We are enraged over the extrajudicial killing yesterday, 25 March 2014, at around 6:00-7:00 in the evening, of William Bugatti, a Tuwali and a devoted human rights worker. William is a Regional Council Member of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance-KARAPATAN, a Regional Council Member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance representing the Ifugao Peasant Movement, and the Provincial Coordinator of Bayan Muna partylist.

We condemn this human rights violation in the strongest possible terms.

William was on his way home to his family at around 7:00 pm at Bolog, Kiangan, Ifugao, when unidentified assassins shot three bullets, piercing his heart.  They shot at him treacherously from the back, as cowards do to brave men.

William has been receiving threats to his life and security from State security forces and their agents since the start of Oplan Bayanihan implementation in the Cordillera region.  This heightened after the Armed Forces of the Philippines, particularly the 5^th Infantry Division and the 86^th Infantry Battalion Target List in Tinoc was obtained in October 2012. Bugatti was listed as #21 in the list in a roster of 28 people tagged as brains, members and supporters of the New People’s Army who are now also vulnerable to attack by State security forces and their agents.

He has constantly been accused of being a member of the NPA.  This has resulted to notable incidents of surveillance and harassment against him that derailed him from doing his work.  He was even barred several times from visiting political detainees at the Ifugao Provincial Jail.  The Jail warden claims that there is a “Regional Memorandum” stating that Bugatti was not allowed to enter the jail and visit the political detainees because of the red-tagging.

Yesterday, he attended the hearing of the case of political prisoners Rene Boy Abiva and Virgilio Corpuz in Lagawe, Ifugao.  He went to the office of Ifugao Peasant Movement and was last seen alive by his colleagues at around 5:00 pm before he went home.

William has been a diligent paralegal.  As a human rights worker, he has always made sure that the welfare and rights of human rights victims are addressed and well-taken care of. Despite the threats to his life, he persisted in the work.

We are in deep grief over this loss of a human rights worker whom the people of Ifugao relied on during the most difficult times when they were under attack by state terror.

The killing is meant to silence human rights workers and defenders in the region.  This will not happen.

We will draw strength from the life and work of William.  We will persist in the work for human rights and justice as our fitting tribute to him.

We condole with his wife and three children, and the communities in Ifugao that he has served and have considered him as their son.

We demand justice for William Bugatti.  We call for an impartial and competent investigation of the case.  We demand that perpetrators be brought to the bar of justice.

We hold the Aquino regime accountable for the extrajudicial killing of William.  Its bloody record of human rights violations clearly delegitimizes it as a government for the people.  The spate of extrajudicial killings, now tallying to 12 only on the first quarter of this year, has to end.  This can only be done when Oplan Bayanihan is scrapped and the formal peace talks resume.

Justice for William Bugatti!
Justice for all victims of extrajudicial killings!
End political vilification!
Hold the Aquino regime accountable for its human rights violations!
Scrap Oplan Bayanihan!

For reference:
Audrey Beltran
Deputy Secretary General
Cordillera Human Rights Alliance
mobile number:  +639189199007

The illegal arrest and detention of peace consultants is a step backward in the peace process.

This is the statement of the Asia Pacific Committee for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (APCHRPP) as it condemns the illegal arrest by the Philippine government’s security forces of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria in Cebu, Philippines last 22 March 2014.

Both Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria are consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and are helping very actively in the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP/GPH) and the NDFP.

The GRP/GPH is imperiling the peace negotiations as well as violating agreements that it has signed with the NDFP with the arrest of Tiamzon and Austria. The specific agreement that the GRP/GPH violated is the JASIG, or the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.

Both Tiamzon and Austria are holders of Document of Identification as well as a Letter of Acknowledgment signed by then GRP/GPH Negotiating Panel Chairman Silvestre H. Bello III. The said Letter of Acknowledgment states that the holder of the said Letter is entitled to safety and immunity guarantees as provided in the JASIG, which was signed by members of the negotiating panels of both the GRP/GPH and the NDFP on 24 February 1995.

Composed of various organizations and networks in many countries based in the Asia Pacific region, the APCHRPP is concerned that the Philippine government is only further prejudicing the peace negotiations by arresting and detaining peace consultants like Tiamzon and Austria.

The group also questions the inquest of Tiamzon and Austria in Camp Crame, a military camp in Manila, where they were also charged with additional cases like illegal possession of firearms and explosives. According to the lawyer of the two arrested peace consultants, Atty. Rachel Pastores, the validity of the inquest proceedings itself is in question while the new charges did not register in earlier reports of the arrest. Such proceedings being led by the government are highly contentious and unacceptable.

The arrest of Tiamzon and Austria comes on top of many human rights violations being committed in the Philippines. According to Philippine human rights group Karapatan, since Philippine president Benigno Aquino III took office, 169 cases of extrajudicial killings have been documented, in addition to 179 cases of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 19 cases of enforced disappearances, 86 cases of torture and 570 cases of illegal arrest and detention.

How will just and lasting peace be achieved when those in authority are the ones violating the very agreements that they signed with the NDFP? Why would they arrest those who are important to the peace negotiations? With this new development, it is hard not to cast doubts on the sincerity of the Philippine government to pursue peace when their actions clearly run counter to their statements.

If President Aquino and the Philippine government really want just and lasting peace, then it should heed the urgent demand to release immediately and unconditionally Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria.

For reference:
Rev. Joram H. Calimutan
Secretariat
Asia Pacific Committee for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura

References:
Gi Estrada
media officer
+63916.611.4181

Christopher Garcia
AMBALA spokesperson
+63929.320.0615

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Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

As human rights and peace advocates, the Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP) calls for the unconditional release of NDFP consultants to the peace negotiations, Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon.

We are very much concerned that their illegal arrest shall push the peace negotiations further in danger of collapse.

According to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), the two are holders of NDFP Document of Identification and Letters of Acknowledgement signed by former Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP/GPH) negotiating panel chief Silvestre Bello III that put them under the cover of JASIG, or the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees.

The GPH’s arrest of NDFP peace consultants, including Alan Jazmines, has been hindering the advance of the peace negotiations. The criminalization of NDFP peace personnel puts into question the sincerity of the GPH in pursuing the long-stalled peace negotiations with the NDFP.

Aside from these illegal arrests, the continued extrajudicial killings of activists including the Ligiws – anti-mining activists in Abra in Northern Philippines – and Romeo Capalla who was a fair trade advocate in Panay island, and the appointment of a Martial Law general to the compensation body for victims of the Marcos dictatorship, have not contributed to creating a favourable condition for the peace talks.

To date, the human rights group Karapatan has documented 169 cases of extrajudicial killings, 179 cases of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 19 cases of enforced disappearance, 86 cases of torture, and 570 cases of illegal arrest and detention under the Aquino government. These are on top of the more than 1,000 victims of killings under the previous government who have not yet been granted justice.

The arrest of JASIG-protected NDFP personnel constitutes a violation of previous agreements and disrespects advancements that have been made in the past including the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

The Tiamzons should be released immediately and unconditionally. Instead of arresting NDFP personnel, the GPH should instead heed the calls for the resumption of the peace negotiations based on previously agreed upon system and process.

For reference:
Bruce Van Voorhis
Co-Convenor
Tel. No. (852) 9492-3064
——————————————————————————–
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

SALUGPONGAN TA ‘TANU IGKANUGON
Talaingod, Davao del Norte

We, the leaders and members of the Salugpongan Ta’ Tanu Igkanugon, strongly call to immediately stop the bombing and militarization of our communities in Sitio Tibucag and Sitio Pangaaan of Barangay (village) Dagohoy and Sitio Nalubas and Sitio Bagang of Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod, Davao del Norte . The 60th Infantry Battalion and the 4th Special Forces under the 10th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are responsible for the spate of human rights violations against our tribe since they arrived last 4 March 2014.

From 3:00 pm until past 4:00 pm this afternoon, 20 March, we heard big blasts of bombs and saw two (2) helicopters and four (4) warplanes. The bombing had greatly threatened our tribe.

We strongly condemn the aerial bombing perpetrated by the military inside the ancestral land of the Manobo. This is a huge violation to our right to live peacefully and to be free from any threat to our lives.

We would also like to expose the human rights violations experienced by our people. Yesterday, 19 March, there were military who stayed in Sitio Nalubas, Barangay Palma Gil. Purok leader Tungig Mansimuy-at, community teacher Roylan Licayan, and thirteen (13) pupils and three (3) parents were walking towards Sitio Palungan to get chicken and root crops to prepare for the community school’s graduation. They were accosted by 15 elements of the military. They were interrogated separately and held for 1 hour. Their photos were also taken.

From Sitio Palungan, they were forcibly escorted by seven (7) military personnel back to Sitio Nalubas. Along the way they again met thirty (30) military personnel and were again interrogated. They were released after one (1) hour.

In Sitio Pangaan, the military destroyed the rice fields.  They also took and cooked the chickens.

A woman elder named Ubonoy Botod Manlaon from Sitio Bagang, Brgy. Palma Gil was illegally arrested by the military while walking going to Sitio Bagasan with her rice seeds. She was taken by the military for one (1) week and was forced to guide them in their counter-insurgency operations. She eventually escaped from the custody of the military.

In the past years, we have experienced many kinds of human rights violations including murder, destruction of our farms, threats among others, but until this day, we have not achieved justice and no one among the perpetrators were punished.

Therefore, we call to immediately stop the militarization and pull out of the military forces in our ancestral lands.  We challenge all the municipal officials of Talaingod, officials and council members of the province of Davao del Norte, the Commission on Human Rights and all other concerned agencies to immediately conduct an investigation, make accountable those who perpetrated the violations and help the victims achieve justice for the said violations.

We also call for the support of the organizations, church people and concerned individuals to conduct separate and independent investigation. Please help us in our demand for respect of our basic rights, right to our ancestral land and right to self-determination to achieve peace based on justice.

Stop the militarization in our ancestral domain!
Pull out all military forces from our ancestral domain!
Punish all abusive forces of the military under the 10th Infantry Division of the  AFP!
Respect our right to ancestral domain and right to self-determination!

For reference:
Datu Doloman Dausay
Spokesperson
Salugpongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanugon
Talaingod, Davao del Norte
Mobile no: +639303183434

(Translated into English by Rural Missionaries of the Philippines Southern Mindanao Region)