Tag Archives: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

[Statement] TDC on Government’s Christmas present to its teachers and employees

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Benjo Basa source petiburgisdotcom“Both in time of tragedy and the season of Christmas, the government provided insufficient assistance to its teachers and employees. The Department of Education (DepEd) gave out lipsticks and make-up kits to the devastated teachers of Leyte– instead of much needed goods, temporary shelter and financial assistance. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) approved a P5, 000.00 bonus for state workers, 50% short of the P10, 000.00 allotment during the time of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Worst, Aquino government will implement the mass lay-off policy in DepEd and other agencies crafted during ex-PGMA’s time. This is the government’s Christmas present to its teachers and employees.”

-TDC Chair Benjo Basas
0920-5740241

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[Blog] In Defense of Dissent By Jose Mario De Vega

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In Defense of Dissent
By Jose Mario De Vega

I refer to the news report, “Palace to hackers: No illegal acts needed to show discontent”, Sun Star, November 4th.

According to the so-called Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. “there is no need to resort to illegal acts to express discontent in the way government handles current issues…”

Mario De Vega

The so-called Secretary issued the said message to the Anonymous Philippines, “a group of hackers that defaced 38 government websites over the weekend.”

The list of government sites which were intruded and hacked includes the website of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mr. Coloma further stated in a media briefing that:

“There are sufficient avenues for free expression so there’s no need to resort to illegal acts…”

Commentaries:

To that so-called secretary who said that there is no need to resort to illegal acts to express discontent in a way the government handles current issues, the question there is: what exactly, in the first place is the very reason why this hacktivists group had resorted to this kind of protestation?

What led these online activists to do the things that they’ve done?

What are they protesting and what are they condemning?

Mr. Coloma also said that “proper actions will be taken against the hackers.”

The question is: what action are you going to take to all those creatures who are involved with the pork barrel whether they are your allies and enemies; friends and nemesis?

How about the body of Jonas Burgos? What action does the bloody government are undertaking to put into the bar of justice those bastard satanic murderers who kidnapped, tortured and killed this humble peasant activist?

What action does the government is doing to locate even his remains (if there are still remains)?

Mr. so-called secretary, could you please answer that directly for purposes of the records?

To quote the words of Professor Randy David, “The President’s speech”, Public Lives, Philippine Daily Inquirer, November 2nd:

“Good governance is not all about preventing and punishing the theft of public funds. It is about putting effective systems of accountability in place so that the bad apples in government are spotted before they can hide behind the admirable record of others. It is also about setting new and higher standards of competence in public service and not being content with tweaking the old system. It is about applying stricter ethics, and demanding more from one’s own team, before one says anything about the shortcomings of the other party. It is about ending patronage and realizing the full promise of democracy.”

Second point: up to now, the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI) is still a Bill (is there a chance that this will become a law?), hence, what other avenues or means can these activists express their discontent and disgust with the government?

May I remind that so-called secretary that his boss during the campaign promised that this utterly necessary proposed law would be a priority, yet after winning the election, what the hell happened to the promise?

Are promised meant to be broken?

Let me state also that his boss always reiterate and says that his boss is the Filipino people, hence — WE ARE YOUR BOSS!

The whole world knows that the ultimate reason that triggers this whole issue is the gory and nefarious issue of DAP and PDAF: in one word, the bloody Pork Barrel!

A couple of days ago, the President himself spoke in a televised address to the nation to give his take on the whole matter.

The problem is: instead of clarifying the issue, he further muddles and confused the public. Indeed, he wasted a golden political opportunity to assert the ethical dimension of his regime, if ever he is sincere, if ever there is one and the moral crusade of his government, if ever that is true!

Consider the brilliant and straight to the point critical analysis of Ramon Casiple, “A Waste of Political Capital”, Yahoo News! Philippines, October 31st:

“What he did was to essentially defend pork barrel, including his discretionary funds, and to point to the grave abuse by legislators conniving with Napoles as the real issue. It was a pitiful performance, reminiscent of former Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “I am sorry” admission during prime time. This time the cry was “We are not thieves.”

“In this respect, the speech was unnecessary insofar as the President is concerned. The surveys showed him as retaining his personal popularity among the people, their trust (nearly 7 out 10 Filipinos), and their satisfaction on his performance so far. What happened was his blanket defense of all his men and women, who at one time or another during the past three months were linked to the pork barrel scam.

“The worst thing that happened was that the many issues raised in the aftermath of the Napoles case were not addressed by the speech but rather firmly put by the president out of the loop.

“Questions such as: Were his own secretaries and allies in Congress involved with Napoles?

“Why did the Commission on Audit (COA) only covered the period of 2007 to 2009? Why did the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) include adding more pork barrel funds to the PDAF of the legislators?

“Is the pork barrel really abolished or was it creatively transformed and hidden in the 2014 budget?

“Why is the Department of Justice (DOJ) filtering the information first before submitting it to the Ombudsman, thereby duplicating the work of the latter?

“What is the role of the inter-agency committee created by the President and composed of the DOJ and two independent constitutional bodies, the COA, and the Office of the Ombudsman?

“What is the President’s stand on the pork barrel system? What are the lessons to be learned from the Napoles case and establishment of the pork barrel system?”

Now, base on the foregoing, may I ask categorically that so-called secretary, can you blame our people if they are angry?

Can you blame the Anonymous Philippines in doing the things that they had done?

Mr. Coloma, do read the writings on the Walls and that is the truth:

We have been deprived of things which they have promised to give; what our late heroes have promised us to give.

Let us remind the government that fairness, justice and freedom are more than words. They are perspectives.

A march is happening, a revolution. A way to speak, a way to be heard.

On the fifth day of November, 2013, we will try to be a part of the history.

But of course there are those who do not want us to speak, and those who have doubts.

You can sleep, sit, go on with your everyday routine just like a herd of sheep and watch as the government laugh at you.

But if you see what we see, if you feel as we feel, and if you would seek as we seek… then we ask you to stand beside us, this fifth of November outside Batasang Pambansa and let us march our way to freedom – a freedom from the shackles of the Government.

You have been called; and by watching, you have been chosen.

To the “incorrupt” officials of the government, we are challenging you!

Join us!

The Corrupt – Fear us.

The Honest – Support us.

The Heroic – Join us.

We are Anonymous.

We are ONE.

The government, you are NONE.

We are legion.

On the 5th of November, Government – Hear and understand us, or EXPECT US!

You promised to take “proper action” against us; then be put on notice that we also promise to take proper and necessary action against you.

WE NEVER FORGIVE! WE NEVER FORGET! EXPECT US!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega
Philosophy lecturer
College of Arts and Letters
Polytechnic University of the Philippines

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[From the web] Clipping the President’s fiscal powers: A short-term sacrifice to ensure the long-term gain of the people -Akbayan

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Clipping the President’s fiscal powers: A short-term sacrifice to ensure the long-term gain of the people

Akbayan welcomes President Benigno Aquino III‘s attempt to elucidate some of the issues that have since surfaced because of the pork barrel scam in his recent public address. We also welcome his resolve to make accountable the pork barrel plunderers and apply the full weight of the law to all those who have robbed the people of their money. At a time when there are attempts to obfuscate the people’s anti-pork, anti-corruption campaign from those who stand to lose much from it, we are glad that President Aquino has heeded the public’s call for clarity and transparency by making himself open to public engagement.

akbayan_logo

In the same spirit of openness, Akbayan conveys to President Aquino some of the points where it diverges from his public address on the pork barrel issue. First, even as we recognize his effort to explain the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), we assert that this must go hand in hand with the commitment to clip the fiscal powers of the Executive to further reform the country’s budget system. We remind the President that the DAP is one the facets of such vast and unbridled fiscal powers of the Executive–powers that have been gravely abused in the past and coveted by
some of those who seek to replace him after his term.

Second, the President must realize that not all those who are expressing their concern on DAP are diverting the issue away from the PDAF plunderers. Even though there is a need to remind the public of the important and pressing tasks of the anti-pork campaign, it is wrong to dismiss DAP, more so the executive’s fiscal powers as non-issues in the over-all reform process. Of all people, President Aquino knows too well the dire consequences of the unregulated fiscal powers of the executive having filed a Budget Impoundment Control bill when he was still a Senator during Gloria Macapagal Arroyo‘s pillage of the people’s fund.

Lastly, President Aquino must understand the necessity of implementing under his term deeper reforms particularly those that address the Executive’s unregulated fiscal powers. It is not enough to say that he has not stolen a single cent from the nation’s coffers. It is also severely inadequate for the people to solely rely on an incorruptible leader to assuage their fears that the nation’s coffers will not be abused while our budget system remains prone to corruption and other abuses. President Aquino must make necessary steps to ensure that future administrations will not abuse the people’s fund to entrench their interests, such as what have been displayed in the past.

Thus, we reiterate our call to the President to certify as urgent the passage of House Bill No. 2256 or the Savings and Augmentation Bill, House Bill No. 2257 or the Budget Impoundment Control Bill and House Bill No. 3128 or the Budget Reform Bill to regulate the Executive’s fiscal powers
and further democratize the budget system.

President Aquino must not only persevere and be courageous in punishing the pork barrel plunderers. He must go beyond courage and make the short-term sacrifice of clipping his own fiscal powers to ensure the long-term gain of the people. ###

Source: akbayan.org.ph

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[Blog] Atienza: Buhay’s dilemma by Rodne Galicha

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ATIENZA: BUHAY’S DILEMMA
by Rodne Galicha

Impact-zones-300x174

Rod Galicha2

Buhay Hayaang Yumabong or BUHAY party-list got three seats for the next Congress as it gained victory, garnering 1,265,992 votes equivalent to 4.74 percent of the total votes cast.

Buhay’s core principles are based on the Pledge of Allegiance to the Philippine Flag: for God, people, environment and country. Being pro-God is to recognize the sole right of God being the Creator to give and take away human life – the reason to oppose the Reproductive Health (RH) law. The second principle speaks of human rights in the perspective of belief in the first principle.

In being maka-kalikasan or pro-environment, Buhay believes that the Creator gave us abundant and overflowing natural resources which must be developed and used justly for the benefit of all Filipinos and the next generation – not only for the chosen few.

For country, Buhay sees that the Philippines was formed by God to be emulated by the world through the promotion of good and effective governance.

And here comes the second nominee of the top party-list: the incoming congressman Lito Atienza. Personally, I saw fiery swords falling from the heavens!

I first met Mr. Atienza in his office in 2007 when we discussed mining in Sibuyan Island and the killing of an environment activist, and again in 2009 when the Mangyans from Mindoro camped outside the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ national office.

Atienza headed DENR from 2007 until 2009 under the baton of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The latter was bullish in promoting the mining industry left and right through Executive Order 270-A and the Mining Act of 1995 despite lack of social acceptability and environmental threats to communities.

One working day, on December 23, 2009, before Atienza resigned as DENR secretary, he signed five mineral production sharing agreement permits and three exploration permits. What was questionable? All these are midnight deals. How come? December 24th was non-working holiday, 25th a regular holiday, 26th was a Saturday and 27th was Sunday. He resigned December 28th, Monday.

In 2007, he vowed to help us in Sibuyan as we personally delivered our petitions and opposition letters against nickel mining. After an anti-mining activist was shot to death, even the three mayors of our island, namely Ibarra Manzala, Nanette Tansingco and Nicasio Ramos that year signed a memorandum of agreement that destructive mining shall not be allowed. Even the barangay councils revoked former recommendatory resolutions. But lo and behold, in 2009, Atienza signed through a midnight deal an MPSA for 1,581 hectares of land to mine nickel, iron, cobalt, chromite and other associated mineral deposits.

This abominable act of Atienza is a total deviation from the very principles of Buhay party-list. It is against the integrity of creation, the right to life of the communities which also includes basic human rights, and good governance.

Atienza must be held accountable by Buhay itself, in the first place. By approving mining in my island, the source of our almost 95% clean energy is threatened – Cantingas River. It is also the source of our irrigation for our town’s rice granary on top of being the summer tourism capital of Sibuyan and apparently, of Romblon province as a whole.

Read full article @rodgalicha.com

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[In the news] Peasants ask: Why are ‘opposition’ provinces Quezon, Laguna not on list of coco-levy funded areas? -InterAksyon.com

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Peasants ask: Why are ‘opposition’ provinces Quezon, Laguna not on list of coco-levy funded areas?
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com
May 20, 2013

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MANILA, Philippines — A militant peasant group on Monday questioned the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for leaving out Quezon and Laguna in the priority provinces to be funded by the coco levy.

The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) suspects that the “arbitrary” exclusion may have something to do with Quezon and Laguna being “opposition” provinces.

“The exclusion of ‘opposition provinces’ from the priority areas to be funded by the coco levy funds shows Malacanang’s sinister plan to use small coconut farmers’ money for political purposes,” said KMP deputy secretary general Willy Marbella in a statement released on Monday.

David C. Suarez, governor of Quezon, has been reelected in the May 2013 midterm polls. Suarez trounced gubernatorial rival Irvin Alcala of the Liberal Party (LP) with a margin of 59,952 votes. Suarez is from the National Union Party formed by former members of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo‘s Lakas-Kampi-CMD party.

Read full article @www.interaksyon.com

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[Press Release] Prosecute Mastermind of Activist’s Murder. First Conviction for EJK During Aquino Admin -HRW

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Philippines: Prosecute Mastermind of Activist’s Murder
First Conviction for Extrajudicial Killing During Aquino Administration

200px-Hrw_logo.svg(Manila, May 10, 2013) – Philippine authorities should ensure that those who planned and financed the killing of an environmental activist in 2011 are arrested and prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said today.

In the first conviction for an extrajudicial killing since President Benigno S. Aquino III came to office in 2010, a court in Palawan on May 7, 2013, sentenced Marlon Recamata to 40 years in prison for the January 24, 2011, killing of Gerry Ortega. Recamata had been arrested moments after shooting Ortega and subsequently confessed to the crime, implicating others.

“The conviction of the gunman in the killing of activist Gerry Ortega is an overdue milestone for the Aquino administration,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “But the alleged mastermind is still at large and should not escape justice.”

While in custody, Recamata identified his accomplices, among them Rodolfo Edrad, a former soldier who allegedly coordinated the plot. Edrad in turn accused Joel Reyes, who was governor of Palawan from 2003 to 2010, as the author of the crime. Ortega had hosted a radio program on environmental issues and corruption that frequently criticized Reyes. The gun used in the murder was later traced to a person who had served as Reyes’ provincial administrator.

Seven other suspects in the case were taken into custody. Five are awaiting trial, one suspect died of natural causes while a second died under unclear circumstances.

In the past decade, government officials and members of the security forces in the Philippines have been implicated in several hundred politically motivated killings, but successive administrations have failed to obtain any convictions. The murder of Ortega, among the first extrajudicial killings during the Aquino administration, was one of the very few where the authorities gathered strong evidence and witnesses against the suspects.

In June 2011, a Department of Justice panel formed to investigate the case recommended the filing of charges against four suspects. But it removed Reyes, the former governor, his brother Mario, and five others, citing a lack of evidence.

After Ortega’s family protested the failure to charge Reyes and others, the Justice Department created a new panel to re-investigate the case, which in March 2012 proposed filing charges against Reyes, his brother, and three others. After arrest warrants were issued against Reyes and his brother, they evaded arrest by fleeing the country. Their lawyers, meanwhile, went to the Court of Appeals, which ruled in March 2013 that the charges against the Reyes brothers and the others should be dropped, citing judicial overreach by the Justice Department. The case is now pending in the Supreme Court.

Among his environmental activities, Ortega hosted a radio program in which he talked about environmental degradation, corruption, and other governance issues. In its 2013 Impunity Index, the Committee to Protect Journalists ranked the Philippines as the third most deadly for journalists in the world – after Iraq and Somalia – with 55 unsolved killings of journalists in the past decade.

As president, Aquino has promised to end impunity for extrajudicial killings. The number of killings has decreased significantly since the administration of his predecessor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, though they have not ended. The government has passed several key pieces of legislation on human rights. Yet the Aquino administration has made little progress in bringing perpetrators of serious human rights violations to justice and ending impunity.

“This first conviction was easy, as the gunman had confessed,” Adams said. “Now the government has to do the more difficult work of successfully prosecuting those who ordered Ortega’s murder. This would demonstrate that the government is finally getting serious about political killings.”

To read Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2013 chapter on the Philippines, “Philippines: A Year of Pluses, Minuses on Rights,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/02/01/philippines-year-pluses-minuses-rights

To read the report “‘No Justice Just Adds to the Pain’: Killings, Disappearances, and Impunity in the Philippines,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/18/no-justice-just-adds-pain-0

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the Philippines, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/-philippines

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[Press Release] Convict Election Saboteur, Pasay RTC told -SANLAKAS

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Convict Election Saboteur, Pasay RTC told

Partylist ask voters to reject “fake Bicolano”, “fake sekyu”

sanlakas-logo2Hundreds of members of activist partylist Sanlakas trooped to Pasay City Regional Trial Court today to call for the conviction of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in an electoral sabotage case filed by COMELEC against her two years ago.

“The best way to clean elections is to convict and punish election saboteurs. Failing to do so would encourage unscrupulous politicians to keep on cheating,” said Sanlakas National Spokesperson James Miraflor.

Sanlakas called on the prosecution to take its case against Arroyo seriously to send a strong message against “electoral corruption”.

“We support the COMELEC in its fight for electoral justice. It is not enough that we keep the institution of elections clean. We have to create a public lesson out of those besmirched it in the past. Ano sila, sinuswerte? (Should they be so lucky?),” Miraflor said.

Fake

Sanlakas also called on voters to reject members of the Arroyo family running for several positions in Congress.

“It seems to us that the Arroyo family is establishing a legacy of ‘fakes’. After a fake President, it has produced a fake security guard and a fake Bicolano,” Miraflor said, referring to the Ang Galing Pinoy partylist Rep. Mickey Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado ‘Dado’ Arroyo.

Mickey Arroy’s Ang Galing Pinoy partylist, which claims to represent security guards, tricycle drivers, farmers and small businessmen, has recently been disqualified by COMELEC because its nominees did not come from marginalized sectors.

“COMELEC just acted on what is already obvious. How can someone who never wore a security guard’s uniform represent them? We haven’t seen any tricycle drivers owning millions of dollars worth of properties in the US,” said Miraflor.

Sanlakas also insisted that Dato Arroyo did not hail from Bicol, as Dato only transferred from Ateneo de Manila University to Ateneo de Naga during college days.

“Dato Arroyo is actually born in Manila. His mother is from Pampanga while his Father is from Iloilo. How more non-Bicolano can you get? It just goes to show the lengths the Arroyo family will go to entrench themselves. That Dato did it when her mother is in power, when they should be making an example of exercising restraint, is really something else,” Miraflor said.

Pampanga deserves better

Sanlakas said that the people of Pampanga deserve better than an “absentee legislator” and a “cunning politician biding her time and using the Kapampangans as cover.”

“GMA’s entire career has been an exercise in the art of political manipulation. From when she maneuvered herself to hijack People Power II, hers is a long list of sophisticated crimes against democracy and decency. The people of Pampanga should not let themselves be used,” Miraflor said.

The militant partylist opposed Arroyo even during the EDSA II People Power revolution, opting to stick with the “Resign All” call even as other left-wing partylists supported the then Vice President when former President Joseph Estrada was ousted.

“All doors that GMA will open, Sanlakas will close,” Miraflor concluded.

January 31, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Contact Person:
James Miraflor, National Spokesperson @ 0927-613-2068
Val De Guzman, Media Liason @ 0919-965-7509

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[In the news] Gloria should be convicted on poll fraud case – PhilStar.com

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Gloria should be convicted on poll fraud case
philstar.com
January 31, 2013

philstar-logo-white1MANILA, Philippines – The partylist Sanlakas on Thursday called on the Pasay Regional Trial Court to convict former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the electoral sabotage case filed against her by Commission on Elections (Comelec) two years ago.

“The best way to clean elections is to convict and punish election saboteurs. Failing to do so would encourage unscrupulous politicians to keep on cheating,” said Sanlakas national spokesperson James Miraflor in a statement.

Sanlakas also called on the prosecution to take its case against Arroyo seriously to send a strong message against “electoral corruption”.

Read full article @www.philstar.com

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[Press Release] Green groups ask new AFP chief to pull our military in controversial mining project -ATM

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Green groups ask new AFP chief to pull our military in controversial mining project

atm-logoAlyansa Tigil Mina wrote the new Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista calling for an investigation on the increased presence of military in the communities surrounding the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project and total pullout of the said military detachments.

Jaybee Garganera, ATM national coordinator said: “We believe that the presence of military detachments in Tampakan and nearby villages will heighten the tension in the area and further escalate the threat of human rights violations against anti-mining communities, especially indigenous peoples.”

In January 16, MindaNews, a local newspaper in Mindanao reported that additional military were deployed in Sitio Lafla, Datal Alyong, and Datal Biao in the Municipality of Bong Mal, in Kiblawan Davao del Sur.

A recent and controversial case is the massacre of the Capion Family in Bong Mal in October 18 last year, which was immediately admitted to by the 27th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army led by Lt. Col. Dante Jimenez. At that time, the Philippine Army was under the command of Bautista.

Garganera added: “We are gravely dismayed that the Court Martial has not been convened, when reports show that the military failed to follow rules of engagement.”

Jimenez and his team were only suspended after the said incident.

In the letter received by the AFP chief yesterday, ATM cited Bautista’s acceptance speech:

“calling for an end to armed violence and in advocating for peace, to allow us to focus on the important task of securing the sovereignty of our state and the integrity of our national territory and protecting our people from the adverse effect of climate change and environmental degradation.” (PDI, 18 January 2013)

“In this case, if Lt. Gen. Bautista is sincere when he said in hi speech that–we felt it is only right for him to command the military to pull out from sites where there are no intelligence or basis of counterinsurgency or reason for the military to roam around,” Garganera concluded.

Earlier reports identified Lt. Gen. Bautista as the brains of Oplan Bayanihan, a counterinsurgency program of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Alyansa Tigil Mina is an alliance of mining-affected communities and their support groups of NGOs/POs and other civil society organizations who are opposing the aggressive promotion of large-scale mining in the Philippines. The alliance is currently pushing for a moratorium on mining, revocation of Executive Order 270-A, repeal of the Mining Act of 1995 and passage of the AMMB. (30)

For more information:

Jaybee Garganera, ATM National Coordinator, nc@alyansatigilmina.net, 09277617602
Farah Sevilla, Policy Research and Advocacy Officer, policy@alyansatigilmina.net, 0915-3313361

Visit our website: http://www.alyansatigilmina.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alyansa-Tigil-Mina/141872819244724?ref=ts&fref=ts
Twitter: atm_philippines

Press Release
January 23, 2013

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[Press Release] Milestone Law Criminalizes Forced Disappearances, Aquino Enacts First Law of its Kind in Asia -HRW

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Philippines: Milestone Law Criminalizes Forced Disappearances
Aquino Enacts First Law of its Kind in Asia

English: Human Rights Watch logo Русский: Лого...

(Manila, December 21, 2012) – The new law that criminalizes enforced disappearances in the Philippines is the first of its kind in Asia and a major milestone in ending this horrific human rights violation, Human Rights Watch said today. President Benigno S. Acquino III signed the law today.

The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012 closely reflects international legal standards on enforced disappearance. Although Congress passed the law in October, Aquino did not immediately sign it despite reports of new abductions of leftist activists. Enforced disappearances are defined as the detention of a person by state officials or their agents followed by a refusal to acknowledge the detention or to reveal the person’s fate or whereabouts. People held in secret are especially vulnerable to torture and other abuses, and their families suffer from lack of information.

“President Aquino and the Congress deserve credit for acting to end the scourge of enforced disappearances in the Philippines,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This law is a testament to the thousands of ‘disappearance’ victims since the Marcos dictatorship, whose long-suffering families are still searching for justice. The challenge now is for the government to move quickly to enforce the new law.”

The new law reflects longtime recommendations by human rights organizations to the government to address unacknowledged detentions. Anyone convicted of committing an enforced disappearance faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and may not receive an amnesty. Superior officers who order or are otherwise implicated in a disappearance face the same penalty as those who directly carried out the crime. The government cannot suspend the law even in times of war or public emergency.

A crucial provision of the law says that those accused of forced disappearances may not invoke “orders of battle” – military documents that identify alleged enemies – as justification or an exempting circumstance. Many victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines have been listed or said to have been listed in such “orders of battle.” The law specifically allows a person who receives an illegal order to commit a disappearance to disobey it.

The law defines an enforced or involuntary disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such person outside the protection of the law.” This definition is derived from international human rights standards.

The law also prohibits secret detention facilities. The government is to make a full inventory of all detention facilities in the Philippines and create a registry of every detainee, complete with all relevant details including who visited the detainee and how long the visit lasted. It also mandates and authorizes the governmental Commission on Human Rights “to conduct regular, independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to or inspection of all places of detention and confinement.” Human rights organizations are encouraged to assist the Justice Department in proposing rules and regulations for enforcement.

“Effective enforcement of this new law by the Philippine government will deter enforced disappearances and address the deep-seated problem of impunity for human rights abusers,” Adams said.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos, enforced disappearances were rampant, as the military and police routinely rounded up activists and suspected communist rebels and supporters. The practice did not end with Marcos’s ouster in 1986. Many enforced disappearances occurred during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Several activists have “disappeared” since Aquino took office in 2010, according to local rights groups, though there are no allegations that these were ordered by Aquino or other members of his government.

Human Rights Watch detailed some cases of disappearances in its 2010 report, “No Justice Just Adds to the Pain,” and in a video released earlier in 2012 in which family members of the disappeared call on President Aquino to live up to his promises of justice.

The Philippine government should also sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and transmit it to the Senate for prompt ratification, Human Rights Watch said. In Asia, only Japan has ratified the convention, although Laos, India, Indonesia, and Thailand have signed it.

In addition to signing the anti-disappearance law, Aquino is expected to soon sign the landmark reproductive-health bill recently passed by Congress. The bill aims to improve the lives of many Filipino women and to reduce the country’s high maternal mortality rate.

“President Aquino should be commended for these two important human rights laws, but too often new laws in the Philippines are followed by inaction,” Adams said. “Aquino now needs to demonstrate leadership to overcome the obstacles to these laws and ensure they are fully enforced.”

To read the report “No Justice Just Adds to the Pain,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/18/no-justice-just-adds-pain-0

To view the video “Philippines: Abuses Go Unpunished,” please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNY8QovO7f0

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the Philippines, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/-philippines

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or change the original material.

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[Press Release] Rights groups commemorate Political Prisoners’ Day -TFDP

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Rights groups commemorate Political Prisoners’ Day 
Call on Government to stand by its commitment to look into the plight of Political Prisoners in the country

pps day poster8 copy

On the occasion of human rights week, rights group Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) commemorated the annual Political Prisoners’ Day last December 7, 2012 at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa. Together with other human rights groups and 58 victims of political incarceration in NBP, they reiterated their call for President Benigno Aquino III to release all political prisoners.

According to Emmanuel Amistad, Executive Director of TFDP, the Aquino government has yet to prove its sincerity fifteen months after last year’s dialogue in response to the hunger strike undertaken by political prisoners.

“More than one year after the hunger strike for freedom and human rights, brought about by the death of Tatay Umbrero, the political prisoner who suffered and died in lung cancer, the government has not fulfilled any of its commitment,” Amistad lamented.

The political prisoners’ hunger strike that took place during President Aquino’s 2011 State of the Nation Address was lifted after almost two months when the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) went into a dialogue with human rights groups.

DOJ committed to reactivate the Presidential Committee on Bail Recognizance and Parole (PCBREP), an interagency created during the former President Fidel V. Ramos term tasked to evaluate releases for alleged political offenders.

Former President Joseph Estrada continued its existence and it was again reactivated under former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that eventually released eight political prisoners in her last term of office.

Secretary Leila De Lima assigned Usec. Francisco Baraan to lead PCBREP.
“We were informed that last October PCBREP recommended five political prisoners for release. Until now their papers are pending and we fear that it will be on hold especially with government’s attitude towards the issue. We are referring to Presidential Spokesperson Lacierda’s statement that there are no political prisoners in the country,” said Amistad.

“TFDP has documented more than 300 political prisoners and detainees languishing in jails nationwide. We challenge PNoy and Secretary De Lima to stand by their commitment. Release all victims of political incarceration,” Amistad concluded.

TFDP is a national human rights organization founded in 1974 by the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP).

PRESS RELEASE
December 7, 2012

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[In the news] Super body formed to probe extrajudicial killings -INQUIRER.net

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Super body formed to probe extrajudicial killings
By Christine O. Avendaño, Philippine Daily Inquirer
November 27, 2012

President Benigno Aquino has created a super body that will investigate old and new cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other grave human rights violations, with “greater priority” to be given to those committed under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday released to reporters Administrative Order No. 35 creating this body, which she said the President signed on Nov. 22, the eve of the third anniversary of the infamous massacre of 58 people allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan and their followers in Maguindanao in 2009.

Under the AO, the President created a nine-member “Inter-agency committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons.”

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

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[Statement] Non-Passage of the FOI Bill in the 15th Congress is Not Acceptable -Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition

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Non-Passage of the FOI Bill in the 15th Congress is Not Acceptable-Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition

Carpe diem! Seize the day!
A little over three months ago, Speaker Belmonte uttered these words to summon his colleagues in the House of Representatives to work harder and faster on bills pending in the chamber, not least of them the FOI (Freedom of Information) bill. This clarion call may well be addressed not only to the House, but to the Senate, the Executive, and the public as well.

Starting Nov. 5, the FOI bill enters a most critical stage. There would only be 35 working days left before Congress again adjourns on December 21. Session will resume for only 15 working days next year from January 21 to February 8, after which legislative work virtually grinds to a halt to give way to the campaign for the May 13, 2013 elections.

While time is running out, the FOI bill can still take a different path than it did under the 14th Congress of Speaker Prospero Nograles and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, if only the House of Representatives, the Senate, and President Benigno S. Aquino III will take decisive action now.

At the House of Representatives, the first hurdle will be for the Committee on Public Information to approve a committee report when it meets on Tuesday, November 13.

After the bill passes the Committee on November !3, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. must be able to lead the House in approving the bill before it adjourns on December 22.

At the Senate, the progress of the FOI bill has slowed down despite the strong stated commitment to its passage by the Senate leadership and FOI champions. After Senator Gregorio Honasan II sponsored the FOI committee report before the Senate plenary last 4 June, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, a key champion of the FOI bill, has not found an opportunity to deliver his co-sponsorship speech that would pave the way for the period of interpellation on the bill.

We hope Senator Cayetano delivers his co-sponsorship speech at the soonest, and Senator Honasan shepherds the bill through interpellations and approval in plenary also before the December 22 adjournment.

Only an approval of the FOI bill on second and third reading in both Houses before adjournment on December 22 will allow it to go through bicameral conference committee in time for ratification when session resumes in January.

While the primary burden for passing the FOI law rests with Congress, there is no denying the critical factor that Malacañang‘s unequivocal support will play in getting this landmark measure through. Even as we acknowledge Malacañang’s endorsement of an amended FOI bill in Congress in February this year, the hands-off position that Malacañang has since taken on the bill is regarded by no less than House Committee Chairman Ben Evardone as a signal to prevent the advance of the measure.

In an interview in the television program Failon Ngayon last August, Evardone gave the following explanation for his earlier inaction on the FOI bill:

“Hindi naman ako ang pumipigil personal. Ako, matagal ko nang gustong ilabas yan dito sa committee ko eh dahil ako nga ang nabubugbog sa media. Eh dati pa akong taga media. Eh hindi naman puwedeng ako lang mag-decide n’yan, siyempre. Eh ito pang issue na napaka-sensitibo, napaka-controversial, at hindi naman priority ng ating Pangulo, kasi wala doon sa legislative agenda na sinubmit sa atin, wala doon sa SONA, although binanggit ng ating Speaker na isa yan sa mga kung baga dapat na pagbigyan ng priority.”

Evardone added:

“But there is no party stand. Is there a party stand of the Liberal Party? There is none! Kung merong party stand ang Liberal Party, no problem, ako I toe the line.”

With Evardone openly and publicly blaming President Aquino and his party for the delay in the passage of the FOI Act, we must hear from the President and LP reformers to refute Evardone, and take an unambiguous support for the FOI bill’s passage as they do on other measures such as the sin tax bill.

On our part we see the roadblocks to the passage of the FOI law as a challenge to strengthen our resolve to push for the immediate passage of the FOI law.

The importance of passing the FOI Act is acknowledged by the highest leaders of our country.

In his speech before the Makati Business Club – Management Association of the Philippines joint membership meeting on 19 November 2010, Speaker Belmonte emphasized that “the drive against corruption requires a comprehensive approach that includes enhancing law enforcement, increasing prosecutorial success, and establishing a culture of transparency in government.” He identified the FOI bill as among the legislative proposals being studied towards such ends.

Senate President Enrile provided a keen insight into the impact of passing the FOI Act, in his speech at the opening of the third regular session of the 15th Congress last July 23. He said:

“The benefits of transparency are mutually advantageous to civil society and government. The vigilance of our citizens becomes the standard (on) which our public leaders will be measured. Transparency parts the curtains of corruption and illegal practices. In turn, accountability, will refine decision-making, and make leadership and public institutions more responsive and efficient.”

Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad, in a statement released when he submitted Malacañang’s endorsed version of the FOI bill to the House last February, said that it is essential in the Aquino administration’s governance and anti-corruption plan:

“President Aquino believes that we can curb corruption more successfully and strengthen public institutions if citizens are given greater access to official information. Moreover, freedom of information—limited only by a few legitimate areas of confidentiality—will empower the people to hold their leaders accountable and get actively involved in governance.”

Time is of the essence to maximize the FOI law’s full potential in fighting corruption and ingraining the culture of transparency and accountability in government. If we again wait for the next Congress to pass the FOI law, there would be very limited time to ensure its proper and effective implementation that we hope an anti-corruption administration can ensure. One key lesson from anti-corruption efforts is that we are weakest in implementation.

Also, passing the FOI law now will reinforce the political statement that the fight against corruption applies equally to all. It will no doubt make a difference in the landscape of the anti-corruption efforts of government, which used to put political survival at the forefront while key measures are made to wait in order to manage politics.

We will not accept a non-passage of the FOI bill in the 15th Congress!

As part of our continuing expression of our collective demand for the immediate passage of the FOI bill, we shall peaceably assemble in Mendiola on 12 November 2012, and call on President Aquino as well as the leaders and members of the Senate and House of Representatives, to honor their promise to pass the Freedom of Information Act.
Signed (5 November 2012):

1. Atty. Nepomuceno Malaluan
Co-Director, Institute for Freedom of Information and
Co-Convenor, Right to Know. Right Now! Coalition

2. Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, DD
Chairman, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines – National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA)

3. Ms. Malou Mangahas
Executive Director, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

4. Ms. Annie Geron
General Secretary, Public Services Labor Independent Confederation (PSLINK)

5. Mr. Vincent Lazatin
Executive Director, Transparency and Accountability Network

6. Prof. Luis Teodoro
Deputy Director, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility

7. Mr. Josua Mata
Secretary General, Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)

8. Ms. Yuen Abana
Campaign Coordinator, Partido ng Manggagawa

9. Ms. Clarissa V. Militante
Coordinator, Focus on the Global South, Philippines Programme

10. Mr. Jun Aguilar
Mr. Elso Cabangon
Filipino Migrant Workers Group

11. Mr. Max M. De Mesa
Chairperson, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)

12. Mr. Ramon R. Tuazon, President
Dr. Florangel Rosario-Braid, President Emeritus & Senior Adviser?
Ms. Madeline B. Quiamco, Dean
Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication

13. Atty. Roberto Eugenio Cadiz
Executive Director, Libertás

14. Prof. Leonor M. Briones
Lead Covenor, Social Watch Philippines

15. Ms. Maxine Tanya Hamada
Executive Director, International Center for Innovation, Transformation and Excellence in Governance (INCITEGov)

16. Mr. Norman Cabrera, Secretary General
Mr. John Carlos G. de los Reyes, Candidate for Senator (2013)
Mr. Rizalito Y. David, Candidate for Senator (2013)
Atty. Marwil Llasos, Candidate for Senator (2013)
Mr. Carlos Cabochan, Candidate for Representative, 2nd District of Caloocan City (2013)
Mr. Harry Tambuatco, Candidate for Representative, Lone district of Muntinlupa city (2013)
Mr. Edilberto M. Cuenca, Candidate for Representative, 1st District of Makati City (2013)
Mr. Frank Reyes, Candidate for Representative, Lone District of Mandaluyong City (2013)
Ang Kapatiran Party

17. Atty Eirene Jhone Aguila
FOI and New Politics Advocate

18. Ms. Joy Aceron
Program Director, Government Watch/ PODER, Ateneo School of Government

19. Dr. Segundo Romero
Program Director, Ateneo School of Government

20. Mr. Bong Fabe
Freelance journalist

21. Ms. Jenina Joy Chavez
Southeast Asia Monitor for Action

22. Dr. Joseph Anthony Lim
Professor, Economics Department, Ateneo De Manila University

23. Dr. J. Prospero de Vera
Professor, UPNCPAG
Executive Director, Pimentel Institute for Leadership and Governance

24. Atty. Risa Halagueña
Fellow, Action for Economic Reforms

25. Sr. Cres Lucero, SFIC, Co-Chairperson
Mr. Emmanuel Amistad, Executive Director
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines

26. Atty. Corazon Valdez Fabros
Lead Convenor, Stop the War Coalition Philippines

27. Ms. Ana Maria R. Nemenzo
National Coordinator, WomanHealth Philippines

28. Mr. Rolando Ocampo
Spokesperson, Prudentialife Warriors/Movement for Change and Good Governance

29. Ms. Cielo Magno
Coordinator, Bantay Kita

30. Mr. Red Batario, Executive Director
Ms. G. Sevilla Alvarez, Program Director
Center for Community Journalism and Development

31. Ms. Marjorie Anne Yoro
Suprema, UP Kabataang Pilosopo Tasyo (KaPiTas), UP Diliman

32. Ms. Moses Albiento
Chairperson, Alliance of Student Leaders (ASL), Ateneo de Manila University

33. Mr. Joseph Angelo Gutierrez
Chairperson, Movement of Students for Progressive Leadership in UP (MOVE UP), UP Los Baños

34. Mr. Tristan Daine Zinampan
Chairperson, Linking Everyone Towards Service CDC (LETS CDC), College of Development Communication, UP Los Baños

35. Ms. Mary Ann Fuertes
Executive Director, Interface Development Interventions, Inc. (Davao City)

36. Atty. Arvin A. Jo
Focal Person, The Access Initiative – Philippines

37. Ms. April Lamentillo
Supremo, Sandigan ng mga Iskolar para sa Nagkakaisang CAS (SINAG CAS), College of Arts and Sciences, UP Los Baños

38. Mr. Curt Russel Lopez Delfin
President, Metro Manila Alliance of Communication Students (MACS)

39. Mr. John Mark Salvador
President, Bagong Benilde, De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde

40. Mr. Van Battad
President, UP Sirkulo ng mga Kabataang Artista (SIKAT), UP Diliman

41. Ms. Luisa Lioanag
Bos Tsip-Tsip, UP Bukluran sa Sikolohiyang Pilipino (Buklod-Isip), UP Diliman

42. Ms. Starjoan Villanueva
Executive Director, Alternate Forum for Research in Mindanao

43. Mr. Joseph Purugganan
Coordinator, EU-ASEAN FTA Network

44. Ms. Patricza Torio
Tagapangulo, UP Lipunang Pangkasaysayan (LIKAS), UP Diliman

45. Ms. Marian Bahalla
Chairperson, Laban COC Party, College of Communication, Polytechnic University of the Philippines

46. Mr. Arjay Mercado
President, UP Economics Towards Consciousness (ETC), UP Diliman

47. Mr. Joshua Layog
Primer, Katipunan CHE, College of Human Ecology, UP Los Baños

48. Ms. Ema Escanilla
Speaker, UP People-Oriented Leadership in the Interest of Community Awareness (UP POLITICA), UP Diliman

49. Mr. Edward Dayog
President, UP Organization of Human Rights Advocates (OHRA), UP Diliman

50. Mr. JC Tejano
National Chairperson, Bukluran ng mga Progresibong Iskolar – UP System (BUKLURAN – UP SYSTEM)

51. Ms. Ara Tan
President, UP Kalipunan ng mga Mag-aaral ng Sosyolohiya (KMS), UP Diliman

52. Mr. Ace Ligsay
Chairperson, UP Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (UP ALYANSA), UP Diliman

53. Mr. Mickey Eva
President, Coalition for Students’ Rights and Welfare (STRAW Coalition)

54. Mr. Carlo Brolagda, Chairperson
Mr. Chris Alquizalas, Councilor
College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (CSSPSC), UP Diliman / Convenors, FOI Youth Initiative (FYI)

55. Mr. Joshua Young
Chairperson, Bigkis ng mga Iskolar Para sa Bayan Tungo sa Makabuluhang Pagbabago – UPM (BIGKIS-UPM), UP Manila

56. Mr. Viko Fumar
President, BUKLOD CSSP, College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, UP Diliman

57. Julliano Fernando A. Guiang
Councilor, University Student Council, UP Diliman
Convenor, Disclose All Records (DARe) Movement

58. Mr. Deg Daupan
President, Alternatibong Katipunan ng mga Mag-aaral (AKMA), UP Baguio

59. Mr. Walter Tamayo
History Department Representative, AngKAS (CSSP History Department Core Group), UP Diliman

60. Mr. Gio Alejo
President, Sanggunian ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila, Ateneo de Manila University

61. Mr. Jose Valencia
President, KASAPI Kaisahan ng Migranteng Manggagawa sa Gresya

================
REFERENCE:

ATTY. NEPOMUCENO MALALUAN
Co-Convenor, Right to Know, Right Now! Coalition
Email: nepo_m@yahoo.com
Mobile: 0918 927 1501

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[In the news] Rights lawyers welcome enforced disappearance bill with guarded optimism | Sun.Star

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Rights lawyers welcome enforced disappearance bill with guarded optimism | Sun.Star.

October 20, 2012

HUMAN rights lawyers have challenged President Benigno Aquino III to sign and implement the proposed bill putting persons responsible for the commission of enforced disappearances accountable.

In a statement, the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) said they are hoping that the measure will not be used the police and military to escape prosecution from the crime allegedly committed by some of their members.

“We pray that beyond the elegant and formal legal language, no false hope is added to injury by State security forces who will circumvent and even mock it on the ground like other rights laws; by a judiciary perceived by the families to be at times unresponsive and even detached from social realities,” the group said.

Militants often blame the government for scores of enforced disappearances, particularly during the time of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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[Press Release] Aquino Should Sign Landmark Disappearances Law -HRW

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Philippines: Aquino Should Sign Landmark Disappearances Law
Break With Past Administrations, Show Regional Leadership

(New York, October 18, 2012) – President Benigno Aquino III should sign into law a bill criminalizing enforced disappearances in the Philippines, Human Rights Watch said today. The Philippine Congress passed the bill, the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012, on October 16, 2012, and sent it to the president for signature.

The law, if enacted, would be the first to criminalize enforced disappearances in Asia, Human Rights Watch said. It would demonstrate the Philippine government’s commitment to address human rights abuses such as the abduction and killing by the security forces of activists, environmentalists, and journalists.

“Enforced disappearances, often involving torture and extrajudicial killings, have been a blot on the Philippines’ human rights record since the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “To this day, activists are still being abducted by the authorities and ‘disappeared.’ This law would be an important step towards ending these abuses.”

The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012 reflects recommendations long made by domestic human rights organizations. It defines an enforced or involuntary disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty committed by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which places such person outside the protection of the law.” This definition is derived from international human rights standards.

The act penalizes violators with a life sentence or decades in prison. It also prohibits amnesty for violators and declares that the government cannot suspend the law even in times of war or public emergency. It states that the commanding or superior officer of the unit or personnel implicated in an enforced disappearance case is just as liable as the person who physically carries out the crime.

Crucially, the act also makes the “order of battle” – a document prepared by the military identifying alleged threats and enemies – illegal, stating that “it cannot be invoked as a justifying or exempting circumstance.” Under the act, any person who receives an “order of battle” from their superiors “shall have the right to disobey it.” Many victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings have been listed or said to have been listed in such “orders of battle.”

The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012 also deems unlawful secret detention facilities and directs the government to make a full inventory of all detention facilities in the Philippines. It orders the government to create a registry of every detainee, complete with all relevant details including who visited the detainee and how long the visit lasted. The act also mandates and authorizes the governmental Commission on Human Rights “to conduct regular, independent, unannounced and unrestricted visits to or inspection of all places of detention and confinement.” It allocates 10 million pesos (approximately US$250,000) to the commission, which will be tasked with the initial implementation of the law. Human rights organizations are likewise encouraged to draft the implementing rules and regulations along with the Department of Justice.

Enforced disappearances were rampant during the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos, when the military and police routinely rounded up activists and suspected communist supporters and rebels. The practice did not end with Marcos’s ouster in 1986. Many enforced disappearances occurred during the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. At least 11 activists have “disappeared” since Aquino took office in 2010, according to local rights groups, though there are no allegations that the Aquino administration has direct responsibility.

Human Rights Watch detailed some of these cases in its 2010 report, “No Justice Just Adds to the Pain,” and in a video released earlier this year in which family members of the disappeared call on the president to live up to his promises of justice.

Human Rights Watch urged Aquino to sign the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and transmit it to the Senate for prompt ratification.

In Asia, only Japan has signed and ratified the Convention, placing Asia behind other regions of the world.

“Congress has done a great job in taking the initiative to pass a law on enforced disappearances,” Adams said. “President Aquino can show his administration’s commitment to ending this black chapter of Philippine history. He can also assume a role as a regional leader on human rights.”

To read “No Justice Just Adds to the Pain,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2011/07/18/no-justice-just-adds-pain

To watch the video “Philippines: No Justice for Victims of Enforced Disappearances,” please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/06/27/philippines-two-years-under-aquino-abuses-go-unpunished

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the Philippines, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/-philippines

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or change the original material.

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[In the news] Former President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo arrested for plunder | Sun.Star

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Former President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo arrested for plunder | Sun.Star.

Arroyo arrested for plunder
October 4, 2012

MANILA (Updated) — The Philippine National Police (PNP) served an arrest warrant Thursday on former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for a charge of plunder

Senior Superintendent Joel Coronel, PNP Criminal Investigation Group National Capital Region chief, said they served the warrant on Arroyo at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon around 4 p.m.

The Pampanga representative was admitted Thursday morning at the VMMC after complaining of numbness of her hands. She returned to the VMMC, prior to the service of the arrest order, for a regular therapy for a neck injury.

Her attending doctors said she is suffering from dehydration and had to be confined.

The warrant was issued Wednesday by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan over the alleged misuse of P365 million in Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds during her presidency.

Arroyo was previously put under arrest at the VMMC on a charge of electoral sabotage, but she jumped bail.

Coronel said Arroyo was with her lawyer, Anacleto Diaz, and her spokesperson, Elena Bautista Horn, during the service of the warrant.

He said Arroyo underwent medical check-up and other standard procedures like finger-printing upon the service of the warrant.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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[From the web] Aquino’s warped sense of justice: GMA freed, torturer promoted, impunity ignored -Karapatan

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Aquino’s warped sense of justice: GMA freed, torturer promoted, impunity ignored

“And so this is justice under Aquino — torturers are given plum positions in the military, and the rich, powerful and notorious human rights violators like Palparan and Arroyo are mockingly free as preying vultures. No wonder, Noynoy deliberately omitted anything on human rights and peace in his SONA, a tacit and dangerous signal for state security forces to continue to prowl, with terror and violence against the people.”

Thus said Karapatan spokesperson Cristina Palabay, after news came out on the court resolution granting bail for former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the designation of Morong 43 torturer Col. Aurelio Baladad as acting commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Division of the Phil. Army, shortly after Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). In his SONA, Aquino heralded the state of “justice” under his administration.

Karapatan supported the Morong 43 health workers who filed criminal and civil charges against Arroyo and Baladad, and the mothers of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno who also filed criminal cases against Palparan resulting to the issuance of an arrest warrant. The group also filed an opposition to the appointments of Gen. Jorge Segovia and Baladad at the Commission on Appointments based on the pending complaints against them.

“It is reprehensible that a former President and military generals, whose notoriety on human rights violations has been condemned by the Filipino and the international community, are now both walking free from accountability. The crooked path of impunity lies under Aquino,” Palabay added.

The group also scored the series of moves to cover up the liabilities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police in the extrajudicial killing of Italian missionary Fr. Fausto Tentorio and Dutch development worker Willem Geertman. Prior to Aquino’s SONA, the PNP investigators have stated robbery as the main motive behind the killing of Geertman, while paramilitary elements were excluded by the Dept. of Justice from the list of suspects in the killing of Tentorio.

“These are among the cases of extrajudicial killings that all remain unsolved under Aquino. Again, it begs the question: what kind of justice is Aquino harping on in his SONA? Clearly, it is the kind of justice that bears upon the poor and those working for meaningful changes in society, while promoting ‘justice’ for the moneyed and powerful,” Palabay concluded.

Source: www.karapatan.org

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[Press Release] PALEA holds protest as 234 members threatened with arrest

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PALEA holds protest as 234 members threatened with arrest

Some 100 members of the Philippine Airlines Employee Association (PALEA) picketed the Pasay Hall of Justice this morning as union lawyers filed a petition for the Municipal Trial Court to review the finding of “probable cause” by a fiscal. In a resolution dated June 20, 2012, the city prosecutor recommended the filing of information against 234 respondents to the case.

“Ex-President Gloria Arroyo is freed on bail by a Pasay fiscal despite arguably strong evidence of electoral sabotage while a colleague threatens 234 workers with arrest for alleged ‘economic sabotage’ on dubious grounds. PALEA’s protest at the airport last September 27, 2011 was an exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right of workers to concerted action and thus not illegal nor criminal,” asserted Gerry Rivera, PALEA president.

Warrants of arrest may be issued against the accused even as the resolution provides for bail of Php 6,000 each or a total of Php 1,404,000. Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed the case for alleged violation of RA 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) Law, specifically Section 81 (b) (5) which sanctions “any person who destroys or seriously damages the facilities of an airport or disrupts the services of an airport”. PAL initially announced that some 300 PALEA members joined the protest action thus the respondents have been called the PALEA 300.

Rivera added that the decision has a chilling effect on labor relations and is a clear and present danger to workers rights. “Labor protests will then be banned in the aviation industry with workers penalized by both imprisonment and fine in violation of constitutionally guaranteed rights. This will be a grave precedent and new special laws can then be enacted to deny workers the freedoms of assembly, expression, self-organization and strike. But PALEA will not be cowed as our fight enters it 10th month,” he explained.

“Early next week, we will also file a similar petition to the Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction over prosecutors, for a review of the resolution. We expect that these motions would stay the issuance of warrants of arrest,” Rivera added.

He explained that “The decision is void of any legal basis as no damages were committed to airport facilities. Moreover the case is a labor issue and thus prior authority from the Department of Labor and Employment and the Department of Justice should have been secured prior to the filing of the complaint. The CAAP Law is also explicit in providing that ‘only the Director General’ can file the appropriate charges and not the PAL Vice-President of the Airport Services as in this case.”

Rivera further asserted that PAL services deteriorated sharply after September not because of damaged equipments but due to lack of skilled and experienced manpower after PALEA members, in opposition to outsourcing, refused to transfer to assigned service providers. PALEA insists that PAL can only “fly the flag proud” by getting its regular workers back. Supporters of PALEA are calling for a boycott of PAL and its sister company Air Philippines until the laid off workers are reinstated to their regular jobs.

Press Release
July 27, 2012
PALEA
Contact Gerry Rivera @ 09157755073

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[People] Free but not free by Mon Casiple

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Free but not free

by Mon Casiple
moncasiple.wordpress.com

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was released from detention through a grant of bail by the Pasay City Regional Trial Court. Expectedly, her camp extolled the court decision as a “victory against dictatorship,” presumably the Aquino administration. It was even posited as a big blow to the anti-corruption campaign and the political standing of President Aquino.

I do not think these views are correct. The order for release of Ms. Macapagal-Arroyo does not, in the first place, mean her innocence in the charge against her; it only means that the evidence presented against her by the prosecution is considered weak by the prosecution. The case will continue to be tried on merits and additional evidence.

The political battle last November 2011 revolved around GMA’s attempt to flee the country and possibly escape prosecution. The instant case of electoral sabotage in the 2007 elections served then to prevent her from doing so by virtue of the hold-departure order issued by the Pasay City RTC. Incidentally, this also rendered moot and academic the controversial “watch-list order” issued by DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima. I doubt if GMA’s arrest and detention–which is the subject of the bail decision–was the primary objective during that period.

Read full article @ moncasiple.wordpress.com

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[In the news] GMA’s release indicates ’double standard’ justice – rights group -POC

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GMA’s release indicates ’double standard’ justice – rights group
Migrante-Middle East, www.thepoc.net
July 26,2012

An activist overseas Filipino migrants’ right group reacted thus to the release from hospital arrest of former president and incumbent Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after the court granted her bail on the grounds that the electoral sabotage case filed against her by the Commission on Election (COMELEC) is weak.

“Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, given her status, political clout and wealth, simply escapes imprisonment. She was never imprisoned anyway as she was in hospital arrest for eight months enjoying privileges not given to an accused of high crimes such as electoral sabotage and plunder, among others,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante-Middle East regional coordinator.

“It seems so easy for the court to grant Mrs. Arroyo bail and right after her camp sought her release from hospital arrest while there are 300+ political prisoners who were charged of common crimes but were denied bail and still languishing in jails for years even without proper cases filed,” he added.

Read full article @ www.thepoc.net

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