Open Letter To Pope Francis: Message of the US-based National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns

Reposted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy 17Jan2015

 Forwarded Message  

Media Release

Contact Person:

Nerissa N. Allegretti

Mobile No. (1) 773.931.0891

Email: allegrettineris@yahoo.com

 

National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns logo

14th January 2015

Open Letter To Pope Francis:

Message of the US-based National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns

Your Holiness,

Greetings of Peace!

We, friends and members of the National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns-NEFFC (Midwest Organizing Committee), wholeheartedly welcome you in the Philippines even as we ourselves are far away from home.

It is our great joy to see you visit the Philippines and blessed the Filipino people with your presence and positive intervention at a time when our people are facing innumerable challenges.

Indeed, as you wrote in Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), you have proven once again that the Church ought to be Church for the poor. And as you said, "Christians, with the help of their pastors, are called to hear the cry of the poor... The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot be delayed... Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely as temporary responses. As long as problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world's needy... Inequality is the root of social ills."

In the Philippines, this inequality and concentration of the vast wealth of the nation in the hands of the few forced more than 10 million of the more than 101 million Filipinos to migrate. More than 5,000 Filipinos leave the country everyday seeking jobs and greener pastures in almost all corners of the world.

We urge you to help us pressure the Government of the Philippines (GPH) to heed the cry of the Filipino people: the unconditional release of more than 490 political prisoners who were imprisoned for their political beliefs; and the immediate resumption of the formal peace negotiations with the revolutionary National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in order to resolve the decades-old armed conflict and achieve a just and lasting peace.

We also urge you to support the indigenous people of the Philippines in their struggle to defend their ancestral land and assert their rights to self determination. Corporate greed, especially in mining and energy, threatens the survival of indigenous people all over the Philippines. They are the sacrificial lambs to the altar of false development and the super profit of a few. Under the mining liberalization programs of the present Aquino administration, an estimated 100,000 indigenous peoples from 39 tribal groups all over the country will be dislocated. Counter-insurgency program of the Aquino administration have already victimized tens of thousands of indigenous peoples in a nationwide scale. Forced evacuations, bombings, hamletings, and food blockades of indigenous communities have been going on and have worsened through the years.

We appeal to you to call on the US Government to stop intervening in the internal affairs of the Philippines through unequal treaties like the "Visiting Forces Agreement" and the "Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement" and thereby convert hundreds of millions of US dollars of military aid to the Philippines into basic social services for the welfare of the American people.

It saddens us that our hard earned tax dollars are being used as military aid in the Philippines and witness at the same time the poverty and suffering of the American working class as they struggle to live decently day by day.

We are one with you in working for a just and better world where the poor will hunger no more; where they become free from all tyrants and from all forms of oppression as they organize, mobilize and empower themselves; and where the poor in their long and arduous journey can finally arrive at and rejoice in the promise land, the Kingdom of God on earth in a land filled with milk and honey.

Your Holiness, we are in solidarity with you!

Thank You! 

   

In Christ We Remain,

Sincerely Yours,

Signed By:

1.

Bishop Robert Ilay

Diocesan Bishop

Diocese of Tampa-Eastern USA and Eastern Canada

Philippine Independent Church (PIC)

Tampa, Florida, USA

2.

Bishop Valentin Lorejo

Coadjutor Bishop

Diocese of Tampa-Eastern USA and Eastern Canada

Philippine Independent Church (PIC)

Tampa, Florida, USA

and

Pastor, Good Shepherd Congregation

Philippine Independent Church (PIC)

Lincolnwood, Illinois, USA

3.

Bishop Joshua Cuarteros

Bishop of Isabela

Diocese of Isabela

Philippine Independent Church (PIC)

Isabela, Philippines

and

Visiting Bishop, Diocese of Tampa

Philippine Independent Church (PIC)

Tampa, Florida, USA

4.

Bishop Eliezer Pascua

Former General Secretary, United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)

and

Administrative Pastor

Philippine American Ecumenical Church-United Church of Christ (PAEC-UCC)

Chicago, Illinois, USA

5.

Rev. Fr. Primitivo Racimo

Priest-in-Charge

St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church

Episcopalian Diocese of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois, USA

6.

Rev. Fr. Lito Capeding

Member, North American Maritime Ministry Association

Pastor, Shrine of the Holy cross Parish, Daphne, Alabama

Pastor, St. John's Catholic Church, Bromley, Alabama

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mobile

Mobile, Alabama, USA

7.

Rev. Fr. Julian Jagudilla, OFM

Director, Migrant Center

St. Francis of Assisi Church

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

New York City, New York, USA

8.

Rev. Fr. Rex Familar

Ministry to the Filipinos

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando

Orlando, Florida, USA

and

Pastor, Holy Family Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Diocese of Orlando

Orlando, Florida, USA

9.

Rev. Fr. Florentino Santiago

St. Eloi Catholic Church, Theriot, Louisiana

Roman Catholic Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Houma, Louisiana, USA

10.

Sr. Rodita Rogador, mscs

Secretary, Our Lady of Fatima Province

Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo-Scalabrini

Melrose Park, Illinois, USA

11.

Nerissa Nabua- Allegretti

Midwest Regional Coordinator 

National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)

and

General Councilor for Missionary Expansion in the East

Lay Scalabrinian Missionary Movement

Melrose Park, Illinois, USA

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines <icchrp@gmail.com>
To: "philconcerns@humanrightsphilippines.net" <philconcerns@humanrightsphilippines.net>
Cc: 
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 13:19:37 +0100
Subject: [PhilConcerns] News clips : Rights lawyers to sue BJMP for barring visits of political prisoners on hunger strike

Apologies for any cross-posting. Thank you for understanding.

Free all political prisoners

Press Statement : Human Rights Day: “No land, No life”, Land grabbing is a human rights violatio

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
 Rome, Italy Dec. 13 2014

Human Rights Day: “No land, No life”, Land grabbing is a human rights violation

Statement

10 December 2014

Statement to mark the International Human Rights Day collectively issued by the PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP); Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (AGRA) of Indonesia, National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) of Sri Lanka; Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) of the Philippines; Human Development Organization (HDO) of Sri Lanka; Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) of the Philippines; Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED) of India; General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of Ghana; Farm Worker Association of Florida (FWAF) of the US; Coalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI)

As the world marks the International Human Rights Day today, 10 December, we wish to highlight a form of human rights violation that does not get as much attention but nonetheless deeply impacts millions of people around the world, especially in the poor countries. Land grabbing, often accompanied by the grabbing away of resources such as water, represents a worsening threat to the economic, social and cultural rights of countless local communities, including the indigenous peoples. This systemic violation of human rights, including the right to food, right to self-determination of peoples and right to development, must be stopped.

Data from the Land Portal’s Land Matrix show that worldwide land grabbing involves around 36 million hectares, as of March 2014. Most land grabbing deals are concentrated in Africa and the Asia Pacific region, accounting for about 41% and 38%, respectively of about 942 land deals monitored by the Land Matrix. Within Asia Pacific, land deals are heavily concentrated in Southeast Asia, comprising 83% of the regional total and 32% of the global total. Estimates on the extent of land grabbing vary widely but it could not be denied that it is a daily reality confronting rural and indigenous communities.

In many cases, large-scale land investments for export-oriented plantations, logging, mining, biofuel production and power production among others result to the eviction of small food producers and indigenous peoples, many of whom are without formal security of tenure despite tilling, enriching and occupying the land for decades. National and local governments often negotiate with foreign and domestic investors behind close doors and in patent disregard for the participation of local communities that will be impacted by such investments, including their access to land and productive resources. These investments are also made and promoted without due consideration to the actual development needs of affected local communities that lead to their further marginalization and oppression.

Worse, the human rights violations against the people even go beyond the actual land grabbing and also involve atrocities that blatantly attack the political and civil rights of those who challenge these land-grabbing deals and investments. There are numerous cases and many of them remain undocumented and unreported, and most are unresolved due to the involvement of state security forces themselves as well as private armed groups hired by the companies. This has been the case in the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and many others where anti-land grabbing activists, local community leaders, and their supporters face human rights atrocities ranging from extrajudicial killings, abduction, legal persecution and harassment, among others. Impunity reigns in many rural communities that have been heavily militarized to protect corporate investments.

We call on governments and private corporations to respect and implement existing human rights principles enshrined in national laws and international instruments, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. We demand that the right to free, prior and informed consent of communities be upheld before any land investments are made. We demand to respect the customary rights of the people who do not have legal ownership of the land and water bodies. We demand the demilitarization of rural communities and the prosecution of all those who have committed human rights atrocities against people who are justly defending their legitimate right to land and resources. We demand the implementation of genuine agrarian reform to promote the rights and welfare of small food producers and to promote long-term rural and economic development that serves the interests of the people and not the just the elite few.

We welcome recent developments that aim to provide people an opportunity to make corporations that violate their human rights accountable. In particular, we take note of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) resolution this year calling for the establishment of “an open-ended intergovernmental working group on a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights”. Amid continuing trends of free trade and investment agreements that allow TNCs to sue governments, the UNHRC resolution is positive move towards regulating TNCs and their activities in the context of human rights.

We emphasize, however, that the best prospects for the promotion of human rights, including the right to land and resources, lie not in any legal instrument but in the relentless struggle of the affected communities to defend their human rights. Thus, working with those directly affected and violated, we vow to continue the fight to oppose land grabbing and defend the human rights of rural and indigenous communities.

Land is life for these communities, and depriving them of land and resources is depriving them of their basic human right to live. Fight for land, fight for life! ###

Nov. 16 is Global Day of Action vs Trade Union Repression to Commemorate Massacre in Luisita

 Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy 17Nov2014

 

The Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) joins trade unions and labor centers all over the world in marking November 16 as global day of action against trade union repression to commemorate the 10^th year anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

“The people of Hacienda Luisita led by the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) continue to stand against state violence and repression as starkly demonstrated by the ruling class Cojuangco-Aquino clan in the massacre of peasants in Mendiola and Hacienda Luisita,” said Ranmil Echanis, deputy secretary general of UMA.  

AMBALA is UMA’s local affiliate in Tarlac.

Survivors and kin of massacre victims gathered with supporters for an ecumenical service in front of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Gate 1, the actual site of the massacre ten years ago. Many Luisita survivors subsequently became victims of state sponsored terrorism and repression, particularly during the past year when the Aquino government implemented sham land distribution.

“AMBALA has been under constant attack from the Aquino regime with continued militarization in all Luisita barangays, filing of numerous trumped-up charges against AMBALA members and leaders, and even violent assaults, murder and murder attempts perpetrated by the Cojuangco-Aquino family.”

According to the Workers International Struggle Initiatives (WORKINS) and Commission 5 on workers Concerns of the International league of People’s Struggles (ILPS), which initiated the global action, Hacienda Luisita is emblematic of the conditions of the workers and peasants of the Philippines. On the 10th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita Massacre, WORKINS encouraged “all (to) stand in solidarity with all workers facing trade union repression everywhere.”

Workers organisations from the Philippines, Australia, Venezuela, Argentina, Senegal, Canada and the United States of America constitute the above-named formations.

The Southern Initiative on Globalisation and Trade Union Rights (SIGTUR), Coalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI), and other groups outside the Philippines also endorsed this global day of action.

SIGTUR is an alliance and a movement of democratic unions in the Global South or Latin America, Africa, Asia and Australia. It has members in 35 countries in 4 continents. This includes the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and Philippines foremost labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), among others.

CAWI on the other hand is a coalition of people’s movements, trade unions, NGOs and other support networks representing agricultural workers, peasants, small farmers, dalits and fisherfolk. UMA is a member of CAWI.

Other groups that will launch commemorative activities include the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP); Hong Kong Campaign for the Advancement of the Human Rights & Peace in the Philippines (HKCAHRPP); United Filipinos in Hong Kong (UNIFIL-Migrante); Hwaseong Migrant Service Center in Korea; and FIRST Union in New Zealand. These include film showings, cultural activities and honoring the Hacienda Luisita martyrs.

It was in Columbia University, New York that President Aquino was confronted by Fil-Am youth Joelle Lingat, who spent time with Hacienda Luisita farmers during her stay in the Philippines.  She told Aquino: “I’ve been to HaciendaLuisita, I have seen firsthand the continuing plight of farmworkers & families of those massacred”.

Aquino is also questioned by other rights advocates abroad alarmed with the climate of impunity in Hacienda Luisita and the country as a whole.  Luisita farmers point to Aquino himself as one of the main perpetrators of the Hacienda Luisita massacre. Aquino’s labor policies also lean toward repression the rights of working people in the Philippines.

 “Victims demand Aquino to face criminal accountability for the massacre, but they do not expect justice to prevail under a corrupt and murderous haciendero President.  Luisita farmers can only pin their hopes in the movement to oust Aquino, “ said Echanis.

Ten Years, No Justice: Farmworkers, Supporters Commemorate the Luisita Massacre with Protest Carava

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy, November 16 2014


-------- Original Message --------

Source Verification: Gi Estrada Media Officer

+639166114181

A day before the 10^th anniversary of the Hacienda Luisita massacre, survivor Florida Sibayan, now chairperson of the Alyansa ng mga Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), led Luisita farmworkers in protests in Mendiola , Manila. Supporters from different people’s organizations marched along farmworkers with “blood-stained” yellow ribbons to mark a decade of injustice after the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

Farmers carried tarpaulin banners demanding justice for the Luisita massacre’s seven martyrs, as speakers from different sectors paid tribute to the life and struggle of Jessie Valdez, Adriano Caballero Jr, Jaime Fastidio, Jesus Laza, Juancho Sanchez, Jhaivie Basilio and Jhune David.

The Hacienda Luisita massacre is the bloody strike dispersal which occurred on November 16, 2004 -- 10 days after farmworkers from the United Luisita Workers Union (ULWU) and sugar mill workers of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Labor Union (CATLU) launched the People’s Strike (Welgang Bayan) participated in by tens of thousands of Luisita sugar workers and their families during its peak.   

Sibayan and the rest of the delegation from Hacienda Luisita minced no words and pointed directly to President BS Aquino’s criminal accountability for the massacre. Aquino was a Representative of the First District of Tarlac and active manager of the Hacienda Luisita estate during the time of the massacre. 

“Upang mabigyang hustisya ang mamamayan ng Hacienda Luisita, kailangang panagutin – at patalsikin – ang kriminal at kurakot na Presidenteng asendero na si Noynoy Aquino, (To grant justice for Luisita’s people, Aquino should face accountability – this criminal and corrupt landlord President must be ousted from power),” says Sibayan.

Farmers burned an effigy of President BS Aquino clad in a soldier’s camouflage uniform and riding a wayward bulldozer, symbolizing the Cojuangco-Aquino family’s “Panloloko, pandarahas at pangangamkam” (Deceit, violence and land grabbing) now prevailing in Hacienda Luisita.  

“Instead of implementing land reform and the Supreme Court ruling on Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino administration has been very busy terrorizing and arresting farmers, bulldozing crops and destroying the organization’s bungkalan, burning homes, and erecting concrete fences around vast agricultural lands in Hacienda Luisita. All Luisita villages are still militarized. Impunity remains,” says Ranmil Echanis, deputy secretary general of the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA).

After the Mendiola program, AMBALA and  UMA  led a 30-vehicle caravan to Hacienda Luisita, composed of w orkers, students, educators and academic staff from  different universities, church people, cultural workers, migrants’ families  and other supporters. The caravan held short stops in Plaza Miranda in Angeles City and Capas, Tarlac. The delegation from Manila arrived early evening in Luisita and was welcomed by Luisita residents with thunderous drum music and a hundred burning torches. The people marched to the covered court of Barangay Balete for a solidarity cultural night.

Supporters decry the fact that ten years have passed after the massacre which killed 7 strikers and injured more than a hundred persons without any justice rendered to the victims. “Even reports from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) -- which only surfaced in full this year -- declare emphatically that state security forces unlawfully killed the strikers, that the police and military did not fire in self-defense as some in the government – including then Rep.  Aquino -- have claimed,” says Echanis.

Echanis is referring to Rep. Aquino’s privilege speech delivered in Congress immediately after the Hacienda Luisita massacre. “Today, Aquino thinks it his privilege to use power as top government official and Commander-in Chief to go after Luisita activists. Aquino openly plunders government coffers through the anomalous Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) so that the murderous Cojuangco-Aquino clan may maintain control of Hacienda Luisita.” 

Bayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr.  also laments the injustice to Luisita farmers: “None of the management of Luisita, who are relatives of the President, has been charged. The Ombudsman has reportedly dismissed the cases filed against the Luisita management, police and military. A crime was committed with seven dead, yet there appears to be no criminals. Instead of seeking justice for the victims, Aquino continues to champion the interests of the landowning class and the coercive state apparatus that brought about the Luisita Massacre.”

The protest caravan resumes the next day, November 16, the anniversary of the massacre, with an ecumenical service and program in front of Gate 1 of the Central Azucarera de Tarlac, the actual site of the massacre. November 16 is also Global Action Day to seek justice for Luisita massacre victims and International Day of Action Against trade Union repression to be participated in by agrarian reform and human rights advocates in at least 20 countries.

Online, supporters use the hashtag #HLMX for content regarding the Hacienda Luisita Massacre 10^th year commemoration campaign.

NUPL Press Statement | The epidemic of corruption: It is really very dirty, shady and slimy out there

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy November 16, 2014 

Press Statement

14 November 2014

Re Entrapment of Fiscal Extorting Money from Morong 43 Doctor:

The epidemic of corruption: It is really very dirty, shady and slimy out there

The National Union Peoples' Lawyers deplores the corruption that pervades the justice system as it experienced first hand an attempt to extort from one of its clients in exchange for the dismissal of a case filed against them.

The NUPL solicited the intercession of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and she assigned trusted agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who laid down the entrapment over lunch today of Assistant City Prosecutor III Raul Y. Desambrana assigned at the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

Desambrana tried to extort money from Dr. Alex Montes and his co-respondent in an obscure nuisance case for unjust vexation filed by a retired military chaplain. Dr. Montes is a pro bono community doctor and was part of the "Morong 43" health workers who were detained by the military in 2010 based on false charges.

Desambrana unilaterally contacted Dr. Montes’ lawyer from the NUPL and openly asked for P80,000.00 as his “SOP” in exchange for the dismissal of the case. And as part of the proposed quid pro quo, he asked the lawyer to draft the resolution of dismissal to be submitted simultaneously with the delivery of the “SOP”.

After consultation with Dr. Montes, the NUPL decided to entrap the prosecutor if only to weed out corrupt prosecutors and somewhat "cleanse" what is generally perceived as a dirty, shady and slimy legal and justice system.

Feigning acquiescen

ce to the demand, the lawyers relayed to Prosec. Desembrano that their client agreed to the arrangement but pretended to need more time to raise the amount. After which, Prosec. Desembrano shamelessly and crudely made persistent personal follow-ups while the case remains pending preliminary investigation for the delivery of the “SOP” and the draft favorable resolution, and even directly contacted Dr. Montes through his home landline.

We cannot just look the other way and simply ignore the brazenness by which Prosecutor Desembrana tried to extort from our client, which indicates how audacious he was to fantasize that he can just get away with his criminal act and remain untouchable.

We cannot imagine how many hapless litigants were victimized by the said prosecutor, who has been in the service for quite some time, has connections, and turns out to be "notorious" in the legal circle. He and his likes must be sanctioned and punished to serve as exemplary deterrent for many others.

This routine bilking mirrors the endemic epidemic of corruption that pervades the Philippine bureaucracy where money talks - from legislators to high officials, to generals, to judges and secretaries.

What is abominable is the fact that as an assistant city prosecutor of the big city, he is part of the legal and judicial system that is supposed to dispense justice. This validates once again the moral depravity of his kind who are engaged in the dispensation of justice, peddling that they wield the magical power to make black into white either through bribery by rich litigants or through threats or influence from those holding power.

This same vulnerability pressured a judge to issue an invalid and illegal search warrant against the Morong 43 that was used to justify their illegal arrest and detention at the behest of the military and police. The Morong 43, who were severely tortured, fought tooth and nail together with their lawyers and supporters to dismiss the baseless cases filed against them, and it took ten harrowing months before they were vindicated. As in many other cases of human rights violations, their own administrative, civil, and criminal cases they filed to seek redress and justice sluggishly remain pending in the CHR, the trial court & the Ombudsman.

On the other hand, many legal incidents and countless cases are reasonably perceived to be resolved or decided not based on their merits, but based on pressures exerted on those tasked to resolve them, either through bribery or through threats, intimidation and harassments, if not undue influence.

This paints a grim picture on what the poor and ordinary people expect from our legal and judicial system that props up inequality and inequity, with a process that is tedious, cumbersome, and inaccessible to the many who are tied up just to survive.

They cannot even expect a fair treatment from those who have immense power to dispense justice and take away liberty under a system that is already unfavorable to them from the start.

In pursuing the entrapment of Prosecutor Desembrana, the NUPL - aware of the risk of reprisal to its legal practice and advocacy and even brickbats from colleagues who want to play along with the system -- intends to send the message that people in power should not get away not only with rights violations but also with their corrupt acts. Perhaps it is a modest contribution to to the curtailment of impunity that has contaminated each nook and crevice of government.

We will not be bought. Nor will we buy justice. We will not allow ourselves to be infected with this epidemic of corruption that further gnaws at our already floundering hopes and aggravates the frustration of the people who are given little fighting chance to "beat the system. "

Not today.

Not tomorrow.

Not ever.

Reference:

Edre U. Olalia

NUPL Secretary General

09175113373

Ephraim Cortez

NUPL Asst. Secgen for Legal Services

Co-Counsel for Dr. Alex Montes

0917546 5798 

Press Release | Church calls for resumption of GPH-NDFP Peace Talks, prosecution of War Crimes perpetrators, and Pull-out of 41st IBPA from Lacub, Abra.

Posted by Belarmino Dabvalos Saguing

Rome, Italy November 13 2014

Press Release
November 13, 2014

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines was devastated upon learning that Fidela “Delle” Salvador y Bugarin met her death at the hands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines during their military operations in Lacub, Abra, between September 4-6, 2014.

“We needed to understand what had happened. After investigation, we must come to terms with a reality that, thus far, we have no witnesses who can tell us what happened.  The information released by the perpetrators of Delle’s gruesome murder, namely the 41^stIBPA, is not reliable—in fact, they are clearly lies,” said Bishop Reuel Norman O. Marigza, General Secretary.

“We have several facts, for the record.  First, Engineer Delle Salvador was and has been a development worker with an exemplary record that spans decades; she is a civilian.  She was not a New People’s Army fighter.  Second, Delle went to Lacub, Abra with an assignment for the monitoring and evaluation of development projects in the area.  Third, her autopsy reveals nine bullet wounds, a crushed skull that was contributory to her death, and various other wounds.  The events and time of her death are suspicious.  All of these lead us to call for justice for Delle—as a faithful Church member who we saw in action in the ministry of the Church, we will not allow the lies of the military to be the last word.  We believe that Delle was extra-judicially killed and that likely she was also tortured.  This all happened during a military operation, which makes it both a violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” said Bishop Marigza.

The murder of Delle Salvador was part of larger military operations, which also included the extra-judicial killing of Mr. Noel Viste, after he was used by the military as a human shield.  The Church expresses the concern for the community of Lacub, Abra.  

“The United Church of Christ in the Philippines condemns the killing of civilian, development worker Engineer Delle Salvador and Mr. Noel Viste from Lacub in the strongest possible terms.  The community of Lacub continues to be militarized, schooling of the children and many livelihood activities have been disrupted.  With farmers afraid to go to their fields and people afraid to leave their house, the community is suffering.  The violations of human rights and international humanitarian law perpetrated by the 41^st IBPA in Lacub from Sept 4-6, 2014 terrorized the community.  We call for the pull-out of 41^st IBPA from the area,” said Bishop Marigza.

“We need to re-establish a climate of respect for the human rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Lacub, Abra.  The violations of human rights and international humanitarian law should also be thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.  This cannot be done while the 41^st IBPA is a present and imminent threat in the community” said Bishop Marigza.  

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines has decided to use this horrific tragedy as a moment to think of peace. 

“Delle was a peace and justice advocate.  She believed that development for poor and marginalized communities and sectors would help to build peace based on justice.  That’s how she became an advocate for Indigenous Peoples.  In memory of Delle, we urge, once again, the resumption of Peace Talks between the Philippine Government and the National Democratic Front-Philippines.  Peace talks should seek to address the root causes of the armed conflict.   We invite the Filipino people to join us in raising the call for peace in our nation and to pursue peace based on justice together, ”  said Bp. Marigza.

Justice for Delle!  Justice for Lacub, Abra! ##

Reference: Bishop Reuel N. O. Margiza, General Secretary 

Press release | Justice for Luisita massacre, impossible under Aquino gov’t

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy November 6 2014

PRESS RELEASE
November 6, 2014
Reference:
Anakpawis Partylist Rep. Fernando Hicap, +63920-227-1620

10th year anniversary of the strike
Justice for Luisita massacre, impossible under Aquino gov’t

In commemorating the 10th year anniversary of the start of the historic strike in Hacienda Luisita by farm and mill workers on November 6, 2004, the militant Anakpawis Partylist said in a statement that justice for the victims of the violent dispersal dubbed as “Hacienda Luisita massacre” that took place 10 days later is “impossible” under the administration of president Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“Sa ilalim ni Aquino, kung saan may malaking impluwensya at kontrol ang pamilyang Cojuangco-Aquino sa  mga ahensya at institusyon, makikitang imposibleng mabigyang hustisya ang mga biktima ng masaker sa kanyang termino,”  [Under Aquino, where his family enjoys immense influence and control over  gov’t agencies and institutions, it is apparent that justice would remain elusive under his term,] said Anakpawis Partylist Representative Fernando “Ka Pando” Hicap.

Anakpawis said that the Hacienda Luisita issue had its roots to the centuries-old feudal problem that consequently led to the impoverished state of the farm workers compelling them to wage the strike in 2004.  In 1989, former president Corazon Aquino who promised to distribute the 6,453-hectare sugar lands to the farm workers had instead covered it under the Republic Act 6657 or Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), particularly section 32 or its provision of stock distribution option (sdo).  In more than a decade of being under the sdo scheme, farm worker beneficiaries (fwbs) suffered even worse socio-economic conditions that later pushed them to go on strike in 2004 to demand for land distribution.

“Nagsilbing instrumento ang CARP at sdo ng pamilyang Cojuangco-Aquino upang sila ay kumita nang malaki habang nagtiis sa hirap at gutom ang mga manggagawang bukid tulad ng pag-uwi ng arawang sahod na P9.50,” [CARP and sdo served as instruments to benefit the Cojuangco-Aquino family while farm workers faced poverty and hunger as demonstrated by their daily take-home pay that amounted to P9.50,] said Hicap.

On November 10, 2004, then-labor secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo gov’t issued an assumption of jurisdiction (aj) which practically served as “license” to violently disperse the picket line. Truckloads of government state forces were immediately deployed and on November 16, striking farm workers were fired upon resulting in the killing of 7, namely Jun David, Jhaivie Basilio, Jesus Laza, Jessie Valdez, Juancho Sanchez, Adriano Caballero Jr. and Jaime Pastidio, and the wounding of more than a hundred.

“Ang kutsabahang pamilyang Cojuangco-Aquino at Arroyo na gumamit ng aj ang nagbigay ng ‘go signal’ para pagbabarilin ang mga nagwewelgang manggagawang bukid, kaya malaki ang kanilang utang na dugo sa pamilya ng mga biktima at hanggang ngayon ay walang hustisyang naigagawad,” [The collusion between the Cojuangco-Aquino family and Arroyo which utilized the aj, gave the “go signal” for the gov’t forces to open fire at the striking farm workers, thus, they have a huge blood debt to the families of the victims and until now justice is yet to be served,] Hicap said.

The farm workers filed criminal charges against then-congressman Aquino and his relatives which were dismissed by the Ombudsman on July 2005.

“Habang busy ang mga alyado ni Aquino sa hacienda Binay, magsasampung taon na ang kawalang hustisya sa kanya mismong hasyenda, wala na tayong maaasahan sa ganitong gubyerno, kaya, ang hustisya ay posible lamang kapag tapos na ang kanyang pagkapangulo,” [While the Aquino’s allies are busy dealing with hacienda Binay, injustice within his own hacienda is nearing a decade-old, we have nothing to hope for this kind of gov’t, hence, justice is only possible when Aquino’s presidency is over,] Hicap said. ###

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Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura

(Agricultural Workers Union)

Philippines

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