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[Press Release] CLIMATE WALK: People’s Walk for Climate Justice, 40-day Climate Walk to Tacloban kicks off in Luneta

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CLIMATE WALK: People’s Walk for Climate Justice
40-day Climate Walk to Tacloban kicks off in Luneta

Photo by DAKILA

Photo by DAKILA

MANILA, Philippines, 2 October 2014 — Climate change advocates from various sectors urged world governments to “walk their climate talk” as they launched the Climate Walk, dubbed as “A People’s Walk for Climate Justice.”

climate walk

From the starting point at “Kilometer Zero” in Rizal Park, Manila, the groups will walk 1,000 kilometers in 40 days to arrive in Tacloban, ground zero of Yolanda (Haiyan), on November 8, exactly a year since the super typhoon first made landfall.

Photo by DAKILA

Photo by DAKILA

The festive send-off program for the Climate Walk included Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, National Youth Commissioner Jose Sixto ‘Dingdong’ Dantes III, Climate Change Commissioners Heherson Alvarez and Yeb Saño, running priest Fr. Robert Reyes, representatives of a broad group of civil society organizations [1], and the Catholic Church [2

“The Climate Walk is dedicated to all people in the Philippines and around the world who confront the reality of climate change. It aims to empower communities and help them become resilient to the impacts of disasters and climate change,” Saño said before they departed from Luneta.

The advocates called on governments to do their fair share in keeping global warming below the tipping point to save the Filipino people, and all others who are most vulnerable to climate change.

“Peoples and nations around the world should act with haste to significantly cut, if not end, all our ill ways that are causing our worsening climate. And we should begin talking green not because it is fashionable but because we care for the welfare of younger Filipinos, our future,” Dantes said.

The Walk was launched a week after two landmark events in New York: The People’s Climate March, in which 400,000 people marched to call for urgent climate action, followed by the United Nations Climate Summit, wherein over 160 world leaders announced their commitments to solve the climate crisis.

“This walk is about fighting back! We need to unite as a people and demand a climate treaty that will give justice and compensation to countless families, communities and municipalities that are already being severely affected and devastated by climate change impacts. We must reclaim our people’s rights to a safe, secure and sustainable future.” Von Hernandez, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia stated.

“The importance and urgency of addressing climate change demands more than action. We need to fundamentally change the way we live, and the way things work in our planet. We need to galvanize public actions towards solutions to fight climate change,” said Nityalila Saulo, musician and core member of the artist group, Dakila. “It is time for a climate revolution and switch the power from world leaders to the people to decide our survival.”

Climate Walk

People who are deemed most vulnerable to the effects of climate change – farmers and fisherfolk – as well as members of youth, faith groups and the public in general are invited to join the Walk, which will traverse parts of Metro Manila, Laguna, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Samar, and Leyte.

On November 8, the participants will cross San Juanico Bridge towards Tacloban City. The Walk is also expected to continue on to communities in Cebu, Negros, Panay Island, and Palawan, provinces that were likewise heavily damaged by Yolanda.

Climate and disaster resilience toolkits, a set of resources which can be used to enhance community planning for climate change and assist in the protection of communities from climate disaster risks, will be handed over to LGUs and communities in the areas reached by the Climate Walk.Along the path of the walk, events will also be held in select towns to highlight the different issues of climate change affecting these areas, including (and not limited to) deforestation, mining, and renewable energy. This can help form the narrative of the concrete demands that can define the Walk. These events will be educational as well as creative and celebratory and will include concerts, film showings, mural painting, prayer sessions, dance and music festivals.

Walk the talk

Participating civil society organizations also urged the current administration, as well as global leaders, to take concrete actions in solving the climate crisis.

“While we support the Climate Walk’s global call for climate action, we also challenge the Aquino administration to walk its own climate talk,” said Melvin Purzuelo, convener of the civil society network Aksyon Klima Pilipinas. “We hope that this initiative to roll out local climate plans will only be the start of concerted efforts to make local and national policies coherent, particularly in adaptation, energy, and finance.”

“The government should step up by demanding deep emissions cuts from the US and developed countries, by demanding from them real solutions that would ensure concrete adaptation programs and projects on the ground and by abandoning its  bias for corporations and businesses in the entire rehabilitation process and put the people at the center,” said Gerry Arances, National Coordinator, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ), a national grassroots movements advancing climate justice.

###
NOTES TO EDITOR:

[1] Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, Bulig Visayas, Dakila, Global Call to Action Against Poverty – Philippines, Greenpeace, Philippine Movement for Climate Justice, Sanlakas, Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, and interfaith groups.

[2] Led by the Archdiocese of Manila.

PRESS CONTACT:
Rash Caritativo
(+63) 917 863 8055
media.climatewalk@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE
02 October 2014

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[Press Release] Dakila walks the talk for climate justice

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Dakila walks the talk for climate justice

Photo by DAKILA

Photo by DAKILA

It is believed that a flutter of a butterfly’s wings on one part of the planet may cause a tsunami on the other. When former world leaders did not bat an eyelash about scientists’ warnings about climate change years ago, they allowed for unimaginable consequences, which lashed more at developing countries with little capacity to avert disasters.

Dakila new

Almost a year after supertyphoon Haiyan wreaked havoc in the poorest regions of the Philippines; the conscious global unity pushing for climate justice — instead of charity — has been waning. In the Herculean task of forgetting the things tragically lost, the trudge for international accountability via a fair, equitable, and binding global agreement on climate change by 2015 must remain afloat in everyone’s minds. This can only be achieved through constantly reminding our current world leaders of the plight of disaster-vulnerable countries, of the many lives and livelihoods permanently marred by the negative effects of climate change.

According to Nityalila Saulo, musician, Dakila core member, and one of the walkers who is part of the Climate Walk, “Today, we go back to where we started. DAKILA was borne out of a symbolic drive to clean up the topographical map of Philippines in One Rizal Park, formerly known as the Luneta Park. This time, the cleanup drive is not our job; it should be our world leaders’. Today, we embark on a 40-day, 1000-kilometer Climate Walk from Kilometer Zero in Luneta Park, Manila to Haiyan Ground Zero in Tacloban City, Leyte. We do this to raise public awareness on climate change and its repercussions. We want the people to know how it affects them and how they must get involved.”

Dakila’s climate revolution advocate, Jeckree Mission, also said, “Being part of the younger generation, by supporting the Climate Walk, I want to show that the youth is not only concerned in patronizing themselves in social media today, that we can do so much more and take on the challenge of global climate change. I encourage my fellow youth to stand with me and together, we’ll tell them what we really want for our future.”

A UP Los Banos graduate, Jeckree Mission, was chosen as 1 of the 8 inspiring young people from all over the world who presented and asked world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York last September 23 the question, “Why not act on climate change?” as part of The Climate Reality Project initiative supported by Former US Vice President Al Gore

Nityalila further added, “An epic journey to a climate revolution begins today. Step by step: this is how the Climate Walk aims to go forth in the struggle for climate justice. We see our support as a symbolic pledge to be more vigilant about our individual and collective carbon footprint, to participate more in the global conversations on climate change, and to remember that a small step today in the right direction will make waves in the future.”

Three Dakila members, musician Nityalila Saulo, visual artist AG Sano and filmmaker Charley Sta. Maria, will be participating in the 1,000 kilometer 40-day journey that they deem will spark a climate revolution in the Philippines.

PRESS RELEASE
DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism
02 October 2014

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[Featured video] March 8, 2013 International Women’s Day by ClydieCandy

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March 8, 2013 International Women’s Day
by clydiecandy

A feminist flashmob organized by World March of Women-Philippines, participated by Women Human Rights Defenders from different NGOs in the Philippines.

Iboto ang iyong #HRPinduterosChoice para sa HR VIDEOS.

Ang botohan ay magsisimula ngayon hanggang sa 11:59 ng Nov 15, 2013.

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[Event] Love is…Freedom from Violence!

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Love is…Freedom from Violence!
On the 14th of February 2013, we join a global strike to demand an end to violence against women or VAW.

1BILLION RISING photo by Ging Cristobal

1BILLION RISING photo by Ging Cristobal

This is our independent contribution to the campaign, led by the World March of Women – Pilipinas and organizations who participated in the first flashmob (Dec. 10, 2012) – Alliance of Progressive Labor – Women, Bagong Kamalayan, Batis-AWARE, Buklod, CATW-AP, Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), Kaisa Ka, Sarilaya, Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK), WomanHealth, Focus on the Global South, Foundation for Media Alternatives, KAISA – Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan – UP Diliman, Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), Tigra, UP Manila students, Women’s Crisis Center (WCC), and Youth and Students Advancing Gender Equality (YSAGE).

The first flashmob video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANvbHoc2GyM

The international call was received by the lead organizations from the European Women’s Lobby. We have decided that this is a critical moment to contribute to the widening and deepening resistance to violence against women, in the wake of epidemic of rapes in India. This becomes urgent as in the Philippines, one in 10 women aged 15-49 experienced sexual violence, and for deaf women, it is 1 in every 3 women raped. There has been increase in violence against indigenous women especially in mining communities, including the recent murder of a pregnant woman in Tampakan. We see the rise in hate crimes against lesbians. There has been steady growth in the prostitution of women and children as the climate and capitalist crises continue.

Flashmob was held last Feb. 14 at 9am, the ‘characters’ were lesbian lovers, flowers and lollipop sellers, dvd vendor, and to blend with the crowd in the area, wearing costumes as fast food worker, street sweeper, cook, waitress, MMDA, etc. The first to enter was the traffic enforcer in the middle of this intersection. LBT dancers from a colored beetle, and one or two danced on top of one vehicle, ala-“Step Up Revolution.” Towards the end, a streamer was unfurled, which bears this text: “BABAE – hindi pag-aari, hindi kalakal, hindi laruan… May sariling katauhan!”

Here is the video of the latest flashmob rehearsal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a10KZ_GGe-E.

Additonal participating groups are Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB), Amnesty International – Pilipinas (AI), BATIS, Kasibulan, WAGI, WEDPRO, and numerous individuals who joined through the event’s facebook page.

Let’s continue uniting to end all forms of violence against women!

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[People] Top ten issues for human rights in 2012 by Harry Roque

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Top ten issues for human rights in 2012
Harry Roque’s blog
Thoughts of an activist lawyer

Atty. Harry Roque Photo: http://humanrightshouse.org

Atty. Harry Roque Photo: http://humanrightshouse.org

Here’s my choice for the top ten most important developments for Human Rights in the Philippines for 2012:
1. Passage of the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law. Unfortunately, the passage of this law was overshadowed by the passage of the Reproductive Health Law. I say unfortunate because unlike the RH Law which in jurisprudence says is a penumbra of the due process clause, the crime of “desperacidos”, which unlike violations of international humanitarian law is not considered a crime under customary public international law.

This means that a domestic law is actually required to make enforced disappearances criminal. Now that we have this law, victims of desperacidos can actually file criminal charges for enforced disappearances without relying on kidnapping, if their loved ones survive; or murder, if their loved ones are found dead.

2. Passage of the Reproductive Health Law. The passage of this law has made jurisprudence on the right to privacy unnecessary. Prior to passage of the law, women’s rights advocates relied on the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in arguing that failure of the state to provide family planning implements to those who cannot afford them is a form of discrimination.

They also relied on the US Supreme Court decision that states that the right to limit one’s family size is covered by the right to privacy and is a “penumbra” of the due process clause. With this domestic law in place, it has now become the business of government to ensure that its citizens can freely choose the size of their families.

Read full article @harryroque.com

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[Blog] Where the yellow ribbons at. #RememberML@40 by Koi Hernandez

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Where the yellow ribbons at. #RememberML@40.

by koihernandez
August 29, 2012

“Oh tie a yellow ribbon around the old oak tree. If you still want me, do you still love me?”

or so the song goes.

…

The yellow ribbon symbol goes way back — according to the ever reliable internet, to the year of Nero, a roman emperor.

It is said that it means “Welcome Home” and “You’re forgiven”

…

There are many songs related to this yellow ribbon. But the first one came out as a US Army march song in 1917 – version by George A. Norton, which he titled ‘Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon (For Her Lover Who Is Far, Far Away). While he tells in the song about the love between Susie Simpkins and her soldier lover Silas Hubbard, his chorus goes:

Read full article @ koihernandez.wordpress.com

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[People] Let Us Elect Jesse Robredos in the May 2013 Elections by Armand Dean N. Nocum

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Let Us Elect Jesse Robredos in the May 2013 Elections

By Armand Dean N. Nocum

Armand Dean Nocum. File photo source: bayanihanleadership.blogspot.com

It is hard to find rhyme and reason when a good man leaves us – in a tragic circumstance no less.

I myself was so affected that I was left shocked and was in denial these past few days. These are times when you are tempted to question God’s motives for removing from the Aquino Administration the one good man who is most honest and committed to do good in areas of reform and honesty in governance.

Then it dawned on me that God must have precisely wanted to end Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo’s life in a blaze of glory in the watery deep of Masbate in order to make Filipinos realize the kind of people we are inside and can be. The kind of people we DESERVE to have in Government!

The Supreme Being, in His wondrous ways, may have wanted to show us that there are still people like Secretary Robredo who can remain long in office and not enrich himself and his family; that government officials are servants who ride bicycles, ride public buses to go home and personally sweep the streets; that government officials can be lowest among us; and that people can occupy high post in government without letting power get into their heads or affect their love and loyalty to their spouses and their families.

We would not have known all these and admired Sec. Robredo for these traits had Sec. Robredo been kicked out from office or left government following series of non-confirmation by Congress or through political infightings. The whole country would not have known the sterling qualities of this public servant had he died in his sleep or in old age.

I myself, who had not gotten the honor of meeting Sec. Robredo, only knew him for his good works for Naga City and which won him the coveted Ramon Magsaysay Awards in 2000. It is only after his tragic end did I get to know and was blown away by his humility and his being truly a man for the little people, much like the late President Ramon Magsaysay or Zamboanga’s Mayor Cesar C. Climaco.

It is for this reason that his family is so at peace with his kind of death and is not blaming anyone for it. In his lifetime, Secretary Robredo had accomplished thrice more than his contemporaries in local government or in the Cabinet who may live for a hundred but may never gain the respect, love and admiration now showered on Sec. Robredo. Dying a violent death is just an icing in the cake. A bonus.

It is perfect ending for a perfect brand of public service!

In his tragic and dramatic death, Sec. Robredo had thus thrown us the challenge to raise the bar of public service. To give justice to Sec. Robredo’s death, we are called upon look for his kind of traits and brand of public service in all politicians who are running for office in the 2013 elections. Having seen that we CAN still have officials like Sec. Jesse serving us, why should we settle for the dishonest, the corrupt, the lazy, the braggart, the abusive and the unqualified and stupid?

Ano tayo, cheap (Are we cheap)? Sec. Jesse has already shown us how true public service should be like, why should we settle for less?

Thus, as we mull on the untimely death of Sec. Jesse, let us not be content in merely talking about how good he was and how saddening for us to have lost a public servant like that, we must all rise up to the occasion and wake up the Jesse Robredos in each of us! Like Jesse, we can all be true heroes and martyrs without running for office or riding on Piper Seneca planes that plunge to the Masbate seas at sundown.

Let us use this inherent Jesse Robredo potential to be heroes to help our fellow man regardless how lofty or lowly our circumstance is in life. More importantly, let us wake up from slumber the Jesse Robredo within us and convert this into a VOTE POWER to ensure that politicians who don’t possess the life-giving qualities of Sec. Robredo will never enter the hallowed halls of the Senate, Congress and the city and provincial and municipal halls in the country!

Sec. Jesse Robredo already died giving us a glimpse of the kind of public service we are being denied for so a long time now, inspired by this great public servant and hero, let us continue the fight for good and reformist public service!

Let us elect Jesse Robredo’s in the May 2013 elections. That is the only way for us to show that Sec. Jesse had not died in vain.

(Armand Dean Nocum, a former Inquirer reporter, is founder of the Kristiyano-Islam Peace Library (www.krislibrary.com) which builds private libraries in conflict areas in Mindanao, rehabilitates and donates old computers and books to public school libraries and communities; and finances the schooling of 233 scholars nationwide.)

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[People] Aquino Needs Fewer Words, More Action by Dr. Renato Mabunga

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Aquino Needs Fewer Words, More Action
by Dr. Renato Mabunga
FREE ZONE
http://renatomabunga.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/aquino-needs-fewer-words-more-action/

In 2010 President Benigno Aquino said the process of providing “true and complete justice for all” has begun. Two years later, human rights groups documented 13 cases of summary executions.
The latest victim of the assassins was Dutch missionary Wilhelmus Geertman, a Church worker who opted to live with the poor. He was killed by still unidentified assailants on July 3 in Angeles City in the province of Pampanga.

Later this month, when President Aquino delivers his state of the nation address, we expect another promise to put killers and human rights violators behind bars.
Whether in words or intentions, common to both Aquino’s pronouncements and the statements of victims of rights violations is the longing for justice.

For two years, the president has expressed weariness over worrying about justice. The families of victims, meanwhile, worry about weathering justice. The president’s weariness has been interpreted as procrastination. The victims’ call is a virtue to action.

The government has been quick to debunk accusations that it is doing nothing. Government officials said cases have been filed and everything has been done within the powers of the courts. The executive department has been helpless about it, Aquino spokesmen have said.
Indeed, the president need not interfere in court proceedings, but he has all the powers to ensure truthful and impartial investigations and the strength of his office to get rid of “scalawags in uniform.”

The president can indeed regulate the greed of business interests that hire goons to harass communities and kill environmental and human rights activists. His is the influence to assure communities that harm will never beset those who testify in cases against rights violators and criminals.

It is not how much one has projected one’s intentions. It is how far one has combated impunity. It is not the number of cases filed but how many convictions have resulted from it. It is not comparison of statistics from former administrations but how justice is rendered and how strong mechanisms are instituted to stop extrajudicial killings.

Extrajudicial executions are not accidental. These are planned to wipe out hindrances to attaining vested desires. Assassinations are grandiose displays of wickedness. The weapon is brutality, impunity its armor and terror its strength.

Click here to read full article: http://www.ucanews.com/2012/07/16/aquino-needs-fewer-words-and-more-action/

[People] Coal and Mining – The Killing Industries by Fr. Shay Cullen

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Coal and Mining – The Killing Industries
by Fr. Shay Cullen

Death came swiftly suddenly but not it was not unexpected. One day in October 2011the motor bike pulled into the open entrance in front of the church rectory of Italian missionary, environmentalist and human rights defender Father Fausto Tentorio. When he came out of the rectory the killer pulled out his gun and shot the priest dead and drove away. Another shocking murder of a man who gave his life defending the ancestral lands of the indigenous people wanted by the mining company. Crime solved, the trigger was most likely pulled by a unknown mining tycoon.

Hundreds of environmentalists defending the rights of the people to their ancestral homelands forests and agricultural lands that are being stolen by the rich and the powerful, have been killed according to Global Witness, a non-government agency. In the Philippines, as many as fifty Filipino environmental defenders have been killed in recent years allegedly by the money moguls behind the logging, mining and power plant industries.

The UN environmental summit in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil has been declared a failure fizzling out like a damp squib with an insignificant document that failed to reach a clear binding agreement to curb global warming and end fossil fuel for energy production. It has achieved practically nothing to curb CO2 gasses and other harmful human activity that is causing global warming.

It was supposed to get national leaders to agree to a sustainable green energy agenda for the future. The super rich industrialists and multinational oil and fossil fuel corporations have played a sinister role behind the scenes to stymie any progress towards a cleaner safer and happier world. Most come from a financial culture where “Greed is Good” and the only green they want to see is on a thousand dollar bill.

In the Philippines, the voices of the many people demanding an end to the construction of coal powered plants are being ignored and even protesters are receiving threats. In Subic Bay, the entire bay and its towns are threatened by the proposed 600 MW coal plant project of R.P. Energy a consortium with powerful political connections in the cabinet of President Aquino. I pray that his energy policy will favor renewable energy and not coal and fossil fuel. His great legacy of anti-corruption might be sullied by these influential industrialists. He must serve the best interests of the people not the profit-making plans of the plutocracy.

Industrialists and financing corporations lobby heavily to influence governments to continue the fossil fuel fiasco like power plants that poison the people in many countries. In the Philippines, the Secretary of Energy is pushing President Aquino into the furnace of coal fired power plants like fury. The honorable secretary has denied he is influenced in anyway by his past position in the private power generation sector.

I pray for him to continue being good and faithful to the people and resist the pressures and temptations to give into the ploys of former associates, employers in the power generation industry to whom he may have an debt of honor (utang na Loob). His greater debt of honor is to the President and the people who elected him and who want a clean healthy environment.

The Secretary of Energy is reported to want eleven coal fired power plants all over the country. Lower cost renewable sustainable electricity can be generated from volcanic heat through Geothermal plants and get lithium as a side product to make powerful batteries that can run clean electric cars. However mysteriously heavy import taxes are imposed on geothermal equipment. Almost none on mining and coal burning equipment.

The Lopez group of companies First Gen Corporation is offering to construct two 300 megawatt hydro-plants on the Angat and Norzagaray rivers respectively. Other companies offer clean renewable and solar and wind power to make electricity.

The Philippines should end the black and dirty coal policy. The proposed Subic Bay coal plant is mired in allegedly corrupt deals with the former government. They will only pay one million pesos a year in rent. These plants that are belching daily poison gasses and ash into the air we breath are killing people. There is no long term solution to dispose of the millions of tons of deadly semi-toxic ash and the deadly mercury and uranium pollutants will remain forever. The Lord of the Cosmos has given us a beautiful planet, we are morally bound to protect and cherish it and all living creatures. END
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[Blogger] Social Discourse: The Question of the Right of the People to Peaceably Assemble and the Right to Association by Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

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Social Discourse: The Question of the Right of the People to Peaceably Assemble and the Right to Association
by Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

The right of the people to peaceably assembled for purposes of petitioning the Government for a redress, of calling the attention of the same with regard to the people’s demand and to air their collective grievances is not only a constitutional right conferred by the law, but also a primordial duty as a member of a given body politic or community!

In fact, it is one of the indispensable attribute of universal responsible citizenship.

Wikipedia defines the said right as:

Freedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests. The right to freedom of association is recognized as a human right, a political freedom and a civil liberty.

As a human right, man by nature is a socio-political animal. We love to be with our fellow-men. That gives credence and veracity to the time-honored principle that: no man is an island. Hence, it is in our very nature to bond, to associate and to converse to our fellow human being. There is no shadow of doubt that this right is a pre-political; which means that said right is already in existence prior to the arrival of the need of a government. That is one of the primary reasons why it is a human right, is that because it is inherently programmed in us by Mother Nature herself.

It logically follows that no government (no matter what its form or structure) have the right whatsoever to delimit and curtail that right; because the moment that state do so, it will lose its legitimacy by virtue of the fact that it is strangling one of the key elements of man’s humanity.

If that scenario happens, then the writings in the wall which categorically stated that: “When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty” might arise!

As a political freedom, the right to peaceably assembled and/or the right to association includes the right to protest and to contest.
Protest and contest what?

To protest any abuses committed (whether consciously or unconsciously) by the government or any of its subsidiaries, agencies, and instrumentalities.

To contest and object to any grave abuse of discretion, wrong program, misplaced priority and anti-rakyat policies (whether wittingly or unwittingly) carried out by our political leaders, government officials and various ministries.

Part of our duty as a responsible member of society is to serve as an independent fiscalizer/observer and objective critic of the government. Inarguably, it is part of our social obligation to call the attention of the government for any mistake committed, negligence done and unwise policies that they laid that gravely affects the whole political spectrum of the community in its totality.

How will the government knows if its programs and policies are conducive to the people, if the people will not go out and tell them directly about the central matters of society and the pressing problems of the country?

As a civil liberty, the right to peaceably assembled is granted to all citizens and guaranteed by the fundamental law.

Of course, in every right, there is the corresponding corollary obligation. Yet, let me state for purposes of the record that I believe in the political judgment of the people of this country and I have high regard to the degree of their civic-consciousness.

I certainly believe that the people will not simply go to the rally just for the sake of going to it and doing it. What I am saying is that the people are responsible enough to exercise their right with firm discretion and sound judgment.

In my conclusion, may I beg the indulgence of our reader to leave an insightful analysis and the brilliant words of a great Filipino political commentator, Jose Ma. Montelibano:

The journey to political maturity and the return of finer cultural values and higher ethics as the foundation of our sense of justice and societal relationships will continue to be a great struggle. With the freedom to express our views, the journey will be a most noisy one, too.

It is the legacy we seek to bequeath the younger generations and those yet to be born. We cannot give up, we cannot fail. In the drama, we must remain aware that honesty, integrity and honor must find their way to reign in our hearts – and that only courage can see us through.

This work is a humble expression of my unity and solidarity to Bersih 3.0 and the valiant people of Malaysia who braved and rallied at Dataran Merdeka to reclaim their Independence Square!

In doing so, they have shown the world and proclaimed to all that they are unafraid and that they are free!

Hidup Rakyat!
Makkal Shakti!
All Powers to the People!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

Former lecturer: General Philosophy and Ethics

Subang Jaya, Darul Ehsan,
Selangor, Malaysia

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[From the web] A woman is a mother — and more -www.oxfamblogs.org

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A woman is a mother — and more.

By Rebecca Miranda

There were a lot of sessions at AWID to select from but I focused on my field of interest, which is all about movement building and strengthening the role of rural women in agriculture. All the sessions were exciting to me. I had wanted to learn new ideas, innovative approaches by other women groups from other countries; to hear success stories of how women are able to fight for their right to food security and sovereignty, their right to land and work, etc.  What had their gains been in spite of the difficulties of their struggle? What strategies had they used to cope with the effect of globalization? And most of all, how had these women’s groups transformed realities into economic and political power?

I learned from the sessions that women all over the world, especially those from the field of agriculture, experience the same issues as Filipino women. The effect of the globalization of the economy is the degradation of agriculture and it has brought economic crisis to the whole world. And women are the most affected because they are the ones who must secure the basic daily needs of the household.

Read full article @ www.oxfamblogs.org

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.

[From the web] Jericho Rosales produces an anti-human trafficking indie film titled Alagwa -www.pep.ph

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Jericho Rosales produces an anti-human trafficking indie film titled Alagwa

Allan Sancon, http://www.pep.ph
April 03, 2012

Karamihan sa mga artista ngayon ay hindi lang pag arte ang pinagkakaabalahan. Maging ang pagdi direk at pagpo produce ng film ay pinapasok na nila. Isa na rito ang aktor na si Jericho Rosales na siyang nagproduce ng kanyang unang indie film na pinamagatang Alagwa.

Bukod sa pagiging producer, si Echo rin ang gaganap na bida sa indie film na ito. Kasama niya rito ang bida ng ABS-CBN teleserye na E-Boy, si Bugoy Cariño. Sa recent set visit para sa teleserye ni Echo na pinamagatang Dahil Sa Pag-Ibig, nagkaroon ang ibang press at ang PEP.ph ng pagkakataon na makapanayam ang aktor tungkol sa indie film na ito.

Ani Jericho, “It’s my first time to produce an indie film, ang title niya Alagwa, directed by Ian Loreños. Ipapalabas siya dito sa Pilipinas then dadalhin sa ibang bansa. We are working with the Visayan Forum that supported by USA against human trafficking. So, may advocacy yung movie na ito, yun nga yung against human trafficking.”

Ang Alagwa (international title: Breakaway) ay inspired ng isang urban legend tungkol sa isang bata na nawala sa Chinatown.

Read full article @ www.pep.ph

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.

[Event] Don’t blame the women, blame the abuser! -CATW-AP

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PNoy is set to sign a law which leaves out women in prostitution as criminals/vagrants!

Invitation to Take Back the Night!
(Don’t blame the women, blame the abuser!)
April 3, 2012
6 PM, Mendiola Bridge

(“Mary Magdalene Contemplating the Crown of Thorns” by Michelangelo)

This Lent, the Filipino women are being doubly persecuted with the impending passage of an anti-women bill. Women are poor, too. Why leave them out as criminals in this amendatory bill?

For nine years, women’s groups, survivors and advocates have been pushing for an anti-prostitution bill that will shift the accountability away from the bought and onto the buyers as well as the profiteering business. Thus, for legislators to pass a bill simply amending the Vagrancy Act, keeping women in prostitution criminalized, while all other actors are decriminalized, is sheer callousness and misogyny. It is nothing but early and crass electioneering in the guise of being pro-poor.

PAALALA: Magsuot po ng kulay puti at magdala ng kandila upang ilawan ang labing-apat na istasyon ng krus ng mga kababaihan sa prostitusyon. Mga kontak: Clydie Pasia (4342149), Jean Enriquez (0917 8235326).

Alliance of Progressive Labor • Ateneo Human Rights Centre • Bagong Kamalayan • Buklod • CATW-AP • Center for Overseas Workers • Development Action for Women Network • Development Through Active Women Networking • EnGendeRights • Focus on the Global South • Ging Cristobal • IMA Foundation • Lawig Bubai • LUNA Legal Resource Center for Women and Children • Pagtinabangay Foundation • PKKK • PREDA • La Proteccion de la Infancia, Inc. • Rainbow Rights Project (R-Rights), Inc. • Renew Foundation • SARILAYA • SAMARITANA • Sidlakan • Talikala • Tisaka • Transform Asia • WomanHealth Phils. • Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau • Women’s Crisis Center • Women’s Media Circle Foundation • Youth and Students Advancing Gender Equality • World March of Women

Jean Enriquez
Executive Director, CATW-AP
Tel: 63-2-4342149
http://www.catw-ap.org

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.

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[Event] “Rage for RH! — Rally against Gender Discrimination, for Women’s Empowerment!” -RHAN

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“Rage for RH! — Rally against Gender Discrimination, for Women’s Empowerment!”

In celebration of women’s month, Reproductive Health Advocacy Network (RHAN) invites you to “Rage for RH! — Rally against Gender Discrimination, for Women’s Empowerment!” on 30 March 2012, from 3:30 to 7:00 pm, at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Grounds, Quezon Avenue corner EDSA, Quezon City.

While celebrating the many victories women have gained throughout our herstory, this gathering of women and men aims to: 1) unify women and women-supporters on the central place of reproductive health and rights in women’s lives; 2) creatively and collectively express our outrage at the capture of health policy-making by religious conservatives; and 3) highlight the value of women’s lives and empowerment in nation-building.

The event will include an art exhibit showcasing Agnes Arellano’s sculptures on women’s bodies, booths/stations where participants can enjoy several means to creatively express their frustrations over the ongoing delays in the passage of the RH Bill, a ritual of commitment through dance, chants, noise-making, and a cultural program of poetry reading and performances by pro-RH artists and personalities.

For Details please contact:

Likhaan (926-6230; 411-3151; office@likhaan.org), or through their mobile phones: Joy Salgado (0915-407-9894); Ellen San Gabriel (0916-602-5203); or, Mina Tenorio (0927-425-0213).

[In the news] The Pinay in the whiteness, in the shadows -GMA News

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The Pinay in the whiteness, in the shadows
by Katrina Stuart Santiago, GMA News
February 27, 2012

There is nothing right, nothing right at all, about the “FHM Philippines” March issue cover. And it’s easy to think: but what do you expect? it’s a men’s magazine!

Well I expect some sensitivity, if not some intelligence, thank you very much. I expect that a magazine like “FHM” which lives off – excuse me, makes money out of – women’s bodies would at the very least know where it must draw the line. One might say that the line was drawn at the fact of women’s bodies being sold, but that’s an argument that right now is beside the point.

Right now we grant the existence of an industry of men’s magazines across the world, its objectification of the woman’s body its bread and butter. Right now we grant that having a transnational brand that is “For Him Magazine” means a whole slew of limitations for its local franchise which, if one has ever leafed through enough of its issues, would easily be about skimpily clad women on the cover, sex advice, and conversations with women where they all just come off ditzier than they might be, or just dumb and dumber.

Right now we grant that the reason a magazine like “FHM” even survives On these shores is the fact that even the smarter women, ones who are in the business of show, models and actresses alike, cannot and will not take a stand against it. We grant that more than having a market of Pinoy males who will buy magazines like this, there is a market of Pinoy women who are just so willing to be objectified in this manner, maybe finding some power in it? Maybe just in need of that big break that apparently now depends on being the sexual fantasy of plenty-a-Pinoy-male.

But to layer that fantasy with skin color and race, to imagine the fantasy to be about a white-skinned cover girl stepping into the light and out of the shadows represented by dark-skinned girls? That is a clear line being crossed. It’s a line that’s about taste on the most superficial level, which fundamentally can only fall within the bigger discourses of skin color and discrimination, racism and white supremacist ideology. That “FHM” cover reveals how all of these are inextricably tied, as it shines a light on how we have deluded ourselves into thinking otherwise, and have allowed whiteness to take over the images of being Pinay with nary a fight.

Read full article @ www.gmanetwork.com

[In the news] 15 human trafficking victims rescued – SunStar.com.ph

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15 human trafficking victims rescued
By Bong Garcia, SunStar.com.ph
January 11, 2012

 THE multi-agency Sea-Based Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (SBATTF) has intercepted and rescued 15 victims of human trafficking in Zamboanga City, a top police official announced Wednesday.

Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) director Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said the victims were rescued around 9 a.m. Monday at the local port.

De Ocampo said the rescue came after receipt of information by his command’s Women and Children Protection Desk (WCPD) that some ten women were allegedly recruited to work abroad and are being kept in a house in the village of Rio Hondo.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[In the news] UN warns 87,500 ‘Sendong’ children at risk of abuse, neglect and trafficking – www.gmanetwork.com

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UN warns 87,500 ‘Sendong’ children at risk of abuse, neglect and trafficking
by AMANDA LAGO, GMA News

  Disaster relief workers of the United Nations on Tuesday said it is urgent that measures be put in place to protect thousands of orphaned and unaccompanied children from abuse, neglect and human trafficking syndicates in areas ravaged by Tropical Storm Sendong.

“Around 87,500 children require registration and camp coordination to protect them from abuse, exploitation and trafficking in evacuation centers,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Tuesday in a situation report on the impact of Sendong.

“There is a lack of protection mechanisms for vulnerable sub-groups, such as pregnant and lactating women, female heads of households, single women, people with disabilities and the elderly,” the report also noted.

Read full article @ www.gmanetwork.com

[People] Engaging governments through the UPR process by Dr. Boyet Mabunga

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by Dr. Boyet Mabunga
FREE ZONE

(Note:  This article was first published in HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM, Volume 5, Number 1issue.  Updated and modified to incorporate latest developments and preparation on the Philippine 2nd Cycle Universal Periodic Review slated on the 13th HRC/UPR Working Group session in May to June 2012.)

……………………………………………………………………………………..

“Every day we are reminded of the need for a strengthened United Nations, as we face a growing array of new challenges, including humanitarian crises, human rights violations, armed conflicts and important health and environmental concerns. Seldom has the United Nations been called upon to do so much for so many. I am determined to breathe new life and inject renewed confidence in a strengthened United Nations firmly anchored in the twenty-first century, and which is effective, efficient, coherent and accountable.”

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

IN 1997, and again in 2002, reforms in the United Nations gained ground in Geneva and New York, respectively. These reforms came in the heels of then-Secretary General Kofi Annan’s challenge to the UN’s “continued significance” in the face of 21st century realities. He called for improvements in how the UN conducts its work, implements its mandate and manages the funds entrusted to it by its Member States in order to bring human rights to all peoples of the world.

These reforms took a significant turn during the General Assembly’s 60th session. The world’s leaders adopted UNGA Resolution 60/251 on the 15th of March 2006, which created the Human Rights Council (HRC). The HR Council is now a subsidiary organ of the General Assembly, taking over the role of the Commission on Human Rights, which was created under article 68 of the UN Charter on Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The HRC was mandated to conduct a Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a mechanism to evaluate each member state’s human rights commitments. The said review shall be a cooperative mechanism, based on an interactive dialog, with the full involvement of the country concerned and with consideration given to its capacity-building needs. The UPR is intended to complement and not duplicate the work of treaty bodies.

At its fifth session on June 18, 2007, the Council responded to this request and adopted, through resolution 5/1, detailed modalities regarding the UPR. Threshed out in particular were the basis of the review, principles and objectives to be followed, the periodicity and order of review of countries, process and modalities, as well as the outcome and the follow-up to the review. The HRC also decided that the review would be conducted in a working group composed of the 47 member States of the Council.

At its sixth session on September 21, 2007, the HRC adopted a calendar in relation to the consideration of 192 Member States of the United Nations for the first four-year cycle of the UPR mechanism. The Philippines was selected among the 16 countries to be reviewed in the 1st UPR session on April 7–18, 2008.

The 1st cycle of the UPR process ended last October 2011 at the 12th session of the Human Rights Council.  The whole process was considered a “historic review of the human rights situation of the 192 United Nations member States”.  Immediately thereafter, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released an updated “Universal Periodic Review: information and guidelines for relevant stakeholders’ written submissions” for the 2nd Cycle’s submission of report and onwards.  It underscores two main changes on the technical guidelines:

The scope of submission to the 2nd cycle must include information on the follow-up and developments to the recommendations for the State-under-review (SUR).

The length of submission is fixed not to extend 2815 words for individual submissions and 5630 words for joint submissions.

As preparation for review, HRC required the concerned governments and other stakeholders to submit human rights reports, which should follow the following guidelines:

Description of the methodology and the broad consultation process followed for the preparation of information;

Developments since the previous review in background of the State under review and framework, particularly normative and institutional framework, for the promotion and protection of human rights: Constitution, legislation, policy measures, national jurisprudence, human rights infrastructure including national human rights institutions and scope of international obligations.

Promotion and protection of human rights on the ground: implementation of international human rights obligations identified in the “basis of review”, national legislation and voluntary commitments, national human rights institutions’ activities, public awareness of human rights, cooperation with human rights mechanisms;

Presentation by the State concerned of the follow-up to the previous review;

Achievements, best practices, challenges and constraints; in relation to the implementation of accepted recommendations and the development of human rights situations in the State;

Key national priorities, initiatives and commitments that the State intends to undertake to overcome challenges and constraints and improve human rights situations on the ground;

Expectations in terms of capacity-building and requests, if any, for technical assistance;

Read full article @ renatomabunga.wordpress.com

[Event] Dinner Show for a Cause on 11-11-11- SARILAYA

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11-11-11 Event.

Celebrate Life by going back to the old ways:  simple lifestyle close to Mother Nature’s Heart;  simple dinner with great entertainment.

Woven in a Dinner Show for a Cause on 11-11-11 are the following:

  • An empowered women’s organization called SARILAYA.
  • A catering social business through a cooperative.
  • A healthy eating and environment advocacy as focal point of work.
  • An integrated urban gardening practice right at the backyard of every women member.
  • A day care and feeding program as primary community outreach program.

The community-based women members of SARILAYA is putting into practice the value of self-reliance.  In response to the sustainability component of its program, specifically in General Mariano Alvares, Cavite, it has daringly started its catering business endeavor with very minimum resources.  To help us improve our service, we are working on a fund-raising project through a dinner show. We are hereby presenting you the concept of the Dinner Show and its objectives, with optimism for your full support to this joint undertaking.

Mark your calendars now! This special event shall take place on 11-11-11.  The special alignment brings hope to us who are at the critical stage in our lifetime, thus providing us a reason to celebrate through the dinner show with the 200-strong members of SARILAYA in GMA.  This is both a celebration and a fundraising event.

SARILAYA Advocacy.  As a women’s organization, SARILAYA not only works for the welfare of the women sector, but also adheres to the principle of caring for the physical well-being of every person and the well- being of the planet.  Thus, the healthy lifestyle advocacy through sustainable agriculture and healthy food, and the environment-friendly living practice have become explicit part of its vision-mission-goals.

Specifically in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, the SARILAYA Chapter has conceptualized and started engaging in healthy catering service.  With basic home cooking experience and very limited equipment, it started operation and has now been catering to increasing number of people who are already looking for healthy food alternative.

The Dinner.   To better equip the women members who are now engaged into catering business, SARILAYA shall launch its catering operation with the primary aim of raising fund for the development of the catering cooperative through training, purchase of equipment, and further skilling.  The launch shall be in a form of a dinner.

The healthy dining experience is what makes SARILAYA’s catering different from all other caterers.  Healthy food and beverage will be served. With recipes cooked using real fresh herbs and vegetables homegrown by Sarilaya members, guests will enjoy the honest-to-goodness taste of food cooked without artificial flavor enhancers and MSG, plus the healthy benefits of eating less meat, more fruits and vegetables and beverages made from real herb extracts.

The food shall be prepared with the assistance of Chef Boy Logro and his students.  To date, consultations with Chef Logro are underway to facilitate bringing in culinary arts students to help SARILAYA women prepare the dinner.  Chef Boy Logro is the host of the “Idol sa Kusina” show on Channel 11.

The Show.  Highlight of the event will be the music, songs, dance and theater performances on environmental issues and concerns featuring the Dakila Artists (or “Green Artists” as they call themselves) and the Sarilaya Community Theater Group.

The Dinner Show hopes to strengthen the flagship advocacy of Sarilaya on health and the environment.  Aside from raising funds for the development of the catering business, it also aims in supporting the sustainability of community-based women initiated projects like the SIKAP Learning Center in Bgy. Pulido, GMA, Cavite and its feeding program.

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