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Time to reckon, Time to rage

ICHRP Secretariat
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Time to reckon, Time to rage

On the 2013 commemoration of International Human Rights Day

The Filipino people commemorate the International Human Rights Day with rage and protests over the morose record of the US- Aquino regime’s gross human rights violations in the past three years.

The events that unfolded during the last half of the year had intensified such anger and discontent. It was not just the human rights victims crying for justice who pour into the streets, but a multitude of disappointed, dissatisfied, distrusting people from all walks of life. People were enraged over the magnitude and impudence of corruption as divulged in the Napoles pork barrel scandal, and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), despite Aquino’s pretense to curb it. People were enraged with the negligence and apathy of the Aquino government over the plight of the victims of disasters, while the whole world were shaken and concerned.

Today, we hold B. S. Aquino accountable for the 152 extrajudicial killings and 168 frustrated killings, 18 enforced disappearances, 358 illegal arrests and detentions on trumped up charges, tortures and other gross human rights violations, in his term, affecting a great number of the peasantry, indigenous people and urban poor dwellers.

His counterinsurgency policy, Oplan Bayanihan, and his promotion of the pervading culture of impunity sanctions all these. The author of Oplan Bayanihan, which is patterned after the U.S. Counterinsurgency Plan, was appointed to head the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Military officials charged for masterminding abduction and tortures are promoted to higher ranks. Masterminds of extrajudicial killing and disappearances are at large; and many were let off the hook by the courts for their crimes. But people will not forget the killings of Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under Aquino Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, development worker Wilhelm Geertman, leader of typhoon victims Cristina Jose, environmentalist Gerry Ortega, scientist Leonard Co, and tribal leader Jimmy Liguyon. People will not forget the injustice done them and will continue the fight to pursue justice.

We hold Aquino accountable for the deepening poverty and intensifying oppression of the Filipino people. His Public-Private Partnership program has rendered many poor and neglected sectors homeless and all the more deprived of social services. The people are increasingly suffering with the high rate of unemployment and the soaring prices of basic goods and commodities.

We hold Aquino accountable for his gross negligence during disasters, such as that of typhoons Pablo and Yolanda that exacerbated the sufferings and anguish of the victims.  While stocks of rice and relief goods rot in government warehouses, people are starving and dying, as he plays the blame game and later goes selfie.

We hold Aquino accountable for the sellout of our national patrimony and sovereignty.  Foreign mining corporations and plantations plunder our natural resources, grab ancestral lands and kill. Tribal leader Genesis Ambason and massacred Capion family and many others offered their lives in defense of their land and livelihood.

The frequency of U.S. military exercises in the country and the continuing presence of American troops and war armaments revive the defunct U.S. military bases, which the Filipino people have evicted in the past. The Aquino government is hatching an agreement to legalize their continuing and increased presence in the country.  Furthermore, his ultimate and shameless puppetry manifests as he parrots U.S.’s interest and sentiments in world forums.

Aquino’s militarist solution to the Zamboanga crisis and his blunder in handling  the Sabah issue have resulted to rights abuses and deaths of many of Moro peoples, as well as the surrender of our legal claim to Sabah.

We hold Aquino accountable for his inaction and inutility.  After a long and tedious battle by victims and their relatives for the enactment of the bills on enforced disappearance and martial law victims’ recognition and reparation, Aquino, wanting to impress on his posturing for human rights, finally signed the bills into law.  However, his masquerade is uncovered by his inaction to implement the laws.  Enforced disappearances still happen with brazenness and impunity boosted by the existence of the Order of Battle that the law has provided against.  The Claims Board which will implement the indemnification law has not been constituted by Aquino 10 months after its signing.

Political prisoners, 449 of them, are languishing in jails, while criminals are accorded special treatment or set free.  Trumped-up charges against political activists and leaders of people’s organizations are filed to threaten and silence their protests, while criminals in government preen and flaunt their power and wealth. Peace talks are derailed as conflict worsens and the cause of unrest, unaddressed.

We hold Aquino accountable for the pervading and worsening corruption in government that came to full view with the people’s vigilance and grit to expose and fight against it through continuous mass actions.  His defense of the pork barrel, especially of his own pork, exposes Aquino’s true stand and interest – the preservation of his rule and the protection of his real bosses, the elite class where he belongs.

The people’s rage against corruption has shaken and drove the rotten system berserk. The bureaucrats fought each other tooth and nail over spoils; the check and balance placed to safeguard the exploitative system has proven to be vulnerable as the system itself is.

Aquino’s bubble of “tuwid na daan” has burst. His so-called spell over the people, stemming from the reputation of his roots, has gone. We believe B.S. Aquino, too, must go.  After all, popularity is not a license or a test to truly serve the people. And, the system he is dying to save is moribund and desperately needs a change.

Reference:
Cristina Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+639189790580

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. 

Yolanda survivors, supporters demand government accountability for relief failures

ICHRP Secretariat
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Yolanda survivors, supporters demand government accountability for relief failures

Almost a month after typhoon Yolanda hit several provinces, victim-survivors from Samar and Leyte towns, cross-registrants from University of the Philippines campuses in Tacloban and Palo, and their relatives and supporters will gather this afternoon in an ecumenical activity at the Sunken Garden in UP Diliman to “forge their solidarity in demanding accountability from the Aquino administration for the incompetence and criminal neglect in addressing the immediate and long-term needs of the affected families and communities.”

Pastora Irma Balaba, a pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and coordinator of Tabang-Eastern Visayas, a network of people’s organizations undertaking relief and rehabilitation work in the affected communities in Eastern Visayas said that “the Aquino government’s response before, during and after the typhoon exemplifies its callousness to the needs of the poverty-stricken communities.”

“A month after Yolanda, countless bodies have yet to be retrieved while scores of families continue to look for their loved ones, amid the hunger, homelessness, dislocation and neglect of the government. Despite harsh lessons from the impacts of past typhoons Sendong and Pablo, billions of calamity funds being allocated from public funds, and days and nights of waiting for government rescue and relief in Eastern Visayas, we ask: where is the government?” Balaba said. She and her daughter were among those who sought temporary shelter in Manila, after a harrowing experience when the storm surge destroyed their home in Tacloban City.

“Sa halos isang buwan pagkatapos ng sakuna, wala kaming nakikitang kaseryosohan sa gobyernong Aquino — mula sa rescue, relief hanggang sa rehabilitasyon ng mamamayang nasalanta. Bukod sa pamumulitika at paninisi sa kung sinu-sino, walang konkretong plano ang gobyerno na kumprehensibo at tunay na magtitindig muli ng kabuhayan at dignidad ng bawat isang biktima ng Yolanda (A month after Yolanda ravaged our province, we do not see any genuine and serious move of the Aquino government to aid the affected communities — from rescue, relief to rehabilitation operations. Aside from politicking and blaming others, this government has made no comprehensive and genuinely pro-people plan to uplift the lives and dignity of the victims of Yolanda),“ said Arnold Repique, spokesperson of Tindog Katawhan, a network of relatives, supporters and victims of typhoon Yolanda in the National Capital Region. Repique’s wife is a survivor from Barugo, Leyte, and she now lives with him in an urban poor community in San Juan City.

Last week, Tindog Katawhan delivered a letter addressed to Pres. Benigno Aquino outlining the five immediate demands and needs of the victims of the typhoon.

Meanwhile, Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay criticized the appointment of Gen. Panfilo Lacson as the “rehabilitation czar,” saying that “he has neither the competence nor the credibility to oversee a rights-based and people-centered rehabilitation program for the typhoon victims.”

“The appointment of another favoured ally of BS Aquino who is most known for human rights violations is adding insult to injury. This shows the real intention of BS Aquino – to silence any emerging discontent of hungry and neglected victims of super typhoon Yolanda,” she said.

Clemente Bautista, coordinator of Brigada Kalikasan, a disaster response network of environment and climate action groups, said that “the survivors of ‘Yolanda’ should hold the Aquino government accountable as it did nothing in its past three years in power to significantly advance climate change and disaster policies, and to stem the environmental destruction that has further eroded our natural defences from hazards as well.”

“The victims have real pressing needs for immediate rehabilitation and recovery efforts, and it is unacceptable that this situation is being used to justify discretionary and unaccountable lump sum ‘disaster pork’ funds that are unresponsive in nature and are very prone to the Aquino government’s systemic corruption,” Bautista added.

Fr. Ben Alforque of Dambana church people’s network for relief support for typhoon victims said that the solidarity of the victim-survivors and the people here and abroad is “proof of the timeless viability and the profound effectiveness of united people’s action.”

“Today, we rise with the victim-survivors, their loved ones, their communities, our communities. Only through our united action – when we stand as one people – in asserting rights and human dignity can we truly overcome especially the human-induced disasters that come our way,” he stressed.

The ecumenical liturgical activity is being organised by Tindog Network, Tindog UP Diliman, Kalikasan PNE, DAMBANA and Karapatan. The gathering will also serve as a donation drive for the benefit of Yolanda victim survivors who have made their exodus to Metro Manila. The organisers said candles will likewise be lit “in memory of those who died and as a sign of people’s vigilance on the dismal relief and rehabilitation program of the Aquino administration.”

For reference:
Arnold Repique
Tindog Katawhan spokesperson
+63942-4871130, +63915-7730146

Cristina Palabay
Karapatan secretary general
+63917-3162831

Christian M. Yamzon
TINDOG Network Media Officer
+63915-9758683

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org<publicinfo@karapatan.org>
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Floor 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.

Rights lawyers mull charges vs. President Aquino, officials over Yolanda mess

ICHRP Secretariat
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Rights lawyers mull charges vs. President Aquino, officials over Yolanda mess

Redress for negligence, incompetence in handling disaster

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers said it will seriously and thoroughly study legal recourse against President B.S. Aquino and other government officials whose gross negligence and unforgiveable incompetence exacerbated the losses in lives and property due to Supertyphoon Yolanda (“Haiyan”).

“When the loss and suffering could have been reduced, prevented, and avoided, we cannot simply look past the bumbling, inept and self-righteous disaster response by the Aquino administration,” said Atty. Edre U. Olalia, newly-reelected NUPL Secretary-General. “The trail of 6,000 dead on the streets and shores of Eastern Visayas leads to Malacanang.”

“Along with relief and rehabilitation, we will seek redress for the errors, oversight, neglect, and yes, even, crimes, that may have been committed by the very persons responsible for minimizing risk in the face of disasters. We have to answer the question: Have our government officials caused more deaths and losses than they should have averted?,” he said.

The NUPL, a 300-strong nationwide organization of human rights lawyers, upon motion from its members from Visayas, resolved and began preliminary discussions during its Third National Congress December 1, 2013 in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, on possible criminal, civil and administrative suits against government agencies and officials for their handling of post-Yolanda affairs.

Initially, members during the plenary cited Republic Act No. 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, as one source of potential liability. Section 19 of RA 10121 penalizes, among other acts, “dereliction of duties which leads to destruction, loss of lives, critical damage of facilities and misuse of funds”, “forcibly seizing relief goods, equipment or other aid commodities intended for or consigned to a specific group of victims or relief agency”, and “misrepresenting the source of relief goods, equipment or other aid commodities.”

The NUPL 3rd Congress also resolved to look into the international law aspects of governmental responsibility and would seek the assistance and support of international groups, even as it pointed out that the appropriate charges have been made at the proper time in the proper venue against present and former leaders.

Atty. Olalia said taking stock and finding accountability must make responses to future disasters more expedient, intelligent, cohesive, and methodical. “To just move on and forget,” he said, “is to lose the lesson. To believe that bayanihan and Filipino resilience will be a long-term solution to disaster management is to perpetually wallow in the frustration that we have put the wrong people in government who are morally, if not criminally, responsible for all these unnecessary horrible deaths and devastation. It cannot just be business as usual.”

NUPL, which has raised funds for victims through several activities, also demanded an accurate accounting of donations coursed through government agencies. “This is an administration that has been caught with its hand in the cookie jar already,” said Atty. Olalia, referencing the recent pork barrel and presidential pork scandals. “The sign is clear: The Aquino presidency has been one big disaster in itself.”

During the NUPL Congress, the organization staged a concert to support a rehabilitation program in Escalante, Negros Occidental. NUPL has also secured a grant from an international aid agency for relief operations in Eastern Samar and Leyte, and house-rebuilding in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.

Reference:

Atty. Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
+639175113373 

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National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)
3F Erythrina Building
Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax no.920-6660
Email addresses: nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
Follow us on twitter @nuplphilippines
and facebook @https://www.facebook.com/nuplphilippines
Visit the NUPL website at http://www.nupl.net/

Culture of impunity continues: Opol indigenous people’s leader latest victim of killing

ICHRP Secretariat
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Culture of impunity continues: Opol indigenous people’s leader latest victim of killing

More than a year and two months after the killing of indigenous people’s leader Gilbert Paborada, another Pangalasag member falls. Rolen Langala, a member of the IP group Pangalasag was brutally murdered at 1:00 am on 01 December. A still undetermined number of stab wounds and two gun shots in the head took the life of the 35 years old farmer.

As Rolen and his companion and fellow Pangalasag member — Ruel “Don-don” Tagupa — were about to go home after enjoying the festivities for the upcoming fiesta held at the Public Plaza of Barangay (village) Bagocboc, Opol town, they were blocked at the exit by village Councilor Nestor Bahian and Ramil Salban.

Witnesses say that Councilor Bahian confronted Tagupa with words “Musokol naman kaha mo, isog mo?” (Are you already tough?), to which Tagupa replied, “Kung kami unahan, mosukol rasad mi.” (If people will hurt us first, we would retaliate).  After which, Councilor Bahian pushed Tagupa and then allegedly took out a .45 caliber pistol. Meanwhile, Rolen was assaulted by Ramil Salban and a certain Arnel.

Moments later, Langala was seen bloodied from multiple stab wounds. It was when he collapsed that, according to a witness, Councilor Bahian allegedly shot him in the head for good measure.

KALUMBAY regional lumad organization vehemently condemns the murder of Langala and the perpetration of the culture of impunity in the said areas.

Historically, for several decades already, it has been an “open secret” to the residents of Barangays Bagocboc and adjacent villages that only a gang of few and armed untouchables controlling the entire area.  Using terror as a tool, as politicians exploit their presence to secure rich votes during elections, the dynasty holds complete power until now and has victimized numbers of poor and voiceless farmers with impunity.

Ironically, under the government of BS Aquino, warlords and paramilitary groups were not dismantled. Worst now, the same warlord group is said to help facilitate the entry of mining and oil palm plantations like that of A. Brown company in the area. Those who opposed them shall suffer the consequences.

Jomorito Goaynon asserts that because of the economic interests of these firms, local bureaucrats like Councilor Bahian have become emboldened to commit rights abuses in a brutal campaign to suppress legitimate dissent aimed at defending their racketeering schemes.

Based on the results of an International Fact Finding Mission(IFFM) conducted in May of 2011, several incidents of rights abuses have occurred due to the presence the agri-business firm.

Sometime in November 2011, the house of Victoria Tabubo, 64, who was amongst those who were forced to leave by the shooting incident earlier, was burned down by A. Brown security guards. They took her coconuts and planted palm oil on the land.

On 11 and 12 February 2011, security guards of A. Brown pointed their guns at the slain Pangalasag leader Gilbert Paborada, because he was asserting their rights over the land. One of the guards even threatened Paborada that he will be shot if the farmers do not leave.

Sometime in October 2011, Councilor Jimiterio Sharot, along with plantation laborers and armed security guards went to the farm of Amadeo Payla, 66, and uprooted and destroyed his crops with chemicals while holding the latter at gunpoint. Sharot is the principal manpower provider of A. Brown.

Leoncito Mabao, 34, was held at gunpoint by around 20 armed security guards while his crops (e.g. bananas, cassava, corn and coconut) were being uprooted and destroyed with chemicals.

Kalumbay and human rights groups in the region fear for another whitewash on the part of the government’s investigation basing on record that not a single case of human rights violations complaint was given justice in the area allegedly perpetrated by local officials and their cohorts.

Last October 2013, amidst public eye, Opol town councillor Cecilio Abuhan, the husband of Bagocboc village Chairperson Margilen Abuhan was “cleared” from a raid conducted by the Criminal Investigation & Detection Group (CIDG) based on a search warrant issued by a judge on alleged illegal possession of firearms. Based on frightened villagers account, they saw sacks full of assorted high powered rifles hauled by authorities during the raid of the house of Abuhan. They were shocked the following day hearing the news that not a single firearm was found and declared.

Our call and demand:

Justice to Rolen Langala, Gilbert Paborada and all victims of human rights violations in Opol!
Dismantle paramilitary and warlord group in Opol!
Pull-out A. Brown from Opol and other places in Northern Mindanao!
No to land use conversion! Uphold food sovereignty!
Return peasants to their lands, respect the right to ancestral lands!

Reference:
Datu Jomorito Guaynon
Chairperson, Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization

mobile # 09354231995
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RURAL MISSIONARIES OF THE PHILIPPINES-Northern Mindanao Sub-Region (RMP-NMR)
Room 01, Kalinaw Lanao Center for Interfaith Resources
0016 Bougainvilla Puti, Villaverde
9200 Iligan City, Philippines
T/F: +63 (63) 223 5179 
E: info@rmp-nmr.org 
S: rural.missionaries
W: www.rmp-nmr.org 

Detained NDFP consultants go on fast, protest continued detention, call for resumption of peace talks

ICHRP Secretariat
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Detained NDFP consultants go on fast, protest continued detention, call for resumption of peace talks

International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War

Peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) joined other political prisoners in a 10-day fast/hunger strike to protest their “continued detention, the unabated human rights violations, the continuing corruption in the government and the ineptitude of the BS Aquino Aquino regime in responding to the people’s situation in the areas hit by typhoon Haiyan.”

The peace consultants detained at the Camp Bagong Diwa and Camp Crame said in a separate statement issued today that, as a matter of principle, the NDFP remains open in continuing the peace talks “especially in the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan and the magnitude of disaster brought about by the ineptitude of the BS government in preparing for the typhoon and in responding to the situation of the victims.”

Those at the Camp Bagong Diwa however cautioned, “since there is not much hope for the resumption of peace talks between the NDFP and the GPH (government of the Republic of the Philippines), and the subsequent release of political prisoners, we see no other alternative but for this sitting president to be replaced by someone who is more capable and open to the possibilities that a peace negotiations process may prosper.”

“Ang NDF at rebolusyonaryong pwersang kasama nito ay palaging nananatiling bukas sa pagpapatuloy ng natigil na usapang pangkapayapaan at pagkakaroon ng mas matagalang mga tigil-putukan batay sa pagkakamit ng mga sustantibong kasunduan. Gayundin, walang indikasyong may maasahang hakbang ng GPH para sa pagpapalaya ng mga nakakulong na konsultant pangkapayapaan ng NDF at mahigit 440 pang mga bilanggong pultikal sa bansa,” the statement from Camp Bagong Diwa said. (The NDFP and its allied revolutionary forces are always open to resuming the peace talks and in having long-term ceasefires based on the forging of substantive agreements. At the same time, there is no indication to expect that the GPH will take steps in releasing the detained NDFP Peace Consultants, nor the more than 440 other political prisoners in the country.)

The consultants scored the government’s continuing military operations and its refusal to match the ceasefire declaration of the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army in disaster-stricken areas, because the Armed Forces of the Philippines is more concerned with their war against the so-called enemies of the state than with the plight of the victims of the typhoon.

The 13 NDFP consultants are detained due to trumped up criminal charges, and in violation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed between the government of the Republic of the Philippines and the NDFP in 1995.  The BS Aquino government has continued to renege on its earlier commitment to release “most, if not all” political prisoners in the country.  In September 2012, the GPH unilaterally terminated the peace talks with the NDFP.

The consultants also panned at the uncertainty of achieving justice, the prosecution of perpetrators and an end to human rights violations under the BS Aquino regime. “Inilalantad at dinidiinan ng mga ito ang pagiging mapagkunwari lamang, at sa katunaya’y bulok, na katangian ng kasalukuyang nakaluklok na rehimeng may dala-dala pang islogang ‘matuwid na daan’“. (These only expose and emphasize that the incumbent regime, which upholds the slogan ‘righteous path’, is simply specious and, in fact, bankrupt.)

The peace consultants’ protest fast and hunger strike is part of the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. A parallel protest action was held by members of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) with members of COURAGE, GABRIELA, BAYAN-NCR, Karapatan, and other people’s organizations.

The 13 NDFP peace consultants in detention are: Renante Gamara, Eduardo Sarmiento, Eduardo Serrano, Alan Jazmines, Tirso Alcantara, Emeterio Antalan, Leopoldo Caluza, Edgardo Friginal, Alfredo Mapano, Pedro Codaste, Jaime Soledad, Ramon Patriarca, and Loida Magpatoc.

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

Angge Santos
Media Liaison, KARAPATAN
+63918-9790580

———————————————————————
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————

Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District
Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
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.
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