salitang ‘salvage’ ay di Ingles sa ‘save’ o pagsagip
ito’y Kastilang ‘salbaje’ at salbahe ang hagip
kayraming mga na-salvage, pinagkamalan, suspek
makikita na lang, bulagta’t buhay na’y tiwarik
uso pa kasi ang bato, bato-bato sa langit
“Ding, ang bato”, sabi lagi ni Darnang anong rikit
kaya mga nagbabato’y talaga ngang tagilid
mapapaagang sa kabaong sila’y maisilid
gayunman, isaalang-alang ang due process of law
pagkat ang bawat isa’y may karapatang pantao
kahit negosyanteng drug lord na siyang puno’t dulo
kung bakit nagkalat ang drogang kanilang negosyo
naglipana ang ‘na-salvage’, kayraming sinalbahe
ngunit maliliit, pawang dukha ang nadadale
di batid kung ilan ang sinalbaheng inosente
nahan ang mga drug lord, ang mga may sinasabi
nawa’y masugpo ang mga droga, shabu’t ecstasy
at dapat mapigil nang di kumalat sa marami
ngunit ang tamang proseso’y pairaling maigi
habang binubunot ang mga ugat na kaytindi
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TFDP calls for Filipinos to oppose violent policies of the Government, resist dictatorship!
Photo by Brenda De Guzman
Rights group calls for the Filipino people to oppose President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent policies and resist dictatorship in a press conference in Quezon City on September 19, 2017.
In line with the 45th commemoration of the declaration of Martial Law, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) launches its campaign dubbed as “Mamamayan Ayaw Sa Karahasan (MASK)” (People against violent policies).
“Ang mamamayang Pilipino ay nasa tungki ng ilong ng diktadurya, at ang bayan ay kinukubabawan ng masamang espiritu ng karahasan laban sa karapatang pantao,” said Sr. Crescencia Lucero, SFIC, TFDP Chairperson. (The Filipino people are on the brink of dictatorship, and our nation is possessed by the evil spirit of violence directed against human rights)
“We are deeply concerned that as we remember the Martial Law atrocities in its 45th Anniversary, we now have a President who repeatedly expressed his obsession with declaring Martial Law under his term. We are saddened that we are again under an administration with violent policies and tyrannical ways of leadership,” she added.
TFDP was established in 1974 by the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) amidst the blatant violations of human rights during Marcos’ reign.
“Forty-five years after, human rights of the Filipino people are continuously violated. Now the situation is getting worse,” Fr. Christian Buenafe, O.Carm, TFDP Board member lamented.
Fr. Buenafe presented to the media the Deklarasyon ng Mamamayan Ayaw Sa Karahasan, “We, the Filipino people who are against the violent policies of the government will encourage our fellow Filipinos to resist the pervading culture of violence that contradicts our dream for a God fearing, peaceful, civilized and humane society.”
“We appeal to our Government to stop its kill kill kill policies. We appeal to our fellow youth to speak up against violent policies. We appeal to our fellow Filipinos to not allow the reign of terror in our country again. Never Again to Martial Law! Stop kill kill kill policies!” Justinne Jerico Socito, Youth For Rights Chairperson said.
As a symbol of protest, the group wore masks with tears of blood and encouraged the public to join them in the campaign to resist all forms of state violence.###
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Peasant Leader and Lumad Student, First EJK’s of 2016
DAVAO CITY- A human rights group slammed the killings of a peasant leader in Mati City and a 15-year old lumad student from Talaingod, Davao del Norte, the first two cases of extrajudicial killings in Davao region this year.
Ricky Peñaranda, chairman of Fisherman Landless Association (FLA)and member of Indug Kautawan, was gunned down in Dona Rosa, Brgy. Central, Mati City on January 11.
Penaranda had just came from settling a case of a farmer illegally arrested in a land dispute. He was riding a motorcycle when two men riding in tandem shot him at the back. A witness said the gunmen, with their faces covered with caps and handkerchiefs, shouted at him: “Isog jud ka ha! Makiglantugi jud ka!” (“You’re brave huh! You really want to fight!”).
Meanwhile, Alibandao Tingkas, a student of the Salugpongan Community Learning Center in Sitio Laslasakan, Brgy. Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte, was gunned down by members of the paramilitary Alamara last January 17.
Karapatan-Southern Mindanao Secretary-General Hanimay Suazo condemned these first cases of extra-judicial killings in Southern Mindanao. “We condemn in the highest terms these two killings, as they once again reflect the poor status of human rights in the country,” Suazo said.
Suazo said that the primary motive on the killing of Penaranda was clearly due to his involvement in helping peasants in their land struggle.
She also criticized the Aquino government for its lack of instituting reforms and protection of the welfare of peasants and other marginalized groups such as the indigenous peoples.
“Apart from the lack of will to protect poor peasants, the Aquino regime is also rife with impunity for extra-judicial killings, particularly against those who stand up for the rights of the oppressed,” she said.
She also condemned the killing of Tingkas by the Alamara, which she said is backed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines for pushing its Oplan Bayanihan campaign.
“The continuing support of the AFP to the Alamara grants it impunity and seemingly endless opportunities to terrorize the people. Truly, the AFP’s “Whole of the Nation Initiative” targets civilians and not combatants, as shown in the death of Tingkas. Tingkas’ aspirations for education ran in contrast to the AFP’s interests, who wish that lumad communities would remain uneducated so as to easily allow the entry of mining corporations in lumad ancestral lands.”
Karapatan also blamed Alamara for the killing of a Talaingod Lumad leader, Datu Manliro Landahay last year.
###
KARAPATAN-SOUTHERN MINDANAO REGION
CONTACT PERSON: HANIMAY SUAZO, secretary general
0932-198-6728
PRESS RELEASE
January 19, 2016
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ALRC, KARAPATAN to UNHRC: Spate of killings in PH remains
On the eve of the submission of the joint statement of the Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) and Karapatan to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, the Calago couple was killed and burned by elements of the 11th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army in Guihulngan, Negros Oriental.
“…Despite the Government’s assurances that it would take ‘firm measures to address the problem of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances,’ extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and targeted attacks against human rights and political activists have continued without relent under the administration of President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III,” said ALRC and Karapatan in the joint statement , which was submitted to the 29th session of the UN Human Rights Council and was circulated in full by the Secretary-General to the UN member nations on May 25, in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
On May 24, 2015, at around 10 p.m., a loud sound of budyong (a sea shell used to signal for help) awakened Marcela Madronero. She immediately rose and saw the roof of her brother Endric Calago’s house in flames. Then she heard Rosalie, her brother’s wife, who shouted, “Help us, the Army is here!” Then Madronero heard a burst of continuous gunshots. Afraid that they too might be shot, Madronero and cousin Dante Flores did not go to the Calago house until 5 a.m., when Madronero heard the wailing of Erly Calago, daughter of Endric and Rosalie. When Madronero and Flores rushed to the couple’s house, they saw the house razed to the ground, including the bodies of the couple. Endric’s body was found near the balcony with several gunshot wounds. Rosalie’s body was just outside the kitchen door, totally burned.
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The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) is forwarding to you an appeal regarding the killing of a former priest who is a human rights defender.
If you wish to make any inquiries please contact the Research, Documentation and Information Program of TFDP, kindly send email to tfdp.1974@gmail.com or call +632 4378054.
________________
Title: Labastilla EJK
Case: Extra-Judicial Killing
Victim: Teresito Mula Labastilla, 46 years old
Date of Incident: February 12, 2015
Place of Incident: Dionisio Micayabas Street, North Poblacion, Maramag, Bukidnon
Perpetrators: Unidentified motorcycle-riding men
Motive: Land-related; connected to victim’s advocacy in helping the CARP beneficiaries
______________
Account of the incident:
A former priest and human rights defender of indigenous people and farmers was killed by unknown assailants on a motorcycle at Dionisio Micayabas Street, North Poblacion, Maramag, Bukidnon last February 12, 2015, around 7:45 in the morning.
Teresito Mula Labastilla, also known as Fr. Sito, 46 years old, dropped his son at Maramag Central School on the morning of the day of the incident. While Labastilla was about to leave the school premise, he was peppered with bullets by the two motorcycle-riding men. His son Tristan Matthew, who just got down from the vehicle, heard a series of gun shots and heard his father calling him. He saw their Isuzu Samurai vehicle accelerate toward the concrete wall, skidded and overturned with his father still inside.
Shocked onlookers ran towards the overturned vehicle and helped Labastilla get out. The men aboard the motorcycle sped off. The victim was bloodied and unconscious. The onlookers helped lay him down on the concrete road while they waited for a vehicle to bring Labastilla to the Bukidnon Provincial Hospital in Maramag. He was declared dead on arrival. He sustained three gunshot wounds in his neck, face and chest. The attending physician said that all the bullets went through his body. The police investigated the crime scene and recovered four empty cartridges of a .45 caliber gun.
Arline Amigo, Labastilla’s live-in partner, learned about what happened when someone went to their house in Barangay Base Camp, Maramag to fetch her and accompany her to the hospital. But at that time, she thought that Labastilla was only injured. When she arrived at the hospital, she was directed to the morgue. Amigo was distressed and disoriented. She and Labastilla were soon to be married.
Witnesses recounted to her that the two assailants rode a white or blue XRM motorcycle that had no plate number. Both men were wearing masks. The victim was about to leave the area after he brought his son to school when the back rider of the motorcycle shot the back tire of Labastilla’s vehicle. The victim was then shot three times. Tristan Matthew was almost hit by the motorcycle. He told his mother that he already noticed the motorcycle-riding men since December 2014. The suspects usually stood by the front of his school and he saw them every time his father dropped him off at school.
Labastilla was a well-known environmental activist in the province. He was a priest for 14 years and was assigned in Malaybalay City, Lantapan, and San Fernando, Bukidnon diocese. He left the priesthood in 2000 and had his own family.
He ran for mayor in Lantapan, Bukidnon in 2010, but lost. The current mayor filed a case of Oral Defamation against Labastilla. A day before he was killed, he was convicted and had the penalty of imprisonment for ten days and was ordered to pay ten thousand pesos (P10,000). During his campaign, Labastilla said that he desired for honest and sincere services to be given to the people of the municipality. His main advocacy was for the issues of land and water to be resolved for the farmers and indigenous people in his area.
He is also the spiritual adviser and consultant of the local organization called Bukidnon Agrarian Reform and Agri-Business Multipurpose Association (BARAMA). The organization was established last February 3, 2008. It promotes organic farming among the IPs and farmers in the province.
Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Barangay Base Camp, Maramag were having difficulties in occupying the awarded 34 hectares of land after a former owner sent private armies to the area and harassed them. The beneficiaries solicited advice from Labastilla and he accommodated them. He used his vehicle and drove for the farmers when they needed to make follow ups regarding their case. Amigo and the other people close to Labastilla think that this might be the reason why he was killed.
Maramag Police Chief Jose Sevillero recently visited Amigo and showed her a cartographic sketch of one of the suspects. She said that she hopes that the case will be resolved soon and that justice will be served.
Amigo now fears for her life and her children’s. They have noticed motorcycle-riding men going around their residence.
UPDATE:
Maramag Police Chief Jose Sevillero was replaced by Police Inspector Donnald Cordero. SPO4 Fernando Razalo, the investigator of the case, together with Police Inspector Cordero said that the cartographic sketch was made by the previous chief of police with the help of an unknown witness.
The new chief of police also stated that they are waiting of Police Inspector Sevillero’s cooperation for them to resolve the case.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write a letter to the following authorities, calling on them to resolve the case of killing of Teresito Labastilla, a former priest and human rights defender in Barangay Base Camp, Maramag Bukidnon.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ____________,
I am writing to draw your attention regarding the case of Teresito Mula Labastilla, 46 years old, a former priest and a human rights defender in Barangay Base Camp, Maramag Bukidnon.
I have learned that while he was inside his vehicle and was about to leave the school premise after dropping off his son last February 12, 2015 around 7:45 a.m. in Dionisio Micayabas Street, North Poblacion, Maramag, two unknown masked men aboard a motorcycle peppered him with bullets that later killed him.
The victim was known for his advocacy for the environment and good governance. He also helped the indigenous people and farmers in the province by promoting organic way of farming.
Agrarian reform beneficiaries in Barangay Base Camp, Maramag sought his advice regarding their land struggle. The victim willingly helped them to find a lawyer and even accompanied them to the area. It is believed that the victim was killed due to his support to these farmer beneficiaries.
I have also known that Maramag Police Inspector Jose Sevillero showed a cartographic sketch of the suspect to Labastilla’s wife last February 27. The Police Inspector said the sketch was made possible with the help of an eye witness who refused to surface in public for fear.
It was brought to my attention that after a series of case follow ups, the current Maramag Chief of Police, Police Inspector Donnald Cordero and Case Investigator SPO4 Fernando Razalo stated that they did not know the eye witness whom the former chief referred to.
The Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees (Republic Act No. 6713) mandates that all government employees, including police officers, have a duty to “always uphold the public interest over and above personal interest” and to “perform and discharge their duties with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill, with utmost devotion and dedication to duty.” The unprofessional performance of the police in the form of severe lack of cooperation between the officers in investigating the killing of Teresito Mula Labastilla, is therefore not only violating the victim’s rights but also against the law.
Therefore, I humbly urge you to initiate a probe into the said case. Please guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of the witness and the proper performance of duties by the police officers, so that the fundamental rights of the victims are fulfilled at all times.
I look forward to you urgent action.
Respectfully yours,
_________________________
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
Please send your letters to:
Hon. Benigno C. Aquino III
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacañang Palace
JP Laurel St. San Miguel, Manila
Philippines 1005
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
Email: op@president.gov.ph
Police Director General Leonardo A. Espina
OIC Chief, Philippine National Police
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City, Philippines
Fax: +632 724 8763 / +632 723 0401
Tel: + 632 726 4361 / +632 4366 8763
Email: feedback@pnp.gov.ph
Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
A. Francisco Gold Condominium II, EDSA corner Mapagmahal St.,
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines, 1100
Fax: +63 925 0332
Tel: +63 925 0030, +63 925 0331
Email: mar@marroxas.com
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Philippines: Probe Mayor’s Alleged ‘Death Squad’ Links Davao Mayor Duterte Epitomizes Impunity for Extrajudicial Killings
(Manila, May 19, 2015) – The Philippine government should investigate Davao City’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his possible role in summary executions in the city over the past decade, Human Rights Watch said today. Duterte has continued to espouse the killing of criminal suspects to combat crime in a city that has long had high numbers of apparent “death squad” killings – more than 1,000 since the late 1990s.
Duterte has been mayor of Davao City, located on the main southern island of Mindanao, almost continuously since 1988. He said in a speech on May 15, 2015, that his approach to crime fighting depended on the killing of suspected criminals. “We’re the ninth safest city. How do you think I did it? How did I reach that title among the world’s safest cities? Kill them all [criminals].”
“The Philippine government should take a zero-tolerance approach to any public official who publicly endorses extrajudicial killings as an acceptable means of crime control,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Duterte’s public support for the extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals should prompt a long overdue investigation into Duterte’s possible role in those deaths.”
Duterte has been on a speaking tour across the Philippines for the past six months touting the killing of criminal suspects as an effective crime control technique.
Human Rights Watch documented the existence of the Davao “death squad” and Duterte’s role in it in the 2009 report “You Can Die Anytime.” The United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings included the Davao killings in his 2009 investigation and called on the government to end the use of death squads as a means of crime fighting.
The official Commission on Human Rights has also investigated these allegations and in 2012 issued a resolution saying that it found probable cause to recommend that the Office of the Ombudsman file murder charges against Duterte. But the Ombudsman limited its investigation to the police officers implicated in the killings – not Duterte himself – finding 21 of them guilty of “simple neglect of duty,” and fining them the equivalent of a month’s salary. The country’s Court of Appeals later overturned the verdict, saying the Ombudsman merely used statistics against the police officers. To date, not one person has been convicted for involvement in any of the killings.
The Ombudsman has not investigated Duterte for his role in the Davao death squad. Neither has the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which is under the Office of the President and has administrative and supervisory control over municipal governments. The National Bureau of Investigation, which is under the Department of Justice, has likewise failed to probe Duterte’s alleged links to the Davao death squad.
Duterte has a long history of inflammatory public statements that would seem to encourage the extrajudicial killing of suspected criminals. He has commanded his police officers to “shoot to kill” people ranging from suspected criminals to rice smugglers. That rhetoric has fueled protests from human rights groups and the Commission on Human Rights, which denounced the mayor for his statement and urged him to “operate on the rule of law.”
Duterte’s Davao City model of extrajudicial killings as a crime-fighting strategy appears to have spread to other cities in the Philippines. United States State Department cables released by WikiLeaks in 2011 noted the apparent rise of municipal government-sanctioned death squads in cities including Cebu City, Toledo, and Carcar.
After a 2014 Human Rights Watch report about the Tagum City death squad in Mindanao, a Department of Justice investigation resulted in charges filed against Tagum City’s former Mayor Rey Uy and 29 other local and police officials for their alleged role in summary killings there. But Philippine authorities have not taken action against other death squad operations.
“The long official tolerance of Duterte’s advocacy of summary killings as effective crime-fighting strategy needs to stop,” Kine said. “The government should send an unambiguous message to Duterte and other officials that support for extrajudicial killings results in an investigation – not in speaking tours.”
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Dispatches: Walking in Fear in the Philippines
Carlos Conde
May 6, 2015
In a country where extrajudicial executions by state security forces are a longstanding problem, potential victims take any threat seriously. So when farmers’ rights activist Eduardo Regidor noticed that three armed men were trailing him around Davao City last week, he sought refuge in the local offices of one of the Philippines’ largest human rights organizations, Karapatan. Regidor had recently filed a complaint with Karapatan against local elements of the military, so he had good reason to be fearful.
Regidor’s hunch proved right. The very next evening, one of those same three men tried to forcibly enter the Karapatan compound via the front gate, while the two others tried to scale the wall. They fled when police arrived on the scene. Regidor wasn’t harmed, but several staff and volunteers saw the attempted assault unfold. Among the witnesses were victims of military abuses in the area, including a woman allegedly raped by a soldier.
Karapatan has long been a target of the Philippine security forces. The military has often linked Karapatan and other nongovernmental groups holding decidedly left-wing political views with the rebel New People’s Army (NPA). The NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has been waging an insurgency against the government since 1969. The conflict has sparked extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture; and many of the victims have been human rights defenders. Defending victims of human rights abuses by the Philippine security forces can have dire consequences – in several instances during the Benigno Aquino presidency, human rights defenders have been targets of violent attacks. In 2013 a senior military official described Karapatan as an “enemy” of the state, putting the group at particular risk.
The dangers for groups like Karapatan are especially great in areas that are strongholds of the NPA. This includes the eastern and southern Mindanao regions, where Davao City is located.
But there is little to keep security force personnel who commit abuses in check. Despite the arrest last year of the notorious retired army major general Jovito Palparan, who has been implicated in abduction, torture, and enforced disappearances, the Philippines government rarely prosecutes members of the security forces for serious human rights abuses.
The Philippine government needs to get serious about protecting human rights defenders, and investigating those who threaten or attack them. It could start by identifying and arresting the three men who attacked Karapatan’s offices last week. Until the government shows that it will no longer tolerate these grave threats, Eduardo Regidor and others who speak out will continue to walk the streets in fear.
Carlos Conde is the Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch.
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Group asks UN Special Rapporteur to query Negros labor activist killings
Justice Rolando Pango
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, the Partido Manggagawa asked UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michel Forst to inquire on the killings of labor activists in Negros Occidental. “The culture of impunity and extra-judicial killings of labor activists persists under the administration of Benigno Aquino III. In the last two years, two farm worker leaders have been killed while another survived an assassination attempt, all in Negros where agrarian and labor disputes simmer,” stated Renato Magtubo, PM national chair.
Forst is in the Philippines and has expressed interest in requesting the government for an official visit and investigation after meeting with human rights groups over the past several days. Two predecessors of Forst were unable to obtain invitations from the government to inquire into reports of attacks against human rights defenders in the country.
The spate of killings against worker and land rights defenders in Negros happened amidst agrarian and labor disputes between farm workers and sugar planters. Last November 29, Rolando Pango, a PM member, labor leader in Binalbagan town and an organizer in neighboring Isabela town died after being shot in the head by two men. Pango had previously received death threats while he was assisting workers of Hacienda Salud in Isabela town in processing for coverage under land reform and in filing illegal dismissal charges against landlord Manuel “Manolet” Lamata. Lamata heads the powerful Negros sugar planters association.
PM also called on the Department of Labor and Employment, the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council and the Department of Justice to take cognizance of Pango’s case as they have a mandate to act on labor-related extra-judicial killings.
Since 2011, the labor coalition Nagkaisa!, of which PM is an affiliate, has been engaged in dialogue with the Aquino administration on key labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of labor-related extra-judicial killings.
Magtubo added that in December 29, 2012, Victoriano Embang, president of the Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla town, was killed amidst another agrarian and labor dispute with the influential Montillano clan. His brother, Anterio, also a leader of MACFAWA, later survived an ambush in February 28, 2013.
Still PM insisted that the most widespread infringement of human rights in the labor front is the violation of workers’ right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation” concluded Magtubo.
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Extra-judicial killings, other human rights violations persist under ‘tuwid na daan’ – Nagkaisa!
A culture of impunity translated into extra-judicial killings (EJK) and other forms of human rights violations against leaders and labor organizers continue under the ‘tuwid na daan’, a coalition of major trade unions and labor organizations in the country, Nagkaisa!, said in a statement on the eve of the celebration of International Human Rights Day.
Since 2011, Nagkaisa! is engaged in dialogues with the Aquino administration on several labor issues, including some 62 unsolved cases of EJKs involving labor.
Nagkaisa! said the most recent in the cases of unsolved EJKs was the murder of a labor organizer in Negros Occidental. Rolando Pango, a full time organizer of Partido Manggagawa (PM) was gunned down in Binalbagan town in Negros Occidental on Novermber 29, 2014.
“Prior to his death, Pango was deeply involved in both the agrarian and labor disputes in Hacienda Salud, a 135-hectare sugar plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela leased and managed by Manuel Lamata,” said PM Chair Renato Magtubo.
Pango was instrumental in organizing the plantation workers in Hacienda Salud who in June applied the land under CARPER coverage. Salud workers has also filed of a case of illegal dismissal before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) against Lamata for unlawful termination 41 workers.
PM and Nagkaisa is calling on both the national and local governments to render immediate justice to this case.
Josua Mata, Secretary General of Alliance of Progressive Labor–Sentro, said Nagkaisa will be raising this issue before the Tripartite Industrial Council (TIPC) and the DOJ panel investigating the EJKs.
“Like Ruby, solving cases of EJKs in the country is a slow-grind,” said Mata.
Before Pango, another PM organizer, Victoriano Embang, leader of Maria Cecilia Farm Workers Association (MACFAWA) in Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental was also killed on December 29, 2012. A failed assassination attempt against his brother, Anterio Embang, followed few months later, February 28, 2013.
A Negrense himself, Magtubo said Negros remains a ‘labor hotspot’ because of strong resistance by landlords to agrarian reform and their outmoded serf-type treatment of their laborers.
“Perhaps this regional feudal context has escaped the eyes of the labor department and the national government. Or they simply don’t care,” added Magtubo.
Aside from EJKs, Nagkaisa! is also alarmed at the resurgence of other forms of human rights violations.
Last October, Antonio Cuizon, president of the Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Carmen Copper, was arrested on trumped up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The union and the management were then in the thick of labor dispute when the case was file against Quizon.
But the most widespread of human rights violations, Nagkaisa! said, is the violation of labor’s right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
“The onslaught of state-sanctioned contractualization schemes have effectively disarmed workers of their ability to defend themselves, through their unions, against many forms of abuse and exploitation,” concluded Magtubo.
NEWS RELEASE
NAGKAISA!
09 December 2014
Contact: Wilson Fortaleza
09053732185
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Resolution Condemning the Brutal Murder of Rolando Pango and Requesting Concerned Government Authorities and Human Rights Organizations to Conduct Immediate Investigations of the incident
Justice Rolando Pango
The Partido Manggagawa (PM) Negros Chapter through a 3rd Provincial Congress resolution dated November 30, 2014STRONGLY CONDEMNED IN THE STRONGEST TERMS POSSIBLE THE BRUTAL MURDER of Rolando Pango in Hacienda Garrason, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental.
Rolando Pango is a Labor Leader in Brgy. Payao and Biao in Binalbagan town and a PM Organizer in Isabela and Binalbagan areas of the province.
Last November 29, 20014 after meeting PM farmworker-members, in preparation for Gat Andres Bonifacio Day activities, Kaupod Lando, accompanied by his cousin stoppedby Binalbagan town proper. Past 9:00 PM when they decided to go home by motorcycle but were blocked by another motorcycle rider and a black sedan at the crossing of Hacienda Garrason. Two unidentified armed men dragged Ka Lando and shot him on the head. His cousin was spared and heard one of the armed men said to Ka Lando,“kasabad sa imo, pati duta ginaentrahan mo”.
Kaupod Lando had organized the farmworkers of Hacienda Salud – a135 hectare sugarcane plantation in Barangay Rumirang, Isabela – leasedand managed by Manuel “Manolit” Lamata.
Last year, the Farmworkers Association of Hacienda Salud through the aid of Ka Lando wrote the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to include the hacienda in the Carper Coverage.And in June 30, 2014, DAR issued a Notice of Coverage (NOC) for Compulsory Acquisition of hacienda that was owned by Pedro Garruchari.
September 2014 when Manolit Lamata together with several armed men went to Hacienda Salud and forced farmworkers to signed a blank white paper. The workers refused to sign and hid in order not to be forced to sign under duress.
As a result, more than 40 hacienda workers were summarily and illegally dismissedthe following month. The workers viewed this as an injustice, that after more than 20 years of working in the Hacienda even before Manolit Lamata took over the leased property in1995 they were the original and regular workers.
Forty-one hacienda workers then filed an illegal dismissal complaint against Manuel Lamata before the National Labor Relations Commission(NLRC)-Bacolod City.The First Mandatory Conference was scheduled in December 3, 2014.
A week before the scheduled Hearing at the NLRC, a representative of Manuel Lamata, through his daughter Maricris Lamata, offered half a million pesos (P500,000) to settle which the 41 workers rejected outright.
Then the brutal killing of Rolando Pango followed.
In lieu to the brutal murder of our comrade Labor Leader Organizer, the 280 delegates of the provincial congress representing 2,800 active Partido Manggagawa members hereby resolved:
1. To ask the Provincial Government in Negros Occidental to take the summary killing seriously and to stop the culture of impunity in the province;
2. To urge the Provincial Police Office to conduct a thorough investigation of the case until the culprit is punished and justice given to Kaupod Lando, his family, and to the oppressed and exploited hacienda workers that he had served.
3. Seek the assistance of human rightsgroups and advocates, the Department of Justice and the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent investigation of human rights abuses inside Hacienda Salud.
Partido Manggagawa-Negros Chapter November 30, 2014Bacolod City, Philippines
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