London, June 2010

UK Filipinos mobilized inside one of Britain’s largest and most powerful trade unions last week, succeeding in getting its support for trade union rights in the Philippines and hosting a packed fringe meeting.

At the UNISON conference in Bournemouth held from June 14 – 18, Filipino workers for the first time addressed the more than 2,000 delegates, condemning the appalling human rights abuses suffered by workers in the Philippines and urging delegates to sign Motion 101.

Meanwhile, at the fringe meeting, ‘Violation of Trade Union Rights in the Philippines’, jointly hosted by Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP), Amnesty International UK and UNISON, speakers informed delegates of the human rights situation in the Philippines and its links with migration and economic issues, also pressing delegates to sign the later passed motion calling on the UNISON National Executive Council (NEC) to seek greater linkages between UNISON and trade union movements in the Philippines, as well as working with the Filipino diaspora  in combating trade and human rights violations in the country, pressuring the UK government to take a stronger line with the Philippines government and raising awareness of the situation in the Philippines.

In the main conference hall, Filipina Josefina Paez, from Wolverhampton, highlighted the case of Edward Panganiban. She told delegates that:

“Filipino workers in the Philippines, like British workers, want to improve their pay and working conditions so they can provide better education, a better future and a decent standard of living for their families.

“As a migrant worker, these are also my aspirations. As a union activist in the UK, I can pursue these aspirations with the support of my union, UNISON and with the help of fellow trade unionists, without fear of being killed or harm coming to my family.”

Dong Dumilag, a Filipino living in Cardiff, Wales, spoke to delegates about the case of the ‘Morong 43’, pointing out to the conference that the case was taken by friends and relatives to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva during the preceding week.

He said: “We want to campaign for the new government to stop impunity in the Philippines, prosecute those responsible for the murder and disappearances of workers, and to implement a sustainable economic programme so that Filipino workers are not forced to leave their country to earn a decent living.”

At the fringe meeting, a panel chaired by Amnesty International Trade Union Campaign Manager Shane Enright, joined by guest speaker Dan Borjal, Kevin O’Grady of the UNISON NEC International Committee, Jam Fagta of Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines and Amnesty International Secretariat Southeast Asia Researcher Hazel Galang spoke to a packed room of delegates before engaging in a lively question and answer session.

Mr Borjal, who flew in from Holland to address the fringe meeting, urged delegates to condemn the culture of impunity that surrounds extra-judicial killings in the Philippines, highlighting the job scarcity, privatization and union busting techniques – including assassination – that pervade the country. Delegates were also reminded of the massacre of more than 50 people in Maguindanao in November last year and given an overview of the current political and economic situation in the Philippines.

Both speeches and the fringe meeting had a strong impact on delegates, with the union unanimously adopting a resolution supporting a campaign against impunity in the Philippines – the first time it has adopted any policy on the Philippines.

Around 250,000 Filipinos work in the UK, more than half in the health sector and public services: it is now apparent that they are emerging as an organized force ready to mobilize on issues of social justice back home.

—-

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.
• UNISON Britain and Europe’s biggest public sector union with more than 1.3 million members working in the public services, for private contractors providing public services and in the essential utilities. Members include frontline staff and managers working full or part time in local authorities, the NHS, the police service, colleges and schools, the electricity, gas and water industries, transport and the voluntary sector.

For more general information, please visit:

www.chrp.org.uk

www.karapatan.org

For more information on UNISON, please visit:

http://www.unison.org.uk/

For more information on the case of Edward Panganiban or the ‘Morong 43’, please visit:

http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3485/

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/06/18/10/noynoy-urged-release-morong-43

Contact details:

To arrange an interview, or for more information or pictures, contact Mark Dearn or Andy Whitmore.

Telephone (available out of hours ): (+44) 0775 439 5597

Email: comms@chrp.org.uk

(Photo courtesy of IFJ)

4 March 2010

http://www.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-joins-london-call-on-president-arroyo-to-stamp-out-impunity-in-the-philippines

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the National Union of Journalists in Great Britain and Ireland (NUJ), joined the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines and Amnesty International at a rally yesterday at the Human Rights Action Centre in London to mark 100 days since the massacre of 23 November 2009, which left 57 people dead, including 32 journalists in the southern province of Maguindanao in the Philippines.

“The Arroyo government is responsible for allowing a culture of impunity to grow over the past decade that created the conditions in which the Ampatuan Town massacre could take place,” said Jim Boumelha, IFJ President.

The IFJ is particularly critical of the decision to promote General Alfred Cayton to deputy commander of the Philippine army within weeks of him refusing a military escort for the convoy that was subsequently massacred. Victims’ families have since launched a civil action against General Cayton

“This promotion not only rewards a fatal act of gross negligence, but also makes clear the government’s determination not to investigate the role and responsibility of the military in this massacre,” added Boumelha.

The IFJ is also critical of President Arroyo’s vaguely-worded Executive Order 546 issued in 2006 which allowed the use of neighbourhood-watch type armed “force multipliers,” or Civilian Volunteer Organisations, in counterinsurgency operations. These, in practice, effectively supported paramilitary groups and legalised private armies of politicians and other local strongmen.

The IFJ links the use of private armies to the growing number of extrajudicial killings and disappearances for which nobody has ever been brought to justice. Prior to this massacre, some 104 journalists had met violent deaths since 1984. The murder of the 32 journalists and media workers, along with 25 other victims, is the single worst atrocity against the media and makes the Philippines the most dangerous country for journalists outside Iraq.

The IFJ joins the NUJ UK and the Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines in issuing a statement urging the Government of the Philippines to act on its commitment under International Obligations and Actions, including the Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 2006 UN Security Council resolution 1738 that obliges governments to protect journalists in conflict zones.

In particular, the group is demanding that President Arroyo revokes Executive Order 546 which allows militias to operate. With regard to the massacre itself, that Government :

- gives full support to the families of the victims – financial, medical and legal;
investigates the inaction and alleged collusion of the military structures and commands prior to the massacre;
- gives sufficient resources and independence to prosecutors and the judiciary to guarantee a speedy and effective investigations , trial and crucially guarantees the safety and protection of all witnesses to the massacre and ;
- ensures a safe environment in which media across the country can report on the May 10th election.

For more information, please call the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207

The IFJ represents more than 600.000 journalists in 125 countries

PUBLIC STATEMENT

http://amnesty.org.ph/news.php?item=news&id=132

9 February 2010

The worst pre-election violence in Philippine history – the Maguindanao massacre – has focused global attention on the human rights situation in the country. Now more than ever,candidates in the 10 May presidential elections need to clarify how they will address key human rights issues facing the country.

Today as the presidential campaign period officially begins, Amnesty International calls on all of the presidential candidates to make clear, public commitments on the actions they will take in the first 100 days of office to address serious human rights violations. In a public letter to the candidates, Amnesty International called on them to affirm their commitment to:

1) Revoke Executive Order 546, and ensure full accountability over all state-sponsored militias and paramilitary groups.

Despite the mass killing of 63 civilians on 23 November in Maguindanao, members of state-armed local groups and private armies are still free to operate in other parts of the country The Philippine government’s continued failure to establish accountability for members of these armed groups undermines the rule of law and denies human rights protection for civilians.

Within 100 days, the new Philippine president should revoke Executive Order 546, which allows for militia and paramilitary groups to provide active support in counterinsurgency operations. In practice, these groups have been ill-trained, unaccountable, poorly integrated into the military chain of command, and responsible for serious human rights violations. In some provinces, Civilian Volunteer Organizations(CVOs) effectively as private armies for local politicians, heightening the risk of pre-election violence.

2) Establish a presidential commission aimed at preventing and prosecuting enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

In the last decade, at least 200 Filipinos have been subjected to enforced disappearance, and as many as 1,100 have been executed in political killings. The incoming president needs to establish an impartial and independent commission to review these cases, with the aim of enabling timely and effective investigations and, where warranted, prosecutions.

The new president should initiate legislation that specifically criminalizes enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions. He or she should sign the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

3) Order the administrationto fully implement the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the displaced.

Despite the ceasefire in Mindanao,more than 125,000 people remain displaced by the 2008 armed conflict alone.To address this grave humanitarian situation, the incoming president should publicly instruct the administration to ensure that policies comply with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

Under the Guiding Principles,the government must ensure that the displaced are provided with adequate food, water, shelter, and clothing, as well as essential healthcare and sanitation. It must also guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access to are as under its control. In addition, the government must implement a sustainable plan of action so that the displaced can return to their villages, safely and voluntarily.

As commander-in-chief, the new president will be directly responsible for ensuring that the armed forces comply with international humanitarian law. As a core principle,this law explicitly prohibits direct or indiscriminate attacks against civilians, and this includes displaced persons and all other non-combatants.

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

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

]]> http://www.chrp.org.uk/2009/135/feed/ 0 http://www.chrp.org.uk/2009/open-letter-to-president-arroyo-on-her-visit-to-london-uk/ http://www.chrp.org.uk/2009/open-letter-to-president-arroyo-on-her-visit-to-london-uk/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:00:22 +0000 admin http://www.chrp.org.uk/?p=125 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.

In November 2007 the report of Philip Alston the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Summary or Arbitrary Executions concluded that in the Philippines: “the Armed Forces have followed a deliberate strategy of hunting down the leaders of leftist organisations” and have  “eliminated civil society leaders, including human rights defenders, trade unionists and land reform advocates”. In May 2009 the United Nations Committee on Torture (UNCAT) reported the “routine and widespread use of torture” in the Philippines and a “climate of impunity”. In September 2009 a high level ILO Mission will visit the Philippines in response to “serious allegations of the murder of trade unionists, death threats, arrests of trade union leaders …and the militarization of workplaces in export processing zones and special economic zones.”

For the first half of 2009, the Philippines human rights organization Karapatan has documented 34 victims of extrajudicial killings, bringing the total recorded for the period from 21 January 2001 to 30 June 2009, to 1,032. In the same period the number of enforced disappearances came to 202. Only this week Amnesty International released a further public statement raising concerns about the safety of human rights defenders and calling on the Government to stand by its publicly stated commitment to the UN in 2008 not just to decrease political killings and enforced disappearances, but also to effectively implement reform in its witness protection program.

Madame President, we call on you to stop the political killings and to end the impunity of the armed forces in perpetrating murder, abduction and torture against the people of the Philippines.

 
Yours sincerely,
Canon Barry Naylor
President, Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines

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.

“[These atrocities have] been investigated and documented by numerous United Nations bodies as well as other human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and the World Council of Churches,” continued Naylor in the group’s letter. The visit of President Arroyo virtually coincides with the release of another Amnesty statement, which raises concerns about the safety of human rights defenders after further recent extra-judicial killings.

“We will continue to make these issues known to the international community, gather wide support from the British public, and lobby both the UK government to put pressure on the Philippines to stop these human rights violations,” said Rafael Maramag, a volunteer advocate for CHRP.

President Arroyo has been criticized for her frequent travels abroad, most notably after reports of expensive dinners she enjoyed with her entourage during her latest visit to the US.

While in the UK, it is understood the Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and British First Secretary of State Lord Mandelson will sign the RP-UK Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. Recognising this, CHRP are calling for the UK Government to do more to focus on the poor implementation of the protection of human rights in the Philippines.

CHRP members plan to hand over their letter at the Philippine Embassy on the day of the protests, as well as distribute further copies at the demonstration.

On 21st October, CHRP will co-host with Amnesty International an event focusing on ‘enforced disappearances’ in the Philippines called “Abductions and Disappearances: Breaking the Chains of Impunity in the Philippines”. The main speakers will be Mrs Edith Burgos and her son JL, the mother and brother of the missing activist Jonas Burgos. They will highlight the serious and personal issues around the increasing number of ‘disappeared’ political activists.

- ENDS -

QUOTE: “Madame President, we call on you to stop the political killings and end the impunity of the armed forces in perpetrating murder, abductions and torture against the people of the Philippines,” concluded Rev. Naylor.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES: Photographs at the Protest Plaza Riverbank Hotel at Albert Embankment on 18 September at 3.15pm. Photographs, along with the stories of some of those killed, are available in JPEG format on request.

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.

Worsening Landlessness

Based on the studies of the group’s regional chapter KASAMA-TK (KMP Southern Tagalog) and SAGUPA-SB (KMP Eastern Visayas), about 19 to 21% of the gross sales of the harvested palay are left to the peasants who tilled the land.  This is due to landlessness where bulk of the harvest would go to landlords as feudal land rent or ground rent that reach to about 33 to 50% of the gross harvest.  Forms of feudal rents are such 50-50, 2/3-1/3, ¼ or 1/10, depending on the presence, unity and strength of the peasants’ organizations at the locality.  These also result into a low average income to the peasants, where they only get  P23.50 to P40 per day during their cultivation of palay.  This is also accompanied by a bulk unpaid family labor, where mothers and children aid in farming to speed up their work.

“With landlessness, many peasants endure low wages in agricultural work.  These ranges to P35 to P200 per day, depending on the assertion of farm workers’ association at the areas.  Particularly in Hacienda Luisita, workers were paid by P9.50, after deducting many payments to the already low wages.  Sugar farm workers or `sakada’ are paid at P30 to P70 per day.  Fisherfolk also receive P100 to P150 for their 20-hour work,” said Danilo Ramos, KMP Secretary-General.

The ill-state of the peasants is brought about by the political and economic set-up of the country’s society where the Arroyo government failed to do fundamental reforms.  Landlessness was never resolved but worsened, affecting a depressing trend to wages of farm and agricultural workers.

No positive impact resulted from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program on its 20 years of implementation.  Classic cases of agrarian dispute were Hacienda Looc in Nasugbu, Batangas, Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac, Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija, Central Mindanao University in Bukidnon, Ayala Lands in Laguna and Batangas, Negros lands, haciendas in Isabela and more.  The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and courts favored the landlords and foreign investors and against the peasants’ interest as they based their legal decisions on CARP.  Thus, CARP is being used by landlords and foreign corporations to keep and grab lands and displace farmers.

Arroyo killed agriculture

“The Arroyo government is also guilty of killing the country’s agriculture.  With its total submission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and pushing the liberalization of agriculture, the country has faced a food crisis which should not be as our country is basically an agricultural economy,” added Ramos.

Since 1995 to 2005, the rice, vegetable and livestock industry were crippled due to the increasing presence of imported agricultural products.  Not contented, the Arroyo further increased its importation where the country is now the world’s no. 1 rice importer, farmers and producers were put to debt and low incomes.  From 2001 to 2008, Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) show that farm gate prices of rice has only increased by P6 per kg, from P8.17 to P14.13 per kg, where the price of rice has hiked by P12, from P17.54 to P29.38.

Also the local production’s share to the country’s gross supply decreased from 74% to 70%, while imported’s share increased sharply from 7% to 16%.  With this data alone, it is unquestionable that the Arroyo government is favoring the imported rice, thus, killing the livelihood of the country’s local rice farmers.

Arroyo killing peasants

Worse, the Arroyo government has killed 553 peasant activists who struggle for genuine land reform, social justice and democracy. Among them were 118 leaders of KMP.  Also, 129 have been victims of enforced disappearances and many have been incarcerated in jails accused of fabricated crimes.

Extra-judicial killings (EJK) have victimized KMP National Council members such as Eddie Gumanoy of KASAMA-TK, Renato Pacaide of KMP Far Southern Mindanao.  Still missing is Nilo Arado of PAMANGGAS (KMP Panay).  Provincial and city leaders were also killed such as Marcelino Beltran of AMT (KMP Tarlac), Celso Pojas of FADC ( KMP Davao City ) and Fermin Lorico of Kaugmaon (KMP Negros Oriental).  The National Deputy Secretary-General for External Affairs Randall Echanis is also in jail being accused of the `mass murders’ in Leyte .  These are all the result of Arroyo’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), where militant activists are being killed and victimized.

Arroyo’s continuing peasant oppression

With landlessness being worsened, peasants put into poverty and misery, consequently death and being victims of human rights violations, Arroyo is still planning the worse she could accomplish, the total selling of the country’s lands to foreigners.  Arroyo has long boasted of her plans to sell 3 million hectares to foreign agro-corporations.  She has already reserved 1 million hectares for Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco-Kuok Group partnership, 1 million hectares to China-firm Fuhua Co., a hybrid rice corporation, another 40,000 hectares to ADGZAR of China, 200,000 hectares to BHG of China, and 60,000 hectares to Pacific Bio-Fields Corp. of Japan.

“Foreigners’ intrusion to the country’s lands would certainly bring a new dark age for the Filipino peasantry.  It would be no different to Spanish colonial times where peasants are toiling for the benefit of foreigners.  This would put the whole country into submission and future generations would be involuntarily put into slavery,” Ramos said.

“The data regarding Arroyo’s anti-peasant policies and programs are overwhelming and undisputable.  Arroyo’s persecutions of the peasants extend to oppression of other sectors as crises are being faced by poor people in the country.  Food and rice crises are worsening and this encompass the whole society, and Arroyo’s selling of lands is a blatant violation of our sovereignty and against what our forefathers in Katipunan fought for.  These times necessitates urgent action from the people, to oust a dictator, a self-proclaimed leader only out to plunder the country and sell the people to foreigners,” called Ramos.

The KMP will join the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) and the Filipino people in a big rally today against Gloria Arroyo and its Charter Change (Cha-cha). The KMP said it is strongly against Cha-cha because Arroyo will extend her term and it will lift ban on 100% foreign ownership of land. The BAYAN led rally is expecting 15,000 people representing its member organizations and network. ###

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.

The displacement of people due to the resumption of the armed conflict between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in August 2008 has been reported by international organizations as the highest number of newly displaced people in the world and the most neglected internal displacement situation in 2008.  Over 700,000 people have been displaced in total and more than 250,000 are still displaced almost a year after the renewed hostilities.

On 23 July 2009, civil society organizations in Mindanao gave a voice to displaced families through the State of the Bakwit Address: “This war has left wounds so deep and wide and has made our lives so miserable. Some of our houses have been burned; our meagre belongings and farmlands destroyed….  We are afraid for our children.  Most of the bakwits [internally displaced] are children. Many of them are no longer in school.  We fear the children will learn nothing but evacuation, war and hopelessness.”

Amnesty International urges President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to place human rights protection at the heart of her administration by ensuring the protection of civilians affected by the armed conflict and providing adequate food, water, medical treatment and support for rehabilitation of displaced families. Further, she should, as a matter of priority, demonstrate her administration’s genuine commitment to human rights by addressing the lack of thorough investigations into human rights violations, particularly those committed by the government’s security forces.

The next 10 months of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s presidency is a historic opportunity to leave a positive legacy of human rights.

For more information please call Amnesty International’s press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

International Secretariat, Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW, UK www.amnesty.org