Category — Press Releases

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic
Malacanang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines

10 February 2010

Dear Madame President,

We are gravely concerned that despite a succession of investigations and reports from the UN bodies concerned with extrajudicial killings and the use of torture; despite the horrendous massacre last November in Maguindanao, perpetrated by a private army approved by your government, the climate of impunity in the Philippines continues.

On 6 February 42 health workers and doctors involved in a training seminar in Morong, Rizal were arrested by the Rizal PNP. We are informed that these arrests were made using bogus warrants, that the arrested health workers and doctors were blindfolded and taken to a military camp, Camp Pinpin, headquarters of the 202 Infantry Brigade of the AFP.

The military has claimed that these health workers and doctors are part of the communist New People’s Army.  This follows a pattern familiar to anyone who observes the current wave of human rights abuses by the security forces in the Philippines, in which people are labeled as being communist rebels before being imprisoned, tortured or even killed.

The security forces appear to be expanding their targets of professional groups, perhaps because many of these groups have been critical of corruption and abuse of power by your government. Journalists, lawyers, human rights workers and now health professionals have all been targeted.

We call for:

• the immediate release of all those who have been unlawfully detained
• their safety to be ensured by the Government
• their confiscated property to be restored to them
• an investigation by the Commission on Human Rights Group and independent human rights groups into the conduct of this police raid
• a cessation of this pattern of “red labeling” leading to abuses by the military

Yours sincerely

Rev Canon Barry Naylor

Urban Canon and Parish Priest of the Abbey and Holy Spirit Team Ministries, Leicester
President – CHRP Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines

London, November 23rd, 2009

Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP) condemns the kidnapping and killing of at least 21 people yesterday in Maguindanao, Mindanao, southern Philippines, in an attack believed to be rooted in clan violence erupting in the run-up to the 2010 Philippines elections.

A group of up to 50, including 34 journalists, were travelling in convoy to the local Commission on Elections office to file a candidacy for the post of Governor of Maguindanao when they were stopped by up to100 armed men. Leading the group was the wife of the hopeful candidate, Ismael, ‘Toto’, Mangudadatu, Vice Mayor of Buluan, along with more of Mangudadatu’s relatives.

The Army has reportedly recovered 21 bodies, 13 female and eight male, some mutilated. It believes the remainder may have been buried. An army spokesman said militiamen deputized as government guards by the Ampatuan family were the ones who staged the kidnapping of the Mangudadatu clan members.

CHRP expresses its solidarity with the victims of this atrocity, and their families.

Alvin Carpio, CHRP chairperson said: “This massacre of innocent people trying to take part in the political process must be thoroughly investigated by the government, and those responsible brought to justice.
“With elections looming, it is critical that steps are taken now to prevent any further atrocities and to ensure that the Filipino people, political parties and politicians can partake in free elections without the threat of violence.
“We urge the international community to pay heed to the situation.”

The Ampatuan clan, traditionally dominant in Maguindanao, is led by Datu Andal Snr, Governor of Maginadanao since 2001. Andal – who was accused of murder by another rival clan in 2003 – is close to incumbent president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo: 90% of the votes in his district went to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the 2004 elections, where in three towns Arroyo’s closest rival recorded no votes at all.

The rival Mangudadatu clan announced last year that it would challenge for the position of governor in Maguindanao.

Background:
Ismael Mangudatu’s bid to run for Governor of Maguindanao represents an attempt by the Mangudadatu clan to move in to an area traditionally dominated by the Ampatuan clan, where more than a dozen sons of Datu Andal Snr hold local executive positions such as town mayorships.

Andal is coming to the end of his third term in office, greatly increasing competition for the vacant post which it is believed he wants one of his sons to fill.

Magandatu power is more prominent in Sultan Kudarat province, where the clan has both a governor and a congressman (the former governor) who is a member of President Gloria Arroyo’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD party. Originally from Magindanao, the Magandadatu clan has up until recently had good relations with the Ampatuans.

Philippine news outlet ABS-CBN has reported a source claming that Andal presides over an army of at least 500 armed civilians. A memorandum was issued by Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno in 2006 authorizing the civilian volunteer organizations (CVOs) in Mindanao to bear arms, greatly strengthening the Ampatuan’s privatised army.

In the 2004 elections, Arroyo won 193,938 votes from Maguindanao’s 27 towns while closest rival Fernando Poe Jr., got only 59,892 votes. Poe did not get a single vote in 3 Maguindanao towns.

Notes to Editors:

The Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines was set up in July 2006 in response to the increasing number of political killings and human rights abuses taking place in the Philippines. Our objectives are: To put pressure on the Philippines Government to stop the political killings and defend human rights in the Philippines; to raise awareness in the UK about political repression in the Philippines with the aim of putting pressure on the Philippines Government to respect human rights; to spotlight British investment and trade links which benefit from human rights violations in the Philippines; to make links between the issues of poverty and political oppression in the Philippines and the situation of Filipino migrants in the UK.

Contact details:

To arrange an interview, or for more information or pictures, contact Andy Whitmore or Mark Dearn.
Telephone (available out of hours ): (+44) 0775 439 5597
Email: comms@chrp.org.uk

The Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines
c/o PIPLinks
Finspace
225-229 Seven Sisters Road
London
N4 2DA
www.chrp.org.uk

Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines invites you to a public event. Click on the image to enlarge and download.

18 September 2009

Dear President Arroyo,

Your visit to London aims to discuss economic development in the Philippines. We do not believe that there can be any meaningful economic progress if the human rights of Filipino citizens are violated.

Madame President, you are the head of a state which stands accused of perpetrating and rewarding political killings, disappearances, torture, and the violation of basic human rights. This situation has been investigated and documented by numerous United Nations bodies as well as human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the World Council of Churches. [Read more →]

Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP) Press Release

Thursday 17 September 2009 (Embargoed until Friday 18 September 2009)

Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP), an independent British-based human rights group, will protest alongside concerned members of the Filipino community on Friday, 18 September 2009, as the Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, delivers a keynote conference speech in London. President Arroyo is speaking at a conference sponsored by the Economist, whose central theme is emerging markets. She is expected to highlight economic growth in the Philippine economy.

However, the Reverend Canon Barry Naylor, Urban Canon of the Abbey and Holy Spirit Team Ministries in Leicester and President of CHRP, in an open letter to the president, noted “we do not believe that there can be any meaningful economic progress if the human rights of Filipino citizens are violated.” Canon Naylor lambasted Arroyo for being a head of state which stands accused of perpetrating and rewarding political killings, disappearances, torture and the violation of basic human rights. [Read more →]

KMP Press Release

27 July 2009

REFERENCE: ROY MORILLA, KMP Public Information Officer (63-905-421- 7305)

The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) claimed that the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’ s eight years of seating in power only brought worsening landlessness, death due to human rights violations and poverty highlighted by the rice crisis under her term. [Read more →]

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT

23 July 2009

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo must leave a positive legacy of human rights for the peoples of the Philippines during her last ten months in office, Amnesty International said today. On 27 July, she will give her final State of the Nation Address after nine years as president. At the same time a pervasive culture of impunity for human rights violations throughout the country persists, and hundreds of thousands of people continue to be displaced in Mindanao.

In the last eight years, hundreds of unlawful and often politically-motivated killings have taken place as well as enforced disappearances, often involving torture. [Read more →]

Bayan News Release

9 May 2009

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today supported the findings of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston that the Arroyo government has failed to make “substantial progress” in addressing killings and other human rights abuses. The group called for a stop to foreign aid for the Arroyo government, especially military aid, in the light of the human rights situation in the Philippines.

“The single most glaring proof that the Arroyo government has failed to make perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable is the case of Gen. Jovito Palparan. The Arroyo government has offered him several government posts in the past. The government failed to prosecute him despite credible findings by the Melo Commission, the Court of Appeals and Alston himself,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr. [Read more →]