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How children’s shoes at COP28 UAE are sending a strong message

Each pair of shoes, as per the climate activists, has a story to tell

By Angel L. Tesorero / Khaleej Times

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (UAE)–Several pairs of children’s shoes are being prominently displayed on the ground at the ongoing COP28 in Dubai. Civil society organizations have put them out as a form of silent protest with a clear message that says ‘No climate justice without human rights.’

One of the issues climate activists want to highlight at the UN Climate Summit is the fact that around 6,000 of the more than 15,000 people who died in Gaza, due to continuous Israeli bombings, were children.

“We wanted Palestinian children to be wearing those shoes, and yet they were killed,” Shirine Jurdi, from Lebanon’s Women’s Environment and Development Organisation, told Khaleej Times.

“The shoes displayed are not the actual ones worn by the Palestinian children”, she added, noting: “The actual ones would have been burned or mutilated, along with the bodies of the young victims.”

Photo: Neeraj Murali/Khaleej Times

Photo: Neeraj Murali/Khaleej Times

Each pair of shoes, in the point of view of the climate activists, has a story to tell. For Palestinian teenager Mohammed, they remind him of his cousin Hamza who died a couple of days after his parents were killed in an air strike on one of the highly-populated areas in southern Gaza.

“My cousin died of blood poisoning due to poor facilities. This happened after doctors were forced to operate on him without anaesthesia,” Mohammed said.

Salma from Kenya said she is also not only raising climate concerns at COP28. “We simply cannot talk about climate justice when people in Palestine, especially the children, are constantly in danger,” she underscored.

‘No to war’

Jennifer del Rosario-Malonzo, executive director at Ibon International, a service institution working with social movements and civil society organizations, noted “militarism, wars and occupation contribute immensely to global carbon emissions.”

“That is why climate justice is linked with the struggle for just peace and upholding of human rights. Developed countries are miserly in committing to climate action, but pour billions of dollars into wars and military aggression,” she continued.

Photo: Neeraj Murali/Khaleej Times

Photo: Neeraj Murali/Khaleej Times

Malonzo underscored: “As we confront big polluting governments and corporations here at COP28, we also raise critical issues that are deeply connected to our struggle for climate justice – such as the sharp contrast between the billions of dollars being poured by wealthy countries to fund Israel attacks on Gaza, against the pennies earmarked for reparations to front line communities and climate-related loss and damage. It shows how human rights and lives are sacrificed for profit and plunder.”

Another message the display of shoes wants to deliver is that children are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as extreme weather, unabated pollution, and emergence of novel deadly diseases.

Protect children

According to UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund), “the climate crisis is not just changing the planet – it is changing children – and the world is not doing nearly enough to protect them.”

“Children have been either ignored or largely disregarded in the response to climate change. Only 2.4% of climate finance from key multilateral climate funds support projects incorporating child-responsive activities,” the UN body added.

Last year, 739 million children were exposed to high or extremely high water scarcity, while 436 million children lived in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability.

More than 40 million children are having their education disrupted every year because of disasters exacerbated by climate change. Child malnutrition is also worsening due to worsening agricultural production, exacerbated by rising temperatures.

Perspective of youth

The call by UNICEF is to put children at the center of the global environmental response. This is echoed by 16-year old Mariam Hassan Al-Ghafri, who is a member of the UAE Parliament for Children and chairperson of the Standing Committee for Environment and Sustainability in Parliament, and UNICEF Ambassador for COP28 for Adolescents.

When asked about the shoes on display at COP28, she told Khaleej Times: “It is sad and depressing. But now, at the UN Climate Summit, there is a golden opportunity for our decision makers to take action and change the course of our history.”

“But they must work hard together and take it seriously that when they negotiate for climate action, they must include the perspective of the youth. And only then we will be able to stop this climate disaster,” she underscored. #

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This report is original to the Khaleej Times where the author is deputy senior editor.

Fausto massacre is latest in AFP’s kill list of Negros children, underground group says

An underground organization of revolutionary women has accused the Philippine government of being unconcerned over the rights and welfare of children in Negros, saying the killing of Ben Fausto (15) and his brother Raven (12) are just two of a long list of victims in the island.

The Makabayang Kilusan ng Bagong Kababaihan – Negros (MAKIBAKA-Negros) said that aside from the massacre that killed the Fausto children in Himamaylan City last June 14, three other minors have been killed by the military since 2021.

MAKIBAKA-Negros identified Aldren Faburada (17 ), Everly Kee Jacolbe (16), and Christopher Montecino (17) as the other victims in the hands of government soldiers.

Focused military operations and the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP) in the countryside have brought trepidation for people’s lives and security, particularly for children,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said in a statement dated June 19.

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)-allied organization said Faburada was severely beaten and killed by the 62nd Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army (PA) last March 15, 2021. The child was earlier red-tagged as an NPA member when he was only fetching his school module from their hut near the encounter site at Sitio Kansampo, Brgy. Bagtik, La Libertad, Negros Oriental.

Like the Faustos, Jacolbe was massacred along with her pregnant mother and a relative by the 62nd IB at Sitio Banderahan, Brgy. Trinidad, Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental last July 26, the group said.

Montecino was killed with his father Pedro when the 94th IB assaulted locals of Sitio Cunalom, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan City on September 11, 2021, MAKIBAKA-Negros alleged, adding the soldiers red-tagged Christopher in front of the media as an NPA “child warrior” who had surrendered.

‘Justice for the Faustos’

The AFP denied killing the Faustos, expectedly counter-accusing the New People’s Army (NPA) for the massacre instead.

PA’s 303rd IB commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin said earlier they themselves condemn the Fausto massacre and vowed to “spare no effort to pursue justice for the victims and their families.”

“[W]e will closely coordinate with the Philippine National Police to fast-track the resolution of the crime and bring the perpetrators to justice,” Edralin added.

Edralin claimed it was the NPA that killed the Faustos as it suspected the victims to have become spies for the military.

The general added that accusations the 94th IB brutally killed the family are “nothing but an attempt by the desperate NPA to tarnish the reputation of the Army in the province.”

“[They] quickly blame the Army without proof to mislead the people and to hide their guilty hands,” Edralin said.

An early incident report of the Fausto massacre of the human rights group September 21 Movement however pointed out that Emelda Fausto has reported harassments and attacks by the army unit prior to June 14.

Subsequent statements by church leaders and various organizations also said Roly Fausto had been repeatedly tortured and forced to serve as guide by the soldiers in an all-night military patrol days before they were killed.

‘Even babies are not spared’

MAKIBAKA-Negros said intense AFP operations have been indiscriminately showered bullets and bombs on peasant communities, ransacked houses, illegally arrested innocents, coerced civilians to surrender, and abducted and murdered civilians.

The group said these military strategy causes fear, anxiety, sorrow and anger in the minds and hearts of the people and their children.

“Trauma develops among children upon witnessing the lives of their father, mother, siblings and relatives taken away. In every destroyed home and each family victimized by state fascism, one to a thousand children are deprived of freedom to live as well,” the group said.

The NDFP in Negros monitored 17 cases of human rights violations by military troops on the island directly involving children, mainly by the 62nd IB and 94th IB, the group recalled.

“These were cases of extrajudicial killing, harassment and threat, indiscriminate firing and bombing, attempted abduction, forced surrender, and illegal detention,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

“Military troops occupying schools also cause intense fear as children and their teachers function as human shield for chicken-hearted soldiers. It disturbs the children’s education and places the community in danger,” the group added.

The women’s group also reported that 3rd Infantry Division troops also targeted and attacked babies and children they suspect are sons and daughters of NPA fighters, such as the 79th IB’s kidnapping of Baby Marx Cairo Salino, a two month old infant of guerillas taken from his caretaker on January 13, 2021.

The baby is reportedly currently with the City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) of Escalante City, Negros Occidental.

“Despite the rights of Baby Marx’s family to claim and care for him, the fascist and merciless personages of the CSWD and military stubbornly insist that the freedom of Baby Marx depends on their decision,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

Last May 14, the 11th IB arrested a couple and their one-month old baby in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental over suspicions they were NPA members, the group said.

It added that 94th IB also chased after and attempted to abduct four children, aged one to two years old, in different barangays of Himamaylan City in 2022.

MAKIBAKA-Negros also expressed concern over reports that the 11th IB placed a P50,000 bounty on a two year old child of a Red fighter couple under the NPA’s Rachelle Mae Palang Command in Southeast Negros. The soldiers wish to use the child as hostage to coerce the parents to surrender, it added.

“This [3rd] Division of the Philippine Army is notorious for employing similar dirty tactics in warfare wherein children are used as bait to force the surrender and capture of their parents or relatives,” MAKIBAKA-Negros said.

The group said it welcomes the announcement of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to hold an investigation of the recent killings. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Negros Bishop pleads for justice for Faustos; NDFP accuses AFP as child killers

San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza said they mourn the “horrifying” deaths of the Fausto family killed last Wednesday, June 14, in Himamaylan, Negros Occidental allegedly by government soldiers.

In a petition released last Sunday, the prelate in neighboring Negros Oriental said he implores local and national government institutions to ensure justice for the victims and hold accountable those responsible for the massacre.

Brutally killed in their hut were Roly Fausto (55), his wife Emelda (50) and their children Ben (15) and Ravin (12) who had been repeatedly red-tagged and by the military weeks before their deaths.

Quoting a report by local human rights group September 21 Movement, Alminaza joined many organizations in identifying the Philippine Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion as alleged perpetrators of the “heinous act.”

READ: IFI Bishop, groups denounce massacre in Negros

“Our hearts are heavy as we witness the escalating militarization under the current (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) administration,” Bishop Alminaza said.

The bishop also blamed Executive Order 70 issued by former president Rodrigo Duterte institutionalizing the so-called whole-of-nation approach in the government’s counter-insurgency program and creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) for the incident.

“The’ whole-of-nation approach’ advocated by the (NTF-ELCAC) has led to the weaponization of ‘red-tagging’, armed harassment, and senseless killings,” Alminaza said.

Alminaza offered a prayer as a plea for justice in his petition.

‘AFP are child killers’

Meanwhile, the Special Office for the Protection of Children (SOPC) of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) accused the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as child killers for the deaths of minors Ben and Ravin.

NDFP-SPOC head and NDFP Negotiating Panel member Coni Ledesma, a native of Negros Occidental, said her office vehemently condemns the “brutal massacre” by the said military unit.

“This heinous act is a blatant violation of the rights of the child and the special protections under international humanitarian law,” Ledesma said.

Ledesma said child rights violations have sharply increased under the Marcos Jr. government with reports of kidnappings, threats, forced evacuation, violence and murder.

In Negros Island alone, the NDFP has documented at least 22 cases of state violence involving children between the period of 2020 to 2022, Ledesma said, citing a special report by the Communist Party of the Philippines’ official organ Ang Bayan.

“The killing of the Fausto children and their parents exposes the AFP once more as lawless and mindless child killers. As commander-in-chief of the criminal, corrupt and brutal AFP, Marcos II is directly responsible for its war crimes against the Filipino people,” she said.

Ledesma also criticized the AFP for its penchant to blame the New People’s Army (NPA) for its reported crimes against civilians.

Philippine Army’s 303rd Infantry Battalion commander B/Gen. Orlando Edralin told reporters in a briefing last Thursday it was the NPA that killed the Faustos.

Edralin claimed that Roly had become a military asset prior to his death.

“Pinning the blame on the NPA is an old and tired tactic the AFP uses to escape accountability for its crimes against the people. Confirmed reports stated that on 22 March, both Emelda and Rolly Fausto were interrogated and harassed by military agents,” Ledesma however said.

“Even prior to the incident, the AFP has red-tagged the Fausto family, slaughtered their livestock, and ransacked their property in attempts to force admission of ties to the NPA,” she added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Cyclists amplify call for safe spaces, end to violence against women

Women’s rights advocates and cycling groups held a bike activity for safe spaces on Valentine’s Day eve to raise awareness on rising cases of sexual harassment and abuse against women, especially against women bikers.

Dubbed the “Ride, dance, unite to end violence against women,” bikers wearing pink and holding pink roses held a 10-kilometer bike in Quezon City.

“Everyday, women cyclists have to deal with unsafe bike commute and even catcalling and sexual harassment on the road. We’re sending a message in this bike activity that this cycle must stop,” said Jessica Reyes, movement building core member of She Decides PH, one of the bike ride organizers.

Reyes added that the proliferation of misogynist comments and posts within bike groups should be called out.

The groups said they chose Quezon City as this year’s bike ride route, noting a 66-percent spike in domestic violence cases and 21-percent increase in rape cases during the first eight months of 2021 in the city.

A young cyclist holds a pink rose to call for safe biking for women and children. (Gabriela photo)

Biking became more popular since the outset of the corona virus pandemic both as transportation and recreation activity.

Quezon City has the most number of bike lanes in the Philippines.

The participating groups however urged local governments to prioritize the construction of more bike lanes and bike parks to encourage more Filipinos to ride bicycles.

Sunday’s bike ride was organized by Women Biker’s for Safe Spaces, Bikers United Movement, Cycle Bros, She Decides Philippines GABRIELA | A National Alliance of Women, Gabriela Women’s Party and One Billion Rising PH.

The participants said their event is part of the OBR annual global dance protest every February 14  to promote awareness and show unity in ending violence against women and children.

OBR Philippines 2022 will be held tomorrow, Monday, February 14, at the Commission on Human Rights grounds in Quezon City. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

For kids in special education, lockdown learning a must

By Winona Sadia/Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Learners with special education needs require face-to-face instruction but are vulnerable to the coronavirus disease. Parents and teachers have no choice but to make distance learning work.

As the clock ticked closer to 10 a.m., Elena Elpedez cleared the dining table to make way for her son’s online class simulation. Ten-year-old Enzo, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, has the entire makeshift study area for himself for a good hour. Excited, Enzo set up his Zoom account to meet up with his classmates and teachers, albeit virtually.

Despite the difficulties of distance learning amid the coronavirus pandemic, Elena did not think twice about enrolling her bunso (youngest child) this school year for special education or SPED at Parang Elementary School in Marikina. It was better, she said, than letting months pass without Enzo learning anything.

Elena left her business process outsourcing job in 2015, as soon as she realized the need to supervise Enzo’s schooling and therapy. She then put up a printing business at their house to augment her income. During the lockdown, Elena recycled reviewers and worksheets from customers to refresh Enzo with what he had learned the previous school year.

Elena prints out recycled worksheets to help Enzo continue learning during quarantine. Photograph: Winona Sadia

Para ma-instill sa kaniya na dapat continuous pa rin ang pag-aaral niya. Ayaw ko kasing isipin niyang bakasyon lang siya, baka matagal ko na naman siyang mapapayag mag-school (I wanted to instill in him that learning should be continuous. I don’t want him to think it’s just a long vacation. It might take time to convince him to go back to school),” she said.

The 44-year-old mother of two was worried over their internet connection after the school held simulation classes ahead of the opening on Oct. 5. She’s keeping her fingers crossed that Enzo and his kuya (older brother) Edrei, an 18-year-old Grade 12 student, would have opposite class schedules so they won’t use the internet at the same time.

The problems of SPED parents and teachers go beyond weak internet connections, however. Physical interaction with teachers is a cornerstone of SPED, and experts and stakeholders are still debating whether to push face-to-face classes or settle for distance learning. One thing is sure: parents like Elena will have to pull all stops to make everything work, if they don’t want their kids left behind. (See related story: Will distance learning work? Parents, teachers not so sure)

But Elena is not so confident in becoming Enzo’s teacher.

Titingin ako sa books niya ngayon at ipapabasa sa kanya. Kung ano `yung pagkabasa [at] pagkakaintindi namin, `yun na `yun,” she said. “Hindi katulad ng teacher, may sarili silang style, may mga visual aid pa sila, which is hindi talaga magagawa ng parent (I will look at the books and ask him to read them. How we read and understood them, that’s it. Teachers have their own style, they have their own visual aids, which parents don’t),” she said.

Elena converts their dining table into a makeshift study area for Enzo, who begins schooling at Parang Elementary School on Oct. 5. Photograph: Winona Sadia

Exception for SPED learners?

SPED enrollment has always been low. Genevieve Caballa, executive director of the Alternative Learning Resource School Philippines (ALRES-Phils) – a school offering SPED and therapy programs – said that 97 percent of learners with disabilities were not in school. Enrollment has not improved for more than a decade, she said.

Data from the Department of Education (DepEd) showed that of more than 5 million Filipino children with disabilities nationwide, only 1.4 percent or more than 71,000 non-graded learners were enrolled for the upcoming school year as of September.

Former education secretary Bro. Armin Luistro called for face-to-face classes among learners with special education needs, or LSENs, despite the pandemic.

“SPED should continue and it has to be face-to-face. There are only a few students and they need the equipment and special teachers in the schools. Barangay (village) leaders and DepEd should work together on it,” Luistro told the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ).

Fernan Gana, president of the Quezon City Federation of Parents and Teachers Associations, said this was easier said than done.

Tama ‘yung rekomendasyon [pero] siguro, pag-aralan lang ‘yung protocols [at] kung paanong iiwasang magkahawaan ‘yung mga bata. Alam naman nating mas vulnerable sila, lalo na `yung mga nasa SPED school (The recommendations are correct but the protocols should be studied to prevent kids from infecting one another. Those who are in SPED school are more vulnerable),” he said.

But for Reading Association of the Philippines President Frederick Perez, SPED institutions might have to consider halting classes altogether.

“Sorry to the SPED schools but I don’t believe that special education will be meaningful and fruitful at this time. Maybe next year. They (LSENs) need a lot of physical contact,” he said.

‘Face-to-face learning ideal, but safety first’

Caballa would rather stick to distance learning, cautioning against resuming face-to-face classes for LSENs.

“Many of them are immunocompromised, so they are more at risk than neurotypical children. [We] don’t want to endanger learners. They could get easily infected,” she said.

Caballa argued that halting school altogether for SPED learners would mean depriving them of their right to continuous education.

“Children have a critical window for development and learning opportunities. If you miss that, there’s no turning back,” she said.

The SPED expert also warned against “regression,” which she said was common among learners with disabilities.

Neurotypical learners, or children with no intellectual or developmental disorders, were less likely to regress even with long breaks from studies, as they have other options to continue learning, she said.

“For learners with disabilities, if they don’t study or are not given just a little stimulation, they easily regress academically and behaviorally,” Caballa said. “The intervention we’re looking at is really empowering parents. Parents are the key.”

According to DepEd’s Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan, face-to-face instruction for learners with disabilities would be allowed only in “very low-risk areas” such as geographically isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict-affected areas with no history of Covid-19 infection.

However, teachers and learners should be living in the vicinity of the school. Face-to-face classes for LSENs, DepEd said, must undergo risk assessment and adhere to strict health protocols.

Redefining learning

Caballa said the way to help LSENs cope with the new normal in education was for parents and teachers to “redefine learning.”

When SPED classes opened at her school on July 13, teachers saw the need to engage the household in online and offline learning activities.

“It’s not just paper and pencil. It’s integrated in home routines. In cooking, for example, we incorporated functional math and reading, reading a recipe, measurement, procedure,” Caballa said.

SPED teachers must also make it a point to keep the screen time within the “ideal” one to two hours per session, she said.

Some of Enzo’s artworks are displayed on the walls of their house in Marikina. Photograph: Winona Sadia

The new setup means parents play an even bigger role in their children’s studies, Caballa said.

Kung dati, hinahatid lang nila `yung bata [at] pinapasa na sa teacher, [ngayon] they realized [na] mahirap pala `yung ginagawa ng teachers, but at the same time we’re encouraging the parents [at] nakaalalay kami sa kanila (Before, they just dropped the kids at school. Now they realize that what the teachers are doing is not easy. At the same time, we’re encouraging the parents and we’re helping them.),” she said.

“It becomes less teacher-dependent because the teacher is just a facilitator and the parent is the lead teacher, which is how it should be.”

Caballa said she found comfort in how several learners have responded to the distance learning setup.

“For the majority, we found out that they were more resilient than how we had perceived them to be. We thought they won’t be able to adjust,” she said.

Running a private SPED school where parents shoulder the costs still has a lot of challenges, especially on the part of teachers, Caballa admitted. There are two backup teachers per session in case the internet connection falters.

“It’s difficult, but I guess we’re driven by our passion for what we do. We know that we don’t have a choice. The other choice is just to stop,” Caballa said. –PCIJ, September 2020

Winona Sadia finished AB Journalism at the University of Santo Tomas. She works as a TV news producer. You may reach her on Twitter (@winonymous) or at [email protected] for comments or suggestions.

CHR slams PNP’s arrest and humiliation of minor

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said it will investigate the arrest and humiliation of a 13-year old by the Philippine National Police in Malabon City last Saturday, September 26.

The CHR reported that the minor was arrested for not wearing a mask when he crossed the street to their house from a neighbor’s place.

The agency said that after taking the boy’s mugshot at the police station, officers allegedly told the minor that “he now has a profile picture for his Facebook account.”

The CHR said the remark caused distress to the boy.

 “It is concerning that this happened despite the prohibition on the arrests of minors,” CHR spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement Monday, September 28.

While noting that Joint Task Force Covid-19 Shield Commander Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar reminded police forces and barangay law enforcers to not penalize minors for quarantine violations, the CHR said proper sanction and disciplinary actions must still be pursued to prevent a similar incident.

The CHR said the barangay chairperson also apologized for the incident.

De Guia reminded the police of the joint memorandum circular “Reiteration of Protocols on Reaching out to Children, including those in Street Situations, in need of Special Protection, Children at Risk, and Children in Conflict with the Law During the Enhanced Community Quarantine” issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Council on the Welfare of Children (CWC) in dealing with such cases.

“Minors who are guilty of violating quarantine rules must be turned over to their parents, guardians, and/or a social worker so that proper interventions, guidance, and/or advice are given to them,” de Guia said.

“We remind that law enforcers and barangay leaders are duty-bound to protect the rights of children. Any form of punishment that humiliates and degrades the dignity of minors is violative of this sworn obligation,” she added.

The CHR said children should be protected more so during the coronavirus pandemic,  “as they bear the brunt of the secondary effects and the measures taken to combat Covid-19.”

“Government officials and its officers should be the first ones to protect the welfare of children, not violate them,” de Guia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Cebuano children to launch Leon Kilat book on hero’s 147th birth anniv

A children’s book on Cebuano hero Pantaleon Villegas, popularly known as Leon Kilat, is set to be launched on Monday, July 27, in time for his 147th birth anniversary.

Written and illustrated by graduates of a 2018 workshop, Historya (Children Creating Stories from Cebu History), the story book “Si Leon Kilat ug ang Sigbin” (Leon Kilat and the Sigbin) is part of a continuing campaign to reconnect local youth to their Cebu roots.

Sigbin is a local mythological creature said to come out at night to suck the blood of victims from their shadows.

Negros Oriental-born Villegas was a revolutionary leader in Cebu during the Philippine Revolution against Spain.

The authors of the storybook are Jhulianna Capangpangan (University of San Carlos- South Campus), Santi Sagayno (Gaas National High School), Isabella Faith Bautista (Ateneo de Cebu) and Francis Luke Vicoy (Colegio del Sto. Niño).

Ateneo de Cebu’s Kristine Anne Subaan is the book illustrator.

The book is published by Tres de Abril, Inc and Palm Grass: The Cebu Heritage Hotel.

The cyber launch of the book and celebration of Villegas’ birth anniversary entitled “LEON KILAT: Revolution and Magic” (Celebrating Leon Kilat @147, ang bayani sa Sugbo nga Abtik pas Kilat), will be at two o’clock on Monday [The hero of Cebu who is faster than lightning]. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Martial law in Mindanao victimizes more Lumad children—NDFP

President Rodrigo Duterte’s martial law in Mindanao, extended for the second straight year this 2019, continues to wreak havoc in the lives of Lumad children, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in Southern Mindanao Region said.

In a statement posted on its website today, the NDFP reported that a platoon of the 88th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army accosted and seized 17-year old Loujean Antian Lumbatan, a Grade 7 student of Sinuda High School, and 10-year old Ara Mystica Antian Pangcat, a Grade 5 student of Cabalansihan Elementary School at Sitio Sanggiapo, Brgy Sinuda, Kitaotao in Bukidnon province at around 11:00 in the morning last February 18.

“For no apparent reason, the two unarmed Lumad minors were arrested and held incommunicado at the unit’s camp in Sitio Sanggiapo between 11:00 in the morning and 11:00 in the evening,” the NDFP said.

Early in the afternoon, the parents and some relatives searched frantically for the missing children and proceeded to confront the soldiers but were turned away by the soldiers who insisted they knew nothing of the children’s whereabouts, the group added.

The girls were released in the afternoon of the next day, February 19, but not after being subjected to harrowing interrogation and were brought to the 88th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Maramag, the NDFP said.

The girls reported that they could hear their parent’s voices outside the camp in Sitio Sanggiapo but were warned by the soldiers not to make any sound.

When confronted why they arrested and detained the two girls, the soldiers reportedly claimed they were only after “the[ir] safety,” the NDFP said. 

The Bukidnon incident followed the January 30 seizure of two toddlers, a one-year old and a two-year old, and their subsequent forced separation from their parents and guardians by AFP and PNP troops following a raid on the office of the Misamis Oriental Peasants Association (MOFA) in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, the group said.

“In Lumad areas in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and elsewhere in the Southern Mindanao, bombings, shelling and indiscriminate firing within populated communities by AFP troops and their paramilitaries Bagani and Alamara have terrorized hundreds of children,” the NDFP said in its statement. 

The NDFP also scored the arrest of three civilians of the 71st IB last February 20 at Sitio Binogsayan, Brgy. Napnapan in Pantukan town.

Eddie Avila, Graciano Embalsado and Pulpy Lariwan were later forced to “surrender” as members of the New People’s Army (NPA), even as local government officials insisted that the three were in fact civilians, Rubi del Mundo, NDFP-SMR spokesperson said.

‘Localized peace talks’

But Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) secretary Eduardo Año said the so-called surrenders are real that stem from the continuing success of localized peace talks between local government officials and the revolutionary groups.

“Dahil sa sipag at pagpupursigi ng ating mga local officials, natanggal na ang kaliskis sa mga mata ng mga dating rebelde at naliwanagan na sila,” Año said in a statement posted on the DILG website today, citing the reported surrender of more than 200 alleged Communist supporters in Negros Island last month.

The DILG secretary claimed the creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict by Duterte will also lead to more rebel surrenders because of its focus on localized peace engagements.

Año also said DILG’s Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) has disbursed around P488 million in 2018to aid former rebels and their immediate family members

‘PR stunts’

The NPA’s Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command, however, dismissed government’s claims, saying so-called peace and development outreach programs by the Duterte administration are mere public relations stunts that are part of its psychological war tactics.

“They are in fact mere PR stunts which hold neither a grain of truth nor reflect the sentiments of thousands of Lumad who continue to be victimized by the US-Duterte regime’s hated martial law,” Rigoberto Sanchez, NPA Southern Mindanao Regional Operations Command spokesperson, said.

Sanchez added it eludes common sense that the Lumad and the peasants should support government troops when it is they who seek to destroy their way of living, sell ancestral land to greedy and exploitative capitalists threaten or kill those who opposes them. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Bill lowering children’s criminal liability draws wide opposition

Government agencies, children’s rights advocates and international organizations are up in arms over efforts at the House of Representative to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) of children from 15 to nine years old.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC) object to the measure, saying the proposed adjustment violate international laws such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) promoting and protecting children’s rights that the Philippine government promised to uphold.

“It will increase the chances of more children at a younger age to be subjected to judicial proceedings contravening the spirit and intent of the Convention,” the DSWD and JJWC in a statement said.

Both offices recalled that the UNCRC Committee has in fact praised the Philippine government when it passed the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 (or RA 9344), which raised the MACR from 9 to 15 years old.

‘Bill by dumbest lawyer’

But President Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly complained that the law is too lenient on children in conflict with the law and blamed its principal sponsor Senator Francis Pangilinan.

“This law passed by this son of a b***? He passed the juvenile law…Fifteen years old and you can’t put them in jail!” Duterte in a speech in Puerto Princesa City said.

“You are really nothing. You are the dumbest lawyer I know…I will destroy him,” Duterte said of Pangilinan last November.

In response to Duterte’s wishes, the House Committee on Justice, chaired by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon, said it will hold a hearing today to repeal RA  9344 as a “priority matter of legislation.”

“[The House of Representatives] will move for the passage of the bill in support of a request from President Duterte,” a statement from Speaker Gloria M. Arroyo’s office last Friday added.

‘Anti poor’

But both the DSWD and the JJWC said that poverty should be blamed on children running afoul with the law.

“Prior to the enactment of RA 9344, studies found that most children involved in crimes were poor.  Most came from dysfunctioning families who lack access to basic needs, parental love and support, with very little education and were usually neglected or abused,” the agencies said.

“Most committed theft and crimes against property.  Clearly, these were crimes committed for survival, safety and security, they added.

A children’s rights group echoed the agencies’ concern, adding dire poverty in the Philippines makes them more prone to criminality and anti-social activities.

“The government should address poverty and make services available to children in conflict with the law. Lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9 years old is not the solution. Children should be protected and be given the chance for rehabilitation,” the Association for the Rights of Children in Southeast Asia said in another statement.

Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights and its member organizations including the Children’s Rehabilitation Center also voiced its opposition to the measure, saying the MACR bill neglects that fact that poverty and lack of socio-economic opportunities are the main drivers of child offenses.

“At least 45 percent of the offenses attributed to children are petty theft, robbery and other offenses against property, while 65 percent of children offenders come from poor families,” Karapatan said.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Save the Children Philippines also voiced their opposition to the measure.

“Lowering the age of criminal responsibility is an act of violence against children,” the UNICEF said Friday.

“This will only push them to further discrimination, abuse and eventually, into more anti-social behavior,” SCP for its part said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Children vs convicted criminals

Several members of the Philippine House of Representatives want the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility lowered from 15 to nine years old while powerful personalities such as former First Lady Imelda Marcos convicted of graft remain free. (Cartoon by Mark Suva)