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[Blog] Human rights week 2013 and beyond. By Mokong

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HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK 2013 AND BEYOND.

By Mokong Perspektib

With the theme, “Sa kulang-kulang na pamamahala, TAO ang kawawa. Dapat Tao Muna,” the right of the people to government’s response in tragedies, climate change and all human rights was the focus of the campaign by human rights groups and activists in the Philippines that commemorated the Human Rights Week for more than one week. 

Here are 10 of the events that I was aware of that groups and individuals conducted in contribution of the 65th year commemoration of the UDHR and/or in the promotion of human rights.

Mokong logo copy

  1. NOVEMBER 23 –JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF AMPATUAN MASSACRE

International Day to End Impunity posterFour years have passed since 58 people were murdered in the deadliest attacked made against media called the “Ampatuan Massacre” on a hilltop in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao. Four years, and still justice remains illusive at nagiging pahabaan ng pisi ata ang laban.

“Four years after the Ampatuan massacre, it is all too clear that the only way we will ever find justice and the freedom to fully enjoy our rights is to lay claim to them, to seize them and, once we have them, to nurture them and jealously guard them against all those who would keep them from us.”-NUJP

Also worldwide, the International Day to End Impunity (IDEI) is commemorated annually on November 23 by advocates for free expression. IFEX (the global network defending and promoting free expression) declared the day as the International Day to End Impunity in 2011. It is a day dedicated to a call to action to demand justice for those who have been targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression, and to shed light on the issue of impunity.

They chose November 23 because it marks the day of the Ampatuan Massacre.

http://daytoendimpunity.org/about/

Media groups and people’s organizations held protest action in Mendiola on the night of November 23 and called on PNoy to make good of his campaign promise that the case would be resolved before the end of his term, and that the government would grant financial assistance to the families of the victims.

Photo extracted from Rappler/LeAnne Jazul

Photo extracted from Rappler/LeAnne Jazul

“The media group slammed Coloma for making the claim “considering that nothing has yet been accomplished in terms of hastening the pace of the massacre trial and the fresh killings of members of the media in the first 3 years of the Aquino administration.”

According to Alan Ace-Aclan, spokesperson for the group, “with injustice still rife and the murder of journalists and other critics of the government is still being reported on the fourth year of the massacre and 3 years after President Aquino was elected, it is crystal clear that the culture of impunity is still very much alive.”

photo by Rappler/LeAnne Jazul

http://www.rappler.com/nation/44451-ph-impunity-reigns-4-years-maguindanao-massacre

  1. NOVEMBER 25 -16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

take back the techAn international campaign originated from the first Women’s Global Leadership Institute sponsored by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership in 1991.

In the Philippines, From 25 Nov to 10 Dec, Take Back The Tech! Philippines posted videos of advocates declaring their commitments to end VAW.

See videos @ https://www.facebook.com/takebackthetechPH

Take Back the Tech Philippines is a collaborative campaign to reclaim information and communication technologies (ICT) to end violence against women (VAW) in the Philippines, and around the world..

  1. NOVEMBER 30 – BONIFACIO @150
Photo extracted from Yuen Abana FB

Photo extracted from Yuen Abana FB

Some 5,000 strong contingent of the broad labor coalition NAGKAISA marched to Mendiola to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the plebeian hero Andres Bonifacio.

Under the theme “Kalayaan Mula sa Pulitikong Kawatan, Delubyong Kahirapan, Trahedyang mula sa Kalikasan,” they called on PNoy to urgently address corruption, poverty and climate crisis.

The group also demanded that Gat Andes Bonifacio be declared as the first president of the Philippine republic.

  1. NOVEMBER 30 –BAYANIHAN REPUBLIC
Photo extracted from DAKILA FB page

Photo extracted from DAKILA FB page

Cyclists, artists and volunteers gathered together as one on November 30, 2013 as they take part in Bayanihan Republic, a fundraising festival for continued relief operations, psychosocial support, and on-ground initiatives to rebuild communities in areas affected by Typhoon Yolanda.

Bayanihan Republic is an initiative of Dakila in partnership with Jam 88.3, with the support of The Asia Foundation and the Fully Abled Nation and in cooperation with the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

  1. DECEMBER 2- 3RD HR PINDUTEROS CHOICE AWARDS NIGHT
Photo by Rommel Yamzon

Photo by Rommel Yamzon

For the third time since 2011, Human Rights Online Philippines or HRonlinePH.com gave recognition to human rights defenders’ efforts to promote, assert and defend human rights by maximizing online platforms. The event celebrated the assertion for freedom of expression and opinion online and offline with the theme “Internet Freedom… our rights, our choice, our voice.”

Winners are

POSTS

AUTHOR

CATHEGORY

Project Byline: Rights All- You-Can campaign

UPCJ

HR Campaign

PR: Teachers ask DEPED to expedite the release of bonus

TDC

HR Network’s Post

[Appeal] An Open Letter to Pond’s and All Whitening Products

Renee Juliene M. Karunungan

HR Pindutero’s Post

WE ARE NATURE rodgalicha.com

Rodney Galicha

HR Blogsite

philippinehumanrights.org

PAHRA

HR Website

Love is…Freedom from Violence!

World March of Women – Pilipinas

HR Event

Rated PG at PETA Arts Zone: “Love Does Not Hurt” campaign launch

Dakila and PETA Arts Zone

HR Photo

March 8, 2013 International Women’s Day

World March of Women – Pilipinas

HR Video

Dissidente!

Jose Mario De Vega

HR Off the shelf/Resources

Hey Coke! RESPECT workers’ rights! FB page

APL

HR featured site

MD4HR.net

MAG

HR featured site
  1. DECEMBER 6 –CSO NATIONAL CONSULTATION ON AICHR TOR
Photo by TFDP

Photo by TFDP

Civil Society National Consultation on the review of the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Terms of Reference (ToR) was held on December 6, 2013. at Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City.

The AICHR was established in 2009 and since then CSOs in the region have been trying to engage and advocate for its independence from States and assert relevant space for Civil Society participation for its effective performance as a Regional Human Rights Mechanism. The AICHR’s continuous denial of CSOs participation may be rooted in the limited mandate that is provided in its ToR, which has vague explanation on the role of CSOs in the work of the AICHR.

The ToR, as stated in it, is set for review in 2014 which will be five years after its entry into force. This may be seen as an opportunity for CSOs to propose and assert improvements for strengthening AICHR as a regional human rights body. 

Organized by FORUM-ASIA, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), the consultation was attended by Regional and national Civil Society organizations working on different human rights issues and themes.

  1. DECEMBER 7 –POLITICAL PRISONERS DAY
Photo by TFDP

Photo by TFDP

Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and Balay Rehabilitation Center together with the Medical Action Group (MAG) and other groups held the annual political prisoners’ day on December 7, 2013 in the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

  1. DECEMBER 10 -LIGHTUP4 YOLANDA VICTIMS, LIGHTUP4 RIGHTS

In commemoration of the December 10 International Human Rights Day of 2013, human rights groups held nationwide solidarity candle lighting in several parts of the country, for victims of typhoon Yolanda and other natural disasters and victims of human rights violations.

“We devote today’s commemoration of International Human Rights Day for all those who suffered and continue to suffer the result of climate change and environmental destruction caused by greed, development aggression and government neglect,” said Emmanuel Amistad, Executive Director of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP).

Photo by TFDP Mindanao

Photo by TFDP Mindanao

While the group extended their heartfelt solidarity to all victims, they also called on government leaders to prioritize the needs of the victims and refrain from politicking.

 “We Light UP for Yolanda Victims, we Light Up for Human Rights, dahil higit sa lahat ay dapat unahin ng pamahalaan ang kapakanan ng mga taong nasalanta kaysa pagpapabida. Dapat matauhan na ang mga kurap na pulitiko at tigilan na ang pamumulsa ng pondo ng bayan at ilaan sa dapat nitong puntahan. Dahil dapat Tao muna! Hindi tubo at kita, dahil dapat tao muna hindi pamumulitika at pabida,” Amistad added.

 “Although our fellow Filipinos in disaster stricken areas, especially in Leyte needs all the help, relief and support we can provide, it will not be enough to solve the problems. Other future disasters will come and if the government will not be serious and sincere in performing its duty to protect its people instead of profit and corruption, all these will just be repeated,” Amistad said.

Photo by TFDP Visayas

Photo by TFDP Visayas

In Visayas, members of TFDP and its allies from the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) held their “Light UP 4 Yolanda Victims, Light UP 4 Rights,” at the University of the Philippines Cebu. “We light candles in solidarity for all victims of climate disaster, mining and other profit driven development projects that does not benefit the people, instead harm them and lead to violations of their human rights.”

In Mindanao, human rights defenders, TFDP, PMCJ and Freedom from Debt Coalition together with other social and climate activists led the candle lighting activities in Centennial Park, San Pedro Street, Davao City. Candle lighting activities at Bukidnon, Surigao Del Sur and Iligan were also held simultaneously.

According to the group they are also dedicated the solidarity candle lighting for victims of Zamboanga siege, Bohol and Cebu Earthquake, and other natural and manmade disasters that devastated our peoples and communities. Saying, “We hope we can help inspire them to stand up and we are with them in struggling to regain what has been damaged and lost from them.”

Photo by TFDP

Photo by TFDP

Youth and students in several universities also gave their solidarity LightUP activity. Students from De La Salle College of Saint Benilde participated in the Quezon City Memorial Circle LightUP activity. Members of Youth for Rights (Y4R) and Teatro Kahimanawari of Marikina Polytechnic University held their candle lighting in front of Marikina City Hall Freedom Park. Others participated in the online solidarity in the social networking site Facebook.

In Quezon City, more than 300 members of the Philipppine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), Amnesty International – Philippines and Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), held the LightUP for Yolanda Victims, LightUP4 Rights activity at the fountain area in Quezon City Memorial Circle.

The group lamented that “Sa kulang-kulang na pamamahala, Tao ang kawawa.” The group also reminded PNoy of his obligation to issue a National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) in compliance with the recommendation of the Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

  1. DECEMBER 14 -1ST PHBS HEALTH BLOGGERS MEET AND LAUNCHING OF HEALTHACTIVIST.PH
Photo by HealthActivist.ph

Photo by HealthActivist.ph

The Philippine Health Bloggers Society (PHBS) in cooperation with HealthActivist.ph and @IYCPilipinas held the 1st PHBS Health Bloggers Meet on December 14, 2013 in Quezon City. The event was graced by guest speakers like Ana Santos, Grace Nicolas, and Alvin Dakis (IYC PH Chair).

“Advocacies are not something you will just talk about, you need to walk the talk. Go Offline to become credible and to show your real passion.” – Grace Bondad Nicolas

“To change the way we view sex, we have to change the way we talk about it”- Ana P. Santos

  1. DECEMBER 15 -PADYAKARAPATAN
Photo grabbed from AIph FB

Photo grabbed from AIph FB

More than a thousand participated in the Amnesty International Philippines’ Bike for Rights PadyaKarapatan 2013. They cycled through 7 cities of Metro Manila. The event aimed to remind the Aquino administration and the 16th Congress of their obligation to enact and implement legislation necessary for protecting human rights of Filipino citizens.

“Before the 2010 and 2013 elections, Amnesty International presented its Philippine Human Rights Agenda to the candidates and promises were subsequently made. As the year ends, we ask 10 questions – ‘Sampung Tanong ng Bayan sa Pamahalaang Aquino at Kongreso’ – to remind the Aquino government and the 16th Congress about important human rights agenda which they need to act upon immediately starting 2014,” explained Dr. Aurora A. Parong, Director of Amnesty International Philippines.

 

 Visit the Mokong Perspektib @ http://mokongperspektib.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/human-rights-week-2013-and-beyond/

[People] Dispatches: Four Years On, No Justice for Maguindanao Massacre Victims. By Carlos H. Conde

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Dispatches: Four Years On, No Justice for Maguindanao Massacre Victims
By Carlos H. Conde

The threat was unambiguous. If Bong Andal testified against one of the Philippines’ most powerful political families about their alleged involvement in the November 23, 2009 massacre on the southern island of Mindanao, his family would suffer. “They came again last month, showing our pictures to my relatives, letting them know that they’re watching us,” Andal told me by phone this week.

200px-Hrw_logo.svg

Those threats – and the Philippine government’s inability or unwillingness to stop them – speak volumes about the glacial pace of judicial proceedings against alleged perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre, in which the Ampatuan family’s “private army” murdered 58 people. Four years after the bodies of the victims were located off of a highway outside of the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, the massacre remains a shameful exemplar of impunity in the Philippines.

The basic facts of the case are undisputed. Armed men paid by the Ampatuan family, including local police and soldiers, stopped a convoy that included the wife of opposition politician Esmael Mangudadatu, his supporters and family members, and more than 30 media workers.

Mangudadatu had sent them to file his candidacy for provincial governor in elections scheduled for the following year.

The gunmen herded everyone in the convoy to a hilltop a few miles away and promptly executed them. Many were buried in mass graves excavated by a backhoe operated by Bong Andal. In his statements to prosecutors, Andal said he witnessed members of the Ampatuan militia shoot several of the victims. The crime was the worst single attack against members of the media in history and one of the Philippines’ worst single incidents of political violence.

Four years later, the case is in effective judicial limbo. A total of 94 suspects remain at large. Bail petitions and testimony challenges by the defense lawyers of the 101 suspects in custody have overwhelmed the court.

But the problem of the Maguindanao massacre case is more than a failure of judicial process. It is about whether those threatening Bong Andal rather than the authorities control the proceedings. It’s a cruel reminder to activists, journalists, and politicians critical of the status quo that they too might be targeted with impunity. The human rights rhetoric of the government of President Benigno Aquino III has not transformed the dangerous reality on the ground. As Aquino enters the last half of his six-year term in office, he should recognize that he will be ultimately judged by his actions, not his words.

November 21, 2013

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.

[Press Release] Spate of Journalist Killings, Government Inaction Contributes to Erosion of Media Freedom -HRW

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Philippines: Spate of Journalist Killings
Government Inaction Contributes to Erosion of Media Freedom

200px-Hrw_logo.svg

(Manila, August 9, 2013) – Philippines President Benigno Aquino III should speak out against the recent killings of three journalists and ensure that the authorities expedite their investigation, Human Rights Watch said today. While the killers and motives are unknown, these and past unresolved attacks on journalists have a chilling effect on media freedom in the country.

“The latest killings and threats against journalists underscore the precarious state of media freedom in the Philippines and the need for the government to respond,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Unless the government brings people who attack journalists to justice, these killings are not going to stop.”

On July 30, 2013, unknown assailants shot and killed Richard Kho, 47, and Bonifacio Loreto Jr., 59, both columnists for the weekly tabloid Aksyon Ngayon, in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Two days later, on August 1, unidentified gunmen killed a freelance photojournalist, Mario Sy, 53, in the southern city of General Santos. Police have not made any arrests in the killings.

That same week, a broadcast journalist, Ces Drilon, received text messages threatening to “erase” her after her network, ABS-CBN, aired her report on the Maguindanao Massacre, in which 58 people, most of them journalists, were executed in 2009. While her news show reported on a bombing in Cagayan de Oro City she received a text message that read: “You’re next to explode.”

Although the number of extrajudicial killings has declined since 2010, when Aquino took office, certain groups, such as environmental and labor activists, and journalists, continue to be recurring targets of attack.

Journalism has long been a high-risk profession in the Philippines. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, some 73 journalists have been murdered in the Philippines since 1992; local media groups put the number considerably higher. The Philippines consistently ranks as among the “top 3” in the organization’s list of “deadliest countries” for journalists.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said that the three recent killings brought the number of journalists killed in the country under the Aquino administration to 18. Journalists, particularly outside the major cities, regularly report threats and harassment. The union said that most of the journalists killed had received death threats.

The Aquino administration has announced reforms to the criminal justice system that could result in more effective criminal investigations, but has not fully implemented them, Human Rights Watch said. For instance, Administration Order 35, issued by the Aquino administration in 2012, authorized the creation of a government “super body” to coordinate and expedite the actions of various criminal justice organs on specific high-priority cases. However, eight months later, that body is stalled at the stage of identifying appropriate cases to pursue.

Aquino began his term with a promise to promote and respect human rights, and pressed for the passage of several laws to improve human rights, but this has not translated into significant improvements on the ground. In particular there has been little progress in prosecuting human rights abusers. In his State of the Nation Address in July, which outlined the priorities of his administration’s final three years, Aquino did not mention human rights, raising concerns that less attention would be given to human rights issues.

“The Philippines has a reputation for having one of the freest media freedom environments in Asia, but that reputation disappears bit-by-bit with every killing of a journalist,” Kine said. “President Aquino needs to realize that this problem won’t go away on its own.”

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 Human Rights Watch 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

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.

Related articles

[In the news] 78 massacre suspects face charges over 58th victim -INQUIRER.net

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78 massacre suspects face charges over 58th victim.
By Julie M. Aurelio, Philippine Daily Inquirer
May 26, 2013

inquirer

A Quezon City court hearing the 2009 Maguindanao massacre case has ordered the arraignment of 78 suspects for the 58th murder case filed recently on behalf of a slain photojournalist whose remains were never recovered.

Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of QC Regional Trial Court Branch 221 ruled that there was probable cause to continue with the case for the murder of photojournalist Reynaldo “Bebot” Momay.

The court set the arraignment of Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan, and 76 others on Wednesday at the Quezon City Jail Annex in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Read full article @newsinfo.inquirer.net

Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

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[Featured Video] Speak up against impunity -NUJP

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SPEAK UP AGAINST IMPUNITY
National Union of Journalists of the Philippines

nujp-logoJanuary 23 marks the 39th month since the Ampatuan Massacre. Since 1986, 154 journalists, including 32 of the 58 victims in the brutal murder, have been killed in the line of duty.

The insatiable lust for power by some, a wanton disregard for rights, and the weakness of institutions that are supposed to protect us from injustice have allowed Ampatuan Massacre and other murders to happen. That is how impunity works.

From today until the 23rd and even beyond, feel free to post and share this video. Say a thing or two against impunity.

Stand up for press freedom. Stand against impunity. (Public service ad created by BBDO)

Watch video @ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151244100324141

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[In the news] Another suspect in Ampatuan Massacre falls -MindaNews.com

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Another suspect in Ampatuan Massacre falls
By Allen V. Estabillo, MindaNews.com
November 2 2012

GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/ 02 November)– A former town councilor in Datu Unsay, Maguindanao who was allegedly involved in the gruesome Ampatuan Massacre has been arrested in Surallah, South Cotabato, a police official said on Friday.

Senior Supt. Randolf Delfin, South Cotabato police director, said that Abedin Alamada alias “Kumander Bedi” was nabbed at around midnight Wednesday by a joint police team in a house in Sitio Lanas, Barangay Upper Sepaka in Surallah town.

He said Alamada allegedly headed the Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) of Datu Unsay town and was directly involved in the November 23, 2009 massacre of 58 persons, including 32 media workers, in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman in Ampatuan town.

“His arrest was the result of efficient intelligence gathering and cooperation by concerned residents in the area,” Delfin said.

The police official said Alamada, who did not resist arrest, was nabbed based on a warrant of arrest issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn A Solis-Reyes.

The arresting team was composed of elements from the South Cotabato Police Provincial Office, Provincial Police Public Safety Company, Special Action Force, Surallah municipal police station and the Region 12 police intelligence division.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

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[In the news] Palace prods SC to speed up Ampatuan massacre trial -InterAksyon.com

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Palace prods SC to speed up Ampatuan massacre trial
By Dexter San Pedro, InterAksyon.com
November 1, 2012

MANILA, Philippines — Just weeks before the third anniversary of the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre, Malacanang on Thursday urged the Supreme Court to hasten the trial of those accused of murdering 58 persons, including 32 media workers, in Maguindanao province.

“It (trial) could move faster… It will depend on the Supreme Court on how to fast track the trial,” deputy Palace spokesperson Abigail Valte said in an interview over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

Valte reminded state prosecutors that President Benigno Aquino III does not want any delays to come from the government side.

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

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[In the news] Body not found but 58th massacre victim recognized -INQUIRER.net

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Body not found but 58th massacre victim recognized.

By Jeannette I. Andrade, Jerome Aning, Philippine Daily Inquirer
September 26, 2012

Although his body has not been found, Reynaldo Momay, a photojournalist from General Santos City, has been formally recognized by the Department of Justice (DOJ) as the 58th victim of the “Maguindanao Massacre” in 2009.

In a DOJ resolution, Assistant State Prosecutor Bernardo Parico said the dentures recovered at the crime scene in Barangay (village) Salman in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, as well as statements of witnesses that Momay was among those killed were enough evidence to prove that he was a victim.

Momay, 63, was working for the weekly community paper Midland Review when he joined a convoy of 58 people that accompanied the wife of then Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu of Buluan town in Maguindanao to the capital, Shariff Aguak, to file his certificate of candidacy for governor on Nov. 23, 2009.

All of them, including 32 media workers, were killed allegedly by members of the Ampatuan clan and their henchmen in Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman, 3.5 kilometers from the national highway in Ampatuan town. Some were buried along with three vehicles, while others were shot in the head.

Murder charges have been filed against 197 people, including former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., in Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221.

Only 96, however, have been arrested and detained, and 78 of them have already been arraigned.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

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[In the news] SWS: PNoy rates poorly on oil prices, Maguindanao massacre -InterAksyon.com

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SWS: PNoy rates poorly on oil prices, Maguindanao massacre
Abigail C. Kwok, InterAksyon.com
July 26, 2012

The Aquino administration is getting “poor” ratings from the public over a perceived inability to control oil prices, and for the lack of justice in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, a recent Social Weather Stations survey suggests.

First published on BusinessWorld, the poll results revealed that the administration posted a -12 rating in ensuring that oil companies do not take advantage of rising global fuel costs and a -16 score in resolving the Maguindanao massacre case.

Public satisfaction with the Aquino administration also slipped after Filipinos gave the government lower scores about its performance in other issues.

Sixty-three percent of those polled by the survey taken from May 24 to 27 said that they were pleased with the government’s general performance.

The rating is equivalent to a +44 net score, down from March’s “good” score of +46.

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

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[Appeal] An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) -AHRC

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Asian Human Rights Commission

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP)

July 5, 2012

Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr.
Spokesperson
Philippine National Police (PNP)
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES

Tel: +63 2 726 4361/ 4366/ 8763
Fax: + +63 2724 8763

Dear Sr. Supt. Cerbo:

PHILIPPINES: Not only witnesses, but complainants needs protection, too

Asian Human Rights CommissionThe Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has read with interest your interview in an article, entitled “Geography, clan protection blamed for police failure to arrest them”, published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on June 30, 2012. In that report, you were quoted to have told the witnesses in the Maguindanao massacre case:”They just have to go to us, and we will guide them on what to do in order to get police protection.”

You also went on to say: “even without protective security, the witnesses, especially those who live in Maguindanao, should report to us any threats on their lives”. This renewed assurance, however, obviously came about after “reports of the killings. Six people — three witnesses and three relatives of other witnesses — have been killed in connection with the Maguindanao massacre case.”

To hear that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is now publicly encouraging witnesses in coming forward and to give instructions as to how they could secure protection and those who faces threats “should report to us” is good. However, we have strong reservations wether they do apply in reality. From our experience, the complainants and families of the dead who reported overt surveillance on them and threats on their lives had not obtain any sort of protection they urgently require. They never failed in reporting to the police, asking the police to investigate and to provide them protection.

This is what has happened to the case of Noel Christopher Reblando and his sibling, James Ryan and Maria Priscilla, all are children of Alejandro “Bong” Reblando. Alejandro is one of the murdered journalists. We did write to Director General Nicanor Bartolome, chief of the PNP, on March 16, 2012 informing him that Reblando’s children had been the object of an “overt surveillance”. We also requested that the police “takes immediate action and ensure their safety”.

The complaints of the Reblando were recorded in Book of Blotter, Volume 46, Series of 2011 of Station No. 05 in General Santos City. The extract is below:

On November 23, 2011 at 1:04pm; Entry No. 3687:
Noel Christopher Reblando “appeared to this office and requested to put on record as alleged that OOA (on or about) 12:37 November 23, 2011 he saw a person in military uniform push his single motorcycle and passed to the front of their residence by the time that he was saw by the said person who is in military uniform. He start his single motorcycle and speed up towards north direction” .

On the same day, his other son also reported; Entry No. 3687:
James Ryan Reblando “appeared to this office and requested to put on record that sometimes of first week of October there was a group of Muslim’s person from North Cotabato was for him it was gaining information for his father was a victim of Maguidanao massacre (Bong Reblando) and 2nd time sometimes of 3rd week of October 2011 a group of three (3) malefactor boarded on top down passed three (3) times to the front of their residence and sightseeing to their house, by the time that they got assumed said top down speed-up towards south direction”

On December 9, 2011, his other daughter also reported; Entry No. 3865:
Maria Priscilla Zainal “appeared to this office and requested to put on record as alleged that OOA (on or about) 5:05pm of this date one multicab color white stop fronting a little to their house boarded with one person and sightseeing to their house from the northside of their home the driver drove his multicab slowly mobiling to the south direction of their home”

As quoted from the extract, Reblando’s children had done what obviously you would want witnesses and others facing threats should have been doing: they report to the police, they record their complaint. Yes, you are correct that they could report but whether what they had reported complaining about threats on their lives would result to police providing them protection, we have yet to see.

In fact, despite the urgency of our appeal to protect Reblando’s children, as of today we have not received any reply from the PNP. It is obvious that no action were taken by the police neither to our urgent appeal letter nor the complaints of the Reblandos.

We appreciate that the police had reaffirmed the importance of protecting witnesses and those needing protection; however, we have yet to see evidence that they would be applied in practice; and that what has been said would be done.

Yours sincerely,

Md. Ashrafuzzaman
Programme Officer
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.

Visit our new website with more features at http://www.humanrights.asia.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-OLT-014-2012

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[From the web] Universal Periodic Review: Series of recommendations to Philippines -OHCHR.org

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In total, States participating in the discussion posed a series of recommendations to Philippines. These included, among others:

  • To step up efforts to fully prohibit and address cases of torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances and ensure there were mechanisms in place to address such cases;
  • To enhance human rights-based training for all law enforcement personnel on the absolute prohibition of torture and ill treatment;
  • To ratify the Convention on forced disappearances, withdraw all reservations to the CAT and ensure national legislation was in line with the Rome ICC Statute, to ensure related cases were well recorded;
  • To ensure that victims of torture and ill treatment had effective access to a medical evaluation; to improve the condition of prisons and detention centres;
  • To end impunity for extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture and bring those responsible to justice, including Major General Jovito Palparan Jr, former Governor Joel Reyes and the perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre;
  • To ensure adequate protection of human rights defenders and journalists and effectively investigate and prosecute attacks against journalists and to introduce into domestic law strong legislation prohibiting these acts and imposing criminal penalties;
  • To invite the UN Working Group on enforced or involuntary disappearances and the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders to visit the country;
  • To dismantle and disarm all paramilitary forces and militias, or alternatively ensure that the army exercises full control of these elements; to revoke Executive Order 546 on the use of child soldiers;
  • To step up efforts to combat human trafficking and to strengthen relations with countries of transit and origin for victims of human trafficking and to establish programmes for the rehabilitation and social integration for women victims of sexual exploitation;
  • To amend the abortion law to allow safe abortion in cases of rape, incest or when the health and life of the pregnant woman was at risk; to enact legislation to address the status of children born out of wedlock;
  • To step up efforts to combat child labour and to fully prohibit corporal punishment; to increase measures on the rights to education to ensure equal access to education for all children, to special attention for children with disabilities and street children;
  • To step up efforts to meet the basic needs of the society’s exposed groups; To redouble efforts in the area of wealth distribution and poverty eradication;
  • To ratify ILO Convention 189 pertaining to domestic workers and 169 concerning indigenous people;
  • To implement the Act on the Rights of Indigenous People to guarantee that economic activities did not have a negative effect on the rights of indigenous people; to intensify efforts for the sustainable use of natural resources;
  • To consider establishing legislation to combat discrimination against LGBT persons;
  • To consider issuing a standing invitation to Special Procedures.

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Highlights29May2012am.aspx

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[In the news] 100 Ampatuan massacre suspects still scot-free | Sun.Star

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100 Ampatuan massacre suspects still scot-free | Sun.Star.

By Bong S. Sarmiento
May 24, 2012

KORONADAL CITY — Some 100 suspects in the gruesome massacre in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao that shocked the nation two years ago have remained scot-free, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Wednesday.

Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary general, also stressed that only 96 of the 196 suspects have been arrested since the manslaughter happened.

She also lamented that of the 64 suspects arraigned, only two of them are primary suspects — former Maguindanao Governor Andal S. Ampatuan Sr. and his son and namesake Andal U. Ampatuan Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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[in the news] 100 Ampatuan massacre suspects still scot-free | Sun.Star

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100 Ampatuan massacre suspects still scot-free | Sun.Star.

By Bong S. Sarmiento
May 24, 2012

KORONADAL CITY — Some 100 suspects in the gruesome massacre in the town of Ampatuan, Maguindanao that shocked the nation two years ago have remained scot-free, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Wednesday.

Rowena Paraan, NUJP secretary general, also stressed that only 96 of the 196 suspects have been arrested since the manslaughter happened.

She also lamented that of the 64 suspects arraigned, only two of them are primary suspects — former Maguindanao Governor Andal S. Ampatuan Sr. and his son and namesake Andal U. Ampatuan Jr., former mayor of Datu Unsay town.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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[In the news] ‘Judicial courtesy’ postpones Maguindanao massacre trial, now on its 27th month -InterAksyon.com

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‘Judicial courtesy’ postpones Maguindanao massacre trial, now on its 27th month
Ana Miranda, InterAksyon.com
February 23, 2012

MANILA, Philippines — Exactly 27 months after the single deadliest attack on media practitioners, the Maguindanao massacre trial was postponed anew after the prosecutors on Thursday failed to present its witnesses.

Prosecutors said this is because of a pending petition for review before the Court of Appeals on the presentation of post-facto evidence.

In this morning’s hearing, prosecutor Aristotle Reyes informed Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 221 that the prosecution cannot present its witnesses due to “judicial courtesy.”

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

[In the news] BJMP bars photographers, cameramen from massacre trial coverage – InterAksyon.com

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BJMP bars photographers, cameramen from massacre trial coverage
by InterAksyon.com
January 25, 2012

  MANILA, Philippines — For the second time this month, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology on Wednesday barred photojournalists and television cameramen from shooting images and video footage of the makeshift courtroom in Camp Bagong Diwa where the Ampatuan massacre trial is being heard, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said.

BJMP personnel gave no reason for preventing photographers and cameramen from entering the jail compound where the courtroom and the detention center of those accused of the massacre are located.

The Quezon City Regional Trial Court, which conducts hearings at the Taguig courtroom, has allowed photographs and video footage to be taken before and after the proceedings.

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

[In the news] Daughter of 58th Ampatuan massacre victim files murder complaint – InterAksyon.com

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Daughter of 58th Ampatuan massacre victim files murder complaint
by Lorenz Niel Santos, InterAksyon.com
January 12, 2012

 MANILA, Philippines — The daughter of a photojournalist killed in the November 23, 2009 but whose body has yet to be found filed on Thursday a murder complaint, the 58th related to the mass murder.

Only 57 counts of murder filed against more than 190 suspects led by key members of the powerful Ampatuan clan of Maguindanao are currently being heard by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.

Ma. Reynafe Momay-Castillo hopes the court will include the case of her father, Reynaldo Geneblaza Momay of the Midland Review, one of the 32 media workers who perished in the massacre.

Only Momay’s dentures were recovered from the site of the carnage in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town.

Castillo’s lawyer Gilbert Andres said the Philippine National Police filed a letter complaint with the Department of Justice last year.

“Gusto lang naming ipaalala sa kanila ang kaso na ito. Ayaw namin na matabunan ito (We just want to remind them of this case. We do not want it to be buried),” Andres said in an interview.

Read full article @ interaksyon.com

[In the news] Ampatuan defense seeks to block 2 prosecution witnesses – InterAksyon.com

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Ampatuan defense seeks to block 2 prosecution witnesses
by Ana Miranda, InterAksyon.com
January 9, 2012

 MANILA, Philippines – The defense in the Ampatuan massacre case is seeking to defer the presentation of two prosecution witnesses who are not on a court-sanctioned list of witnesses and evidence in the trial.

In the two-page urgent motion he filed Monday, lawyer Philip Sigfrid Fortun asked Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes to prevent the “opening of the floodgates to forgotten, manufactured and contrived testimonies” and not allow Gemma Oquendo, sister of massacre victim Cynthia Oquendo, and a forensic expert of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Oquendo, the victim, was a lawyer of now Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu. Her sister is also a lawyer.

http://interaksyon.com/article/21486/ampatuan-defense-seeks-to-block-2-prosecution-witnesses

[From the web] World Report 2011: The Philippines – www.hrw.org

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World Report 2011: The Philippines
http://www.hrw.org

Benigno Aquino III, the son of the late president Corazon Aquino, swept to power in the May presidential elections on a platform of fighting corruption and promoting justice for victims of crime. The national and local elections were considered largely free and fair, though marred by violence, including dozens of killings prior to election day. Political violence continued after the elections as more than 20 activists, journalists, party members, and politicians were killed since Aquino took office on June 30.

The Philippines is a multiparty democracy with an elected president and legislature, a thriving civil society sector, and a vibrant media. But several key institutions, including law enforcement agencies and the justice system, remain weak and the military and police commit human rights violations with impunity.

In September Andal Ampatuan Jr. and 18 others went on trial for the November 23, 2009, massacre of 58 people, including more than 30 media workers in Maguindanao on the southern island of Mindanao. Several witnesses to the massacre and their family members were killed in late 2009 and 2010.

Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances

Hundreds of leftist politicians and political activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or abducted since 2001. So far only 11 people have been convicted of these killings-none in 2010-and no one has been convicted of the abductions. While soldiers, police, and militia members have been implicated in many of these killings, no member of the military active at the time of the killing has been brought to justice.

In December 2009 the Philippines enacted the Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity Act (Republic Act 9851), which defines and penalizes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. It provides for senior officers to be held criminally liable for abuses committed by subordinates if they knew or should have known of the abuses and did not take the necessary steps to stop them.

At least five witnesses and family members of witnesses to Ampatuan family abuses, including the Maguindanao massacre have been killed since December 2009. On June 14 an unidentified gunman shot and killed Suwaib Upahm, an Ampatuan militia member who had participated in the massacre and had offered to testify for the government if afforded witness protection. Three months before he was killed, Human Rights Watch had raised concerns with Justice Department officials in Manila about his protection. The department was still considering his request for protection at the time of his killing.

President Aquino has proposed an 80 percent budget increase for the witness protection program, but his administration has not taken steps to make the program independent and accessible and to extend protection from the onset of a police investigation until it is no longer necessary, including after the trial.

Optimism over Supreme Court writs to compel military and other officials to release information on people in their custody and take steps to protect people at risk continued to be dampened by hesitancy to grant inspection orders and difficulty in enforcing them. In two cases, the Supreme Court held that investigations had been inadequate, but simply referred the case to the national Commission on Human Rights for further investigation and monitoring-a role that the commission should already be carrying out. One of these cases involved the 2007 abduction of leftist activist Jonas Burgos who remains missing.

Read full article @ www.hrw.org

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[StatementFulfillment of Human Rights is the Path to Justice and Peace- Visayas Clergy Discernment Group

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Human Rights Day Statement
(December 10, 2011)

As Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro, together with the Visayas Clergy Discernment Group (VCDG) as its Head Convenor, we express our solidarity with the Filipino people and the peoples of the world in commemorating the International Human Rights Day on December 10.

In this 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we remember Jesus of Nazareth who said, “I came that they may have life, life in its fullness” (John 10:10). In line with this, we, bishops and priests of the VCDG ask: How could our people attain the fullness of life if the culture of death and impunity does not end?

We condemn the extra-judicial killings, whose latest victims in Mindanao include our brother priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio and peasant leader Ramon Batoy. The culture of impunity hounds us, as two years after the Maguindanao Massacre, justice remains elusive.

Our church’s social doctrines consistently promote and defend the inviolable dignity of the human person (cf. Mater et Magistra, 453) and denounce the many violations of human dignity. “A just society can become a reality only when it is based on the respect of the transcendent dignity of the human person” (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church [CSDC], 107).

Moreover, we continually strive for justice since peace is the fruit of justice(cf. Is 32:17). In the on-going war in Mindanao and the rest of the country, innocent civilians have been killed resulting in massive evacuation; and the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the CPP-NPA-NDF and the MILF have been shaky.

We are then reminding concerned groups and institutions that peace is not a mere absence of war (cf. Populorum Progressio, 76).  Rather, a peaceful society is fulfilled through the defense and promotion of human rights (cf. CSDC, 495).

Human rights include the people’s right to development.   Environmental destruction, landlessness, homelessness and joblessness are phenomena which should make us reflect on the teachings of the World Synod of Bishops which say, “(a) people should not be hindered from attaining development in accordance with their own culture; and (b) through mutual cooperation, all peoples should be able to become the principal architects of their own economic and social development” (Justice in the World [JW], 71).

We remind everyone that, “Care for the environment represents a challenge for all of humanity” (CSDC, 466).  Animals, plants, and the natural elements should not be used simply as one wishes, according to one’s own economic needs (cf. Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 34).   We assert that economic development which is a right of all people, necessarily includes environmental protection.

The common good demands that civil authorities facilitate the exercise of the people’s rights and duties, since for as long as inequalities abound, human rights are rendered totally ineffective (cf. Pacem in Terris, 63). Consequently, with the continued violation of such rights, peace becomes impossible to attain.

We ask government officials to do their responsibilities as servants of the people by promoting and in defending human rights. Genuine servants of the people’s true goal must be the common good, and not prestige or the gaining of personal advantages (cf. CSDC, 410).

As we strive for the just ordering of society, we recall that in the Old Testament “God reveals himself to us as the liberator of the oppressed and the defender of the poor, demanding from people faith in him and justice towards one’s neighbor” (JW, 30).

In this light, Vatican II exhorts us to continue working for society’s improvement, “The social order … must be founded in truth, built on justice, and enlivened by love: it should grow in freedom towards a more humane equilibrium” (Gaudium et Spes, 26).

Thus, on Human Rights Day, we offer our prayers, sacrifices and good works as we endeavor for truth, justice, love and peace.  May Jesus and our Mother Mary be always with us.

As Christ lives,

BISHOP GERARDO A. ALMINAZA, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro,
and Head Convenor of Visayas Clergy Discernment Group
Tel. No. (033) 3291625
Visayas Convenors
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza
Msgr. Walter Cerbito
Msgr. Cayetano Gelbolingo
Msgr. Rommel Kintanar
Fr. Julius Heruela
Fr.  Aniceto Buenafe, Jr.
Fr. Paul Medina, O.Carm
Fr. Edgardo Deligero
Fr. Desiderio Magdoza
Fr. Scipio Deligero
Fr.  Antonio Bayod, MSC

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[Press Release] Human Rights is the Way to Peace– Bishop Gerardo Alminaza

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In his statement for the December 10, 2011 human rights day celebration, Jaro Auxiliary Bishop and Visayas Clergy Discernment Group (VCDG) Head Convenor Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said that the defense and promotion of human rights is the way to achieve peace.

Bishop Alminaza condemned the culture of death and impunity as shown by the extra-judicial killings, Maguindanao massacre, and killing of innocent civilians in the war in Mindanao and the rest of the country.

He asserted that environmental destruction, landlessness, homelessness and joblessness are violations of the people’s right to development.

Quoting papal encyclicals and other church documents, Bishop Alminaza said that the defense of human rights or of the dignity of the human person will promote justice and equality, which in turn, will build lasting peace, since “Peace is the fruit of justice.”

“A just society can become a reality only when it is based on the respect of the transcendent dignity of the human person.”

Bishop Alminaza also explained that the people themselves must be the “principal architects of their own social and economic development,” and the role of civil authorities is to facilitate the exercise of the “people’s rights and duties” for the common good.

He asked government officials to become genuine servants of the people by promoting human rights and by not seeking personal benefits or prestige.

As “peace is not a mere absence of war”, Bishop Alminaza called on concerned groups and institutions, that in the peace talks, foremost to be addressed must be the defense and promotion of human rights.

Bishop Alminaza emphasized that the church involves in the “just ordering of society” through the promotion of human rights, since God revealed himself in the Old Testament as the “liberator of the oppressed and the defender of the poor.”

He also exhorts the faithful to offer prayers, sacrifices, and good works on December 10, Human Rights Day, which is also the 63rd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For reference:

BISHOP GERARDO A. ALMINAZA, D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro, and Head Convenor of Visayas Clergy Discernment Group
Tel. No. (033) 3291625

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