passing on the burden to us, the victims, and to the CHR whose mandate to investigate is limited?” Mrs. Burgos said.
On July 16, 2007, Supreme Court granted the petition for habeas corpus. In December 2007, the Court of Appeals granted the writ of amparo to the Burgos family.
“This is blatantly a whitewash disguised as judicial hogwash. The writ of amparo, much-trumpeted by the Supreme Court, has become merely a tool of the courts to further obfuscate and muddle the issue,” the Free Jonas Burgos Movement said in a statement.
Loss of Trust
“We have been hoping that cases concerning petitions for the Writ of Amparo would be dealt with expeditiously by the courts considering the urgency of the matter. But today I can say with certainty that this is not so. It is a useless exercise. Do we really have to add another 90 days for a case that you have been handling for almost two years? How can the eroded trust be restored? The better question is why should I even attempt to have this trust restored?” Mrs. Burgos said further.
Named respondents to the petition are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon; former army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino; Maj. Gen. Juanito Gomez, commander of the army’s 7th Infantry Division that has jurisdiction over the 56th IB; Lt. Cols. Noel Clement and Melquiades Feliciano, former 56th IB commanders; and then Police Dir. Gen. Oscar Calderon as the respondents.
“The smallest ray of hope to find my son Jonas, pinned on the highest court of the land, but it has just been shattered,” Mrs. Burgos added.
Mrs. Burgos said the Supreme Court is ‘obviously washing its hands over the alleged cover up of the investigation,” noting that the court did not even give a hint on whether or not the military officers and personnel tagged in the case are guilty or not.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. But the Supreme Court seems not to be on the side of truth and justice but wallows in indecision and official deniability,” the Free Jonas Burgos Movement said in a statement. “This is an atrocity against our family and against our people’s right to seek swift justice.”
“After making the Burgos family wait for more than a year for the Supreme Court ruling on the disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos, the decision is still found wanting,” Lorena Santos, deputy secretary general of Desaparecidos, said.
Commander in chief
The Supreme Court also agreed with the Court of Appeal’s decision in dropping President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as respondent in the case. Majority of the justices were appointed by Arroyo.
“Under the principle of command responsibility, she is responsible for the actuations of her subordinates,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat in a phone interview.
Mrs. Burgos said the Supreme Court failed to see the trend in enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and other human rights abuses. “There is cover up to the highest level, to the presidency,” Mrs. Burgos added.
After the abduction, Mrs. Burgos said she wrote Arroyo a letter asking for help. “She said would try to help and told me to talk to her chief of staff, who was always unavailable. If indeed she wanted to help, she could surface Jonas,” Mrs. Burgos told Bulatlat.
Desaparecidos also believes that Arroyo must be held accountable. “She is the commander-in-chief of the AFP and her Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch) gives power to the military to abduct and disappear people like Jonas,” Santos said.
The Search Continues
Mrs. Burgos said they will continue to search for Jonas. “I believe that he is still alive, and his military captors must surface him. If he is dead, they must show me his body, and justice must prevail,” she said.
Mrs. Burgos said they will consider filing a formal complaint to the United Nations Human Rights Council. “We have nowhere else to go,” Mrs. Burgos said.
Mrs. Burgos said she is hoping that incoming President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino would be a different kind of president. She said she would ask Aquino to look into the justice system. “I hope that this is not an omen of things to come for all other cases of human rights violations,” Mrs. Burgos said, noting how a high-profile case like Jonas would turn out this way. (Bulatlat.com)
Mrs. Edith Burgos: What can the Presidentiables do for Jonas Burgos and the human rights situation in the Philippines?
Edith Burgos speaking in New York, 2008 (Jonas Burgos' photo on the wall)
Press Release: April 27, 2010
Reference: Edita Burgos (09177476131)
Lorena Santos (09294414270)
On the 3rd year commemoration of Jonas’ abduction and disappearance
Mrs. Edith Burgos: What can the Presidentiables do for Jonas Burgos and the human rights situation in the Philippines?
“Today, April 28, 2010, I dare all presidential candidates to make a stand on enforced disappearances, torture, extra judicial killings and other violations of human rights. I challenge all of them to bare their human rights agenda instead of wasting their time mud-slinging. I ask all those seeking the highest post in the land what they can do for Jonas and the human rights situation in the country because this present government of Mrs. Gloria Arroyo has done nothing to find my son and give justice to what happened,” said Mrs. Edita Burgos in commemoration of the 3rd year of the abduction and disappearance of Jonas Burgos, activist, agriculturist and son of media icon Joe Burgos.
Three years ago today, Jonas was forcibly taken by armed men, believed to be members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, from a mall in Quezon City while eating inside a fast food restaurant. Since then, the Burgos family and friends have searched for him, yet he remains missing.
“We have brought his case to the Court of Appeals, the Commission on Human Rights and even the United Nations.” says Mrs. Edith Burgos, “ Unfortunately, the CA refused to grant me the Writ of habeas corpus and the writ of amparo, the Supreme Court has remained silent on my appeal for the reversal of the CA’s decision, This petition was filed in August 1, 2008, more than 1 year and 8 months ago, meanwhile the officers whom we have charged in court have been promoted. So now we ask – where is justice?”
Like other families who have lost their loved ones through enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations, Mrs. Burgos has not stopped and will not stop searching for her son, Jonas. She will continue to seek for justice for him and for the thousands of victims of human rights violations under the present government.
According to the human rights group Desaparecidos, the human rights situation in the Philippines within this decade and under the leadership of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been at its worst since the time of the Marcos dictatorship. A total of 1,118 victims of extrajudicial killings and 204 victims of enforced disappearance has been documented by the human rights group Karapatan. The figures are only for the period of 2001 – 2009, add other cases that have been documented from January to April of this year, have yet to be added.
Aside from the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings, other human rights violations continue to be committed by the Arroyo administration. “If this is the case, then we cannot hope for any justice from the current government.” Mrs. Burgos stated, adding that with just 12 days to go, they have not heard any Presidential candidate offer their human rights agenda to the Filipino people. “What can Noynoy Aquino, Manny Villar, Erap Estrada, Gibo Teodoro, Dick Gordon, Eddie Villanueva, Nick Perlas, Jamby Madrigal and Jaycee delos Reyes do to improve the human rights situation in the country?” Mrs. Burgos asked.
Desaparecidos Deputy Secretary General Lorena “Aya” Santos could only agree. “In case these Presidential bets have forgotten, may we remind them that human rights issues – economic, social, civil, political and cultural rights – are the issues we as a nation must confront. Thus, we challenge those running for positions in government to present their human rights agenda to the nation and show us how they will protect the rights of the Filipino people. ###
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2009 REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINES
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2009 REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINES click here to read the report
