Andres Bonifacio’s 150th birth anniversary, Icon of the Philippine Revolution
Streetwise by Carol Pagaduan-AraulloAndres Bonifacio – icon of the Philippine Revolution“(A)ng catubusa’y hindi nacucuha sa salita o sa sulat… Sucat na! Papagsalitain natin naman ang sandata!” – Andres Bonifacio
On November 30 the Filipino working class and people mark the 150th birth anniversary of Gat Andres Bonifacio, the father of the Filipino nation and the Philippine Revolution. Bonifacio dubbed the “Great Plebian” due to his humble beginnings as an ordinary workingman, self-studied the liberal bourgeois ideals of the French Revolution and Rizal’s writings, joined the reform movement under La Liga Filipina established by Jose Rizal and founded the Katipunan, the secret society that rapidly grew into an armed mass movement that eventually overthrew Spanish colonial rule.
It is only fitting that current-day revolutionaries and activists of various people’s movements, nationalists and patriots (not the vapid, flag-waving kind but those whose love of country includes the defense of national sovereignty and independence from foreign neocolonial domination, exploitation and aggression) and a broad range of working people are celebrating Bonifacio’s sesquicentennial through various forms. There are mass rallies at Bonifacio monuments all over the country on Bonifacio Day; cultural events such as “Maghimagsik! Andres Bonifacio: Rebolusyonaryo, Anakpawis,” a theater production sponsored by progressive labor and youth organizations on December 7; new musical compositions such as “Dear Bonifacio” uploaded on the internet and described by its young songwriter as a “pledge to continue the Filipino people’s unfinished struggle for real change, justice, prosperity and peace”; and a slew of forums and exhibits in schools and universities organized by teachers, students and workers’ unions.
To honor the legacy of the “indio” who in 1896 led the first bourgeois democratic revolution in the Philippines and in Asia to overthrow the yoke of 300 years of Western colonial rule by Spain, the Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND) has launched a new book Salita ng Sandata: Bonifacio’s Legacies to the People’s Struggles. The collection of essays, poems and scholarly articles are about the life and times of Bonifacio, his incomparable and enduring legacy as a revolutionary patriot and a man of the masses and his relevance to the ongoing armed and unarmed people’s movements for national and social liberation.
In the book’s foreword, Prof. Jose Maria Sison, founding chairperson of the revolutionary party of the Filipino proletariat, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), distills the greatness of Bonifacio not just as the father of the Philippine revolution but of the Filipino nation that it gave birth to. According to Prof. SIson, “(D)espite being a wage-earning plebeian, he could not be awed or cowed into submission or compromise by the colossal colonial and feudal structure which had been built for more than 300 years… (He) took the risk and the pains of organizing the Katipunan in order to generate the collective will and daring of the people to fight the powerful oppressors and exploiters.”
Bonifacio was a thinking man who Prof. Sison considers “brilliant” in that “(h)e studied the history and current circumstances of his people… He was far more knowledgeable about his people than those who went to the university but who did not care about them and those who neither read nor understood the social advancement of other peoples who had fought for liberty, equality and fraternity.”
Bonifacio displayed “nobility and purity of character and purpose” by dedicating his life and all his capabilities for the people’s revolutionary struggle suffering untold hardships not just for himself but for his family and giving the ultimate sacrifice of his life, together with his two siblings, upon his betrayal and murder ordered by the ilustrado General Emilio Aquinaldo.
His unparalleled courage and daring was borne of his loathing for the greed, abuse and terror inflicted by the Spanish “sword and cross” as well as his trust in the people, especially the toiling masses, whose sufferings and aspirations he understood and completely identified with. While he began his political activities in support of the Propaganda Movement seeking reforms from Spain, he did not hesitate to call for armed struggle when it was clear that it was the only path to national independence and the overthrow of the feudal order. In fact, “(h)e actually led the series of battles that irrevocably started the war of independence.”
Bonifacio was said to have a short temper and was maligned by his enemies as having a dictatorial and imperious bent. However Prof. Sison draws the reader’s attention to Bonifacio’s humility in offering the leadership of the revolution to Rizal before and after the outbreak of the revolution. On the other hand, Aguinaldo, who is officially recognized as the President of the First Philippine Republic, had the cunning and ruthlessness to seize the leadership from Bonifacio and order his mock trial and brutal execution.
Certainly Bonifacio’s most outstanding virtue and accomplishment that sets him apart from Rizal and other heroes of the Reform Movement, was his ability to conclude and firmly believe that the Filipino masses were ready and willing to rise up in arms as one, bear the sacrifices needed to fight against the superior Spanish colonial forces and win their freedom from tyranny and exploitation. His only weakness or error, if it can be considered one, is that like the French and German workers in the 1848 Revolutions in Europe, he was too trusting of the bourgeoisie and overestimated their importance in the struggle.
The Filipino revolutionaries led by the Katipunan went on to defeat the Spanish colonialists but complete victory was snatched by the United States of America, the rising imperialist power at that time, with the collaboration of Aguinaldo and other ilustrados. The old colonial master was replaced by a new one; the old ilustrado class was coopted and became part of US imperialism’s subservient local ruling elite of big landlords and trading partners.
The same foreign domination and feudal and semi-feudal oppression of the Filipino nation and people that Bonifacio, the Katipunan and our forebears rose up against was not only maintained, it was further aggravated. Thus the people’s aspirations for genuine independence and democracy and the logic of revolution to bring about fundamental social change have remained valid and even more compelling.
For the past century since US colonial rule was imposed on our people – then replaced by indirect, neocolonial rule – Philippine society has been afflicted by a chronic crisis causing boundless misery and suffering to the masses, mostly impoverished peasants, resulting in peasant revolts erupting intermittently all over the islands but quelled in one way or another, including the opening up of land frontiers to ease the problem of landlessness. That crisis entered its terminal phase in the late 1960s with the exhaustion of land frontiers coupled by intensified imperialist plunder as the crisis in the world capitalist system worsened.
It was at this time that armed struggle resumed nationwide under the CPP-NPA, and in Muslim Mindanao under the Moro National Liberation Front, both responding to the smoldering desire of the people to once again rise in revolution against the unjust social system and seeking direction, organization and leadership. On a nationwide scale, the leadership of the new democratic revolution — the national democratic revolution – has been provided by the Filipino working class, through its party, the CPP.
More starkly clear than during Bonifacio’s time, the imperialist-coopted bourgeoisie cannot provide leadership to this new democratic revolution, even as its demands such as land reform, national industrialization and an independent foreign policy are essentially bourgeois demands.
Moreover, the global depression of the world’s capitalist system triggered by the meltdown of its financial system has unmasked the inherently anti-worker and anti-people bias of this system; that it is unsustainable and is leading to massive environmental destruction; and that it is irreparably socially unjust and morally corrupt. An alternative society organized in non-capitalist, in fact, anti-capitalist terms – socialism – is in the horizon for this new national democratic revolution.
The book Salita ng Sandata is a timely tribute to the glorious heroism and martyrdom of Andres Bonifacio for the cause of national and social liberation. It not only reaffirms Bonifacio’s rightful place in the pantheon of Filipino heroes but also revitalizes his legacy and its relevance to the people’s resurgent revolutionary struggles. #Published in Business World 29-30 November 2013
– — online balitaan ng mga propagandista at edukador ng bayan
November 29, 2013 No Comments
CHRP: Concerns over continued US military presence after Typhoon Haiyan
[Attachment(s) from Rafael Joseph Maramag included below]
Concerns over continued US military presence after Typhoon Haiyan
Press Statement
28 November 2013
The UK-based Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP) added its voice to those who are troubled by the presence of the American military in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines). News reports said at least six US warships led by USS George Washington with 5,000 troop members were deployed in the typhoon-battered areas.
While understanding that the military of a number of nations have come to offer humanitarian assistance to the typhoon survivors, CHRP recognises the concerns of locals at having a military presence in these areas. Many rural areas of the Philippines have been militarised by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who are fighting a counter-insurgency against, among others, the Communist New People’s Army (NPA). Many locals have experience of human rights violations from the armed forces, who have in the past been supported by the ex-colonial power of the United States.
Even without this disaster, the US has been pushing for an increased and permanent presence of their troops and warships in the Philippines for its Asian pivot. At a press conference with visiting US congressional delegates on 25 November 2013, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the US military deployment in the country after Typhoon Haiyan revealed the need to conclude basing arrangements for US forces in the Philippines. Del Rosario said the massive US military deployment underlined the need for the “framework agreement that we are working on with the United States for increased rotational presence.”
The secretary general of Philippine human rights organisation Karapatan, Cristina Palabay, noted: “We are aware that Samar and Leyte and, the provinces of Negros and Panay are among the priority areas of the AFP’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan. We do not want to a repeat of human rights violations experienced by the survivors of typhoon Pablo in 2012. We do not want another Cristina Jose who was killed because she demanded for relief goods for her and her community members,” she said.
The key issue is whether the troops will confine themselves to the delivery of aid and how long they will remain.
“Whilst appreciating all humanitarian aid given in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda, it is imperative that US military forces are withdrawn as soon as possible. The rebuilding of communities and lives cannot happen if areas remain dominated by military presence and domination. Recent experience has shown that the AFP’s collaboration with the USA in its supposed ‘war on terror’ has, in fact, been experienced as a ‘war of terror’ waged against many ordinary people and communities in this disaster hit area,” said Canon Barry Naylor, Honorary President of CHRP.
The Philippine army has admitted that while it is engaged in relief efforts, it maintains “sufficient equipment and support to Internal Security Operations.”
Palabay has warned the government of Benigno Aquino, Jr. not to take advantage of the situation saying, “there were many instances in the past that combat operations, as part of military psywar, are disguised as humanitarian operations in communities considered by the government as ‘red-areas’. Already, Samar, Leyte, Negros and Panay are among the provinces with high incidents of human rights violations because of the government’s counterinsurgency program” Palabay added.
Palabay concluded that “While we welcome all aid extended to our brothers and sisters in the Visayas, we don’t see the necessity of deploying missile cruisers and missile destroyers and, amphibious assault vehicles and other warships.”
Reference/s:
Canon Barry Naylor, Honorary President, CHRP-UK, 07757 853 621
Rafael Joseph Maramag, Secretary, CHRP-UK, 07958482753
Attachment(s) from Rafael Joseph Maramag
1 of 1 File(s)
November 29, 2013 No Comments
Swindon Filipino Association broadcasts on BBC for victims of Typhoon
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01kn1rh
November 29, 2013 No Comments
Action alert for a PISTON union leader
Stand Up for Justice! Trade Unionists are not Criminals!
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stand_Up_for_Justice_Trade_Unionists_are_not_Criminals/?fbdm
Why this is important
For the last eight years, Virgilio “Gil” Corpuz has been a respected
transport sector unionist from the Philippines. He was untiring in his
efforts to fight the greed of oil giants and the state’s oppressive
taxes, fines and fees driving small transport operators and drivers to
bankruptcy. Now, he is being silenced, intimidated and imprisoned in a
remote mountain jail.
This is an alarming trend of falsely accusing unionists and leaders of
civil society organizations of taking part in rebel ambuscades in places
where they have never even set foot on. Their names and addresses were
altered so that they could not be informed of the charges against them.
They could not defend themselves in any preliminary investigation until
a warrant of arrest comes out. Corpuz, like the rest of the 28 civil
society leaders arrested during the Christmas season of 2012, were all
deprived of liberty without due process of law.
Now, Corpuz is facing a long trial and could unjustly spend the rest of
his life in prison – unless the international community sends strong
signals to the Philippine government that this grave violation of civil
and political rights must be stopped. Civil society leaders must be
protected and supported and not unjustly branded as criminals.
November 29, 2013 No Comments
Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) relief updates
http://www.kanlungan.org.uk/2013/typhoon-yolanda/
Typhoon Yolanda Relief Updates
Message from RMP during their BALSA Mindanao Operations: From the Hearts of our Compatriots and Friends from UK
Thank you for your overwhelming support/donations! Please continue to support relief and rehabilitation operations for victims of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda by donating!
Kanlungan would like to appeal to the Filipino community in the UK as well the British public to support ongoing relief and rehabilitation campaigns in the Philippines. We would like to thank all those who have already donated and those who are still yet to support.
All proceeds will be donated to Rural Missionaries Philippines, a non-government national organisation very active in disaster response campaigns on the ground. You can check their relief and disaster response operations on https://www.facebook.com/rmpnmr.inc?fref=ts.
Rural Missionaries Philippines (RMP) have already mounted a relief and medical mission for affected communities in
Agusan del Sur and Norte and Camiguin. Additionally, upon seeing the much bigger need of their networks in CARAGA and Central Philippines, RMP also mounted relief support on the ground in Caraga and Eastern Visayas for the devastated rural poor communities.
RMP are also working with other NGO’s and disaster response networks (such as SAGIP Migrante, BALSA, and SAGIP Kanayunan) to ensure that donations go directly to the needy, especially those who are devastated in the hard-to-reach rural areas.
The relief operations so far (in pictures):
Report of the advance teams of BALSA 14-16 November here
Kanlungan first batch of remittance to RMP here
You can donate in a number of ways:
1. Through Kanlungan’s PayPal (reference: Haiyan/Yolanda) here (or button below).
2. Through cheque payable to Kanlungan or via BACS (put reference: Haiyan/Yolanda) to:
Unity Trust Bank
A/C Name: Kanlungan Filipino Consortium
Sortcode: 08-60-01
A/C: 20063771
Post cheques to:
Kanlungan Filipino Consortium
Caxton Community Centre
129 St. John’s Way
London N19 3RQ
Lists of donors:
1. Gemma Walker
2. Christine Guinto
3. Mary Myles
4. Sonam Dugdak
5. Marinel Bandonell
6. Maria Rodriguez-Perez
7. Rossen D Karavatchev
8. Geraldine Reardon
9. Jonathan David
10. Rosario Fagarang
11. Maggie South
12. Andrew Whitmore
13. Emma Lipscombe
14. Kathryn Gjorgjiev
15. Stephen Yandell
16. Ivancica Krizan
17. Emma Sullivan
18. Mike Smith
19. Mariko Hayashi
20. Nick Kelleher
21. Jeremy Anderson
22. Leon Wickenden
23. Rachelle Bascara
24. Davinder Sandhu
25. Allen Clifford
26. Paul Magennis and Rafael Joseph Maramag
27. Sara Wickert
28. R Collins
29. Helene Netland
30. Nichola Smith
31. Jonathan David
32. Irene Dykes
33. Clare Harrisson
34. Strettons
35. Mairin and Catherine Power
36. Praxis
37. Susan and Stuart Cueva
38. Nanay Mercedes
November 29, 2013 No Comments
CHRP Press Statement: Typhoons, aid corruption, and the arrest of Professor Kim Gargar
Press Statement
27 November 2013
Typhoons, aid corruption, and the arrest of Professor Kim Gargar
Reference/s:
Rev Barry Naylor, Honorary President, CHRP-UK
Rafael Joseph Maramag, Secretary, CHRP-UK, 07958482753
While thousands of people continue to suffer from the destruction caused by typhoon Haiyan and with the emotional speech of the Philippines representative at the COP 19 climate change talks, it has been easy to overlook how the Philippines government treats its own citizens concerned both by climate change and by the way that the government conducts disaster relief. Today friends and colleagues of Professor Kim Gargar will be gathering outside the Department of Justice in Manila to protest against their colleagues arrest by the military last October.
On 4 December last year Typhoon Bopha hit the Southern Philippines with winds of more than 160 mph causing nearly 2,000 deaths. At the time there were many reports that the death toll was far higher due to landslides and flash floods that were triggered by deforestation from mining and logging concessions in the area. Complaints accompanied government relief efforts which arrived too little too late and which became a feast of corruption with shelters for victims being costed at vastly inflated prices and aid funds for evacuation equipment putting money into the pockets of local police and government officials. Community leaders complained that scarce aid supplies were distributed along political lines as local elections approached. The UN refugee agency UNHCR told reporters “perception of inequitable distribution is creating tensions”.
One local councillor, Cristina Jose protested about officials refusing to distribute relief goods, being held in a government warehouse, to her community. In January, 5000 local residents barricaded the national highway to protest against the government’s “selective” relief delivery system. The government brought in soldiers. On 4 March this year councillor Cristina Jose was shot dead on March 4 this year, by unknown gunmen aboard a motorcycle.
In April this year, Professor Kim Gargar, a scientist, and teacher at the University of the Philippines, who works for the Centre for Environmental Concerns, and who sometimes works for the Asian Development Bank, was a member of a mission to the area which was shocked to find the level of militarisation by soldiers whose presence seemed to be more about dealing with dissent and government concerns about communist insurgency than to assist with any relief efforts. The mission also interviewed witnesses on the assassination of Cristina Jose and about abuses by the 67th Infantry battalion in the area.
In late June this year, Professor Gargar returned on another mission engaged in a six-month resource mapping programme for the rehabilitation of the devastated areas and in particular for the recovery of rainforest environment. On 1 October government troops got into a fire fight with a local unit of the rebel New People’s Army (NPA). Later in the day they came across Professor Gargar who was working in the same area. The soldiers arrested the scientist claiming he possessed explosives, firearms and ammunition. The troops were from the 67th Infantry battalion. They further claimed that Professor Gargar joined the NPA in 2012, whilst Kim was clearly in Europe completing his PhD.
The arrest of Professor Gargar is providing some uncomfortable lessons about how disaster relief works in the Philippines, and about how the government deals with those who raise their voices on behalf of the disaster victims. His case is becoming a symbol of impunity for government aid corruption and human rights abuses.
To add your name to the campaign to free Professor Kim Gargar go to www.freekimgargar.org
_._,_.___
Attachment(s) from Rafael Joseph Maramag
1 of 1 File(s)
November 29, 2013 No Comments
Maguindanao Massacre victims’ family to mark 4th anniversary
PHILIPPINES: Massacre victims’ family to mark 4th year anniversary by protest, candle light, Nov. 23
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PRL-020-2013
( Hong Kong , November 23, 2013) Myrna Reblando, widow of journalist Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, one of the journalists killed in Maguindanao massacre, will join the victims’ families and lawyers’ group as they commemorate the 4th year anniversary of the massacre in General Santos City from Hong Kong.
Speaking to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Atty. Gilbert Bandiola, a member of the Union of People’s Lawyer in Mindanao (UPLM), said the victims’ families will hold a protest, forum and light candles at cemetery in General Santos City.
For her part, Myrna said since she could not be physically present with the other families; she will monitor the local activities and will also light candles here in Hong Kong in solidarity with other families.
Bandiola said some of the victims’ family had already visited the scene where the massacre took place four years ago on November 21. His former colleagues, Atty. Concepcion Brizuela and Atty. Cynthia Oquendo, human rights lawyers, were among those killed in the massacre. See the list of victims here.
He further said they will also conduct a forum on “Warlordism and Impunity” at the Mindanao State University (MSU)-Gensan campus tomorrow, November 23. The forum will discuss how and why extrajudicial killings and impunity remains pervasive in areas where warlords continue to exist.
Myrna said of these events: “This incident (the Maguindanao massacre) and the families of the victims are part of this tragic history. We need to keep on reminding the people that we are still continuing the fight.”
Myrna said she hopes she could also air her sentiments at the forum, notably the difficulties she is facing after leaving from her country due to threats on her life, via long distance communications from Hong Kong .
Earlier, Myrna wrote and read the poems to pay tribute to her husband and all the families of the victims of the massacre.
To read and view her videos, please see:
Maguindanao massacre widow’s poem – “You and me against the world”
Maguindanao massacre widow writes a poem to pay tribute to her husband and other victims
# # #
About AHRC: The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional non-governmental organisation that monitors human rights in Asia, documents violations and advocates for justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of these rights. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
November 29, 2013 No Comments
Concerns over continued US military presence after Typhoon Haiyan
Press Statement
28 November 2013
The UK-based Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP) added its voice to those who are troubled by the presence of the American military in areas affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines). News reports said at least six US warships led by USS George Washington with 5,000 troop members were deployed in the typhoon-battered areas.
While understanding that the military of a number of nations have come to offer humanitarian assistance to the typhoon survivors, CHRP recognises the concerns of locals at having a military presence in these areas. Many rural areas of the Philippines have been militarised by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who are fighting a counter-insurgency against, among others, the Communist New People’s Army (NPA). Many locals have experience of human rights violations from the armed forces, who have in the past been supported by the ex-colonial power of the United States.
Even without this disaster, the US has been pushing for an increased and permanent presence of their troops and warships in the Philippines for its Asian pivot. At a press conference with visiting US congressional delegates on 25 November 2013, Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said the US military deployment in the country after Typhoon Haiyan revealed the need to conclude basing arrangements for US forces in the Philippines. Del Rosario said the massive US military deployment underlined the need for the “framework agreement that we are working on with the United States for increased rotational presence.”
The secretary general of Philippine human rights organisation Karapatan, Cristina Palabay, noted: “We are aware that Samar and Leyte and, the provinces of Negros and Panay are among the priority areas of the AFP’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan. We do not want to a repeat of human rights violations experienced by the survivors of typhoon Pablo in 2012. We do not want another Cristina Jose who was killed because she demanded for relief goods for her and her community members,” she said.
The key issue is whether the troops will confine themselves to the delivery of aid and how long they will remain.
“Whilst appreciating all humanitarian aid given in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda, it is imperative that US military forces are withdrawn as soon as possible. The rebuilding of communities and lives cannot happen if areas remain dominated by military presence and domination. Recent experience has shown that the AFP’s collaboration with the USA in its supposed ‘war on terror’ has, in fact, been experienced as a ‘war of terror’ waged against many ordinary people and communities in this disaster hit area,” said Canon Barry Naylor, Honorary President of CHRP.
The Philippine army has admitted that while it is engaged in relief efforts, it maintains “sufficient equipment and support to Internal Security Operations.”
Palabay has warned the government of Benigno Simeon Aquino III not to take advantage of the situation saying, “there were many instances in the past that combat operations, as part of military psywar, are disguised as humanitarian operations in communities considered by the government as ‘red-areas’. Already, Samar, Leyte, Negros and Panay are among the provinces with high incidents of human rights violations because of the government’s counterinsurgency program” Palabay added.
Palabay concluded that “While we welcome all aid extended to our brothers and sisters in the Visayas, we don’t see the necessity of deploying missile cruisers and missile destroyers and, amphibious assault vehicles and other warships.”
Reference/s:
Canon Barry Naylor, Honorary President, CHRP-UK, 07757 853 621
Rafael Joseph Maramag, Secretary, CHRP-UK, 07958482753
November 28, 2013 No Comments
Typhoons, aid corruption, and the arrest of Professor Kim Gargar
Press Statement
27 November 2013
Typhoons, aid corruption, and the arrest of Professor Kim Gargar
Reference/s:
Rev Barry Naylor, Honorary President, CHRP-UK
Rafael Joseph Maramag, Secretary, CHRP-UK, 07958482753
While thousands of people continue to suffer from the destruction caused by typhoon Haiyan and with the emotional speech of the Philippines representative at the COP 19 climate change talks, it has been easy to overlook how the Philippines government treats its own citizens concerned both by climate change and by the way that the government conducts disaster relief. Today friends and colleagues of Professor Kim Gargar will be gathering outside the Department of Justice in Manila to protest against their colleagues arrest by the military last October.
On 4 December last year Typhoon Bopha hit the Southern Philippines with winds of more than 160 mph causing nearly 2,000 deaths. At the time there were many reports that the death toll was far higher due to landslides and flash floods that were triggered by deforestation from mining and logging concessions in the area. Complaints accompanied government relief efforts which arrived too little too late and which became a feast of corruption with shelters for victims being costed at vastly inflated prices and aid funds for evacuation equipment putting money into the pockets of local police and government officials. Community leaders complained that scarce aid supplies were distributed along political lines as local elections approached. The UN refugee agency UNHCR told reporters “perception of inequitable distribution is creating tensions”.
One local councillor, Cristina Jose protested about officials refusing to distribute relief goods, being held in a government warehouse, to her community. In January, 5000 local residents barricaded the national highway to protest against the government’s “selective” relief delivery system. The government brought in soldiers. On 4 March this year councillor Cristina Jose was shot dead on March 4 this year, by unknown gunmen aboard a motorcycle.
In April this year, Professor Kim Gargar, a scientist, and teacher at the University of the Philippines, who works for the Centre for Environmental Concerns, and who sometimes works for the Asian Development Bank, was a member of a mission to the area which was shocked to find the level of militarisation by soldiers whose presence seemed to be more about dealing with dissent and government concerns about communist insurgency than to assist with any relief efforts. The mission also interviewed witnesses on the assassination of Cristina Jose and about abuses by the 67th Infantry battalion in the area.
In late June this year, Professor Gargar returned on another mission engaged in a six-month resource mapping programme for the rehabilitation of the devastated areas and in particular for the recovery of rainforest environment. On 1 October government troops got into a fire fight with a local unit of the rebel New People’s Army (NPA). Later in the day they came across Professor Gargar who was working in the same area. The soldiers arrested the scientist claiming he possessed explosives, firearms and ammunition. The troops were from the 67th Infantry battalion. They further claimed that Professor Gargar joined the NPA in 2012, whilst Kim was clearly in Europe completing his PhD.
The arrest of Professor Gargar is providing some uncomfortable lessons about how disaster relief works in the Philippines, and about how the government deals with those who raise their voices on behalf of the disaster victims. His case is becoming a symbol of impunity for government aid corruption and human rights abuses.
To add your name to the campaign to free Professor Kim Gargar go to www.freekimgargar.org
November 27, 2013 1 Comment
Harassment Against Resident-Farmers and Aeta IP Group in Porac Pampanga
ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Forwarded Urgent Appeal: AHRC-FUA-005-2013<br><br>21 November 2013 <br>—————————————————-<br>PHILIPPINES : Indigenous people falsely charged, threatened for planting crops on their ancestral land
ISSUES: Human Rights Defenders; Prosecution system; Land rights; Indigenous people; Victims assistance & protection
—————————————————-
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding to you an appeal regarding the fabrication of charges, death threats and forcible eviction of indigenous people from their ancestral land in Porac, Pampanga. The victims were targeted by two big corporations for demanding that the land, which is rightfully theirs, be given to them.
The victims, who are Aeta Tribal people in the provinces of Zambales and Pampanga, have been cultivating the 700 hectares of land they inherited from their ancestors. In 2005 the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) issued an Order exempting the land that they are cultivating from being distributed to them as landless farmers under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The order was questionable.
Also, the exemption Order was in violation to the Certification of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), a government agency mandated to protect the interest of the indigenous people in owning land, declaring that the land is within the Ancestral Land of the victims.
Thank you
Urgent Appeals Programme
AHRC
——————
Urgent Action
November 20, 2013
( PHILIPPINES ) Harassment Against Resident-Farmers and Aeta IP Group in Porac Pampanga
Issues: Harassment, Threat and Intimidation; Forced Eviction; Damaged to Property; Denied of Means of Subsistence
Dear friends,
The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) is forwarding to you an appeal regarding the harassment and intimidation against resident-farmers of Hacienda Dolores in Porac, Province of Pampanga who were forcibly evicted by two private firms who claimed ownership of a disputed land.
If you wish to make any inquiries please contact the Research, Documentation and Information Program of TFDP at: 45 St. Mary Street , Cubao, Quezon City , Philippines 1109; or call: +632 4378054 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +632 4378054 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
____________________________________________________________________________
Case Title: Harassment of Porac Farmers
Case: Harassment/Forced Eviction
Name of Victims: Hector Angeles, etal.
Date of Incident: 2011-2013
Place of Incident: Barangay Hacienda Dolores, Porac, Pampanga
Alleged Perpetrators: employees and security personnel of LLL Holdings Incorporated (LLHI) and FL Properties (FLLH)
ACCOUNT OF THE INCIDENT:
Farmers and their families experienced series of harassment from employees and security personnel of LLL Holdings Incorporated (LLHI) and FL Properties (FLLH). Cases of harassment happened inside a 700 hectare contested land by the said companies who claimed as owners.
The squabble started when the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) issued an order exempting the LLL and FL landholdings from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) coverage in 2005. LLHI claimed about 298 hectares of the land, while FLLH claimed the other 456 hectares.
In September 2013, farmers are prohibited to do farming inside the supposed company property. Their crops were destroyed. Trumped up charge of illegal possession of firearms has been filed against Hector Angeles and 2 Aetas (an Indigenous group). There were also incidents of verbal abuse of the company personnel against farmer residents.
At present, Victor Tolentino, Ruben Salta, Fortunato Salta and several of the farmers are still receiving death threats.
Aside from the latest incident that happened, on June 25, 2013, Antonio Tolentino and Victor Tolentino’s house were demolished by 30 hooded persons when he refused to reconcile and agree with the terms offered by Atty. Carlos, lawyer of LLL Holdings for allegedly staying inside the company’s property. They even stole their livestock (chicken and ducks) and destroyed their crops (papaya, banana, bitter gourd, yam, chilies, eggplants, rambutan, guyabano and avocado)/
The Conflict intensified when the claimant FL Properties (now Terrafirma Holdings, Inc.) and LLL Holdings, Inc., forcibly evicted 8 families from their homes, and started to put up boarders and fences on July 14, 2013.
Houses demolished are those owned by families of Herminio M. Santiago, Boy Angeles, Edgar O. Angeles, Ignacio S. Ignacio, Cesar M. Santiago in Maniknik; and, those of Roger Parungao, Rexsy P. Santiago, and Mario P. Santiago located in Mapita.
On July 28, 2013, , at around 9 AM, a certain Jimmy Alvarado identified with FL and LLL Holdings, encroached Urbano Barcia’s farm land and damaged his fruit bearing plants such as: 30 guyabano trees, 50 guava trees, and crops like yam, mulina trees including fences using a bulldozer and a back hoe.
The farmer residents asserted that they are in actual possession and cultivation of the large tract of land before the contested land was exempted from CARP coverage. The Aniban ng Nakakaisang Mamamayan ng Hacienda Dolores (ANIBAN), representing the farmer claimants formally petitioned the DAR on June 7, 2011, to revoke the Exemption Order dated March 15, 2006 on the grounds that: (a) the subject areas are being actively cultivated, planted with various crops by tillers who were born and raised in Hacienda Dolores whose parents and their grandparents passed on to them their land; and, (b) the landholdings covered are mostly plain, while there are hilly portions (18% slope), the same constitute a minor part of the landholding, and are agriculturally productive.
It was revealed that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) had already issued a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title RO3POR-0709 123, covering some 18 hectares, for the Ayta Tribes of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga. But some 200 hectares of these areas also claimed by the Aetas are already acquired and titled to FL and LLL Corporations.
The Municipal Council of Porac currently moved to call on both parties to refrain from resorting to violence, while there is yet no final decision on the case. The Provincial Board of Pampanga is planning to make an official statement and discuss the issues raised in an official session.
To support this appeal, please click here: http://www.urgentappeals.net/support.php?ua=AHRC-FUA-005-2013
SUGGESTED ACTION:
A. Call upon competent authorities to intervene, observe and uphold the rights of resident-farmers and the Aeta (Indigenous group-IP) and recognized their land claims
B. Facilitate a continuous dialogue between the LLL Holdings Incorporated (LLHI) and FL Properties (FLLH) with the resident-farmers and indigenous groups to come up with an acceptable and justifiable resolution of the case;
C. To provide immediate protection for resident-farmers and IP group against possible physical and emotional harm;
D. Guarantee the means for the victims to access their land, rebuild their houses, cultivate crops and raise their livestock without any fear of reprisal
E. Assurance the Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and international human rights standards.
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Hon. Benigno Simeon Aquino III
President of the Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street , San Miguel
Manila 1005
Philippines
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +63 2 735 6201 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting / 564 1451 to 80
Email: corres@op.gov.ph / opnet@ops.gov.ph
2. Secretary Virgilio R. Delos Reyes
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Fax: +63 2 920 0380
Tel: +63 2 929 3460 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +63 2 929 3460 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting; 928 7031, Local 401
e-mail: secretary@dar.gov.ph / gildlr2010@gmail.com
3. Chairperson Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
Philippines
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +63 2 928 5655 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting, +63 2 926 6188 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +63 2 926 6188 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +63 2929 0102
Email: rosales.chr@gmail.com
4. Police Director General Alan LA Madrid Purisima
Chief, Philippine National Police
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City , Philippines
Fax: +63 2 724 8763/ +63 2 723 0401 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +63 2 723 0401 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Tel: + 63 2 726 4361/4366/8763
Email: feedback@pnp.gov.ph
———-
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Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
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November 22, 2013 No Comments