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Karapatan calls for the enactment of anti-disappearance bill

ICHRP Secretariat
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Karapatan calls for the enactment of anti-disappearance bill

Press Statement, August 30, 2012 – As families and friends of the disappeared call for the surfacing and justice for their loved ones today, Karapatan challenged Pres. Noynoy Aquino to sign into law the long-pending legislation criminalizing the act of enforced or involuntary disappearances and penalizing state security forces and government officials involved in the perpetuation of such acts.

Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general, said it is critical for Congress and Aquino to pass House Bill 98, as the 15th session draws to a close for the coming election. “The measure appears as ignored as the bill for justice and compensation for victims during Martial Law. With Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr., the butcher behind the abduction of Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, still on the loose, these, and more, reflect the administration’s very low regard for human rights,” she said.

It is unfortunate, she said, that relatives of the disappeared continue to be haunted not only by their protracted search for their loved ones, but also with the continuing harassment of elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Dr. Edita Burgos, convenor of End Impunity Alliance and mother of disappeared activist Jonas, was recently tailed again by alleged military agents, while hearings at the Court of Appeals and the Department of Justice on charges she filed against the perpetrators of the abduction of Jonas continue.

“Disappearances have continued to this day, with 11 victims under the Aquino administration. Such are still being perpetrated not only by the AFP but also by their paramilitary groups, such as the RPA-ABB. Jully Devero, Gerald Abale, Novito Gabriel, Michael Celeste, four farmers in Negros were abducted and are still missing because of the RPA-ABB’s role in the Aquino government’s counter-insurgency program,” Palabay commented.

Mercenary groups such as the RPA-ABB are included in the Social Integration Program under the government’s Oplan Bayanihan, and Executive Order 546, an Arroyo measure legitimizing the operations of paramilitaries and private armies, has not been revoked by Aquino.

“Aquino cradles these paramilitary groups to inflict grave violations such as disappearances. These are among the indications that Martial Law exists to this day, albeit without a formal declaration,” she emphasized.#

Reference:Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, 0917-5003879
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580
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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.

Desaparecidos to Noynoy: You’re no different from GMA and Marcos

ICHRP Secretariat
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Desaparecidos to Noynoy: You’re no different from GMA and Marcos

August 30, 2012 – We, Families of Desaparecidos for Justice (Desaparecidos) gather today, on the International Day of the Disappeared to demand from the Noynoy Aquino government for justice for all victims of enforced disappearances.

The practice of enforced disappearance among those it perceives as “enemies of the state” did not stop when martial law was ended. The practice of enforced disappearance, although not highlighted, continues up to the present, where there are already 11 documented victims in the first two years of the Aquino presidency.

Also, the existence of the paramilitary groups which started during martial law and proliferated during the Cory Aquino is again sowing terror in the far-flung provinces doing the dirty work for the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ counter-insurgency activities.

On the night of July 19, 2011, Micheal Celeste, Jully Devero and Gerald Abale, peasants from Magallona, Negros Occidental were abducted by members of Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Buncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB). They remain missing up to this time. The RPA-ABB is a break-away group of the New People’s Army and has long surrendered to the government. The Noynoy Aquino government supports the RPA-ABB through its PhP31 million PAMANA project.

Human rights violations are increasing and enforced disappearances is one of the gravest form that persists from the time of martial law up to the regime of Noynoy Aquino. The government’s counter-insurgency program, the Oplan Bayanihan is instrumental to the unabated human rights violations and has resulted in more victims of enforced disappearances.

We hold the Noynoy government responsible for all the disappearances that happened under his regime. We also hold the Noynoy government answerable to the continuing impunity and injustice such as the continuing disappearance of many victims and the non-arrest of the Butcher Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr.

President Noynoy promised the Filipino people justice, yet,  we only get INJUSTICE. Noynoy Aquino is no different from his predecessor Gloria Arroyo, and even Marcos. He has done nothing to correct the injustices that happened during the past regimes. He has, in fact, perpetrated the terror of martial law by implementing the same laws and by sowing the same terror, especially in the rural areas.

We, Families of Desaparecidos for Justice will not be fooled. We have learned from those ahead of us that as long as disappearances continue, the perpetrators remain unpunished, and the missing are not found, we will remain steadfast in our struggle for justice.

SURFACE ALL DESAPARECIDOS! STOP ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES!
DISMANTLE ALL PARAMILITARY GROUPS!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS!

Reference: Lorena ‘Aya’ Santos, Deputy Secretary General
Contact Number: 09175230396

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

Love that is real and active!

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
———————————————————————
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

———————————————————————
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/

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