Press Statement
10 December 2017
(from https://www.migrante.eu/diminishing-respect-human-rights-philippines/)

“Is the promised of change possible by the Duterte government, while the nation becomes the bloodshed of unjust killings and terror? In a state where life and dignity of every person have no more values but hatred for the poor and oppressed?”
Fr. Herbert Fadriquela, Chairperson Migrante Europe

On the 18th month of Duterte’s Presidency, he turns the state into much alarming human rights situation. His anti-poor campaigns, the war on drugs and withdrawal on peace talks, have put the most marginalized sector of Filipinos in vulnerability and abuse; indeed the European communities became vocal on strong criticism against Duterte’s arrogance and madness, his dictatorship, and fascist rule.

Most Filipinos remain poor despite Duterte’s anti-poverty pledge “to transform the Philippines into a prosperous, predominantly middle-class society.” Recently, when the urban poor headed by Kadamay who trooped to NHA to demand the distribution of idle houses, they were confronted by violent dispersal by the state security forces and results to the serious injuries to protesters and the illegal arrest and detention of a Migrante campaign staff.

It is estimated that 44% of the urban population live in slums (UN-Habitat). In Manila, 3.1 million are homeless. An estimated 1.2 million children sleep rough, with more than 70,000 in Manila. A genuine housing program for the poor and homeless is the economic, social and cultural right to adequate housing and shelter. Economic prosperity is an illusion when a great number of populations are denied proper housing right.

Duterte’s notorious war on drug triggered an international alarm and global protests of human rights advocates group and Migrante chapters abroad. As of August 2017, the death toll has now reached 13,000. An estimated 3,451 “drug personalities” have been killed in gun battles. Another 2,000 more died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by masked gunmen on the motorcycle and other assaults, while the 8,200 homicide cases are under investigation.

Since June 2016, when Duterte took office, there have been at least 30 minors killed. The killing of Kian de Los Santos, 17 years old and a son of an OFW, who witnesses said was falsely accused of being a drug dealer, heightened mass protests, and outrages over Duterte’s ruthless war on drugs.

Much worse, following Duterte’s issuance of proclamation 360, formally terminating peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) last November 23, members of human rights fact-finding mission in Negros Oriental were attacked by suspected state forces that claimed the lives of Elisa Badayos, regional coordinator of KARAPATAN, and peasant organizer Eleuterio Moises. With the government tagging CPP-NPA as a terrorist group and accusing progressive militant organizations of conspiracy, there will be more killings, illegal arrests, and detention of activists and mass leaders.

According to KARAPATAN, from July 2016 to November 2017, there were 924 illegal arrests without detention and 256 arrests in detention. Currently, there are 449 political prisoners facing trumped up charges, including Bishop Carlos Morales, who was arrested last May.

Bishop Morales, the Bishop of Ozamis in the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, or Philippine Independent Church (IFI), was charged with “illegal possession of firearms and ammunitions.” According to the World Council of Churches (WCC), Bishop Morales is a respected church leader from the IFI, a member church of the World Council of Churches, and is well known for his activism for dialogue, justice, and peace in Mindanao.

Amid the crackdown and mass arrest, the human rights advocacy groups and broadest Filipino mass organizations and abroad including Migrante Europe will continue its fight against all forms of repressions and oppression by the present regime.

From December 10, the International Human Rights Day and the International Migrants Day on December 18, Migrante Europe and its chapters, members, and allied organization will hold protests, significant events to denounce the human rights violations committed by the state security forces and the Duterte government against the Filipino people.

The following cities in Europe will hold protest and actions on teh said occasion above:

December 10 – AALST Belgium – Stop the Killings
December 10 – Migrante France
December 11 – Migrante The Hague, Netherlands – Filipino Against Corruption and Tyranny
December 11 – Brussels – Stop the Killings International
December 16 – Rome – Italy wide protest for Migrants and Refugees on “Rights without Borders.

December 6, 2017

President Rodriqo R. Duterte
Malacañang Complex
1000 Jose P Laurel Sr, San Miguel,
Manila, Metro Manila
Philippines

Dear President Duterte:

As human rights defenders in the Philippines become under increasing attack, we, the International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP-Canada), are compelled to express our deep concern regarding your most recent orders to crackdown on legal and progressive organizations in the Philippines.  We add our voices to the chorus of organizations and activists in the Philippines and from around the world who are calling for your government to resume the peace negotiations and put a stop to the harassment and killings of those who are vocal about ongoing human rights violations and the imposition of martial law in Mindanao.

Recent declarations that you will “kill human rights defenders” who criticize the conduct of your drug war which has resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings in mostly urban poor communities, is beyond comprehension.  According to numerous sources throughout the country, several human rights defenders (HRDs) have subsequently received direct threats, have been harassed, or murdered by or on behalf of the Philippine military. These are among the most recent examples that have been brought to our attention:

• Legal and progressive organizations Karapatan, Piston and the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) were targeted as “communist front organizations” and its leaders and members have been threatened with or have been arrested.
• On October 25, 2017, paralegal Edwin Pura, 49, was gunned down by two armed men in Gubat, Sorsogon province. Pura was a paralegal staff of Atty. Ron Ely Espinosa of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), a group of human rights lawyers.
• On the evening of November 20, nine members of the Karapatan-led quick reaction mission, all of them peasants, in Nasugbu, Batangas province were illegally arrested by the police and the Philippine Air Force. The team of at least 30 members were about to go to communities affected by the recent military operations when when these arrests took place.
• On November 28, 2017, Karapatan Negros Oriental coordinator Elisa Badayos and peasant leader Eleuterio Moises were shot and killed by unnamed men, while on a fact-finding mission in Bayawan, Negros Oriental.
• On November 30, 2017, “Wanted” posters bearing the pictures and names of leaders of progressive organizations in Davao, including Karapatan’s Hanimay Suazo and Bayan’s Sheena Duazo, were once again being circulated. The leaders, collectively known as “Haran 15” were charged with trumped-up charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
• On December 4, at around 8pm,Fr. Marcelito “Tito” Paez, former parish priest in Guimba and currently coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines in Central Luzon, was shot while driving his vehicle at San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija On December 3, 2017, Pastor Lovelito Quiñones, 57, a pastor of Kings Glory Ministry, a resident of Sitio Anapla, Brgy. Don Pedro, Mansalay, was shot by elements of the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) in Sitio Anapla, Brgy. Din Pedro, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro.

These recent actions and declarations by your government, coupled with the many other incidents of killings and arrests of peasants, Moro indigenous peoples and development workers is reminiscent of the pattern of vicious attacks against human rights defenders during the martial law period of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  We are appalled as these attacks are becoming more brazen, even targeting fact-finding, quick reaction and humanitarian missions, further constricting the remaining spaces for independent investigations by human rights groups on violations by state forces.

We are appealing to you to stop the attacks against human rights defenders in the Philippines, to rescind all policies and pronouncements that endanger the lives and security of these human rights defenders and vulnerable communities, and to ensure a safe and enabling environment for HRDs.

Sincerely,

Bern Jagunos
For ICHRP-Canada

Cc:

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada;

NDP Critic, Foreign Affairs;

Conservative Critic, Foreign Affairs;

Philippine Embassy in Canada;

Embassy of Canada in the Philippines;

Hon. Jesus Dureza
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process;

Ret. Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana
Secretary, Department of National Defense;

Hon. Vitaliano Aguirre
Secretary, Department of Justice;

Hon. Jose Luis Martin Gascon
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights,

*The International Coalition on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)  is a global network  of organizations  outside the Philippines who are concerned about human rights and committed to work for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines.

December 8, 2017

H.E. Rodrigo Duterte
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines

E-mail: op@president.gov.ph or send message through http://president.gov.ph/contact-us/

Dear Excellency,

Our Coalition calls for your unqualified condemnation of the shooting of Fr Marcelito “Tito” Paez, a servant of God, who selflessly served the Filipino people. On December 4, Father Tito was gunned down by unidentified men while driving his vehicle in Jaen, Nueva Ecija. He was rushed to a hospital in the nearby town of San Leonardo where he died from bullet wounds.

Fr Tito was a courageous human rights advocate and even on his last day he worked for the freedom of a political prisoner, Rommel Tacay. Tacay is the president of the alliance of peasant farmers in Central Luzon. He was arrested in March 2017 by soldiers of the 56th Infantry Battalion, and until yesterday was detained in the provincial jail in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

Fr Tito was a native of San Jose, Nueva Ecija, and as a priest served in parishes across the province until his retirement in 2015. His pastoral duties were carried out alongside his abiding commitment to social justice and human rights. He was active in organisations opposed to the Marcos dictatorship, and continued that activism in the three decades since. He has been the subject of harassment and threats by elements of the military and the previous administrations in the Philippines.

At the time of his death, Fr Tito was the coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) in Central Luzon. He is the first Catholic priest killed under youor Presidency.

Fr Tito’s death follows that of Pastor Lovelito Quinones of the Kings Glory Ministry in Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro who was shot by the Regional Mobile Group (RMG) on December 3, 2017, allegedly in an encounter. The military insisted that the pastor was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA). Meanwhile, eight Indigenous leaders were killed by soldiers from the 27th Infantry Battalion in the province of South Cotabato, Mindanao, also on the 3rd of December, 2017.

Excellency, you have often stated that you support killings, and not only of drug pushers. You have repeatedly condemned human rights activists and promised a new campaign of terror when turning away from efforts for peace and talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). The murder of Fr Paez, and of Pastor Quinones, and of these latest eight peasant leaders in south Cotobato and the direct result of your actions, which you must now retract, and instead condemn all extra-judicial killings without qualification.

We call for:

1. The immediate investigation of the shooting to death of Fr Marcelito Paez, Pastor Lovelito Quinones, and the eight indigenous leaders in South Cotobato, to be conducted by an independent body.
2. Prosecution of the perpetrators of these murders.
3. Urgent re-starting of the Peace Talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines on its current agenda item of a Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms to address the roots of the social conflict.
4. An end to your administration’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan which encourages extra-judicial killings and the filing of trumped-up cases against activists, community leaders and civilians.
5. The Philippine Government to pursue its commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL); and
6. The Philippine Government to adhere to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all major Human Rights instruments to which it is a signatory.

Yours sincerely,

Peter Murphy

Chairperson

Global Council, ICHRP

peter_murphy1_au@bigpond.com

Cc

Hon. Jesus Dureza, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, stqd.papp@opapp.gov.ph, feedback@opapp.net

Ret. Maj. Gen. Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary, Department of National Defense, info@dnd.gov.ph, webmaster@dnd.gov.ph

Vitaliano Aguirre, Secretary, Department of Justice, communications@doj.gov.ph

Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights, chairgascon.chr@gmail.com

Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon Ms Julie Bishop MHR foreignminister2013@dfat.gov.au

Shadow Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Senator Penny Wong senator.wong@aph.gov.au

Australian Greens Foreign Affairs Spokesperson senator.dinatale@aph.gov.au

KARAPATAN karapatan@karapatan.org