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Rights defenders ask Court to dismiss Esperon’s bid to overturn acquittal

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Human rights defenders asked the Quezon city Regional Trial Court (QC RTC) to dismiss a petition seeking a review of a lower court’s decision acquitting them of charges of perjury.

In their joint comment submitted last Thursday, July 20, six rights activists said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s petition should be dismissed and their acquittal last January be upheld by the court.

Karapatan National Council members Cristina Palabay, Roneo Clamor, Dr. Edita Burgos, Gabriela Krista Dalena, Fr. Wilfredo Ruazol and Jose Mari Callueng also said Esperon’s bid to overturn their acquittal is renewed judicial harassment and an attack on the independence of judges.

In his petition, Esperon Jr. assailed the January 2023 decision of Quezon City Municipal Trial Court Judge Aimee Marie Alcera acquitting the human rights defenders and their colleagues, Karapatan chairperson Elisa Tita Lubi, former Rural Missionaries of the Philippines coordinator Sr. Elenita Belardo, and Gabriela leaders Gert Libang and Joan May Salvador.

Karapatan said the perjury charges filed against them in 2019 is Esperon Jr.’ retaliation after he was named a respondent in their petition for a writ of amparo due to growing threats and attacks against human rights defenders.

After the acquittal, Esperon charged Judge Alcera of “grave abuse of discretion” and asked the QC RTC to review the records of the case.

Esperon’s petition is now pending before the court’s Branch 84 under Judge Luisito Galvez Cortez.

In their prayer for final dismissal, the Karapatan officers said it would be a grave injustice and a violation of their rights against double jeopardy (or being tried twice for the same crime) if the State is allowed to make attempts to overturn their acquittal by the court.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay denounced Esperon’s reopening of the perjury case as “but one in a series of renewed attacks against the human rights defenders of Karapatan.”

“As embattled human rights defenders, we call for solidarity from the broad human rights community here and abroad. We likewise appeal for support for judges who have shown courage, independence and integrity in issuing their judgments, especially at a time when the law is increasingly being weaponized to harass and persecute us,” Palabay said.

The QC RTC court has scheduled a hearing on August 29, 2023 regarding Esperon’s petition for certiorari. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Gadon as presidential anti-poverty adviser ‘extremely poor choice, clownish’ – lawmaker

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The Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government has appointed a controversial lawyer as its new Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation, a move questioned by a progressive lawmaker as “clownish”.

Following the announcement of Atty. Larry Gadon’s appointment to the post on Tuesday, June 27, Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Arlene Brosas said the choice “reflects the administration’s clownish approach in addressing hunger and poverty in the country.”

“Gadon is an extremely poor choice for a public position that requires serious and diligent work, especially as more than half of Filipinos rate themselves as poor,” Brosas added.

(UPDATE: The Supreme Court announced Wednesday morning, June 28, it voted 15-0 in favor of Gadon’s disbarment for acts inimical to the legal profession.)

Brosas said creating a new position at the executive branch and filling it up with the most unqualified person is certainly not a step towards solving the widespread poverty in the country.

The Makabayan bloc lawmaker added that truly solving poverty requires comprehensively addressing the widespread landlessness and joblessness in the country through genuine land reform and establishment of national industries, development plans that Gadon is not known to espouse.

Brosas also pointed out that the new presidential adviser is an unsavory character, unworthy to advise the highest official of the country.

“A lawyer who once maligned and verbally assaulted a female journalist with misogynist remarks, and who has been suspended twice by the Supreme Court for his foul language has no right to be on the presidential payroll,” Brosas said.

“He is also a certified red-tagger, branding those who supported calls for his disbarment as ‘NPA coddler,’” she added.

Unapologetic

A rabid Marcos follower and supporter, Gadon first became notorious for flashing a dirty finger at and cursing protesters supporting then embattled Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno in a rally in Baguio City in 2018.

The SC suspended Gadon in January 2022 for spewing obscenities and sexist remarks at journalist and Marcos critic Raissa Robles of the South China Morning Post.

He is also infamous for publicly branding those who disagreed with as “bobo” (idiots).

In his first media interviews after announcement of his appointment, Gadon remained unapologetic, adding they deserved his tirades.

“I’m not going to say sorry because, in the first place, they were at fault because they spread lies. They should be grateful I didn’t have them killed. It’s good that I just cursed them,” Gadon told radio station DZBB.

He added that his critics, including the group Akbayan, do not have 5% of his intelligence.

‘Batang Busog Malusog’

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announcement of Gadon’s appointment, the presidential adviser would work with government agencies and non-government organizations to create programs “addressing the root of poverty.”

In his first televised briefing, Gadon said his first program would the Marcos Jr. government’s anti-hunger program dubbed “BBM” or “Batang Busog Malusog.”

BBM is the acronym of the President’s nickname Bong-Bong Marcos.

Gadon said the BBM program aims to address malnutrition among public elementary school students, noting that the condition contribute to the Filipino pupils’ poor academic performance.

The lawyer added he will also focus on strengthening micro-industries to provide jobs for the poor.

“My idea is to have micro-industries, similar to the pattern in China and Taiwan where they have a number of micro-industries scattered in their communities that employ 50 to 100 personnel,” he said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

EDCA live fire drills terrorize Nueva Ecija communities, Gabriela reports

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Int’l rights group condemns arrest of anti-war exercise activists

The first day of the Balikatan war exercises between the Philippine military and the United States, Japan, Australia and United Kingdom is bringing terror and fear to affected communities, a national alliance of women reported.

As the 17,600 combined local and foreign troops started their military exercises in Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites across the country, residents in some affected communities fear leaving their homes for fear of being hit by live fire drills, Gabriela reported.

“In Nueva Ecija, residents expressed concern over explosions from last week beginning in the tail end of March. These explosions are usually heard at night, around 11pm, from the adjacent EDCA site in Fort Magsaysay,” the group said in a statement.

The live fire drills have been a source of concern for people’s mobility and their ability to safely seek their livelihoods, added Gabriela secretary general Clarice Palce.

Palce said the sounds of bombs and grenades going off keep families, especially children, awake at night.

“These explosions cause intense mental and emotional distress and anxiety in the affected communities. Further, these LFXs (live fire exercises) and military operations are major wildlife stressors and leave toxic waste behind. Alarmingly, the impoverished condition of our farmers is aggravated by these exercises,” Palce lamented.

Palce’s group said they have no doubt that the coming days will only bring more fear and suffering for Filipinos, including increased incidents of prostitution, among women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, who due to extreme poverty are driven into the plague of prostitution with the surrounding US military as their biggest “Johns”.

“Our fear is that with this biggest Balikatan yet, we will see even more Jennifer Laudes, more Vanessas and Nicoles, who have become victims of abuse from US soldiers and to this day are deprived of justice,” Palce said.

Laude had been brutally murdered by a US Marine while “Vanessa” and “Nicole” complained of being raped by American soldiers who were in the Philippines as part of its government’s military agreements with the US.

Anti-EDCA activists arrested

Meanwhile, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemned the arrest of student activists who protested the ongoing war exercises as it started yesterday, Tuesday.

“[ICHRP] condemns the unlawful arrest of student leaders Gabriel Magtibay, chairperson of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP), and Joanne Pagkalinawan of the Far Eastern University during a lightning rally in front of the United States Embassy in Manila in the early morning of April 11,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Global Council Chairperson said in a statement.

Four paralegals who rushed to assist the arrested students were also nabbed by the Manila Police District, but were later released.

Magtibay and Pagkalinawan are being charged with illegal assembly, vandalism, and resisting arrest by the police.

“The arrest of student activists participating in a peaceful demonstration clearly violates their right to freedom of assembly. This is stipulated in international human rights covenants ratified by the Philippines, such as Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Murphy said.

“The protest action was justified as it defends the Philippines’ right to national sovereignty, a basic human right. Participating in the Balikatan Exercises will only drag the Philippines into the worsening US-China tensions and will likely result in more violations of the rights of the Filipino people,” Murphy added.

ICHRP said the joint military exercise is widely seen as a provocative act by the US against China, as it includes military exercises planned with other countries in the First Island Chain – Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups protest in US and HK on Women’s Day

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Women’s organizations held a protest march against “imperialism, militarism and exploitation” at the World Bank and the White House in Washington DC days before International Women’s Day last Saturday, March 4.

Led by the International Women’s Alliance (IWA) and grassroots Filipino group Gabriela-USA, hundreds of protesters called to place “women over profit” and to expose the “continuing impact of US imperialism on the Filipino people.”

The protesters began their rally before the World Bank, accusing the international organization of aiding “global suppression through foreign aid that perpetuates national debts.”

Before the White House, the protesters demanded the end of US intervention in countries abroad such as the Philippines, accusing its government of funding militarism abroad instead of social services such as education.

“This country claims to be a beacon of freedom and democracy, while locking children in cages and forcing families to be separated!” Gabriela-USA said.

IWA’s Katie Comfort said the situation of women throughout the world calls for their unity of women, urging their ranks to organize further.

“Women are uniting around the world against US imperialism and [women in the] the US [have] to be a part of that movement,” Comfort said.  

Also on Saturday, IWA launched its campaign “Meet Women’s Needs; Stop Corporate Greed” in a conference that seeks to address the failings of the US government to meet the needs of women and their families. 

The march was also participated in by Terrapin Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (TerpCHRP) Palestinian Youth Movement, Katarungan DC, CODEPINK, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), Committee in Solidarity of the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Anti-Imperialist Action at University of Maryland Baltimore County, International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS), African National Women’s Organization, and Resist U.S. Led War.

Gabriela-HK calls for protection of OFWs

In Hong Kong, Gabriela’s chapter in the Chinese territory protested against the Philippine government’s continuing labor export program on International Women’s Day 2023.

“Instead of creating decent jobs with living wages in the Philippines as a solution to the worsening poverty we experience, the Marcos Jr-Duterte administration only intensifies the peddling of our Filipino women and men as cheap labor commodities overseas,” Gabriela Hong Kong chairperson Shiela Tebia-Bonifacio said in a statement.

Bonifacio said the Philippine government refuses to learn from a growing number of violations committed against the rights, dignity and lives of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) despite incidents such as the gruesome death of Jullebee Ranaro in Kuwait earlier this year.


“While it was forced to respond to the demands for justice for Ranaro’s death, the Philippine government remains lacking when it comes to championing OFW rights, welfare and dignity,” Bonifacio said.

Bonifacio also cited the non-response of the Philippine government and even the Philippine Consulate in Hong Kong over the racist comment of Hong Kong legislator Elizabeth Quat describing women migrant domestic workers as a mere “product”.

Gabriela Hong Kong also condemned the government for attacking and labelling as terrorists the many migrant organizations and leaders critical of the government’s programs.
 
“Clearly, the current regime of President Marcos only aims to continue the legacy left by his father, the ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos – ensuring the suffering of the Filipino women and men through its exploitative and oppressive policies,” the group said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

On more US troops deployment in the Philippines

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“The US is becoming more aggressive now in sending cadres to oversee the military of its allies and neo-colonies is no accident. What we are seeing is both an aggressive economic thrust in the form of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and a military show of force in the region, which most recently involved Japan in a security triad with the US and the Philippines.”—Clarice Palce, GABRIELA secretary general

OBR Philippines 2022 calls for women rights and security

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One Billion Rising (OBR), the global campaign against violence against women, celebrated its 10th year in the Philippines with more dances, poetry and songs at the Commission on Human Rights grounds on Valentine’s Day yesterday, February 14.

Attended by hundreds of participants, OBR 2022 urged communities worldwide to utilize arts and activism as a creative form of resistance to violence against women and girls.

OBR global director and renowned stage actor Monique Wilson said this year’s OBR sought to shine a light on “the rampant impunity and injustice that survivors (of violence) most often face.”

Women’s group Gabriela secretary general Joms Salvador said OBR 2022 was held against a backdrop of record-breaking economic crises.

“[W]omen are left to fend with extreme unemployment, inflation of (prices) basic goods, oil and utilities, an ensuing pandemic and intensifying acts of violence and human rights violations against women,” Salvador said.

“[N]ow more than ever, we must rise to defend the rights and security of Filipino women,” she added.

OBR 2022 called for rights and security for women and girls. (Sanafe Marcelo/Kodao)

Salvador also cited the country’s dire political situation as contributors to women’s insecurity, including the junking of disqualification petitions against the candidacy of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the presidency in the elections in May.

“We women now face a battle for our lives as we risk a return to the dark, bloody history of Marcosian rule and, with it, the perpetuation of the murderous (Rodrigo) Duterte brand of leadership, both of which had claimed the lives of thousands of women who dared speak truth to power,” Salvador said.

Gabriela distributed red roses at the event in remembrance of the women victims of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s martial and the “tyrannical, misogynistic Duterte regime.”

First held in 2013, OBR Philippines is one of 75 such event worldwide.

OBR was created by playwright Eve Ensler most popular for her play The Vagina Monologues.

OBR 2022 was attended by Senate aspirants Neri Colmenares and Elmer Labog as well as Kabataan Party Rep. Sarah Elago, Bayan Muna Reps. Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat and Gabriela Women’s Party Arlene Brosas. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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

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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)

Court acquits activist couple in Manila

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Another Burgos-Villavert warrant dismissed

By Joseph Cuevas

A Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge acquitted two political prisoners on Wednesday, November 24, dismissing charges against them based on a search warrant issued by a controversial Quezon City judge.

In a 13-page decision, Branch 19 judge Marlo Mardazo-Malagar said that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt Michael Bartolome and Cora Agovida’s ownership or possession of illegal firearms, ammunitions and explosives the police alleged were seized from the couple.

The polices’ Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) raided Agovida and Bartolome house in Sta. Ana, Manila on October 31, 2019, later alleging they found hand guns and a hand grenade during the raid.

In a text message, Atty. Katherine Panguban of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers told Kodao that the couple’s arrest sprung from the implementation of a series of “questionable” search warrants issued by Quezon City Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert in 2019 against Metro Manila based activists and rights defenders.

Burgos-Villavert also issued warrants against Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Metro Manila’s Ram Bautista, Manila Workers’ Unity’s Alma Moran and Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)-Manila’s Reina Mae Nasino based on police information that the activists were part of a gun-running syndicate.

Other Burgos-Villavert warrants have been either quashed or junked by fellow judges, including the one used against journalist Lady Ann Salem and trade union organizer Rodrigo Esparago in December 2020.

Salem and Esparago were released last March after the Mandaluyong City RTC dismissed charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives against the two..

Womens group Gabriela said it welcomes the court decision, adding the development is a slap on the Rodrigo Duterte administration that has incessantly attacked activists and human rights defenders.

Agovida is Gabriela-Manila’s chairperson and regional spokesperson of Gabriela-Metro Manila while Bartolome is a Kadamay-Metro Manila organizer. #

Nanay Mameng

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Mother Mameng delves deep into the character of a woman who has experienced extreme poverty and domestic violence and rose from from it all to become the beloved personality, well-known to the Philippine mass movement.

Written and directed by Adjani Arumpac and produced by Kodao Productions, this 2012 bio-docu was the Gawad Urian Best Documentary that year.

Carmen Deunida passed away due to old age last July 19, still the beloved icon of the urban poor movement in the Philippines. (Featured artwork by Tom Estrera.)

‘Maling-mali ang paratang ng NTF-ELCAC na kami ay terorista’

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“Maling-mali ang paratang ng National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict o NTF-ELCAC at ibang opisyal publiko na kami ay terorista. Ito ay labag sa karapatang pantao, labag sa sinumpaang mandato ng gobyerno sa mamamayan. Ang ganitong pananakot at pagsiil ay pagpapahamak sa aming women’s rights advocates, at pagkakait sa kababaihan na nangangailangan ng tulong at pag-agapay.” — Joms Salvador, Secretary General, Gabriela