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Court of Appeals orders release of security guard tagged as “rebel leader”

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Court of Appeals orders release of security guard tagged as “rebel leader”

A vindication of sorts but a travesty of justice nonetheless

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), counsel for security guard Rolly Panesa who who was tagged by the military as a supposed top-ranking rebel leader, welcomed with sigh of relief the 27 August 2013 decision of the Court of Appeals finally granting after several months the petition for the issuance of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Even as it comes belatedly, we commend the Decision for finally seeing through all the deliberate lies and clumsy fabrications of the military to justify the violation of his rights.

Rolly Panesa, an ordinary security guard for the longest time, was illegally arrested way back 5 October 2012 at a busy intersection in Quezon City, and detained by joint elements of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, led by Southern Luzon Commander Maj. General Alan Luga, and the Philippine National Police. He was severely tortured while the military cynically misidentified him for a certain “Benjamin Mendoza”, supposedly the secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) in Southern Luzon, with a reward of PhP 5.6 million.

At the same time, the NUPL laments the long drawn-out and tedious legal proceedings that Panesa had to undergo just to simply prove that he is not what the military says he was and despite overwhelming evidence to establish his identity. This includes multiple official identification cards and records issued by government agencies themselves, on top of incotrovertible testimonial evidence, in stark contrast to the self-serving, contrived, and ludicrous accounts of spurious witnesses for the military a.k.a. roving rebel retrunees. It does not give comfort that the Office of the Solicitor General was, wittingly or unwittingly, a party all throughout to the perpetuation of this gross injustice.

The NUPL pointed out that the poor fellow had to endure almost 11 months in detention while awating his deserved vindication. If there is any classic example of justice delayed and justice denied, this no doubt fits the bill.  Nothing indeed will bring him back all those times lost and the damage wrought on his reputation, not to mention the agony and ordeal he and his family went through.

The NUPL condemns the money-making scheme of the Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government’s secret hit list as it is now again proven to be dubious.  Previously, a certain Olegario Sebas of Negros Oriental who was similarly arrested for purportedly being another rebel leader, was also ordered released by virtue of a habeas corpus petition.

The payment by the Armed Forces of the Philippines of handsome reward money to supposed informers for the capture of what it refers to as “terrorist personalities and communist leaders” is farcical, withal dangerous. Thus, the DND-DILG’s secret hit list must be scrapped totally and immediately as it has become the basis to arrest, detain, and torture people on false charges; or worse, disappeared or killed. In addition, those who concocted this not so bright idea should also be held accountable for misusing the people’s money to violate people rights.

We shall suppport our client’s longstanding plan to file countercharges against those who have practically destroyed his life beyond `repair as impunity shall simply continue if there is no accountability.

Reference:

Atty. Ephraim Cortez
Deputy Secretary General for Legal Services
+639175465798

Atty. Edre U. Olalia
Secretary General
+639175113373

National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. 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/

Nixing mining the only way to end Tampakan horrors — KAMP

ICHRP Secretariat
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Nixing mining the only way to end Tampakan horrors — KAMP

By Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP)

An indigenous people’s organization condemned the brutal slay of two Blaan tribe members in Kiblawan, Davao del Sur village by alleged members of the Philippine Army on 23 August. The Blaan communities in Kiblawan and adjacent villages are affected by the explorations of Glencore-Xstrata Tampakan Gold-Copper Project.

According to the National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in the Philippines (KAMP), the pangayaw (tribal war) will persist as long as the Blaan are threatened with displacement.

“Gruesome massacres and killings will not end until Xstrata is sent packing,” Piya Macliing Malayao, spokesperson of the indigenous peoples’ group said. “The killing of the Freay family members is a horrible development in the long-wrought and arduous struggle of the Blaan people to protect their lands.”

The Blaan tribe has been waging a seven-year pangayaw against Xstrata (fully acquired by Glencore early this year), and its local affiliate, Sagittarius Mines Inc (SMI), in defense of their lands against open-pit and large-scale mining.

Datu Anting Freay, 60, and his son Victor Freay, 16, were killed allegedly by members of the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and Task Force Kitaco in their home in Sitio Bulol Kalon, Bongmal, Kimlawis, Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. Anting sustained three gunshot wounds in the face, neck, and leg, while Victor sustained eighteen gunshots to the body, disemboweling him.

“The Blaan communities affected by the Tampakan mining project is resolute in fighting for their rights to land, even if it has been costing the lives of many Blaan men, women, and children. They know that this struggle to defend their lands is for the next generations and the patrimony of our country,” Malayao shared.

“It is the Aquino government and its mercenaries that need to stand down and finally acknowledge the rights long fought for by the indigenous peoples.”

The Tampakan Gold-Copper Project straddles the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato, Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, Kiblawan in Davao del Sur, and Malungon in Sarangani. Xstrata, taken over by commodities giant Glencore International last April, is now in the reigns of the US$5.9-billion mining project. It is considered the country’s biggest foreign investment.

Protracted violence, rights violations

In October 2012, a Blaan family was murdered also in the affected areas of the Tampakan Project. Juvy Capion, and her children John and Pop aged 8 and 13, were slain by strafing by members of the 27th Infantry Battalion. Nine members of the 27th IB were relieved from duty following the Capion massacre. The 39th IB is now deployed in the area, in conjunction with Task Force Kitaco, an armed organization of paramilitary and regular military troops sanctioned by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to quell opposition to the Xstrata mining project.

The 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army also has a smirched human rights record, says Malayao. “The 39th IBPA’s hands are tainted with the blood of two other Blaan people, that of Rudy and his son, Rudyrick Dejos. Like the Capions and the Freays, the Dejoses were part of the struggle to defend Blaan lands from mining.”

In 2011, the 39th IBPA were allegedly responsible for the brutal slay of Rudy Yalon-Dejos and his son Rudyrick. They sustained multiple gunshot and stab wounds, their hands smashed, their bodies covered with bruises.

“The case of the Blaan people’s struggle against this mining corporation is a splatter of blood stains in the “peace and development” of Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan. There is no peace resulting in the development agenda of the government, but a string of human rights violations committed against the indigenous peoples,” Malayao said.

“We want Xstrata out of the Philippines, and its mercenaries and protectors, namely the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to stay out of Blaan lands. Because surely, the indigenous peoples will relentlessly defend their lands from plunder and destruction.”

Reference:
Piya Macliing Malayao
+63917-3631576
Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP)
National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples Organizations in the Philippines
Room 304 NCCP Building
876 Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue
West Triangle, Quezon City
Philippines

Rights groups score Aquino government on disappearance of anti-mining activist

ICHRP Secretariat
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Rights groups score Aquino government on disappearance of anti-mining activist

By KARAPATAN

“As the world commemorates the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30, another person is victimized. We strongly condemn the enforced disappearance of anti-mining activist Bryan Epa and we hold the Aquino administration accountable for this heinous act,” said Lorena ‘Aya’ Santos, secretary general of Families of Desaparecidos for Justice.

Epa is a Katribu Partylist organizer in Nueva Vizcaya and has led campaigns against destructive mining in the province. In communities where there are barricades against the mining exploration of the Royalco Mining Exploration, residents experienced military harassment and intimidation, red tagging, surveillance, and sexual harassment.

On August 19, prior to Epa’s disappearance, 40 members of the Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) went to an anti-mining barricade at Binuangan village. They pretended to be members of the New People’s Army looking for their “comrades” who, they say, were supposed to be in the barricade. The protesters asserted there are no NPA members with them, and that guns are not allowed in the barricade. The men were asked to leave but insisted to stay until the following day.

On the day of Epa’s disappearance on August 21, 2013, around 9 o’clock p.m., Bgy. Councilor Alfonso Shog-oy dropped off Epa at a friend’s house in Brgy. Salvacion, Dumlao Blvd. to get his bag. Both Epa and Shog-oy, noticed three policemen at a street corner nearby.

On his way back to pick up Epa, Shog-oy saw six policemen inside a patrol car; three of them got off the car and approached Epa and tried to take away his bag. According to Shog-oy, Epa asked the police why they were taking his bag. Later, Shog-oy saw Epa being pushed by the policemen inside the patrol car, as they said they are taking him for questioning because he is “suspicious looking”. The police tried to handcuff Epa, punched him in the stomach and hit him with bats, when he tried to resist.

The following day, Shog-oy and Atty. Fidel Santos went to the Philippine National Police Bayombong station but policemen claimed Epa was already released and that his name is Felix Bacsa Jr. There was no record or police blotter, however, on Bryan Epa’s arrest.

Desaparecidos said that prior to Epa’s disappearance, they have monitored 14 victims of enforced disappearances under the Aquino administration.

Human rights group Karapatan called on Aquino and his “henchmen” in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to surface Epa and all victims of enforced disappearances.

“Epa’s disappearance proves that the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law of the Noynoy government is merely an embellishment under Oplan Bayanihan as disappearances continue. The law is a fictitious detail in the overall picture of repression under Oplan Bayanihan,” Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said.

Bryan Epa, Nueva Vizcaya anti-mining activist missing

ICHRP Secretariat
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Bryan Epa, Nueva Vizcaya anti-mining activist missing

Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP)

As Typhoon Maring battered many parts of the country with its hard rains, an anti-mining activist has gone missing.

Bryan Epa, 34 years old, was reported missing after police arrested him last August 21, but has not been seen since. According to Karapatan-Cagayan Valley, village official Alfonso Shog-oy saw six policemen take Epa aboard their patrol vehicle in Barangay Salvacion Dumlao Boulevard, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. The witness then related how he heard the policemen say that Epa will be taken into custody because he looked ‘suspicious’. Epa resisted arrest, he was punched in the stomach by two of the policemen, and then hit in the hand by the baton. The police managed to cart him away despite his protestations.

The following day, Shog-oy and Atty. Fidel Santos sought Epa at the police station, but they did not find him there. The police claimed that they have released a detained person on the same night that Epa was arrested, but according to records, it was a person named Felix Bacsa Jr. Epa’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Epa is an anti-mining activist and among the residents of Nueva Vizcaya opposing the entry of Australian mining company Royalco Philippines Inc. Epa is among the locals manning the barricades, set up since 2007 to prevent mining equipment from entering their lands.

Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas (KAMP, National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations in the Philippines) expressed its concern over the disappearance of Epa, citing other cases of enforced disappearances among activists. “The climate of impunity in the Aquino administration is a breeding ground for grave human rights violations especially of those perceived as ‘enemies of the state,’ including those resisting mining operations,” Piya Macliing Malayao, KAMP spokesperson said. “We fear for the safety of Bryan Epa.”

According to KAMP, there had been 35 extra-judicial killings of indigenous peoples in the three-year administration of President Aquino, and most of these killings were in the context of community resistance against mines, plantations, or dams. Leaders and members of local people’s organizations and their family are the usual targets of liquidation by state forces and paramilitary groups.

KAMP says the police are liable for the disappearance of the anti-mining activist, because he was last seen under their custody. “Given the human rights situation in the Philippines, and the brutality shown by the arresting police, it all bodes ill for his fate,” Malayao said.

COMMUNIQUÉ: International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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COMMUNIQUÉ: International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

Quezon City, Philippines
19 – 21 July 2013

Guided by the theme: “Uphold People’s Rights! Work for Peace! Fight for Justice! Build Solidarity and Resistance with the People of the Philippines and the World!”, 280 representatives of people’s organizations, the academe, faith-based institutions, human rights advocates, defenders and victims, people’s lawyers, and peace promoters from 26 countries in five global regions gathered for the International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (ICHRPP) held at the Great Eastern Hotel in Quezon City, Philippines from 19 to 21 July 2013.

The objectives of the ICHRPP were:

  1. Identify, examine and analyze the social, economic, political, and the geopolitical context of the worsening violations of collective and individual rights in the Philippines.

  2. Identify the Filipino people’s commonalities with progressive forces in various countries confronting people’s and human rights issues, and on these bases seek to develop, expand and consolidate the Philippine movement of international solidarity to defend, uphold and advance human rights and people’s rights.

  3. Assess the significance of the combined domestic and international human rights solidarity campaigns concerning the Philippines since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, and draw up a plan for an international solidarity campaign for peace, human rights and people’s rights in the Philippines culminating in the next international conference in 2016, the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Marcos dictatorship.

The ICHRPP was organized by the ICCHRP (International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines) with Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights), EcuVoice (Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines), Peace for Life Network, and the ILPS (International League of Peoples’ Struggle).

Prior to the holding of the ICHRPP, international solidarity missions were conducted in several areas, including Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog, three regions in Mindanao, Cordillera, and the National Capital Region. The missions looked into large-scale mining, landgrabbing, forced evacuation and the plight of internal refugees due to militarization in the countryside, targeted areas of extensive political repression by Oplan Bayanihan, forced eviction and demolitions in the urban areas, trade union struggles, and the situation of political prisoners in detention centers.

Among the prominent guests of the International Conference were: Jeanne Mirer, President of the 700-strong International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL); Azadeh Shahshahani, President, National Lawyers Guild (NLG) in the US; Anna Claire Morris, Vice-Chairperson, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers; Jan Fermon, Co-Head of the Progress Lawyers Network, and Bureau member of the IADL; Prof. Gill Boehringer of the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) and former Dean of Macquarie University Law School, Australia; Marta Benavidez of Siglo XXIII, El Salvador; David Wildman of the General Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church; and Antonio Tujan, Co-Chair, CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness.

Three days of in-depth discussion of people’s issues

The first day session of the Conference was opened by the People’s Chorale with the rendition of the song Batingaw (Bells). It was followed by the welcome address of Rep. Teddy Casiño, who was also ICHRPP spokesperson.

The keynote addresses were delivered by: 1) Edita Burgos, mother of missing Jonas Burgos. She inspired the delegates with her strong determination to find her missing son. 2) Jeanne Mirer, who spoke about economic rights as human rights. And 3) Prof. Jose Ma Sison, Chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), who, in his video message, assailed the impact on human rights and peace of neoliberalism and the imperialist crisis.

Panel 1 (Economic, political and social crisis globally and in the Philippines, and implications on peace and human rights in the Philippines) had the following speakers: Dr. Kathryn Poethig (Associate Professor of Global Studies, California State University, Monterey Bay) tackled the deterioration of economic and social conditions in different parts of the world; David Wildman spoke about the crisis in Afghanistan and the Middle East; Rev. Christopher Ferguson shared about the conditions in Latin America, with special focus on Colombia; and Antonio Tujan, as final speaker, comprehensively discussed the global situation and implications on the Philippines.

A video entitled “No Child’s Play” by EJ Mijares, was shown after Panel 1.

Panel 2 (US geo-political and military strategies in the Asia-Pacific and the Aquino government’s Oplan Bayanihan) had the following discussants: Rep. Satur Ocampo (President, Makabayan People’s Coalition and, as Bayan Muna representative, was Deputy Minority Leader of the 14th Philippine Congress) on Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan, US Counterinsurgency Guide and US pivot to Asia; Prof. Gill Boehringer explained why Australia is a “deputy sheriff, an imperialist subaltern”; Len Cooper (Divisional President, Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union, CEPU) discussed the implications on Oceania and the Philippines; and Kao Wei-kai (Councilor, Hinchu County and member, Taiwan Labor Party) discussed the peaceful development and reunification between the strait, and US intervention.

In the morning session of the second day, Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Chairperson of both Karapatan and Selda (organization of former political detainees), delivered a keynote speech on the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Speakers for Panel 3 (Struggle for just and lasting peace) included: Anna Claire Morris on the South African experience; Azadeh Shahshahani on the experience in the Middle East; and Jose Enrique “Sonny” Africa (Executive Director, Ibon Foundation – Philippines) on the struggles for economic and social rights in the Philippines.

Panel 4 speakers (Best practices in international solidarity campaigns) included: Fr. Rex Reyes

(General Secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines – NCCP) on Ecumenical Voice’s international lobbying; Kelti Cameron (International Solidarity Officer, Canadian Union of Public Employees – CUPE) on Canada’s Stop the Killings (STK) campaign; Dr. Julie Caguiat (Executive Director, Community Medicine Foundation, and co-spokesperson of the Free the Morong 43 Alliance) on the Free the Morong 43 national and international campaigns; and Jan Fermon on winning Jose Ma. Sison’s legal battle in Europe.

The last session, Panel 5 (Struggle for national and social liberation) had for its speakers: Ann-Kristin Kowarsch (Kurdish Women’s Office for Peace, CENI); Alberto Ruiz (Civil Rights Committee, Peru); and Luis Jalandoni (Chairperson of the Peace Negotiating Panel, National Democratic Front of the Philippines), whose paper was read by Fidel Agcaoili (NDFP Peace Negotiating Panel member. Sharing their countries’ situation were Marta Benavidez about El Salvador; Dr. Malem Ningthouja (Campaign for Peace & Democracy) from Manipur, India; and Samuel Villatoro (Museo de los Martires del Movimiento Sindical Estudiantil y Popular de Guatemala).

A summary highlighting discussions and points of agreement for the five panel discussions was given by Dr. Carol Araullo (Chairperson, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan – Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) after a dance interpretation of an original song, “Palayain ang Bilanggong Pulitikal” or Free Political Prisoners by a community youth cultural group, KMM.

On the third day of the Conference, delegates had the chance to join any of the ten workshops on different topics such as: people’s resistance to large-scale mining; peasants fight global landgrabbing; workers’ struggle against monopoly capital attacks; women and children fight neoliberal policies and state violence; church’s role in the struggle for human rights and peace; challenging the legal system as tool of repression and impunity; urban poor resist forced eviction, demolitions and massive displacement; defending migrants’ rights; indigenous peoples’ defense of land, life and rights; and cultural imperialism as a violation of people’s rights.

A plenary session was convened afterward for workshop report-back and the adoption of a number of workshop resolutions.

Asserting people’s rights

The Conference approved the Conference Declaration which asserts that people’s rights encompass the economic, social, cultural, civil and political dimensions, and involve the people collectively and as individuals. It upholds, respects, promotes, and calls for the defense of people’s rights as embodied in various international instruments and agreements and further developed as fruits of the collective experiences and struggles of the people against discrimination, exploitation and oppression.

The Conference Declaration further states:

“We salute the determination of the Filipino people in their struggle for genuine sovereignty and democracy.

“We agree to further develop international cooperation to put a stop to state repression that breeds a culture of impunity in the Philippines and elsewhere; to pursue justice for the countless victims of human right violations in the country and elsewhere, and to build a strong solidarity network for human rights, peace and justice in the Philippines that supports similar struggles in other countries.”

Several resolutions covering different issues were also submitted for the approval of the Conference. Among these were resolutions on: withdrawal of the 10 million euro grant by the EU to the EU-Philippine Justice Support Programme; release of all political prisoners, specifically Abimael Guzman of Peru and Ocalan of Kurdistan; surfacing of and justice for victims of enforced disappearances; against the terrorist listing of Prof. Jose Maria Sison; against the privatization of health care; and condemnation of Canadian mining operations, to mention a few.

The results of the First General Assembly of the newly-formalized International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) were shared with the Conference delegates. The human rights coalition elected an11-person Global Council and chose the Rev. Barry Naylor of the Anglican Church of the United Kingdom as Chairperson, and Peter Murphy of the SEARCH Foundation (Australia) as General Secretary.

To close the International Conference, a short message of appreciation addressed to all the delegates from Rev. Barry Naylor was read.

The conference closed with the People’s Chorale singing two songs of struggle, with a solo from its choral director in between. The solidarity night cultural program which followed was enthusiastically participated in by almost all delegations.

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