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International Rights Observers Barred from Seeing Patriarca in CPDRC

ICHRP Secretariat
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PRESS STATEMENT – We, in KARAPATAN-Central Visayas, are disgusted over the rude treatment of international human rights observers at the Cebu Provincial detention and rehabilitation center this afternoon.

Members of the London-based Amnesty Internationale were at the said jail to visit political prisoners and peace-advocate Ramon Patriarca, when they were barred at the gate by the security guards.

The security guards did not give any explanation except that they were purportedly under strict orders from Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to have all Patriarca’s visitors secure first a permit from her.

This treatment bares the climate of martial law pervading in the jail amidst the din kicked off by dancing inmates.

It demonstrates the repressive form of administration that ignores the inmates’ basic rights including the presumption of innocence.

In this light, we demand that the jail authorities and the provincial government respect the Patriarca’s rights and stop all repressive policies being imposed on the jail.

Reference:

Dennis Abarrientos
Secretary General
KARAPATAN-Central Visayas
255-5549/0928-754-8456

For more updates and other information, visit us at …. http://hrdefenders.wordpress.com
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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.

Name ex-generals harboring Palparan, DILG dared

ICHRP Secretariat
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MANILA, Jan. 17, 2012—Fisherfolk group, Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) dared Interior and Local Government Sec. Jesse Robredo to name the ex-generals allegedly harboring, now fugitive, retired Maj. Gen. Jovito S. Palparan, for the sake of public interest and safety.

In a statement, Pamalakaya national chair Fernando Hicap said Palparan poses a serious threat to the public since the former general is “armed and dangerous.” He also urged the secretary to file necessary charges against the generals and other military men that harbor the retired Army officer.

The DILG and Department of Justice had already released a one million peso reward to anyone who can give the exact whereabouts of Palparan, who is accused of serious illegal detention and kidnapping in connection with the abduction of two University of the Philippines-Diliman students, Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan. The two went missing in 2006, during the height of anti-insurgency campaign launched by the former administration of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Last December, the Malolos City court had issued a warrant of arrest against Palparan and three others namely retired M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado at S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio, who are also allegedly involved in kidnapping and torturing the two girls.

Meanwhile, Migrante International chapters in different parts of the world had also alerted their members and allies to keep watch, if ever Palparan would appear in the countries where they are working.

In the Middle East, Migrante regional director John Leonard Monterona said that Palparan could have escaped already since the ex-military officer had a number of connections in the bureaucracy.

“He is a very dangerous man, having killed and tortured lots of innocent people, in the name of national security,” Monterona said in an email.

Last December 27, Migrante Middle East had called for a “global manhunt” against Palparan, telling OFWs to report to the pertinent authorities if they have spotted the ex-general and lawmaker in their respective areas.

In the Philippines, a people’s manhunt had also been launched by different human rights’ groups such as Hustisya, Karapatan, Tanggol Bayi, to name a few to speed up Palparan’s capture. Even the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas chapters all over the Philippines have been alerted to keep an eye on the general.

“Retired Major General Jovito Palparan’s attempt to flee the country clearly illustrates how he, like former Pres. Gloria Arroyo and other notorious human rights violators, have tried to evade justice and accountability, once again, for their crimes against the victims and the people for the longest time during their reign in office. This mad dog should immediately be arrested and put to jail,” said Cristina Palabay, spokesperson of Tanggol Bayi, a group of women human rights’ defenders, in a statement.

In order to ensure safety of the complainants, the group wants to transfer the case in one of the courts in Metro Manila.

“We likewise demand for the change of venue of court proceedings hereon from the Malolos Bulacan Regional Trial Court (RTC) to an RTC in Metro Manila because of security risks being faced by the complainants, witnesses and lawyers in an area where the military has active presence and where the abduction of the two women human rights defenders took place,” she said.

Aside from the serious illegal detention and kidnapping, the parents of Cadapan and Empeño had also filed rape, serious physical injuries, maltreatment of prisoners, grave threats, and grave coercion before the DOJ last May 2011, against the hiding general. [Noel Sales Barcelona/CBCPNews]

Impeachment of the Chief Justice: Our Institutions on Trial

ICHRP Secretariat
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Press Statement – As human rights advocates and as officers of the court, we support this constitutionally-mandated impeachment process to hold any one accountable, including those who are charged with frustrating efforts at accountability.

The impeachment process is a device to make high public officials, including members of the Supreme Court, when warranted, accountable for their actions. It serves as a deterrent to   grave abuse of authority and betrayal of public trust.  It operates on and is meant to preserve and strengthen the principle of checks and balances. Thus, while it is the Chief Justice on the dock, the independence, credibility and integrity of our institutions will all be put to the test in this trial.

But a critical stance must be taken in examining the proceedings. It will not serve its purpose if the result would be a judiciary that is subservient to the dictates of the other branches of government.

Any criticism of the Court, or any of its members, must be principled and based on sufficient legal arguments and just grounds. The Court is not immaculately infallible and had its own share of decisions that invited vigorous exceptions or protests from various quarters. But such dissent must not undermine the independence of the judiciary as an institution and should present valid reasons whether or not there should be trust and confidence in the equal and equitable dispensation of justice.

The Pnoy administration has overtly and covertly shepherded this impeachment.  Yet the impeachment complaint contains on its face a number of serious allegations and grounds that need to be tried objectively and resolved on their merits. It is now incumbent on the House prosecutors to prove any of these grounds convincingly and address the criticism that the complaint was passed with inordinate dispatch and even undue haste for reasons other than that of public interest.

The Senate sitting as an impeachment body is tasked to decide with judiciousness, unbridled by any other consideration.    Though ultimately more a political exercise in a legal forum to be decided by politicians, the process must not be reduced to a simple numbers game and must be fair and credible. The people must engage and must be involved.

The impeachment should also not be used to cover up the incompetence and failure of a PNoy administration to concretely address the gut issues of the people, including their unmet basic social and economic needs and the disproportionate priority to largely unheeded demands for justice and accountability for grievous human rights violations.  The process can in fact result and help in no small way in holding the GMA administration itself fully accountable.

The impeachment against the Chief Justice will certainly set a precedent. Whether it will be a good or bad one will depend on how it will be handled and decided upon and how credible the process is seen by the public. It may make for a better judicial institution by serving as a springboard for reforms in the administration of justice. Or it may bamboozle the courts and undermine the system of supposed checks and balances and be the opening to monopoly of power.

So-called as the “last bastion of democracy,” the Supreme Court, or any of its members, must be beholden to no one- past or present – and its partiality should be in favour only of the people’s rights and interests.  It must have the moral authority to inspire trust, confidence and belief.

For us and especially our clients who have less in life and even in law, one thing is of transcendental importance amidst all these — whether our formal democratic institutions can really make our  public officials or any of their perceived proxies truly accountable for their actions. Whatever the outcome of this crucial exercise, the basic political and civil rights and the social and economic demands and needs of the people remain and must be effectively addressed by our institutions. #

Reference: Atty. Edre U. Olalia, NUPL Secretary General, +639175113373
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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/

By calling yourselves the ‘people’s lawyer,’ you have made a remarkable choice. You decided not to remain in the sidelines. Where human rights are assaulted, you have chosen to sacrifice the comfort of the fence for the dangers of the battlefield. But only those who choose to fight on the battlefield live beyond irrelevance.”  Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, in his message to the NUPL Founding Congress,Sept. 15, 2007

APPEAL FOR ACTION: Brother of political prisoner, shot dead in Occidental Mindoro, Southern Luzon, Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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Brother of political prisoner, shot dead in Occidental Mindoro, Southern Luzon, Philippines
UA No: 2012-12-01 January 3, 2012
UA Case : Extrajudicial Killing
Victim/s : GUILLERMO CASTILLO, 46, Farmer
· Resident of Sitio Tiguilan, Brgy. Tayamaan, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro
· Married with six children
· Member of the Samahang Magbubukid sa Kanlurang Mindoro, a local farmers’ organization
· Brother of political detainee Eulogio Castillo, one of the Morong 43 detainees who remain incarcerated

Place of Incident : Sitio Tiguilan, brgy. Tayamaan, Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro
Date of Incident : December 13, 2011

Alleged Perpetrator(s) : A lone gunman, suspected soldier of the 80th Infantry Battalion, Phil. Army, wearing a jacket, denim shortpants, with a shirt covering the lower half of his face, and sporting a crew-cut hair

Account of the Incident:

On December 13, 2011, at 6:30 pm, Marites de Villa, Guillermo’s wife was manning their small sari-sari store, when a man she mistook as her eldest son, came and entered their house. He went straight to the kitchen which was near the door and shot her husband Guillermo, who was then cooking their dinner.

Guillermo was still able to run and hide inside their room, while the assailant fled on foot.
Guillermo suffered from four gunshot wounds and was declared dead-on-arrival at the hospital.
Guillermo was the brother of Eulogio Castillo, one of the 43 health workers who were illegally arrested in Morong and detained in 2010. Eulogio was kept in detention based on more trumped-up criminal charges, even as the others were released in December 2010. On September 12, 2011, Eulogio was transferred from Bicutan, Taguig to the Occidental Mindoro Provincial Jail in Mamburao town. A total of 17 criminal charges had been filed against him.

Prior to the killing, Guillermo and his siblings were subjected to constant military harassment, being accused as supporters of the New People’s Army. One of the siblings recounted the threat allegedly made by Army Lt. Juvielyn Cabading that they will be killed after Eulogio was arrested in February 2010.

Soldiers maintained presence in Guillermo’s community. Members of the 80thInfantry Battalion were deployed to their village, a month before he was killed.

The local policemen interviewed Maritess at the hospital and in their home, and asked questions from their nieces and nephews at the house. Other family members said that the police implied that Guillermo owned a gun because they asked why he was still able to run and hide inside their room. The police even went to the back of the house and noted that the place led to the boondocks and that the house was isolated from other homes.

In 2004, soldiers repeatedly harassed Guillermo because he was accused of supporting members of the New People’s Army. Guillermo promptly filed complaints with the police regarding such harassment, and even had a dialogue with the military to expose the harassment against him.

Karapatan-Southern Tagalog views the killing as part of the continuing political repression on progressive groups and activists critical of the government.

Guillermo was laid to rest on Dec. 20.

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 extrajudicial killing of Guillermo Castillo.
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 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 S. Aquino III
President of the Philippines
2/F Bonifacio Hall, Malacañang, Manila
Tel: 733-3010 loc 882/ 887
Website: president.gov.ph <http://www.president.gov.ph/>

Secretary Teresita Quintos-Deles
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7/F Agustin I Building, F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Tel: 6360701 to 06 / 637-6083
Fax: 638-2216
Email: stqd@opapp.net
Website: opapp.gov.ph

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: osnd@philonline.com

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: soj@doj.gov.ph

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: <coco.chrp@gmail.com>chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com,
lorettann@gmail.com

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

URGENT ACTION Prepared by:
KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
National Office
2/F Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin cor Matatag Sts.,
Brgy. Central, Diliman, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Email: urgentaction@karapatan.org
Website: www.karapatan.org

NUPL on the 1st Cadapan-Empeno Court Hearing

ICHRP Secretariat
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Press Statement – As the court heard today the charges of Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention against Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and three others involving the disappearance of UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) private prosecutors said:

“We welcome and agree the judge’s firm and clear ruling that fugitive Gen. Palparan cannot seek relief, if at all, unless he surrenders or is arrested. He cannot have his cake and eat it too while trifling with the judicial and legal process.

The mothers continue to protest the dubious and sleight of hand transfer of his co-accused to military custody based on the Army intelligence group’s invocation of an ancient and obscure 1937 executive order issued by President Manuel Quezon and Interior Secretary Elpidio Quirino. It is essentially thumbing the nose versus the basic sense of fairness and decency.”

Reference (Panel of Private Prosecutors): Atty. Edre Olalia, NUPL Secretary General (09175113373); Atty. Ephraim Cortez, NUPL Assistant Secretary General for Legal Services; Atty. Julian Oliva; Atty. Jobert Pahilga; and Atty. Cristina Yambot
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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/

By calling yourselves the ‘people’s lawyer,’ you have made a remarkable choice. You decided not to remain in the sidelines. Where human rights are assaulted, you have chosen to sacrifice the comfort of the fence for the dangers of the battlefield. But only those who choose to fight on the battlefield live beyond irrelevance.”  Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, in his message to the NUPL Founding Congress,Sept. 15, 2007

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