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Human rights violation intensify in Arakan, North Cotabato days after Fr. Tentorio’s killing

ICHRP Secretariat
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PRESS STATEMENT – The atrocities perpetrated by the military in Arakan, North Cotabato have intensified following the death of Italian missionary, Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME).

We, from the Karapatan Southern Mindanao (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights) condemn the spate of human rights violations perpetrated by the 57th and 38th Infantry Battalions and 10th Special Forces Airborne of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato.

Violations such as extrajudicial killing, frustrated massacre, illegal arrests, indiscriminate firing and forcible evacuation perpetrated by the composite team of 57th and 38th Infantry Battalions and the 10th Special Forces of the AFP were documented by Karapatan in a fact-finding mission held last October 21.

Ramon Batoy, peasant-farmer killed by 57th Infantry Battalion

Last October 20, aroung 6:00 am, elements of the Army’s composite team forcibly entered the house of a peasant-farmer Ramon Batoy, 35, a resident of Sitio Upper Lumbo, Brgy. Kabalantian.

When Ramon Batoy resisted, the soldier hit him with a butt of a rifle. Trying to defend himself and his family, he struck the soldier with his bolo that killed the latter. Three soldiers nearby, one covered with a mask, riddled Batoy with bullets, strafed his house and seven other houses nearby. Batoy’s wife, Gina, 33, and 6 months pregnant escaped with her daughter and son. The military accused Batoy of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA). The military now insists that Batoy was killed in a legitimate encounter.

Batoy was an active supporter of Bantay Katubigan and Bantay Kalikasan of Mt. Sinaka of the Municipal Agriculture Office of Arakan. He worked as a tenant-farmer for the Mayor of Antipas.

Army soldiers mauled residents, illegally detained civilians and strafed the community

Ramon’s brother, Roger Batoy, 44, suffered from minor wounds on his left foot caused by splinters when the military indiscriminately fired at the houses in the community. He was inside his house with his wife and stepmother. His wife, Janeth noticed bullets passed over her head during the firing.

Also on October 20, soldiers from the 57th IB mauled Noli Badol, 35, farmer and a leader of Sitio Upper Lumbo, Brgy. Kabalantian, Arakan. Badol’s legs and hands were tied. Soldiers also fired at his wife Evelyn, 32, and 8 months pregnant and their children when she attempted to go near Badol. The military took Badol and detained him at the detachment of the 57th Infantry Battalion for several hours.

Celso Batoy, elder brother of Ramon, 47, was also mauled and detained by the soldiers. Celso and Noli are both currently detained at the police station of Ammas Municipality in North Cotabato with trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Arakan Community: Traumatized, heavily-militarized

The attacks against the civilian community of Arakan have resulted to displacement and evacuation of 136 families. Some 43 families from Sitio Lumbo, evacuated to Binoongan Elementary School for fear of more attacks from the military.

Additional 93 families evacuated to the same school the following day, October 21.

Barely three days after the killing of Fr. Pops Tentorio, scores of families, community leaders and civilians are now being attacked by the military his parish.

What kind of “peace and development” is going on in the communities in Arakan? The military’s “peace and development” actually means the fake surrender of civilians as NPA, mauling, strafing, harassment, threat, intimidation and killing. We are now seeing the true face of Oplan Bayanihan, the current administration’s counter-insurgency program, where scores of human rights violations take place amid the presence of the so-called Peace and Development Teams (PDTs).

What happened to the case of Sunshine Jabinez, the 7-year-old girl killed by an element of the 71st Infantry Battalion in Pantukan, Compostela Valley? Has something been done to the killing of Santos Manrique who was killed because of his opposition to the entry of largescale mining companies in Pantukan? What happened to the father and son Rudy and Rudyric Dejos who were tortured and killed by the 39th Infantry Battalion in Sta.Cruz, Davao del Sur? How about the case of Rebelyn Pitao, a teacher and daughter of NPA Commander Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao? Was justice served to Celso Pojas, the farmer-leader in Davao City? Who killed the beloved priest of Arakan, Fr. Fausto Tentorio?

The military’s 10th Infantry Division, Eastern Mindanao Command and the Pres. Aquino, the commander-in-chief, have blood on their hands. This is their version of “peace and development”—to silence people’s dissent. Their peace is death to leaders of farmers, church people and civilians.

KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights calls on the Aquino government to prosecute the perpetrators of these atrocities. We call on the government to pull-out all military troops and the so-called peace and development teams in the countryside.

Peace never comes from silencing dissent. Peace comes with social justice.

Hustisya alang kang Fr. Fausto Tentorio!
Hustisya alang sa tanang biktima sa Oplan Bayanihan!
Undangon ang Pasismo sa Estado!

FOR REFERENCE: Hanimay Suazo, Secretary General, KARAPATAN-SMR, 0929-401-4945

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
[email protected]
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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
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.

Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio! Justice for Ramon Batoy! Justice for All Victims of Human Rights Violations!

ICHRP Secretariat
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Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio! Justice for Ramon Batoy! Justice for All Victims of Human Rights Violations!

PRESS STATEMENT – The Justice for Melissa campaign expresses its deepest condolences to the families of Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio and Ramon Batoy.  The Justice for Melissa campaign condemns the brutal extra-judicial killings of Italian missionary Fr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio and farmer activist Ramon Batoy, two individuals that were defenders of the Arakan valley, the land and its people.

Fr. Tentorio, an Italian missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME), was shot dead within the compound of the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish on October 17, 2011.  Fr. Pops, an anti-mining activist, was also a Board Member of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines Southern Mindanao and the Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation Inc.  Fr. Tentorio answered the humble calling to live a simple life among the people, to serve the people, especially those in most need, the most oppressed. For more than 30 years, Fr. Pops devoted his life to the service of the indigenous “lumads” and peasants of the Southern Philippines.

Within the week of Fr. Pops’ slaying, farmer Ramon Batoy was extra-judicially killed inside his own home in Arakan.  According to the latest reports from the human rights organization, Karapatan, members of Batoy’s family and neighbors were illegally detained, tortured and harassed by the military. The government cover-up of the extra-judicial killing uses the storyline that Batoy and his neighbor were members of the New People’s Army.

“The brutal culture of impunity that reigns in the Philippines does not discriminate.  As an American that has survived enforced disappearance and torture in the Philippines, my heart goes out to the Tentorio and Batoy families and the communities they served.  The civilian death toll under the on-going counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, continues to rise, and it is not just Filipino blood that has been shed.  The international community must respond to these latest human rights atrocities that have claimed the life of another Filipino citizen and an Italian priest,” said Melissa Roxas.  “The government’s on-going criminalization and extra-judicial killings of activists and advocates like Ramon Batoy and Fr. Pops must end.  We must continue to advocate internationally, from Geneva to the Vatican, so that peace with justice will one day prevail.”

The Justice for Melissa campaign joins the growing international clamor for justice.  We call for an immediate, comprehensive and fair investigation of these human rights violations.  We call on President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to address the following:

>The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the incident in Sitio Upper Lumbo, Kabalantian village, Municipality of Arakan, North Cotabato, which led to the killing of Ramon Batoy, the arrest of Noli Badol and Celso Batoy, and the forcible evacuation of 48 households from their homes.
>The immediate release of Noli Badol and Celso Batoy from unjust detention.
>The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders and innocent civilians as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”
>The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civilians.
>The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.

End Impunity In the Philippines!

Contact: Rhonda Ramiro
Justice for Melissa Campaign
Email: [email protected]

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About the Justice for Melissa Campaign
The Justice for Melissa Roxas (J4MR) campaign is a broadly-carried initiative of organizations, churches, and individuals who support Melissa Roxas, a Filipina American poet, human rights activist and community health worker, who was abducted and tortured by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on May 19, 2009 while conducting community health work in La Paz, Tarlac, Philippines.  She was held incommunicado and tortured for six days in a military camp, the first American victim of state-sponsored abduction and torture in the Philippines during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  The J4MR campaign supports Melissa Roxas’ pursuit of justice and accountability and justice for all victims of state-sponsored human rights violations in the Philippines. Community members can take action to support the J4MR campaign by signing the online pledge at http://justiceformelissa.org.

Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME!

ICHRP Secretariat
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Justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME!

The International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines-CCHRP Rome chapter fervently condemns the brutal killing of Rev. Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME last October 17, in Arakan, North Cotabato (Mindanao).

He was a member of Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) and a staunch advocate of the indigenous people.

Last Monday Fr. Tentorio was found bloodshed by a female staff of the church. He was shot dead within the compound of the Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan Valley.

According to a witness, Arakan Councilor Leonardo Reovoca, he saw a person wearing a helmet ran from the parish compound garage towards the main road then rode off with another suspect on a blue XRM motorcycle.

When the incident occurred, Reovoca was outside the Arakan Central Elementary School, which was just right across the church. He saw two armies wearing complete uniform and believed to be members of 5th Special Forces (SF) of Philippine Army (PA), near the vicinity of the incident and yet no one responded. That day, Oplan Bayanihan was conducted by the military inside the school.

Fr. Pops, as he was commonly known, 59 years old, and originated from Lecce, Italy was in the Philippines since 1978.  For two years he was assigned to Zamboanga City. From 1980-85, he stayed in the Diocese of Kidapawan and served for the defense of the Lumads, Christian and Muslim settlers.  In 1985 he was transferred to Arakan, a valley rich in gold and other minerals, but flogged by private armies, Muslim separatists and military exercises through Oplan Bayanihan. He was strong, determined and loved by the people.

He wanted to fight for the indigenous and their ancestral lands from the penetration of big mining companies like the “British-Swiss Xtrata.” He received threats and intimidation from a paramilitary group “Bagani,” where in 2003 he survived a manhunt from this group, allegedly organized by the 73rd Infantry Battalion to fight the New Peoples Army (NPA). In 2007,
military men of the 57th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army raided the church compound while a dental mission was going on, allegedly firearms were hidden in the parish office of Fr. Pops. He and his staff reported it to the police.

Fr. Pops was the third foreign missionary who was killed in the country since 1985. Fr. Tullio Favali was assassinated by a  paramilitary group in 1985 and Fr. Salvatore Carzedda who was involved in the dialogue with Muslims was killed in Zamboanga in 1992.

Fr. Fausto Tentorio was the 54th victim of extra-judicial killings under the Presidency of Benigno Aquino III and the latest was a Filipino radio commentator and anti-mining tribal activist Roy Bagtikan Gallego from Surigao Del Sur who was killed last Friday October 21.

As long as the military forces are powerful over the will of the toiling masses, as long as the interests of foreign investors and capitalists are the government priorities there will be no peace for every single community.

JUSTICE FOR FR. FAUSTO TENTORIO AND ALL VICTIMS OF EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS!
WE DEMAND THE IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION OF THE KILLING OF FATHER POPS!
STOP MINING IN INDIGENOUS ANCESTRAL LANDS!
NO TO  OPLAN BAYANIHAN! END MILITARIZATION!
RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS!

Contact Person:

ANN BRUSOLA
[email protected]

Statement of solidarity from the people of faith in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

ICHRP Secretariat
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“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:24

JUSTICE FOR FR. FAUSTO TENTORIO! JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS!

We, leaders and members of the clergy and church-based justice and peace advocacy programmes in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, are greatly shocked and saddened over the news that Italian missionary Fr. Fausto Tentorio of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Mission (PIME) was brutally shot dead on 17th October in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, Philippines.

We echo the cries for justice. We call for fast, full and fair investigation of this terrible crime. According to his co-workers, Fr. Tentorio’s killing could have been related to his staunch opposition to large-scale mining in the province. He was gunned down just a week after the Philippine president reportedly approved a military proposal to allow mining firms to organise and fund militias to beef up their security.

We are further disturbed by other reported incidents of anti-mining indigenous community leaders and church workers, including Rabenio Sungit, indigenous leader of the Pelaw’an tribe and active lay leader of the Taguao Outreach Congregation of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) who was gunned down on 5th September. We therefore support the Filipino people’s appeals for President Benigno Simeon Aquino III to:

1. Dismantle the militias that have threatened the life of Fr. Tenorio since 2003 and claimed lives of several anti-mining indigenous peoples and human rights advocates since the Marcos dictatorship.

2. Scrap the Mining Act of 1995 and immediately cancel mining permits for big foreign mining firms that have been encroaching on indigenous people’s ancestral domain, destroying the environment and livelihood sources, displacing hundreds of families and disregarding their basic human rights.

In his 30 years of mission among indigenous people, poor peasants and other disadvantaged sectors in Mindanao, Fr. Tentorio lived out true Christian discipleship. Witnessing injustice, poverty and rampant government neglect, he joined them in their fight to defend ancestral domain while setting up education and health programmes for the poor.

We fervently pray for courage and blessings for our sisters and brothers in the Philippine churches who commit to carry on Fr. Tentorio’s advocacy against destructive mining and his various ministries for the poor despite the threats of persecution.

Most Rev. Patrick Dunn
Bishop of Auckland, New Zealand

Rev. Desmond Cooper
President of the Methodist Church of New Zealand

Most Rev. Peter J Cullinane
Bishop of Palmerston North, New Zealand

Rev. John H Roberts
President Elect, Methodist Church of New Zealand

Fr. Claude Mostowik, MSC
Director, Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Justice and Peace Centre
(Australian Province), President, Pax Christi Australia

Rev. Stuart Vogel
Asian Ministries Committee, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand

Marion Harper
Honorauble Secretary, Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church, Australia

Fr. Chris Sullivan
Coordinator, St Marks/Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Justice and
Peace Group, New Zealand

Gillian Southey
Campaigns Coordinator, Christian World Service, New Zealand

Rev. Brian Turner
Methodist Church of New Zealand

Michael Yore
Director Mission and Justice, Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Sister Pamela Molony RGS
Sister Caroline Price RGS
Sister Anne Manning RGS
Sister Jan Ryan RGS
Sister Joan Murphy RGS

Rhonda Cumberland
CEO, Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Emma Davey
Community Engagement Manager, Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Michaela Guthridge
Justice Development Manager,Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Michael Kane
Finance Manager, Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Wayne Gorst
Business Manager, Good Shepherd Australia, New Zealand

Call for justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, and to end Oplan Bayanihan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Call for justice for Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, and to end Oplan Bayanihan

Dear friends,

Greetings from the Philippines!

I am Cristina Palabay of Tanggol Bayi (Defend Women-Association of Women Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines), a member organization of Karapatan and the newly formed network End Impunity Alliance. I am writing to you with a heavy heart to inform you of the recent extrajudicial killing of Fr. Fausto Tentorio, an Italian priest and missionary who is well-loved and respected by the indigenous peoples and rural folks in Mindanao because of his advocacy and support of people’s rights and his support for their campaign against corporate mining in the province.

I am forwarding below a copy of the Urgent Action alert of Karapatan on the case for your information and for possible actions which we can jointly undertake regarding this. Fr. Tentorio is the 54th victim of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines under the new President Benigno Aquino III.  Your support on the advocacy for justice for human rights violations in the Philippines has been an important part of the efforts to raise the awareness of the international community such violations in the country during the past years and we hope this will continue as the climate of impunity remains as pervasive as ever. Please also find attached the invitation from the organizers of the Justice for Fr. Pops Movement initiated by friends and colleagues of Fr. Pops and partners of Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi. Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Cristina
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Italian priest and missionary assassinated in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines
UA No: 2011-10-02 October 19, 2011
UA Case: Assassination
Victim/s: Fr. FAUSTO “Pops” TENTORIO, 59 years old, Italian

·Member of Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME)
·Parish priest of Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan Valley, North Cotabato
·Head of Tri-Farmers Community Program for Development, Inc (TFCPDI)
·Convenor, Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa (TIKULPA)
·Consultant, Apo Sandawa Lumadnong Panaghiusa sa Cotabato (ASLPC)
·Treasurer and Board Director, Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI)
·Member of Coordinating Body, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Southern Mindanao Region (RMP-SMR)
·Member, Sowing the Seeds of Peace

Place of Incident: Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, Arakan Valley, North Cotabato Province

Date of Incident: October 17, 2011

Alleged Perpetrator(s): An unidentified gunman and an accomplice motorcycle driver believed to be agents of the State

Account of the Incident:

On October 17, 2011 at about 7:30 in the morningFr. Fausto “Pops” Tentorio, PIME, 59 years old, Italian, parish priest of Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato Province was shot dead within the compound of the church as he was about to board his Suzuki gray vehicle. Fr. Pops was supposed to be on his way for a clergy meeting in Kidapawan City.

A female a staff of the church narrated that, while she was taking out the garbage, she passed by the garage where the vehicle was parked, and saw Fr. Pops’ body slumped on the ground. She immediately called for help from other church staff, when she saw Fr. Pops bloodied. The staff has not seen any suspicious looking people near the crime site, and did not hear any gunshots at that time. Other church colleagues responded and brought Fr. Pops to Antipas Medical Specialist Hospital but he was declared dead on arrival.

Arakan Councilor Leonardo Reovoca, also a former church worker narrated that he saw a person wearing a helmet ran from the Parish compound garage towards the main road then rode off with another suspect waiting on a blue XRM motorcycle . When the incident occured, Councilor Reovoca was outside the premises of the Arakan Central Elementary School which was located just right across the parish. However, he could not identify the assassin. He also said that there were two (2) army soldiers wearing complete uniform and in full battle gear, believed to be members of 5^th Special Forces (SF) of Philippine Army (PA), who were near the vicinity of the incident, yet none of them responded. During that day, there was an Oplan Bayanihan activity conducted by the military inside the school as the military vehicle was parked in its premises.

The parish has one (1) main gate but the compound doesn’t have a fence, and is easily accessible to other people.

Fr. Pops sustained multiple gunshot wounds in his head and chest.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Arakan Station responded at around 8:20 in the morning and conducted initial investigation . Based on their initial reports, Fr. Pops was shot at about 3 feet away . The PNP also said they found seven (7) empty shells of a 9mm caliber, and that the Italian priest had 8 gunshot wounds in the body. The fatal shot was on his head, which entered the rear of his left ear and exited at the back of the skull on the left side. Fr. Pops also had gunshot wounds on the left side of his body; presumably the assailant shot Fr. Pops on his left side as he was about to board his vehicle.

The night before the incident, some of the staff observed the incessant barking of dogs within the compound of the Parish, but they didn’t mind it. A few days prior to the incident, a female parish staff noticed fish vendors unusually frequenting the parish. She also recalled that sometime in January to August this year, an unidentified man had shown up at the parish and would always look for Fr. Pops about six times (6x) consecutively at around 12 noon to 2:00 in the afternoon and asking about the priest’s whereabouts.

One of the staff recounted that on 2007 while Fr. Pops was facilitating a dental mission being held in the Parish, a number of military men from the 57^th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army raided the compound and alleged that there were firearms hidden in the office of the parish. But Fr. Pops denied the allegations saying it was impossible. Fr. Pops and his staff reported the incident immediately to the police.

Fr. Pops had also received death threats because of his active pastoral role with the tri-people communities of lumad, Muslims and Christians. His advocacy on lumads and peasant struggle for land, environment and human rights was reflective of his commitment to serve the disadvantaged and oppressed. On October 6-7, 2003, Fr. Pops survived a manhunt from a paramilitary group called “Bagani”, which was allegedly organized by 73^rd Infantry Battalion to fight the New People’s Army when he went to a remote village in Kitaotao, Bukidnon where the priest was supposed to conduct missionary work. The leaders of ‘Baganis’ are also known in facilitating for the encroachment of ‘development projects’ such as agribusiness monocrop plantations and mining in ancestral domains. This was the first attempt against his life as a foreign missionary.

Fr. Pops arrived in the Philippines in 1978 and his first assignment was in Ayala, Archdiocese of Zamboanga City from 1978-80. In 1980-85, he was assigned at the Diocese of Kidapawan and was stationed as Mission Administrator in the Parish of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat which was serving the Lumads, Muslims and Christian settlers. In 1985, he was then transferred to the mission station in Arakan where he stayed until his last breath. In 2003, he organized the tribal organization called the Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa or TIKULPA.

Fr. Pops is the third Italian PIME priest who was gunned down in Mindanao, and the second in the Diocese of Kidapawan.#

Recommended Action:

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1.The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the assassination of Fr. Fausto Tentorio.

2.The military to stop the labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”

3.The Philippine Government to withdraw its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan, which victimizes innnocent and unarmed civilians

4.The immediate dismantling of paramilitary groups such as the “Bagani”

5.The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments’ provisions.

You may send your communications to:

H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice:             (+632) 564 1451  to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail:[email protected] /[email protected]

Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:            +63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
[email protected]

Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:            +63(2) 911-9281/ 911-0488
Fax:+63(2) 911 6213
Email:[email protected]

Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunkline  523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email: [email protected]

Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice:             (+632) 928-5655/ 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email:<mailto:[email protected]>[email protected] [email protected]

Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address below.

PRESS RELEASE

October 17, 2011

Reference:        Cristina Palabay, Convenor, End Impunity Alliance             (+63917-5003879)
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, End Impunity Alliance             (+63915-2117610)

HUMAN RIGHTS ALLIANCE CONDEMNS RECENT KILLING OF ITALIAN PRIEST IN NORTH COTABATO

The human rights network End Impunity Alliance today condemned the most recent killing of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, parish priest of Arakan Valley in North Cotabato and a known advocate of the rights of lumads and farmers in the province.

According to initial news reports, Fr. Tentorio, who had been serving Mindanao since 1978 and was head of the Tribal Filipinos Apostolate of the Diocese of Kidapawan, was gunned down at around 8:30 Monday morning just as he was preparing to leave his convent in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato, for the 9 a.m. clergy meeting in Kidapawan City.

“We extend our deepest condolences for the love ones of Fr. Tentorio and for all the people whose lives were touched by him. We condemn in highest terms the recent killing of a beloved, committed and pro-poor priest who has served our poor kababayans in Mindanao, despite several threats to his life. His public position against big corporate mining in the province and his advocacy for the rights of farmers and indigenous peoples is a testament to his selflessness,” Cristina Palabay, End Impunity Alliance convenor, said.

Fr. Tentorio was acompatriot of Fr. Tulio Favali, who was murderd in 1985 in Tulunan town by the vigilante group Ilaga, led by Norberto Manero. Fr. Tentorio experienced a near-death experience on October 6, 2003 during one of his visits to the Lumads of Kitaotao, Bukidnon, portions of which are part of the parish of Arakan, where he had organized the tribal organization called the Tinananon-Kulamanon Lumadnong Panaghiusa or TIKULPA.

Fr. Tentorio’s killing came after the declaration ofMajor General Jorge Segovia, 10th Infantry Division commander, that Southern Mindanao is the new epicenter of the New People’s Army.

“Justice should be immediately rendered for Fr. Tentorio and all victims of summary executions. Such climate of impunity exists to this day, thus victimizing anti-mining advocates such as Fr. Tentorio because of the non-prosecution of those accountable for the previous cases of human rights violations and the existing counter-insurgency plan Oplan Bayamihan of the Aquino administration,” Palabay said.

— Cristina “Tinay” Ellazar Palabay
Convenor, Tanggol Bayi
Focal Person, Women In Politics Programme, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development
Email: [email protected]
Mobile number: +639175003879

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