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Another Dao community harassed by NIPAR, asserts establishment of protest camp-cum-sanctuary

ICHRP Secretariat
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Indigenous families once more seek sanctuary at the provincial capitol grounds of Bukidnon as paramilitary groups continue to mock government authority in the hinterlands. Despite the refusal of the provincial government to have them set up camp again, residents of Sitio Kiranggol, Barangay Dao of San Fernando, Bukidnon stood in the rain, trying to gain a semblance of security by setting up the camp—to which the policemen are trying to obstruct since last night.

They are untouchable – that is the message of both Alde ‘Butsoy’ Salusad, leader of the New Indigenous Peoples Army Reform (NIPAR) and Ben ‘Nonong’ Salusad, leader of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographic Unit (CAFGU) deployed in San Fernando, Bukidnon to the media as they control the thriving small-scale industry in the municipality.

According to the narrative of a recent victim of the Salusads, on August 2, 2012, Alde Salusad went to the small-scale mining area in sitio Kiranggol, Dao, San Fernando, Bukidnon. He then demanded for Tessie Ombo, the financer of some miners, to hand him the money for financing. But Tessie said she had already distributed it to the miners. Alde, who was then with ten other armed men, proceeded to fire his rifle ordering Tessie to have the miners come together.

At 2 that afternoon, Ben Salusad, with more than 20 members of the CAFGU, arrived. Instead of helping the people, Ben’s troop ransacked the belongings of the miners, looking for money and gold. Tessie was forced to surrender the 12 grams she had after they threatened to take her husband. She was then threatened that if she wouldn’t stop financing the miners, she would be killed. The Salusads have two people, Eper Manyangcal and Monina Tiwanan, monopolizing the buying of the gold in the province.

“We are so tired of saying that the government forces are inutile in solving conflicts in the remote areas of Bukidnon,” said Jomorito Goaynon, chairperson of Kalumbay Regional Lumad Organization. “So how can we rephrase this fact? We set up again a protest camp. Relatives of Jimmy Liguyon and members of Dao went home broken-hearted, but with some small hope that the warrant of arrest for Alde Salusad was at least a start against the paramilitaries. But it didn’t serve them justice and the fact that Salusad and his group are able to continue harassing communities in San Fernando just enforces his claim that they are invincible.”

The organization plans to see through the exhaustion of legal procedures together with the persistence of a protest camp right in the middle of the province. “We saw what happened when the people came home,” said Goaynon. “It is very easy to kill an issue as long as people won’t see physical testimonies.”

“And the provincial government and its policemen are exerting all their effort to block the establishment of the camp-out instead of employing their energies to arrest Alde Salusad,” Goaynon commented.#

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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: rmpnmr@gmail.com  W: www.rmp-nmr.org

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Where is Ninoy in Noynoy? —Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Where is Ninoy in Noynoy? —Karapatan

Karapatan Public Info Desk, Press Statement, August 21, 2012 –   As the nation today commemorates the 29th death anniversary of Ninoy Aquino and reflects on the ideals of the man, Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said, “with the current human rights situation in the country — the bombings of communities, extrajudicial killings, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention — we can’t help but wonder, if there is a Ninoy in each one of us, where is Ninoy in Noynoy?”

Ninoy Aquino, Pres. Noynoy’s father, was a prominent figure in the Filipino people’s struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. He was a high-profile political prisoner during martial law. “Like the 385 political prisoners at present, Ninoy was jailed because of trumped up charges of murder, illegal possession of firearms and other criminal offenses. Despite the opportunity to correct this practice and stop human rights violations, as he witnessed the suffering of his own father, Noynoy refused to release all the political prisoners. In fact, he has perpetuated the same forms of injustice inflicted against their family. Like the dictator Marcos, he declared that there are no political prisoners at present,” added Palabay.

Karapatan, as of June 30, 2012, has documented 170 political prisoners arrested and detained in the two years of Noynoy’s presidency.

“Ninoy fought oppression perpetrated by the Marcos dictatorship. That included abuses and human rights violations committed by the military under the command of Marcos. Ninoy decried not only the arrests and detention that was widespread among the opposition and those suspected to be communists but also the intense military operations in the countryside that victimized hundreds of thousands of Filipinos,” said Palabay.

According to Karapatan, the same human rights violations and culture of impunity that was a trademark of martial law did not end with Marcos but continue up to the present. Palabay added that, “the paramilitary units still exist today, though with a different name; checkpoints, illegal searches and military detachments in communities are still on; forced evacuation of the population in the countryside, torture, killings and disappearances that were widely practiced in Marcos’ time are still prevalent under Noynoy.”

As of June 30, 2012, almost 30,000 individuals have become victims of forced evacuation documented by Karapatan under Noynoy Aquino.

“The nation would again commemorate Ninoy’s death and remember his fight against oppression; Noynoy would again recall their family’s agony during the days of martial law and how his father suffered in jail. But two years after Noynoy’s presidency, and with the prevailing air of impunity, Noynoy has yet to show the Ninoy in him,” concluded Palabay. ###

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, +63917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison,+63918-9790580
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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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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.

2M for Palparan a PR stunt? –Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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2M for Palparan a PR stunt? –Karapatan

Press Statement, August 17, 2012 –  “The reported increase to P2 million of the bounty for Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and former Gov. Joel Reyes is an exercise in futility unless the Aquino government genuinely resolves to go after and arrest these notorious rights violators and make accountable even those who are protecting them such as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and possibly, powerful politicians and businesses. Who can be most obvious coddlers of these criminals than the institutions which benefitted from their heinous acts?”

Thus said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, on the Malacanang announcement to increase the bounty for Palparan and the Reyeses.

“This is starting to look like another PR stunt of Malacañang, to make it appear that it is doing something to arrest these fugitives; unless Aquino orders the AFP to produce Palparan. Wag na tayong maglokohan pa at paikut-ikutin ang mga biktima at kanilang mga pamilya. (Please desist from deceiving and playing with the victims and their families.) The Filipino people and the victims need justice,” she commented.

Karapatan said such acts manifest Aquino’s failure to end impunity in the country, “not only are these criminals free but they also get promotions and rewarded with plum positions as in the case of the military officials charged by six of the Morong 43 health workers for their illegal arrest, torture and detention.” ###

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, +63917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, +63918-9790580

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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
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.

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August 17, 2012

Re:  Increase in Reward for Palparan

At first blush, it seems to be a positive step and should be welcomed by everyone desperate to see that justice is done. But ultimately it is not key or decisive.

The amount in the move is still too little and too late and is empty tokenism especially with the continuing killings, disappearances and other rights violations and impunity.

As long as he is coddled by the people who sympathize with his warped sense of duty and right and as long as Pnoy desists or defaults from clear, strong and decisive use of its broad and extensive powers and resources to seriously and doggedly run versus rights violators, Palparan will continue to thumb his nose while playing golf.

Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL secretary general ++639175113373

National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers(NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Tel.No.920-6660,Telefax No. 927- 2812
Email addresses:nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
“Visit the NUPL  at http://www.nupl.net/

Karapatan Congress delegates harassed

ICHRP Secretariat
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Karapatan Congress delegates harassed

Press Statement, August 16, 2012 – Around 2PM this afternoon, human rights workers who attended the Karapatan 4th National Congress aboard a bus from Tagaytay City to Manila were arbitrarily stopped and held by the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Cavite along Tagaytay Road in Silang, in front of the PNP Academy.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan’s newly-elected Secretary General, said, “This is sheer harassment. The four-man team were not able to show us any written order nor give a reason, valid or not, why they stopped us. They insisted they only received orders to stop us but had to ask their headquarters for the reason why. They were even armed with M16 rifles.”

While the police team was calling the headquarters through a handheld radio, Karapatan members said they heard a man’s voice at the other end saying ‘member ng Karapatan ang sakay d’yan!’  Bigyan ng feedback si ano,… CPDO at siya ang nagbigay ng instruction sa atin.”(Italicized text taken from video transcript.)

Palabay added that, “at one point in the negotiation, we heard another order again through the radio that said ‘…boarded are Karapatan members… investigate them and take pictures or video references’.“ (Italicized text taken from video transcript.)

The four policemen were with family names Sanchez, Alcaraz, Nolasco and Manalo.

Karapatan is set to file charges against the Cavite PNP for the incident. The 28 Karapatan members were held for 30 minutes. Ten minutes earlier, Karapatan members observed a mobile car of the Quezon City Police Department at Rowena’s, a bakeshop in the area. #

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, +63917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, +63918-9790580

Photos by Audrey Beltran
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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
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.

Aquino’s double-standard justice very apparent in his treatment of political prisoners and GMA: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) is free as political prisoners suffer in jail –Karapatan

ICHRP Secretariat
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Aquino’s double-standard justice very apparent in his treatment of political prisoners and GMA: Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) is free as political prisoners suffer in jail –Karapatan

Karapatan Public Info Desk, Press Statement, August 2, 2012 – Today, August 2, 2012 is the first hearing of the three (3) of the forty three (43) various cases lodged against *Tirso “Ka Bart” Alcantara* at the Taguig Regional Trial Court in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City. Alcantara has been in solitary confinement at the Fort Bonifacio Headquarters, Philippine Army Custodial Center, 191st MPBn., HHSG, PA Fort Bonifacio since he was illegally arrested on January 4, 2011, over one and a half years ago. Tirso Alcantara is one of the 385 political prisoners who are still in jail because of fabricated criminal charges.

Attending the hearing in support of the political prisoner, Karapatan chairperson Marie Hilao Enriquez slammed Aquino’s double-standard justice he trumpeted in his SONA speech thus, “GMA who is accountable to the Filipino people for multiple violations of human rights walks around freely; and those who are fighting for the poor people’s rights are charged with trumped up criminal charges to hide the political nature of their cases, keep them in detention and inhumanely ill-treated.”

Marie Hilao-Enriquez specifically cited the case of Tirso “Ka Bart” Alcantara who is in jail because of fabricated criminal cases and despite his being covered by the Joint Agreement for Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), a signed agreement between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GPH). Alcantara is a known alleged leader of the New People’s Army in Southern Tagalog and is consultant of the NDFP on the peace negotiations. “However, the AFP has been considering him as their prized trophy in their supposed fight against insurgency,” added Enriquez.

Earlier, Karapatan called the attention of the Assistance and Visitorial Office (AVO) of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on the plight of Alcantara, particularly his solitary confinement in a military unit inside Fort Bonifacio. “At this time that this supposed “new” administration has been declaring itself as pro-human rights, the solitary confinement of a person widely known as a political dissenter constitutes a grave violation of Mr. Alcantara’s rights as a political prisoner. Mr. Alcantara was arrested without warrant on January 4, 2011, at a time that informal talks were underway and as a JASIG-protected person, his arrest was already a violation of an international agreement signed by a sitting government,” said Hilao-Enriquez in the said letter sent to the CHR.

In June, Alcantara issued a sworn statement that outlined his deteriorating health condition and the ill-treatment inside prison he is being subjected to such as dirty food ration (with trash, broken pieces of glass and fecal matter); water that tasted like ‘menthol’ that caused him vomiting and loose bowel movement and restrictions on visits. There was also a nurse who pretended to be a doctor who gave him a medicine that caused nausea, palpitations, terrible pain on his neck.

“GMA’s freedom is like a salt on our wounds. It is disgusting enough that GMA spent ‘detention’ in a comfortable room in a hospital. But we are more appalled by the fact that people who fought against her abuses and crimes are in jail while she is now free,” said Hilao-Enriquez.

Karapatan reiterates its call for the release of all political prisoners specifically through a general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty. It also calls on the Aquino government and all its concerned agencies to “investigate and act on Alcantara’s complaints of human rights violations; and recommend his immediate transfer to a regular detention facility while awaiting his eventual release.” ###

Free All Political Prisoners!
Reference:Marie Hilao Enriquez, Chairperson, +63917-5616800
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, +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
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.

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