“More than a week has passed since the Manilakbayan contingent arrived in Metro Manila yet BS Aquino chose to remain mum on the demands of the Mindanaoans and has instead, resorted to military attacks in the communities where the Manilakbayan contingent came from,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

As the Manilakbayan contingent was on its way to Metro Manila, on-going military operations that included bombings have resulted in the evacuation of indigenous peoples in Bunawan, Agusan del Sur and in three villages in Claveria town, Misamis Oriental.

On November 17, Manilakbayan ng Mindanao reported some 300 indigenous people fled their homes “due to artillery bombardments of their community.”

Earlier, residents of the populated village of Sta. Monica and Sitio Kiatsan, Brgy. Bunawan Brook decided to leave their homes on November 11, the after soldiers freely and arbitrarily fired their guns for several days.

Also in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur brothers Philims and Philip Poloyapoy are still missing since November 1. Their brother Filjohn was found dead on November 3. The three were arrested by elements of the 75th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA) while conducting combat operations on November 1 at Purok 13,Bagong Silang, Brgy. Bayugan 3, Rosario, Agusan del Sur.

“BS Aquino is wrong in thinking that he can ignore the cries of the Mindanaons who are in Metro Manila by harassing the people and bombing their communities in Mindanao. Ang mamamayan ang maghuhusga. The Filipino people will ultimately judge him and the crimes of his regime,” Palabay added.

Today is the fifth day since the Manilakbayan, in a ritual, posted kodaw with five knots at the Freedom gate at Mendiola. The kodaw is the Lumad’s way of sending messages. Through it, the Mindanaoans have sent their demands to BS Aquino. The five knots signify the number of days the Manilakbayan contingent gave to Aquino to respond to their call for food and peace, the pull-out of the 55 AFP combat battalions in Mindanao, and an end to Oplan Bayanihan.

“BS Aquino may ignore the five-days in the kudaw but that only bears out his irrelevance to the Filipino people,” ended Palabay.

Reference:
Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+63918-9790580

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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As women activists the world over commemorate the International Day for Women Human Rights Defenders today, November 29, women’s rights group Tanggol Bayi today scored the BS Aquino administration as “a threat to the lives and rights of Filipinas, especially on the extent of rights violations against women human rights defenders in the Philippines.”

Kiri Dalena, convenor of Tanggol Bayi, said the “continuing attacks on women human rights defenders in the country are evident in the killing of development worker Engr. Fidela Salvador, frustrated killing of Nermie Lapatis and in the illegal arrest and detention of Andrea Rosal and Maria Miradel Torres who were both pregnant at the time of their arrests.”

Engr. Salvador, 50 years old and a mother of three children, was a consultant of the Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services Inc. (CorDisRDS) and the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC).  She was on a monitoring visit for various socio-economic projects implemented by CorDiSRDS and CDPC in Lacub, Abra when she was killed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in their operations in September 2014.

On September 6, Engr. Salvador’s body along with the dead body of another civilian, Lacub resident Noel Viste, was airlifted by the AFP from their Bantugo military camp in Lacub to the Barbarit, Lagangilang, military camp. The autopsy report conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation indicated that she suffered from 9 gunshot wounds, multiple contusions and lacerations and a head injury caused by a blunt object.

Andrea Rosal, a peasant organizer and land rights activist, was arrested together with companion Edward Lanzanas on March 27, 2014 by elements of the NBI and the military for trumped up charges of kidnapping with murder.  Rosal was seven months pregnant during the arrest. Rosal, daughter of communist spokesperson Ka Roger Rosal, lost her first child two days after giving birth in May this year. The inhumane conditions in jail contributed to the death of her baby. She is still detained for the said trumped up charges.

Torres, a member of Gabriela in Mauban, Quezon, was four-months pregnant when she was illegally arrested on June 20, 2014 in Lucena by joint elements of the AFP and the police based on trumped up charges of murder and frustrated murder.  Prior to her arrest, Torres, who was then four-months pregnant, was confined at a hospital in Quezon province from June 11 to 18 due to profuse bleeding. While at the TCJ-FD, Torres was brought to Taguig Hospital due to continuous heavy bleeding. She was hospitalized from July 3 to August 11. She recently gave birth to a baby boy.

Indigenous people’s leader and anti-mining activist Nermie Lapatis of the Kahugpungan sa mga Mag-uuma (Kasama) in Vintar, Valencia, Bukidnon, survived an attempt on her life in February 5, 2014. She was shot in the knee, while her companion and fellow peasant leader, Julieto Lauron, had been killed instantly, after they were shot at by still unidentified assailants. Lapatis had been previously harassed by paramilitary group New Indigenous People’s Army for Reform (NIPAR) and the 8thInfantry Battalion Philippine Army.

Human rights group Karapatan reported 21 women victims of extrajudicial killings under the Aquino administration, and 43 women political prisoners.

Aquino government did not comply with Beijing declaration on women’s rights

Cristina Palabay, co-convenor of Tanggol Bayi, said that the “Philippine government is an absolute failure in implementing international human rights standards on women’s rights, including the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (BPfA),” which was adopted on September 15, 1995 in Beijing, China. The said declaration contains specific commitments pertaining to the respect, promotion and protection of women’s rights in situations of armed conflict. A review of States’ commitments to the BPfA is slated on March 2015 at the session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York, twenty years after the landmark declaration was signed.

“Since 1995, the continuing and escalating attacks by state security forces against women human rights defenders in the Philippines, especially those who are active in promoting the right of peasants and indigenous peoples, are propped up by the climate of impunity, the non-rendering of justice and accountability, that engenders further violations against Filipino women and the people in general,” Palabay averred.

She also particularly scored the increased military fund appropriations and spending of the Philippine government and the US military aid to the Philippines to fund counter-insurgency programs that result to gross violations of women’s rights.

Despite the enactment of domestic laws criminalizing violence against women and children, trafficking, rape and the Magna Carta of Women, Palabay said “the situation of increased poverty, landlessness, joblessness, gender-based violence, and suppression of rights by state security forces have worsened women’s lives.”

“The Philippines is a notorious example of a state that uses the gender and human rights cards to appear to look good before the UN and in the international community. The government may have signed on to all international treaties on women’s rights and human rights, and it may have all the laws on this regard, but on the ground, the situation gives a different story,” she concluded.

References:
Krista “Kiri” Dalena
Convenor, Tanggol Bayi
+639295373010, +639209755574

Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
co-convenor, Tanggol Bayi
+63917-3162831
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KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights

http://www.karapatan.org/Karapatan+scores+use+of++force+vs+Manilakbayan+rallyists

They have come to tell their stories on how the Armed Forces of the Philippines sow terror in their communities. On the third day of the Manilakbayan contingent in Metro Manila, they already experienced how the Philippine National Police used force to drive them away and to protect the US Embassy.

On November 24, the Manilakbayan contingent with hundred others from Southern Tagalog marched from Baclaran Church to US Embassy. The mostly peasants, indigenous peoples and Moro delegates from Mindanao condemned the continued and increasing presence of US troops in the country. However, the police hit them with rattan truncheons that hurt the protesters. Joseph Alicabo, a worker from the Toyota Motors Philippines was hit on the head and was wounded.

Mindanao has been hosting Balikatan military exercises since the Visiting Forces Agreement was approved in 1999. Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general cited several cases of human rights violations that Karapatan documented since then. Among them were the killing of Buyong-buyong Isnijal in 2002 and the “mysterious” death of Gregan Cardeño in 2010.

“The incident at the US Embassy may be minor compared to the massive militarization of peasant and indigenous people’s communities in Mindanao. But it showed the Manilakbayan contingent that anywhere in the country, those who avow to serve and protect the Filipino people are actually protecting the interests of the US government; that the BS Aquino government does not give an inch to protesters and is always ready to  use of force against them,” Palabay said.

More than half of the AFP’s total armed strength is currently deployed in Mindanao. “There are at least 55 battalions sowing terror in Mindanao, displacing peasants and indigenous peoples, encamped in Lumad schools, harassing, and even killing the people,” she added.

The Manilakbayan contingent is set to hold a protest action at the Department of National Defense tomorrow, November 26 to call the public’s attention to the abuses and rights violations of BS Aquino’s AFP. Already there are 83 documented cases of extrajudicial killings, 500 activists facing trumped up criminal charges, and 39 incidents of forcible evacuation.

Yesterday, after the march to the US Embassy, the Manilakbayan and Southern Tagalog contingent with other Metro Manila-based people’s organizations, held a rally at Mendiola. Lumad rituals to show their condemnation of the BS Aquino regime and to strengthen people’s unity were conducted. Lumad leaders also made ‘kudaw’ a strand of rattan with five knots to signify the number of days they are giving BS Aquino to heed the demands of the people of Mindanao. November 29 is BS Aquino’s deadline.

The Manilakbayan ng Mindanao contingent will be in Manila until December 10, where they will join in the commemoration of the International Day of Human Rights.

Reference:
Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+63918-9790580

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. 

Candles lit for Hacienda Luisita martyrs, all victims of trade union repression

“Ten years on since the Hacienda Luisita massacre, the Aquino presidency has no indication that it will end the bloody land monopoly of his clan and slave wages for the farmworkers. It’s totally outrageous that the President’s family expects Filipino farmworkers and their families to survive on PhP9.50/day (less than 0.30 NZ$) and silence them with bullets when they assert their long-running demand for genuine land reform.”

Thus was the statement of NZ-based human rights advocacy group as New Zealand trade union and human rights activists gathered on Friday 14th November to mark the International Day of Action against Trade Union Repression, to show solidarity with all workers asserting their rights to form unions to fight for just wages, job security and humane working conditions.

Members of Auckland Philippines Solidarity (APS), FIRST Union and Unite Union lit candles after watching the documentary video on one of the worst attacks against workers’ right to freedom of association: Ten years ago, on November 16, 2004, the military and police forces opened fire on striking sugar workers of the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita owned by one of the Philippines’ biggest landlords – the president’s Aquino-Cojuangco clan.

President Benigno Aquino III was the manager of Hacienda Luisita and member of Congress at the time of the massacre.

“We lit candles to reiterate demand for justice for the seven martyrs of the November 16, 2004 tragedy and the scores of union leaders and supporters brutally killed in the following months. How many more lives of poor peasants and farmworkers will be taken before the President’s family heed the numerous court orders following massive strikes and solidarity actions demanding just distribution of the land in Hacienda Luisita,” APS asked.

“We dare Pres. Aquino and his family members to try living on PhP9.50/day like the thousands of families of the striking sugar workers who remain denied of justice and dignity of hard labour up to this day,” APS concluded.

A day before the 10th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita massacre, survivor Florida Sibayan, now chairperson of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), led Luisita farmworkers in protests in Mendiola , Manila. Supporters from different people’s organizations marched along farmworkers with “blood-stained” yellow ribbons to mark a decade of injustice after the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

Farmers carried tarpaulin banners demanding justice for the Luisita massacre’s seven martyrs, as speakers from different sectors paid tribute to the life and struggle of Jessie Valdez, Adriano Caballero Jr, Jaime Fastidio, Jesus Laza, Juancho Sanchez, Jhaivie Basilio and Jhune David.

The Hacienda Luisita massacre is the bloody strike dispersal which occurred on November 16, 2004 — 10 days after farmworkers from the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) and sugar mill workers of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) launched the People’s Strike (Welgang Bayan) participated in by tens of thousands of Luisita sugar workers and their families during its peak.

Sibayan and the rest of the delegation from Hacienda Luisita minced no words and pointed directly to President BS Aquino’s criminal accountability for the massacre. Aquino was a Representative of the First District of Tarlac and active manager of the Hacienda Luisita estate during the time of the massacre.

“Upang mabigyang hustisya ang mamamayan ng Hacienda Luisita, kailangang panagutin – at patalsikin – ang kriminal at kurakot na Presidenteng asendero na si Noynoy Aquino, (To grant justice for Luisita’s people, Aquino should face accountability – this criminal and corrupt landlord President must be ousted from power),” says Sibayan.

Farmers burned an effigy of President BS Aquino clad in a soldier’s camouflage uniform and riding a wayward bulldozer, symbolizing the Cojuangco-Aquino family’s “Panloloko, pandarahas at pangangamkam” (Deceit, violence and land grabbing) now prevailing in Hacienda Luisita.

“Instead of implementing land reform and the Supreme Court ruling on Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino administration has been very busy terrorizing and arresting farmers, bulldozing crops and destroying the organization’s bungkalan, burning homes, and erecting concrete fences around vast agricultural lands in Hacienda Luisita. All Luisita villages are still militarized. Impunity remains,” says Ranmil Echanis, deputy secretary general of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).

After the Mendiola program, AMBALA and  UMA  led a 30-vehicle caravan to Hacienda Luisita, composed of w orkers, students, educators and academic staff from  different universities, church people, cultural workers, migrants’ families  and other supporters. The caravan held short stops in Plaza Miranda in Angeles City and Capas, Tarlac. The delegation from Manila arrived early evening in Luisita and was welcomed by Luisita residents with thunderous drum music and a hundred burning torches. The people marched to the covered court of Barangay Balete for a solidarity cultural night.

Supporters decry the fact that ten years have passed after the massacre which killed 7 strikers and injured more than a hundred persons without any justice rendered to the victims. “Even reports from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) — which only surfaced in full this year — declare emphatically that state security forces unlawfully killed the strikers, that the police and military did not fire in self-defense as some in the government – including then Rep.  Aquino — have claimed,” says Echanis.

Echanis is referring to Rep. Aquino’s privilege speech delivered in Congress immediately after the Hacienda Luisita massacre. “Today, Aquino thinks it his privilege to use power as top government official and Commander-in Chief to go after Luisita activists. Aquino openly plunders government coffers through the anomalous Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) so that the murderous Cojuangco-Aquino clan may maintain control of Hacienda Luisita.”

Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr.  also laments the injustice to Luisita farmers: “None of the management of Luisita, who are relatives of the President, has been charged. The Ombudsman has reportedly dismissed the cases filed against the Luisita management, police and military. A crime was committed with seven dead, yet there appears to be no criminals. Instead of seeking justice for the victims, Aquino continues to champion the interests of the landowning class and the coercive state apparatus that brought about the Luisita Massacre.”

The protest caravan resumes the next day, November 16, the anniversary of the massacre, with an ecumenical service and program in front of Gate 1 of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, the actual site of the massacre. November 16 is also Global Action Day to seek justice for Luisita massacre victims and International Day of Action Against trade Union repression to be participated in by agrarian reform and human rights advocates in at least 20 countries.

Online, supporters use the hashtag #HLMX for content regarding the Hacienda Luisita Massacre 10th year commemoration campaign.

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