Philippines: Stop harassment of human rights defender and their organization in Mindanao, Lift the Martial Law without further delay

5 December 2017
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP)[1] strongly condemns the harassment and intimidation to a 21-year-old staff of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao Sub-Region (RMP – NMR) with threats of rape against her and threats against her family. RMP – NMR has been receiving threats for the past four months but this recent incident is particularly alarming.[2]

On 20 November 2017, a person identifying him/herself as an intelligence asset of the 4^th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) threatened the RMP – NMR staff and claimed that her parents and siblings are under their surveillance. AIPP denounces such cowardly tactics employed by the military.

The staff of RMP – NMR is being pressured to provide information regarding the work of RMP – NMR, particularly disclosing their partners and allies who visit their office.  RMP – NMR, based in Iligan City of the Philippines’ Mindanao island with offices all over Northern Mindanao, has been active since 1969 in supporting the rural communities that are among the poorest and most voiceless in the island. The organization has been helping the communities in raising awareness and their issues, as well as stand with them against human rights violations and abuses.

The staff of RMP – NMR and human rights defenders under its sanctuary have drawn the attention of the military and have become the target of threats and harassment.  President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law, which was extended by the Congress and Senate to the whole of Mindanao until the end of 2017, has led to intensification of military actions and impunity in the island.

The recent threat and intimidation to the staff of RMP – NMR is an example of an act to send a message of intention and capacity to cause harm or arrest anyone defying their authority.  The declaration of Martial Law in the name of providing security is misguided.  It has only led to further abuse of power and acts of impunity of the AFP and paramilitary forces operating in the island.  Furthermore, it has caused greater harm to the common people and increased their vulnerability to violations of human rights.

The staff of RMP – NMR, human rights defenders and communities, including other organisations working in the island for promoting and protecting human rights should be assured a safe working and living environment that is free from any kinds of threat and harassment. The authorities should be made accountable to the rule of law and nobody should be exempted from any acts of human rights violations regardless of political and economic status. Further, AIPP calls on the Philippine government to lift the Martial Law in Mindanao without further delay and ensure that justice is brought to the cases of human rights violations in the island.

As we commemorate the 16-day of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, we call on our partners and allies in the region and beyond to join us in condemning gender-based violence as a method that puts emphasis on the power imbalance in our society with women and girls at the most vulnerable end. We stand with RMP – NMR in their work on human rights and their dedication to support the poorest and voiceless communities and peoples in Mindanao, Philippines.

Gam Awungshi Shimray
Secretary General
Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact

___________________________

[1] AIPP is a regional organization of indigenous peoples in Asia with 48 member organizations and movements in 14 countries.

[2] See the statement and appeal for support from RMP-NMR for more information at the link http://rmp-nmr.org/articles/2017/11/20/we-are-and-will-continue-be-people-state-killing 

Click here to download full statement.

Resist the escalating fascism of the Duterte government
Justice for Fr. Tito Paez and all victims of human rights violations!
Stand for peace, Stop the Killings
6 December 2017 – Hong Kong SAR

The Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Hong Kong/ Macau) and Promotion of Church People’s Response (PCPR-Hong Kong) condemn in the strongest terms the escalating killings in the Philippines. For the past three days alone, extrajudicial killings have claimed the lives of church leaders Fr. Marcelito “Tito” Paez and Pastor Leovelito Quiniones, and eight Lumad in South Cotabato defending their ancestral land from a Philippine oligarch.

On December 4 at around 8:00 pm, Rev. Fr. Paez was shot while driving his vehicle at San Leonardo, Nueva Ecija. On that same day, Fr. Tito has just assisted in facilitating the release of political prisoner Rommel Tucay who was detained at the BJMP jail in Cabanatuan. During his stint as a parish priest of Guimba, Fr. Tito was active in advancing the human rights of people of Nueva Ecija and actively opposed foreign intervention and the presence of US military troops in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Pastor Lovelito Quiñones of the Kings Glory Ministry in, Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro was shot by soldiers at around 8-8:30pm on December 3. Pastor Quinones was on his motorcycle, on his way home after facilitating food distribution and distributing the monthly supports for the 4Ps – government funded initiative to help the poorest of the poor in alleviating abject poverty – beneficiaries. The AFP, in their press statements, said that Pastor Lovelito was an NPA, an accusation belied by his family and the church. His family also recounted that the RMG (Regional Mobile Group) planted a .45 caliber pistol to make it appear that the pastor was indeed a member of NPA. Pastor Quiñones was tested negative during the paraffin test.

In South Cotabato in Mindanao, eight Lumad from the T’boli and Dulangan Manobo tribes were massacred by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The said Lumad were part of the 140 families who have reoccupied their ancestral lands grabbed from them by the Consunji Farms for their coffee plantation and logging business.

The spate of killings, disregard for lives and rights, and the state of impunity show the heightening fascism of the Duterte government that is fast catching up with human rights violations against activists and ordinary civilians committed by previous administrations in the name of various counterinsurgency plans.

After Duterte’s declaration of all-out war against critics of his government’s anti-people, pro-oligarchs and pro-imperialist policies, political harassments, military operations and forced evacuations have intensified especially among peasants and indigenous peoples.

It seems the worst of Duterte’s fascism and tyranny has yet to come and the struggling Filipinos have to be ready for even more intensifying attacks to their lives and livelihood. Under Pres. Duterte’s command, the military and the police are in killing spree and make no distinction between armed and unarmed, combatant and non-combatant. Guns are pointed against human rights, justice and peace advocates, members of progressive groups and church people standing in solidarity with people in their struggle for land, jobs, justice and human rights.

Aside from abandoning the peace negotations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), Duterte has also declared the CPP and NPA as terrorist organizations. This further diminished the hopes of going back to the negotiating table while also making progressive organizations and individuals vulnerable to prosecution and extrajudicial actions given the propensity of the government’s armed machinery to tag anyone opposing as members of the CPP or NPA.

Ultimately, Duterte’s government primary motive is to sow fear and terror in order to amass huge control of political and economic power that will pave the way for his anti-people and neoliberal agenda. Even the most archaic laws are resurrected to justify arrests such as that of transport group leader George San Mateo whose group PISTON has led actions to thwart the moves that will deprive jeepney drivers of livelihood for the benefit of oligarchs and foreign companies.

The Duterte government must be held accountable for these barbaric and dastardly acts against Fr. Paez, Pastor Quiñones and all victims of extra-judicial killings and human rights violations.

The Duterte government must realize that there is no amount of militarization, killings and filing of trumped up charges can stop the poor, the deprived and the oppressed Filipino people in attaining justice, human rights and peace. It will only fuel their resistance against the current structure and aspiration for a society that is truly humane, just and compassionate.
Justice for Fr. Tito Paez!
Justice for Pastor Lovelito Quiñones!
Justice for all victims of extrajudicial killings!
Continue the peace talks between the GRP and CPP/NPA/NDF!