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Jardeleza appointment, another Aquino ploy to keep Hacienda Luisita

ICHRP Secretariat
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Jardeleza appointment, another Aquino ploy to keep Hacienda Luisita

The recent controversial appointment of former Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (SC) is another brazen maneuver by President BS Aquino for him to be able to continue corrupt practices as Pork Barrel King and to secure Cojuangco-Aquino interests in Hacienda Luisita.

As Solicitor-General, Jardeleza repeatedly echoed the Cojuangco-Aquinos’s position, practically undermining the SC’s landmark decision on land distribution and truthful accounting of Hacienda Luisita, Inc. (HLI) assets. As Justice, Jardeleza is expected by BS Aquino to defend and eventually declare “legal” the sham land distribution implemented by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and all other anomalies by the Aquino regime in Hacienda Luisita.  

Jardeleza defended the DAR before the SC last year by arguing that the DAR is correct to oblige beneficiaries to pay amortization, and accurate in its land survey even with the glaring and indefensible deduction of hundreds of hectares of agricultural land for distribution to farmworkers. 

Jardeleza contributed to the cover-up of the Cojuangcos’ anomalous transactions when he argued that technically, as party to the case, the HLI — or the Cojuangcos — must have a say in the appointment of an auditing firm that will scrutinize its books on the P 1.33 Billion proceeds of sale that the Cojuangcos owe its co-owners, the farmworkers. This intervention caused much delay that until now, the auditing process remains in a standstill. Disgruntled Luisita farmworkers are still deprived of their rightful share. Land and justice remain elusive to Luisita farmworkers.

Jardeleza also upheld the DAR’s refusal to recognize the “bungkalan” land cultivation campaign initiated by farm workers in 2005, which has now led to the eviction of hundreds of farmers and wanton destruction of more than a hundred hectares of ricefields and foodcrop plantations in Hacienda Luisita. Jardeleza’s rabid defense of Cojuangco-Aquino landlord interests has led to gross human rights violations and extensive loss of livelihood in several Luisita villages.

There is still a pending SC motion by the Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid ng Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) to cite DAR and Cojuangco firm TADECO in contempt of the high court’s landmark decision. Farmworkers do not expect truth and justice to prevail with a Cojuangco lawyer in the Supreme Court.

Aquino appointed Jardeleza to the SC under very controversial circumstances. The former solicitor general who defended the government in the PDAF and DAP cases would naturally defend the position and interests of the Pork Barrel King who appointed him.  Jardeleza will naturally present his previous arguments to defend the Cojuangcos in pending SC motions on the sham land distribution in Hacienda Luisita.

This power trip Jardeleza appointment once again demonstrates BS Aquino’s megalomania – the Pork Barrel King is interested only in his self-preservation. Hacienda Luisita farmworkers will join the Manila launch of the people’s initiative against the pork barrel and Million People March in Luneta on August 25.

Farmworkers can only pin their hopes for genuine land reform and justice in the movement to oust this despotic landlord president.  

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Source Verification:
Gi Estrada
UMA Media Officer
+639166114181
Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura
(Agricultural Workers Union)
Philippines

Follow UMA Pilipinas on Twitter

 

Palparan’s arrest does not end AFP’s impunity for rights abuses

ICHRP Secretariat
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Palparan’s arrest does not end AFP’s impunity for rights abuses

By APCCHRP

We in the Asia Pacific Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCCHRP), a campaign network of human rights advocates in the region, welcome the arrest of former Gen. Jovito Palparan. Also known as “The Butcher” among human rights defenders, he had evaded arrest for many years after being charged with the abduction, torture and involuntary disappearance of student activists Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in Central Luzon, Philippines.

At the same time, we voice concern that this showcased apprehension of such a high-profile human rights violator will be used as a smokescreen for the continuing extrajudicial killings and abductions under the government of President Benigno Aquino III.

Just last August 9, two student activists from the University of the Philippines (UP), namely Guiller Cadano and Gerald Salonga, were abducted by the police and military in the province of Nueva Ecija, and filed with trumped up charges. This illegal arrest, occuring in the same province where Empeño and Cadapan had been detained and tortured, signals the fact that abductions and the filing of trumped-up charges by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continues to this day.

While Gen. Eduardo Año, chief of the Intelligence Services of the AFP (ISAFP) which led the manhunt for Palparan (who also carried a 2-million peso prize on his head) triumphalizes on the apprehension of his erstwhile military colleague, it must be remembered that he himself is being held to account for numerous human rights violations during his stint that followed Palparan’s reign of terror in Central Luzon, such as the involuntary disappearance of agriculturist Jonas Burgos. Even then, he was lauded and appointed by President Aquino himself to head the AFP’s intelligence wing.

We also cannot but be troubled by recent developments in the country’s human rights situation. In the first quarter of this year alone, 22 people have already fallen victim to extrajudicial killings and massacres. This includes William Bugatti, a staff-member of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), a member organization of human rights alliance KARAPATAN. Last August 6, Hildegardo Hernandez, a peasant organizer in Quezon province was shot by a motorcycle-riding man, a style of political assassination linked to the AFP’s “death squads” that proliferated during Palparan’s time.

As of June 30, 2014, KARAPATAN has documented 204 victims of extrajudicial killings under the Aquino government. There have also been 21 victims of enforced disappearances, 99 cases of torture, 664 illegal arrests and detention, and 39,800 victims of forced evacuation.

We believe that the apprehension alone of Palparan, while a positive first step, falls short of the redress expected by the victims’ families as well as the recommendations of erstwhile UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston. The culture of impunity that has been in place since Arroyo’s term has created military monsters such as Palparan, but it is also deeply entrenched in the dominant, US-influenced mindset of the AFP that is underpinned by the National Security doctrine. It is the same mindset that has led to the derailing of the peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH).

The APCCHRP is calling on the Aquino government to prosecute Palparan case rigorously, but even more importantly, to bring to justice other perpetrators of human rights violations under the Arroyo regime as well as those under his own watch. We also urge the Philippine government to return to the negotiating table with the NDFP and resume the stalled peace talks, a move that should significantly improve human rights prospects in the country.

Endorsed by:
Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines
(HKCAHRPP)

For reference:
Joselito Natividad
APCCHRP coordinator
(64986079)

Eman Villanueva
HKCAHRPP co-convenor
(97585935)

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Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of
Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines
c/o ASA, No. 4 Jordan Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Tel. (852) 98105070, 97585935        Fax. (852) 27354559
E-mail: hkcahrpp@gmail.com

Survivors twice: Eastern Visayas victims step forward, demand speedy conviction of Palparan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Survivors twice: Eastern Visayas victims step forward, demand speedy conviction of Palparan

By Hustisya

Long before supertyphoon Yolanda wreaked havoc in Eastern Visayas that claimed thousands of lives and damage to millions of property, Jovito Palparan’s military-instigated tragedy first struck the region.

Two days after his arrest, victims and survivors of Palparan in the provinces of Samar and Leyte joined the call for a speedy convition of the “butcher”.

“I felt a sense of fulfillment, even a little, that Palparan has been arrested. We will look into filing more charges against him. He should account to his crimes in our region and to members of our church as well.

“We urge all other victims of Palparan to come forward and do the same,” said Emma Lapuz, widow of United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) pastor Rev. Edison Lapuz.

Rev. Lapuz and Alberto Malinao, a leader of local peasant organization, were both shot dead outside the former’s house on 12 May 2005. The pastor was then conference minister of the UCCP and chairperson of Karapatan (Katungod-Sinirangang Bisayas) in the region.

Palparan has earned the rank of major general in 2004 when he was appointed commander of the 8th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army, covering the area of Region VIII, the provinces of Samar and Leyte.

In a span of six months, from February to August of 2005, Palparan and his men unleashed a bloody campaign of terror and mayhem upon the people of Leyte and Samar and claimed 19 victims of extrajudicial killings, 12 victims of enforced disappearances and 25 victims of torture in Eastern Visayas.

“The killings in 2005 were intensive and wihout let-up. Only days and weeks separated the series of murders. Victims were leaders and members of different people’s organizations branded by Palparan as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army,” said Cristina Guevarra, secretary general of Hustisya.

On 14 March 2005, Atty. Felidito C. Dacut, regional coordinator of Bayan Muna Eastern Visayas, was shot dead by two unidentified men on board a motorcycle. Riding on a multi-cab, Dacut just came from a meeting at the the Bayan Muna regional headquarters in Tacloban.

Also, there were nine victims and survivors of frustrated killings. One of them was Dario Tomada, a peasant leader in Leyte, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt against him inside his house in Kananga, Leyte on 7 May 2005. He and his brother survived the attack.

While in a sanctuary in Manila, however, he was arrested in July 2010 and is facing trumped-up charges of multiple murder as one of the John Does in the case, along with Jose Maria Sison and Satur Ocampo. Tomada is in detention at the Manila City Jail.

“Like what he did in Mindoro, Palparan hamletted communities of farmers and ordinary folks. They were hauled and forced to undergo intensive interrogations, coerced to sign documents incriminating themselves being rebels and made to appear as rebel surrenderees pervaded in the farflung communities,” said Guevarra.

Emma will be joining other victims of Palparan from Southern Luzon and Central Luzon to demand the speedy trial and conviction of Palparan on Friday.

“Communities in Eastern Visayas were subjected to food blockades, enforced curfews and regular census by the military. Suspected rebel sympathizers and activists when not being murdered in broad daylight were snatched out and never been heard,” said Guevarra.

A protest action will also be held on the next hearing of the kidnapping case against Palparan on 18 August at the Malolos Regional Trial Court. He is set to be arraigned on 28 February 2015.

Reference:
Cristina Guevarra
Hustisya secretary general
+63949-1772928

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Hustisya National Office
2/F #1 Maaralin cor. Matatag Sts.
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City 1100 Philippines
Telephone: (02) 434-7486 | (02) 435-4146
Mobile: 0949-1772928
E-mail: hustisya.national@gmail.com

Punish Palparan! End impunity under Aquino!

ICHRP Secretariat
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Punish Palparan! End impunity under Aquino!

By ICHRP-Rome

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines-Rome, Italy (ICHRP-Rome) joins the family and friends and human rights fighters in celebrating the recent arrest of war criminal retired general Jovito Palparan. Indeed, it was the unrelenting efforts of the families, friends and human rights fighters that led to the arrest of the fugitive war criminal.

Some of the families of the victims of Palparan’s barbaric but cowardly crimes have fled to Europe to escape Palparan’s and his AFP confreres’ murderous rampage.  Following the US “counterinsurgency” prescription of destroying the armed revolutionary movement, Palparan cowardly vented his ire for his failure to destroy the armed guerrilla movement on unarmed civilians – student activists, human rights workers, peasant leaders, etc  – whom he falsely accused of being members of the New People’s Army.

Many of the victims who were executed or disappeared by Palparan were bread winners whose families were deprived by Palparan not only of their life-support but of the very lives of their loved ones. Some have become migrant domestic workers in Europe.

We do not put much trust in the current administration’s justice system which continues to coddle human rights violators among its ranks and perpetrate the culture of impunity with the number of victims of extrajudicial killings increasing under the Aquino government.

We would rather rely on the continuous pressure of the human rights community, and the unrelenting efforts of the families of Palparan’s victims such as the families of Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, and his other victims in Mindoro and Central Luzon, to seek justice and end impunity.

The families and friends of the victims of Palparan in Europe will continue to fight for justice until it is achieved with the eventual punishment not only of this coward war criminal Palparan, but also his handlers such as Gloria Arroyo, another war criminal, and their minions and hired thugs in the AFP.

We will bring the fight for justice in the international community, and call for an international war crimes tribunal, to include for prosecution not only the crimes of the previous administration under which Palparan served, but also the Aquino administration and its US-funded “Oplan Bayanihan”, which continues with the extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and disappearances.

Reference:
Buboy Salle
+39 329 3289652

See you in court: Desaparecidos welcomes arrest, demands Palparan to be in regular jail

ICHRP Secretariat
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See you in court: Desaparecidos welcomes arrest, demands Palparan to be in regular jail

“Families of the disappeared should see Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan in Malolos Court on Monday, August 18, in the hearing of the case against him. There is no reason why he should not be there,” said Lorena “Aya” Santos, secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice.

“While we welcome butcher Palparan’s arrest, we remain more vigilant to see through that justice be served soon,” Santos said. Palparan is currently facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention at the Malolos Regional Trial Court for the abduction and disappearance of University of the Philippines students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006.

Palparan is accountable for at least 59 victims of enforced disappearances: five victims in Mindoro, 42 victims in Central Luzon, and 12 in Eastern Visayas.

“Palparan’s arrest comes in such a convenient timing to pull up BS Aquino’s falling trust ratings,” Santos said. “As BS Aquino is being made accountable for the unconstitutionality of the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) and many other issues, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) arrested one of the most wanted men who have eluded arrest for more than two years; and, eight years after the Karen and Sherlyn were abducted, tortures and disappeared,” Santos said.

“Let this be not an attempt to gain pogi points for BS Aquino government. It is because of the courage of the mothers of Karen and Sherlyn and the popular call of the people for justice that Palparan, Lt. Col. Felipe  Anotado and Sgt. Edgardo Osorio are now face charges in court,” Santos said. M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, also a co-accused in the case, remains to be a fugitive.

“We demand that Palparan be imprisoned in a regular jail and not in a military custody,” Santos ended.

Reference:
Aya Santos
Desaparecidos secretary general
+63908-812982

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