October 22, 2005
Reference: Ruth Cervantes, Public Information Officer 09228107169
ONE ACTIVIST KILLED EVERY WEEK IN THE PAST ONE AND A HALF MONTHS, KARAPATAN DOCUMENTATION SHOWS
A fresh wave of summary execution of political dissenters occurred in the past one and a half months, amid a rise in curtailment of and threats to civil liberties occurred in the wake of the "calibrated preemptive response" policy of the Arroyo administration, a gag order on government and military officials from attending legislative inquiries and talks about securing emergency powers for Mrs. Arroyo.
One activist is killed every week*, as documented by the human rights alliance KARAPATAN. Ten political activists were killed in the span of September 1 to October 15, 2005.
KARAPATAN said the victims of extra-judicial killings belonged to progressive organizations and labor unions. One of the victims, Atty. Norman Bocar is a local government official in Eastern Samar. Two are women. Six were killed in Central Luzon, and three others in Quezon, Laguna and CARAGA, respectively.
Aside from political activists, KARAPATAN also reported that 5 other civilians were summarily executed by alleged military elements.
The incidents were reported and documented by field workers of KARAPATAN in the abovementioned regions.
The human rights alliance was likewise able to record an attempt on the life of a labor leader in Cebu. Antonio Cuizon, union president of Panaghiusa sa Mamumuo sa Atlas (Unity of Atlas Workers), sustained gunshot wounds from an M-16 rifle. Cuizon survived the attack.
KARAPATAN said the extra-judicial killings of civilians by suspected state security forces continue unabated despite the UNHRC's directive in 2003 for the Philippine government to adopt and enforce measures to prevent such violations as extrajudicial killings *(in keeping with articles 6 and 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights)* and to conduct prompt and impartial investigations, and prosecute and punish the perpetrators.
Below is the list of political activists killed from September 1 to October 15, 2005, based on initial reports of KARAPATAN regional officers.
Name
Age, Affiliation, Date of Incident, Place of Incident, Suspected Perpetrators
Atty. Norman Bocar
57, BAYAN-Eastern Visayas, September 1, 2005, Borongan, Unidentified armed men on board a motorcycle
Renier Cusio
33, UMAGPAS-KMP, Sept 12 (abducted), Sept 16 (found dead), Guimba, Nueva Eccija, 5 elements of the 71st Infantry Battalion Philippine Army under Lt. Viterbo and a certain Paul Serrano
Leodegario Punzal
41, Anakpawis Party List, September 13, 2005, Norzagaray, Bulacan, Elements of the 56th IBPA
Diosdado Fortuna
50, Union of Filipino Employees, Nestlé workers' union, September 22, 2005, Calamba, Laguna, still unidentified assailants
Victoria P. Samonte
51, KMU CARAGA, September 30, 2005, Bislig City, Unidentified man
Armando Javier
36, Anakpawis Party List, October 2, 2005, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, Elements of the 71st IBPA
Priscilla "Celia" Esteban
56, Bayan Muna, Oct. 2 (abducted), Oct 5 (found dead and mutilated), Guimba, Nueva Ecija, Elements of the 71st IBPA under command of Col. Cayetano and Lt. Madrid of the Charlie Company
Rolando Mariano
53, TARELCO Employees Union, October 7, 2005, Gerona, Tarlac, Unidentified assailants
Ponciano Silva
54, Anakpawis Party List, October 11, 2005, Unisan, Quezon, Unidentified motorcycle-riding men
Florante Collantes
54, Bayan Muna, October 15, 2005, Tarlac, (verifying information)
Source: KARAPATAN Documentation Desk
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Let's Force A Gasoline Price War!
The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we couldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work.
Please read on and join us!
Currently, unleaded gasoline is over P33.00 and it is still going up (sometimes unnoticed). Despite the fact that a barrel of oil has gone down to US$62 from US$70 (when Superstorm Katrina hit New Orleans), gasoline prices are still going up instead of a downward trend.
Worst, the big oil players such as Caltex, Shell and Petron claim that they are still losing money. It is time we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace....not sellers. The only way we are going to see the price of gas go down is if we hit them back by not purchasing their gas!
And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How?
Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.
Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON"T PURCHASE ANY GASOLINE FROM the two biggest foreign oil companies such as SHELL and CALTEX. For now, let us buy gas only from Petron and/or small players such as SeaOil, Total, etc. If CALTEX and SHELL are not selling any gas, they will be forced to reduce
their prices and if they reduce their prices, other companies will have no choice but to follow suit. Thus, the start of a price war. In this way, the buying public wins.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Shell and Caltex gas buyers. I am sending this note to about thirty people. If you send it to at least ten more, e.g., 30 x 10 = 300 and those 300 send it to at least ten more, e.g., 300 x 10 = 3,000 and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth level of people (granting all will cooperate), we will have reached over THREE MILLION car owners!
Again, all you have to do is just send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from Shell and Caltex. Remember, the main idea is to FORCE A PRICE WAR and not hurt ourselves or the economy. That's all.
How long would all that take before we can feel the effect? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 3 MLLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! Acting together can make a big difference.
If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE P20.00/LITER RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.!!!
Please read on and join us!
Currently, unleaded gasoline is over P33.00 and it is still going up (sometimes unnoticed). Despite the fact that a barrel of oil has gone down to US$62 from US$70 (when Superstorm Katrina hit New Orleans), gasoline prices are still going up instead of a downward trend.
Worst, the big oil players such as Caltex, Shell and Petron claim that they are still losing money. It is time we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace....not sellers. The only way we are going to see the price of gas go down is if we hit them back by not purchasing their gas!
And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How?
Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.
Here's the idea:
For the rest of this year, DON"T PURCHASE ANY GASOLINE FROM the two biggest foreign oil companies such as SHELL and CALTEX. For now, let us buy gas only from Petron and/or small players such as SeaOil, Total, etc. If CALTEX and SHELL are not selling any gas, they will be forced to reduce
their prices and if they reduce their prices, other companies will have no choice but to follow suit. Thus, the start of a price war. In this way, the buying public wins.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Shell and Caltex gas buyers. I am sending this note to about thirty people. If you send it to at least ten more, e.g., 30 x 10 = 300 and those 300 send it to at least ten more, e.g., 300 x 10 = 3,000 and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth level of people (granting all will cooperate), we will have reached over THREE MILLION car owners!
Again, all you have to do is just send this to 10 people and DON"T purchase ANY gasoline from Shell and Caltex. Remember, the main idea is to FORCE A PRICE WAR and not hurt ourselves or the economy. That's all.
How long would all that take before we can feel the effect? If each of us sends this email out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 3 MLLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!! Acting together can make a big difference.
If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on.
PLEASE HOLD OUT UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE P20.00/LITER RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.!!!
Resistance
Resistance
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
When we stepped into the pedestrian lane to cross over to Mendiola Bridge, none of us thought the police would be so dumb as to block a dozen protesters, in the process threatening a violent confrontation and creating a traffic gridlock, the very things they claimed to be preventing with such zealousness.
In fact, when I agreed to go to Mendiola with RC Constantino, a senior citizen who is also a civil libertarian and staunch nationalist, his wife and whoever else would be willing to assert their inalienable rights to free expression and assembly, I worried about simply being ignored by the police.
After all, Mr. Constantino announced his intentions on national television the night before in the presence of PNP General Querol. Presumably not only the police top guns but Malacañang crisis managers had more than enough lead time to study the situation. They knew their options in dealing with this motley band of protesters and what would obviously be a peaceful and largely symbolic protest action.
Almost all those I asked had some other commitment and couldn’t join the protest that day. Someone observed that anything less than 50 people couldn’t be interpreted, even by the police, as a “rally” and would therefore just be tolerated.
“At least bring some placards,” said a veteran street parliamentarian, “so you don’t look like ordinary pedestrians.” My group consisted of six individuals including former Labor Undersecretary Amado “Gat” Inciong, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Chairman Antonio Tinio and three others who had been arrested and roughed up in previous demonstrations. We had four placards in a plastic grocery bag to share among us.
We were met by the spectacle of more than a hundred police, about one fourth women, their shields in front of them, lined up in a phalanx several rows deep, at the foot of Mendiola Bridge. Mr. and Mrs. Constantino were waiting for us with Princess Nemenzo, fellow Business World columnist Atty. Argee Guevarra and three others in tow.
Thus did we start our “march” on the pedestrian lanes of Legarda and Claro M. Recto. Immediately the police moved to stop us. Colonel Quirante, the PNP ground commander, barked into a small bullhorn and demanded that we produce our permit.
Mr. Constantino bristled us the women police prevented us from proceeding to the Chino Roces monument. He retorted, “Do we need a permit to cross the pedestrian lane?” Col. Quirante relented and told his people to hold their line but they occupied more than one half of the lane so that Mr. Constantino stepped forward and forced those in front of him to move back.
At this point a policewoman complained that Mr. Constantino had touched her breast to which he responded by pointing to his chest and saying that they had been pushing him all along with their shields. The sight was ludicrous as scores of them rushed to block his path as he moved from side to side, forwards and backwards.
It wasn’t long before Mr. Constantino was separated from the rest of us surrounded by anti-riot police. Meanwhile Ms. Nemenzo and her daughter-in-law had somehow slipped unnoticed to reach the Chino Roces monument. We could see her behind the rows of police struggling with an improvised cartolina placard that a policeman was trying to grab from her. It said, “Freedom is as freedom does!” The placard ended up in tatters.
Col. Quirante must have been so mortified by the thought that the rest of us might decide to rush Malacañang Palace that he ordered his troops to disperse us by pushing and shoving us away, back across Legarda street. About twenty policewomen and some policemen handily did just that. There were only about six of us left with only one reinforcement from the party list Bayan Muna.
Another ludicrous photo opportunity presented itself as Mr. Tinio landed on the front page of a broadsheet the following day resisting a formation of helmeted, shield-wielding female members of Manila’s Finest.
We stopped to catch our breath as did the police. We took the opportunity to try to reason with the so-called defenders of the “rule of law”. We appealed to them to stop pushing and hurting us since we could not by any stretch of the imagination be a threat to peace and order and could not even constitute an obstruction to traffic.
Seeing as how we had been separated from each other, we decided to try to go back towards the bridge and reach our companions. Accompanied by a swarm of photo journalists and TV crews, we slowly made our way back to Mendiola.
Some of the police by this time appeared to relent or hesitate so that we were able to reach the monument after some more jostling and scuffling. Unknown to us, individual protesters who had belatedly arrived were being harassed and overpowered by police on the sidelines.
Col. Quirante apparently imagined some kind of extreme danger being posed by a handful of protesters who had gotten several feet closer to the hallowed grounds of the Presidential Palace. He again ordered that we be pushed away until we ended up on the sidewalk at the other side of the bridge.
We staged a sit-in on the sidewalk and dared the police to carry us bodily away. By then we were joined by about a dozen more people from the human rights group Karapatan, martial law era ex-political prisoners from the group SELDA as well as Wilson Fortaleza of Sanlakas. A streamer that said, “Ipaglaban ang demokrasya!” (Fight for democracy!) was unfurled.
The group sang the patriotic song “Bayan Ko”, a staple of anti-dictatorship rallies during martial law. Mr. Constantino read the statement of protest of the group.
When things had quieted down, I took the opportunity to talk to a group of policewomen. I asked them if they realized they were following illegal orders by employing physical violence and disproportionate force on a handful of protesters. Would they shoot unarmed people if given the orders?
And where did the orders come from? It is reasonable to conclude that Malacañang itself was "hands on" and can be held directly accountable for the brutality and intolerance executed by the police.
This brief incident on historic Mendiola Bridge, lasting no more than an hour, clearly exposes the Arroyo government’s policy towards peaceful assemblies of citizens as nothing short of fascist. It has no place in a so-called democratic society and is clearly a harbinger of de facto martial rule.
All freedom-loving Filipinos must condemn and resist the Arroyo regime’s authoritarian mind set and strong-arm tactics or risk another dark period in our nation’s benighted existence.#
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
When we stepped into the pedestrian lane to cross over to Mendiola Bridge, none of us thought the police would be so dumb as to block a dozen protesters, in the process threatening a violent confrontation and creating a traffic gridlock, the very things they claimed to be preventing with such zealousness.
In fact, when I agreed to go to Mendiola with RC Constantino, a senior citizen who is also a civil libertarian and staunch nationalist, his wife and whoever else would be willing to assert their inalienable rights to free expression and assembly, I worried about simply being ignored by the police.
After all, Mr. Constantino announced his intentions on national television the night before in the presence of PNP General Querol. Presumably not only the police top guns but Malacañang crisis managers had more than enough lead time to study the situation. They knew their options in dealing with this motley band of protesters and what would obviously be a peaceful and largely symbolic protest action.
Almost all those I asked had some other commitment and couldn’t join the protest that day. Someone observed that anything less than 50 people couldn’t be interpreted, even by the police, as a “rally” and would therefore just be tolerated.
“At least bring some placards,” said a veteran street parliamentarian, “so you don’t look like ordinary pedestrians.” My group consisted of six individuals including former Labor Undersecretary Amado “Gat” Inciong, Alliance of Concerned Teachers Chairman Antonio Tinio and three others who had been arrested and roughed up in previous demonstrations. We had four placards in a plastic grocery bag to share among us.
We were met by the spectacle of more than a hundred police, about one fourth women, their shields in front of them, lined up in a phalanx several rows deep, at the foot of Mendiola Bridge. Mr. and Mrs. Constantino were waiting for us with Princess Nemenzo, fellow Business World columnist Atty. Argee Guevarra and three others in tow.
Thus did we start our “march” on the pedestrian lanes of Legarda and Claro M. Recto. Immediately the police moved to stop us. Colonel Quirante, the PNP ground commander, barked into a small bullhorn and demanded that we produce our permit.
Mr. Constantino bristled us the women police prevented us from proceeding to the Chino Roces monument. He retorted, “Do we need a permit to cross the pedestrian lane?” Col. Quirante relented and told his people to hold their line but they occupied more than one half of the lane so that Mr. Constantino stepped forward and forced those in front of him to move back.
At this point a policewoman complained that Mr. Constantino had touched her breast to which he responded by pointing to his chest and saying that they had been pushing him all along with their shields. The sight was ludicrous as scores of them rushed to block his path as he moved from side to side, forwards and backwards.
It wasn’t long before Mr. Constantino was separated from the rest of us surrounded by anti-riot police. Meanwhile Ms. Nemenzo and her daughter-in-law had somehow slipped unnoticed to reach the Chino Roces monument. We could see her behind the rows of police struggling with an improvised cartolina placard that a policeman was trying to grab from her. It said, “Freedom is as freedom does!” The placard ended up in tatters.
Col. Quirante must have been so mortified by the thought that the rest of us might decide to rush Malacañang Palace that he ordered his troops to disperse us by pushing and shoving us away, back across Legarda street. About twenty policewomen and some policemen handily did just that. There were only about six of us left with only one reinforcement from the party list Bayan Muna.
Another ludicrous photo opportunity presented itself as Mr. Tinio landed on the front page of a broadsheet the following day resisting a formation of helmeted, shield-wielding female members of Manila’s Finest.
We stopped to catch our breath as did the police. We took the opportunity to try to reason with the so-called defenders of the “rule of law”. We appealed to them to stop pushing and hurting us since we could not by any stretch of the imagination be a threat to peace and order and could not even constitute an obstruction to traffic.
Seeing as how we had been separated from each other, we decided to try to go back towards the bridge and reach our companions. Accompanied by a swarm of photo journalists and TV crews, we slowly made our way back to Mendiola.
Some of the police by this time appeared to relent or hesitate so that we were able to reach the monument after some more jostling and scuffling. Unknown to us, individual protesters who had belatedly arrived were being harassed and overpowered by police on the sidelines.
Col. Quirante apparently imagined some kind of extreme danger being posed by a handful of protesters who had gotten several feet closer to the hallowed grounds of the Presidential Palace. He again ordered that we be pushed away until we ended up on the sidewalk at the other side of the bridge.
We staged a sit-in on the sidewalk and dared the police to carry us bodily away. By then we were joined by about a dozen more people from the human rights group Karapatan, martial law era ex-political prisoners from the group SELDA as well as Wilson Fortaleza of Sanlakas. A streamer that said, “Ipaglaban ang demokrasya!” (Fight for democracy!) was unfurled.
The group sang the patriotic song “Bayan Ko”, a staple of anti-dictatorship rallies during martial law. Mr. Constantino read the statement of protest of the group.
When things had quieted down, I took the opportunity to talk to a group of policewomen. I asked them if they realized they were following illegal orders by employing physical violence and disproportionate force on a handful of protesters. Would they shoot unarmed people if given the orders?
And where did the orders come from? It is reasonable to conclude that Malacañang itself was "hands on" and can be held directly accountable for the brutality and intolerance executed by the police.
This brief incident on historic Mendiola Bridge, lasting no more than an hour, clearly exposes the Arroyo government’s policy towards peaceful assemblies of citizens as nothing short of fascist. It has no place in a so-called democratic society and is clearly a harbinger of de facto martial rule.
All freedom-loving Filipinos must condemn and resist the Arroyo regime’s authoritarian mind set and strong-arm tactics or risk another dark period in our nation’s benighted existence.#
Stop killings of activists, clergy!
Oct. 11, 2005
Groups urge Philippines president to probe killings of activists, clergy
by Maurice Malanes
Ecumenical News International
MANILA - Church and development groups from around the world are calling on Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the killings of more than 30 human-rights activists, including clergy members, since the first of the year.
"We are deeply concerned at the killings of 34 activists in the Philippines so far in the year 2005," the groups said in Oct. 7 letters to President Arroyo and to the Philippine army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Generoso S. Senga. The letters were released by the Geneva-based group, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.
More than 30 people signed the letters, including representatives of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Franciscans International and the Young Women's Christian Association. They demanded "immediate and impartial investigations into all recent extra-judicial executions."
The signatories cited three recent killings alleged to have been committed by agents of the military: Diosdado Fortuna was shot in the back on Sept. 22 in Laguna Province, south of Manila; the Rev. Raul Domingo of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines died on Sept. 4, two weeks after being shot in Puerto Princesa in the island of Palawan; and Norman Bocar was shot in the head on Sept. 1 in Borongan, Eastern Samar, in central Philippines.
"We mourn each of those killed and we deplore the ongoing violence and killing," the signatories said. "We stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Filipino people to achieve their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."
The letter referred to the report of a delegation sent to the Philippines in July by the WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia. That report observed that increasing numbers of activists, including church workers, were being murdered, and spoke of intimidation, illegal detention and torture of peasants working for rich landlords.
The Oct. 7 letter urges the Arroyo government to promote agrarian reforms and give rural people greater access to the country's natural resources. It also calls for the repeal of legislation, including the Mining Act of 1995, that it claims "puts corporate profit before the interests of people and the environment."
Sarah Ford of U.S.-based Lutheran World Relief said: "We are concerned with the increasing threats to religious leaders and civil society representatives struggling for their land, property, and cultural rights. We call upon the government of the Philippines to work with churches and NGO leaders to bring an end to the violence."
Groups urge Philippines president to probe killings of activists, clergy
by Maurice Malanes
Ecumenical News International
MANILA - Church and development groups from around the world are calling on Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to investigate the killings of more than 30 human-rights activists, including clergy members, since the first of the year.
"We are deeply concerned at the killings of 34 activists in the Philippines so far in the year 2005," the groups said in Oct. 7 letters to President Arroyo and to the Philippine army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Generoso S. Senga. The letters were released by the Geneva-based group, Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance.
More than 30 people signed the letters, including representatives of the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Lutheran World Federation, World Alliance of Reformed Churches, Franciscans International and the Young Women's Christian Association. They demanded "immediate and impartial investigations into all recent extra-judicial executions."
The signatories cited three recent killings alleged to have been committed by agents of the military: Diosdado Fortuna was shot in the back on Sept. 22 in Laguna Province, south of Manila; the Rev. Raul Domingo of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines died on Sept. 4, two weeks after being shot in Puerto Princesa in the island of Palawan; and Norman Bocar was shot in the head on Sept. 1 in Borongan, Eastern Samar, in central Philippines.
"We mourn each of those killed and we deplore the ongoing violence and killing," the signatories said. "We stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Filipino people to achieve their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights."
The letter referred to the report of a delegation sent to the Philippines in July by the WCC and the Christian Conference of Asia. That report observed that increasing numbers of activists, including church workers, were being murdered, and spoke of intimidation, illegal detention and torture of peasants working for rich landlords.
The Oct. 7 letter urges the Arroyo government to promote agrarian reforms and give rural people greater access to the country's natural resources. It also calls for the repeal of legislation, including the Mining Act of 1995, that it claims "puts corporate profit before the interests of people and the environment."
Sarah Ford of U.S.-based Lutheran World Relief said: "We are concerned with the increasing threats to religious leaders and civil society representatives struggling for their land, property, and cultural rights. We call upon the government of the Philippines to work with churches and NGO leaders to bring an end to the violence."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)