On Human Rights Day, rights groups slam Aquino government for violations – Bulatlat.
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
December 13, 2012

MANILA – “We have likewise set on fire whatever is left of the chances for positive change we gave Pres. Noynoy Aquino in the past two years. He did not only squander the opportunity for change but has also pushed our patience to the limit, with all the rights violations his regime has committed against the people,” Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of Karapatan, said.

This was the statement of the Karapatan chairperson as they set fire on the effigy of President Benigno Aquino III.

The seven-foot two-faced effigy, according to Karapatan, “symbolizes the twin evils of large-scale mining and intensified military operations in peasant and indigenous peoples’ communities.”

Under Aquino, there are now 129 victims of extrajudicial killings, where 69 were farmers and 25 indigenous peoples. Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said most victims in Mindanao are anti-mining activists and Lumad leaders who “defend their land and the environment against the intrusion of big foreign mining corporations.”

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