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NPA: Military massacred civilian family in retaliation for camp raid

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The massacre of a family in Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental was carried out by the 94th Infantry Battalion (IB) and the citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (CAFGU) in retaliation for an attack on the local paramilitary camp, the New People’s Army (NPA) said.

The NPA’s Mt. Cansermon Command (MCC) said Rolly and Emelda Fausto and their two minor children were killed by the soldiers and the paramilitary the day after a “harassment operation” was conducted against the local CAFGU camp last June 13.

“[The operation] resulted (in) several casualties on the side of the military troops within the camp. This was the reason behind their brutal retaliation on civilian farmers who they suspected as NPA supporters,” NPA’s South Central Negros Guerilla Front spokesperson Dionesio Magbuelas said.

Magbuelas said that the 94th IB has in fact been planning and preparing to butcher the Fausto family for some time.

He revealed that the MCC had received complaints from other residents in the area about threats to their personal safety after the military broadcast names of suspected NPA supporters on radio.

The military list included Rolly Fausto, Magbuelas said.

The military’s radio program, hosted by a Johnrey Hilado, also often insinuated that Rolly fed and supported the NPA.

“This was a form of red-tagging that put Rolly Fausto and others at risk,” Magbuelas said.

History of threats against the victims

A month ago, the Fausto family has been subjected to harassments and threats, and their home was ransacked by the 94th IB, mainly soldiers assigned to the Hilamonan and Mahalang detachments, the MCC said, a report corroborated by initial reports by local human rights group after the massacre last Wednesday, June 14.

The NPA unit was also notified by other residents that three suspicious persons, including a military asset who was a rebel returnee, also previously spied on the Fausto house.

Meanwhile, 303rd Brigade commander B/Gen Orlando Edralin denied government troops massacred the Faustos, claiming Roly was their asset.

Edralin alleged that it was the NPA who killed the family.

Magbuelas however laughed off Edralin’s allegations, adding the general only humiliated himself before reporters when he made the denials.

“How can one be a military asset when an individual was repeatedly threatened and tortured, and his house was ransacked just recently?” Magbuelas asked.

Human rights reports said that Emelda complained to their farmers’ organizations of the soldier’s ransacking of their house.

READ: IFI Bishop, groups denounce massacre in Negros

“The people know the dirty record of killings and the various forms of abuses perpetrated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), particularly the 303rd Brigade,” Magbuelas said.

“The people will be the judge. Due to the consecutive extrajudicial killings, such as the case of Crispin Tingal Jr. and now the Fausto family massacre, (the military) can no longer deceive the public even if they shed buckets of crocodile tears to get the sympathy of the very people who are victims of their atrocities,” the MCC spokesperson said.

More denouncements

Meanwhile, activist groups held a condemnation rally in front of the Commission on Human Rights in Quezon City last Friday, demanding swift and impartial investigations of the massacre.

Human rights defenders call for justice for the victims of the Kabankalan Massacre and a stop to the killing of civilians. (Photo by Jek M. Alcaraz/Kodao)

The groups said accusations and reports of the military’s hand in the gruesome murders must be looked into.

The national alliance for women Gabriela said the massacre is a gross violation by the AFP as it targeted non-combatants.

The group also pointed out that the military committed a grave violation of the United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration on the Protection of Women in Children in Emergency and Armed Conflict.

In a separate statement, the Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) said investigating authorities should also look into human rights violations under the lock down imposed by the military in nearby Himamaylan City.

UMA said the military imposed a media blackout on the status of 15,000 evacuees, downplaying their assault on seven farm workers, strafing of 15 Tumandok households, and looting of civilian homes.

The group reported at least 21 farmers have been victims of extrajudicial killings under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government.

“[We are] worried the Fausto massacre marked the beginning of another spate of killings on the island,” UMA chairperson Ariel Casilao said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

IFI Bishop, groups denounce massacre in Negros

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Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Bishop and former Obispo Maximo denounced the massacre of a farmer’s family last Wednesday, June 14, in Himamaylan City, Negros Occidental.

Bishop Rhee Timbang said the brutal murder of Roly Fausto (55), his wife Emelda Fausto (50) and their two children Ben Fausto (15) and Ravin Fausto (12) is “horrendous beyond measure,” adding the massacre must be condemned and the perpetrators be brought to justice.

Citing reports by human rights groups in Negros, the prelate said the alleged perpetrators are soldiers of the 94th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.

He added that the Faustos had been victims of incessant red-tagging and other human rights violations in the past months.

 Timbang revealed that the victims were active IFI members whose leaders have been similarly subjected to red-tagging by state security forces and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

 The Faustos were also members of the Baclayan-Bito-Cabagal Farmers and Farmworkers Association (BABICAFA).

Long victims of Philippine Army’s atrocities

Alternative media group Paghimutad first reported about the massacre last Thursday, quoting human rights group September 21 Movement as saying the massacre was the culmination of a series of incidents involving the victims and the soldiers.

The Fausto family’s ordeal began on March 22, 2022, when Emelda, while returning from doing the laundry, encountered a group of armed men both in military uniforms and civilian clothing around their house, Paghimutad reported.

Around 12 individuals, purportedly soldiers, subjected her to intense interrogation and even brandished a knife in front of her. The soldiers then ransacked the house and slaughtered their chickens. Emelda later discovered that P5,000 of her family’s money, hidden in folded clothes, had vanished, it said.

Later that day, Roly, upon returning from work on the farm, was also subjected to relentless interrogation and coercion.

In a vacant hut 500 meters away from their house, Roly was tied ordered to confess his alleged affiliation with the New People’s Army (NPA).

Roly was kicked on the shoulders and held until 7 PM before being transferred to a military detachment in Barangay Hilamonan, Kabankalan City.

At the detachment, Roly was slapped and was forced to accompany the soldiers in a nighttime patrol, the report added.

On May 15, 2023, Emelda sought assistance from the group September 21 Movement to report two instances of their house being forcibly opened and ransacked.

Emelda told the group their hut was broken into last May 4 where their belongings were scattered, the Paghimutad report further revealed.

More condemnations

Other groups also condemned the bloodbath and called for accountability.

“It is inhumanity and savagery in modern society in a country that is signatory to international instruments on human rights,” the group Human Rights Alliance of Negros (HRAN) said in a statement. 

“Under Marcos rule the Philippine Army [has] become the murderers of the people in the countrysides reminiscent of the brutal rule of his dictator father,” HRAN added.

Enviromental group Kalikasan said the killings were “savage” that violated both human rights and international humanitarian law.

“The killing of farmers who defend their rights and welfare undermines their crucial role as environmental defenders. We demand justice for the victims and urge the Commission on Human Rights to investigate,” Kalikasan said in a statement. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

STATEMENTS ON THE LISTING OF MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS AS ‘FRONT ORGANIZATIONS’

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ALTERMIDYA: On the listing of 3 media organizations as ‘front organizations’: Unconstitutional, dangerous

Altermidya Network denounces the unconstitutional, undemocratic, and dangerous resolution released by the Kalinga Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC).

The resolution, which urges the local government to require permits for activities, comes with a list of 18 so-called Communist Party of the Philippines’ “sectoral front organizations” (SFOs). The list, prepared by the 50th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, included three media organizations.

As shown by photos released by Department of Interior and Local Government provincial director Anthony Manolo Ballug, the list included Altermidya members Northern Dispatch and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), along with the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). This has the effect of preventing members of these media organizations from conducting their work as journalists and also puts them in grave danger from the military and the police.

The three media organizations are well-respected and award-winning institutions. The CEGP was established in 1931 and has produced hundreds of venerable journalists. The Northern Dispatch has been producing stories from the communities since 1989, while NUJP, founded by the late Tony Nieva, is known for advancing the rights and welfare of journalists in the country since 1986.

Even the 15 other organizations in the list are known legitimate organizations in Northern Luzon. Preventing them from continuing with their work without a court order is nothing less than undemocratic.

We urge the immediate junking of the Kalinga PTF-ELCAC Resolution No. 2023-04 as well as the 50th IB’s “List of SFOs”. We likewise ask the elected city and municipal officials of Kalinga to reject this dangerous resolution and list.

We will make sure that these attacks on press freedom and democracy are duly reported to the United Nations Office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, who is set to conduct in-country investigations early next year. # (June 14, 2023)

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NORTHERN DISPATCH: On the inclusion of Northern Dispatch and other media groups in the 50th IB list of ‘Threat Groups’

We cannot help but ask: Is the military threatened by Northern Dispatch? Does the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with their guns, tanks, and bombs, find it difficult to face critical reporting that it must resort to malicious and covert labeling of our outfit, other media groups, and organizations?

The latest ‘secret’ list of alleged ‘Sectoral Front Organizations’ from the 50th IB seems to admit so. With all its might and combat training, the military still labels civilian and media organizations – as ‘Threat Groups.’

While their baseless rhetoric has already turned pathetic, its danger remains potent, enough to result in discrimination of groups and individuals, trumped-up cases, detention, enforced disappearance, and murder.

But the more crucial question is: Why the military considers critical media a threat and merits attention? Is it because our reports not only amplify the people’s democratic aspirations but also expose the ills of society that continue to thrive because of the government’s shortcomings?

Since its establishment in 1989, Northern Dispatch has reported on campaigns and struggles against widespread poverty, feudal exploitation, resource plunder, corruption, human rights violations and abuses, anti-people policies, and the government’s subservience to foreign powers. The people’s narratives we publish illustrate state security forces’ historical and continuing role in protecting this order.

While these stories show the root cause of the armed conflict and the social foundation of inequality and lack of justice, they still go through strict editorial standards. We write them with the Journalists’ Code of Ethics in mind.

Thus, we urge the military and the government to cease the practice of red-tagging and engage us under the rule of law and justice, and in an honorable manner. Prove that you are still capable of rational discourse on issues instead of treating critical media and activist groups as enemies of the state. #

Northern Dispatch Board of Directors, Editors, and Provincial Correspondents

June 14, 2023

Reds to try killers of NDFP peace consultant Posadas

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Island announced the killers of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Rogelio Posadas will be tried by the “Revolutionary People’s Court” in the island.

NPA-Negros’ Apolinario Gatmaitan Command spokesperson Maoche Legislador in a statement Saturday, June 10, said cases related to Posadas’ killing by the military have been filed in its own tribunal.

Legislador said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) are the respondents in the case.

“[T]here is no one else capable of cruel acts against revolutionary forces and the people but the mercenary and barbaric (AFP), (PNP) and (NTFELCAC) under the command of (President Ferdinand) Marcos Jr.,” Legislador said.

The Visayas Command (VisCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced last April 23 that Posadas died in a firefight with soldiers of the 62nd Infantry Battalion in Barangay Santol, Binalbagan, Negros Occidental last April 20.

READ: Missing NDFP peace consultant killed by AFP

Posadas, however, was announced missing as early as April 19 by the NDFP in Negros, along with companion Kyngrace Marturillas and motorcycle drivers Denald Mailen and Renel delos Santos.

Legislador said bystanders who witnessed the incident claimed a white van waylaid two motorcycles, afterwhich armed men wearing bonnets forced the drivers and passengers into the van.

He added Posadas was assassinated by the military in yet another fake encounter and that Marturillas and the drivers remain to be victims of enforced disappearances.

What’s a ‘People’s Court?’

Unlike Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) municipal and regional trial courts that are headed by a single judge, People’s Courts are usually composed of several members who try and decide on the cases as a tribunal similar to GRP’s Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court.

Respondents, whether present or in absentia, are assigned defenders as in regular courts.

Understandably, most trials are held clandestinely but CPP, NPA, NDFP supporters as well as civilians are allowed as observers.

In earlier interviews with Kodao, NDFP representatives explained that anyone, including civilians, may file complaints with the CPP and the NPA.

Cases that warrant the formation of a People’s Court often try serious cases, such as cattle rustling, land grabbing, rape, murder and “counter-revolutionary activities” that lead to the capture or death of CPP, NPA and NDFP members, the representatives explained.

Penalties on guilty verdicts range from the offender’s banishment from a certain place to death, such as in the case of former NPA leader Romulo Kintanar who was executed in November 2003 while having lunch at a Quezon City restaurant by a NPA team.

The CPP said People’s Courts are part of its governance of territories it has established in its more than five decades of armed struggle. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Despite persecution, seasoned missioners serve rural poor in Philippines

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By Sr. Edita C. Eslopor, OSB/RMP

I have belonged to the Congregation of the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing for 40 years, and since I am assigned to the remotest of the rural areas — serving those on the margins of society (the lost, the least and the last living) — I also work with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

I have found my niche interacting with the sisters and lay mission partners from different congregations in the Philippines, and with parishes whose visions and missions share our common commitment to helping people in poverty. It is here that I genuinely appreciated the charism of our congregation. I am indeed grateful for God’s grace to persevere in my call to be a missionary in the Philippines.

From my experience, I could compare the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, as an organization, to a nutshell.

A nutshell is a hard covering in which the edible kernel of a nut is enclosed; it is sturdy and impenetrable and cannot be broken easily. If you strike it incorrectly, it will bounce back and be unchanged. The term in a nutshell is also used in writing or speaking to say something briefly, using a few words.

Missionary Benedictine Sr. Edita Eslopor climbs to visit an Indigenous Lumad village in the Philippines after an hourlong motorcycle ride. (Courtesy of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines)

I was reflecting on this when the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines commemorated its 54th anniversary last August 2022. It had struggled through the pandemic; relentless “red-tagging” as terrorist or communist under the Anti-Terrorism Law; ongoing vilifications; killings; and freezing the group’s funds through the government’s Anti-Money Laundering Council. These funds should have been spent to help the rural people in poverty, especially peasants, Indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, and their people’s organizations.

Founded on Aug. 15, 1969, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is the oldest mission partner of the Conference of the Major Superiors in the Philippines. In a nutshell — Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is resilient and can weather storm after storm, for it is well-designed to serve the poorest of the poor in the rural areas in the Philippines.

Seasoned religious women, men and lay partners who espouse the vision, mission and goals of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines are at the helm of the organization. They have accomplished much and made a name here and abroad for more than five decades now.

They are a paragon of service to the rural poor. Hence, the group is closely watched and vilified by the powers that be, and red-tagged by the military because the missionaries are so down-to-earth. They remind me of what Pope Francis said when he instructed priests: “Be shepherds with the smell of the sheep.”

And how relevant is what Bishop Dom Hélder Câmara said: “When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

As the military unjustly attacked the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines by red-tagging them and freezing the funds intended for the peasants’ organizations, the missioners bounced back and continued to perform their missionary undertakings according to the saying: The mission is not ours; the mission is God’s.

The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is home to different sisters, priests and lay mission partners from different congregations. They took to heart their mission and seriously looked at the signs of the times — not as an ordinary event but as a call and a challenge that needed a response.

What made these followers of Christ read the signs of the times with the eyes and ears of their hearts? The sisters who have led the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines through the years are visionary and extraordinary women at the forefront of contextualizing their faith. Their feat is amazing and worth emulating.

To celebrate how the group has enfleshed its God-given mission, I tried to itemize it:

  • Five decades — of grateful and consistent journeying with the rural poor, partner organizations and funding agencies, to give birth to an organization of missionary doctors and health professionals (the Council for Health and Development);
  • 600 months — of meeting, assessing, planning to research, and attending rallies in solidarity with the people and other cause-oriented groups;
  • 2,607 weeks — of breathing in the “smell of their sheep,” working with farmers, fisherfolk and Indigenous people, stressing the need to ally with the people’s organizations;
  • 18,263 days — of talking the talk, facilitating fact-finding missions, medical missions, scholarship, and the like; of walking the walk with back-breaking responsibilities to help the people help themselves through their projects, thus empowering them;
  • 18,438,312 hours — of home visiting, contact building, providing/facilitating task reflections/assemblies/exposure, sharing and praying the Bible in the context of the lived experiences of the poor people they serve;
  • 26,298,720 minutes — of parrying the impact of the red-tagging and vilifying attacks from the military, of defending their God-given mission and congregational mandates, and of praying most earnestly for God’s guidance and protection.

As I lived my missionary life and when I looked to the lifelong members with their lean figures and malformed bodies, and dearly beloved departed missionaries, they always energized me beyond words. They mirrored the long years of great service and unwavering belief in the God of the poor and the giftedness of the people they served; their sacrifices for a cause they believed in; and their efforts without counting the cost that made their lives relevant and meaningful.

Missionary Benedictine Sr. Edita Eslopor and an African fellow sister distribute school supplies in a village in the rural Philippines. (Courtesy of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines)

Francis reminded those who serve, “We must not forget that true power, at whatever level, is service.” Their whole worthwhile life is their humble offering back to God for the grace and care that God has bestowed on them through the years.

These people are awash with good memories of their experiences with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines. Such a treasure — more precious than gold — is cherished in their hearts through the years.

Quo vadis, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, in the next 50 years? This is a question often asked, given the worsening situation in the country and a lackluster Philippine president. But the missioners have the hope and a cast-iron certainty that God is always on the side of the poor, as he loved them and made so many of them!

As for those who served the people living in poverty, God will always bless them with peace and grace. The missionaries endured and will continue to persevere, for in the words of an African proverb, they stand tall on the shoulders of many ancestors.

The rural missionaries will move on with grit and determination. God’s grace transformed them into extraordinary missioners. And they take heart from St. Oscar Romero’s testimonial: “Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives and communists and all the epithets they put on us, we know we only preach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down.” #

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Editor’s note: Sr. Edita Eslopor was red-tagged herself and her community has missioned her to another location.

This article was originally published by the globalsistersreport.org.

Tinang farmers threatened, red-tagged anew as victory nears

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Days before their “installation” as genuine agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), officers and members of the Malayang Kilusang Samahang Magsasaka ng Tinang (MAKISAMA-Tinang) received threats and have been red-tagged anew.

A copy of the police blotter reporting the threat against MAKISAMA-Tinang chairperson Alvin Dimarucut.

The leader of the farmer’s group involved in a land struggle in Tarlac Province received threats from an employee of a local politician a week before the anniversary of their mass arrest, a police blotter showed.

 A June 4 blotter at the Concepcion (Tarlac) police station stated that a certain Conrado “Jonjon” Magtoto reportedly threateningly said MAKISAMA-Tinang chairperson Alvin Dimarucut must be on the lookout for his safety.

Magtoto was driving a tractor in behalf of the family of Concepcion mayor Noel Villanueva at a disputed portion of Hacienda Tinang at about 2:30in the afternoon of Saturday, June 3, when he uttered the threat.

The farm hand noticed a certain Ma. Roche Castro taking videos of MAKISAMA-Tinang’s newly-planted pepper crops when he asked her under whose group she belonged. Magtoto accused Castro of taking videos of him.

“Are you with Alvin? You can tell him he must be ready,” Magtoto reportedly said.

In an interview with Altermidya last Monday, June 5, Dimarucut said that while he considers Magtoto’s words threatening, he is “not afraid of the many threats he has received.”

MAKISAMA-Tinang chairperson Alvin dimarucut (in light blue shirt) with members of his group. (Altermidya photo)

MAKISAMA-Tinang nonetheless filed a report at the police station where they were jailed for several days.

In February 18, 2022, Dimarucut and comrades also filed a police report against Magtoto who drove a tractor over the disputed property despite the issuance of a February 4, 2022 Cease and Desist Order by DAR-Region III director Homer Tobias.

Kodao sources said Magtoto is under the employ of the Villanuevas even as the disputed 60-hectares of the property awarded by the Department of Agriculture (DAR) to 90 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBS) is also being claimed and occupied by the group called Samahang Nayon Farmers’ Cooperative.

In a March 21, 2023 decision, DAR secretary Conrado Estrella III said 60 hectares of Hacienda Tinang must be returned to 90 ARBS and four farmhands, most of whom are members of MAKISAMA-Tinang.

MAKISAMA-Tinang told Altermidya that they expect their “installation” within the next few days.

The farmers and their supporters were arrested last June 9, 2022 in what is being described as the largest such incident since the end of the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. dictatorship.

WHAT WENT BEFORE: Scenes at a police parking lot

Concepcion Police in the biggest mass arrest since the end of Marcos’ martial law. (Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura photo)

Farmers face off with police at Ombudsman’s office

Meanwhile, MAKISAMA-Tinang members faced off with their police captors in the mass arrest incident at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City today, June 6.

The “clarificatory hearing” was in relation to the charges filed by the farmers against 30 Concepcion police personnel, including then officer in charge PLt. Col. Reynaldo Macabitas.

The farmers’ charges include:

—Violation of Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained and Under Custodial Investigation

—Perjury

—Unlawful Arrest

—Arbitrary Detention

—Physical and Mental/Psychological Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Treatment or Punishment

—Grave Misconduct, Conduct Prejudicial to the Best Interest of Service, and Oppression

—Gender-based Sexual Harassment in a Public Place

MAKISAMA-Tinang farmers revealed the police officials in attendance responded to questions asked them in “wishy-washy” way.

The police’s oral statements often contradicted the written affidavits they submitted to the Ombudsman, the farmers said.

“Farmers and peasant advocates alike were especially taken aback by the brashness of the red-tagging committed by P/Lt. Col. Macabitas in front of the hearing officer herself, hinting at military involvement,” the Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura in a statement after the hearing said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Respect rights of 2 surfaced youth activists,’ group urges gov’t

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A human rights group urged the military to respect the rights of farmers rights advocate Patricia Cierva and environmental activist Cedrick Casaño despite being surfaced as “surrenderees” last Friday, June 2, in Cagayan province.

Eighteen days after they went missing, the two activists were among 21 so-called rebel returnees presented in a ceremony led by Cagayan governor Manuel Mamba and the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army in the province’s sub-capitol compound in Lal-lo town.

“It has come to our attention that Cedrick Casaño and Patricia Cierva have been surfaced by the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the Cagayan Provincial Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC),” Karapatan’s Cagayan Valley chapter said in the statement.

The group pointed out however that the two were “kept in isolation and underwent tactical interrogation” in nearly three weeks before their public presentation as “former New People’s Army (NPA) members.”

“Our call remains that their basic human rights be respected, they be accorded due process, and for their immediate release to be with their friends and families,” Karapatan said.

‘Careful statements’

As the most prominent among the group of so-called surrenderees, the two young activists were given the chance to talk during the ceremony.

Casaño had no negative words against the NPA, citing personal reasons for participating in the surrender ceremony instead.

“When I faced my captors, I could have struggled. But, in the process, and with the loss of several comrades, I lost my will to fight. That is the reason why I am here,” he said in a mix of Ilocano, Filipino and English.

Casaño added that he and Cierva will continue to advocate for social reforms in other ways.

“We cannot measure the peace we aspire for by the absence of war. Peace is measured if the people have sufficient food to eat. Peace based on justice is what we want,” he said.

Cierva for her part said, “Who does not want peace or development? Perspective differs depending on what side you are on. Though it will no longer be like the same means, our aspirations will remain.”

The two activists thanked the military for treating them well since their capture and the human rights organizations, activist groups and the University of the Philippines in Manila for launching a campaign for their surfacing.

 Northern Luzon Command chief Lt.Gen. Fernyl Buca himself used Casano’s own words in acknowledging the two’s so-called surrender.

“We are honored that you have surrendered your will to fight, and you have welcomed into your heart the will to go back to the government (and) to your families,” he said.

Mamba said they will look after the 20 surrenderees, which will look into the possibility of being hired by the Cagayan provincial government in the future.

He added that good governance is the solution to the “insurgency” in the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups accuse Marcos Jr. admin of having worse desaperacidos record than Duterte

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An international group on human rights in the Philippines accused the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration of having a worse record on forcible disappearances than the previous Rodrigo Duterte government.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) said the Marcos Jr. government continues the “brazen violation” of human rights carried by the previous regime as it called for the surfacing of two activists reportedly abducted in Gonzaga, Cagayan last May 16.

ICHRP said peasant and youth organizers Michael Cedrick Casaño and Patricia Nicole Cierva are alleged to have been abducted by the 501st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army and demanded their surfacing this week as the world marks International Week of the Disappeared.

“[ICHRP] demands an end to the reign of terror on political dissent, and calls for the immediate surfacing of all activists who have been forcibly disappeared by state forces,” ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy said.

Who are the victims?

Patricia Cierva was a former University of the Philippines-Manila leader and Kabataan Party chairperson for the National Capital Region in 2018. She conducted her Development Studies practicum in Cagayan in 2019 and went back to the province to assist farming communities.

Cedrick Casaño meanwhile is a former philosophy student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and is an active campaigner for the “Green Platform” in Cagayan against magnetite sand mining operations. Said operations were damaging the environment that would result to food insecurity and biodiversity loss, the ICHRP said.

Casaño and Cierva are reportedly the 9th and 10 victims of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. administration.

Ninth and 10th Desaperacidos under Bongbong Marcos Patricia Cierva (left) and Cedrick Casaño.
(Northern Dispatch composite image)

ICHRP said the reported incidents of enforced disappearance are alarming and seem to be the trend under the Marcos Jr. government, citing two other Northern Luzon activists Gene Roz “Bazoo” de Jesus and Dexter Capuyan who also went missing since April 28 and last seen in Taytay, Rizal.

Local human rights organization Karapatan also lists Gabriela activists Ma. Elena Pampoza and Elgene Mungcal, National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Ariel Badiang, Negros peasant organizer Leonardo Sermona, Renel Delos Santos, Denald Laloy Mialen and Lyn Grace Martullinas as “desaperacidos” or abductees by state forces.

Ignoring its own laws

Karapatan in a statement marking International Week of the Disappeared said state forces ignore human rights laws such as Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act that has been enacted in 2012.

“Despite such a law, enforced disappearances have, in fact, emerged as a troubling hallmark of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regime, with a growing number of cases reported within a short span of time,” the group said.

In a mere 10-month period, there have been nine victims of enforced disappearances under the current regime, already constituting 45% of the Duterte regime’s six-year record of 20 cases. Five of the nine victims went missing in the month of April 2023, Karapatan said in its May 26 statement.

Casaño and Cervia bring the number of cases to 11 reported enforced disappearances, or 55% if compared to the Duterte administration’s total of 20.

Karapatan has documented 206 missing under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s nine-year rule, 29 under the Benigno Aquino III regime and 20 under Duterte.

The website desaperacidos.org lists 1,600 forcibly disappeared under the president’s father Ferdinand Sr.’s dictatorship in the 1960s to the 1980s, “none of (whom) has ever been found.”

“Still another statistic identifies the Philippines as one of the 26 countries worldwide with the highest number of cases of enforced disappearances from 1980 to 2009, with as many as 780 documented instances, surpassing countries like Iran (532), Lebanon (320) and Honduras (207),” Karapatan added.

“The spate of Enforced Disappearances during this first 11 months of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a full proof that the lives of Filipino community activists are at stake,” Murphy said.

ICHRP added that the Philippine Government refuses to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), one of the recommendations by several United Nations member states including Japan, France, Denmark, Italy and Brazil during the Universal Periodic Review in 2022 in Geneva Switzerland last November.

“The Philippine government must surface the disappeared, and ratify and comply with ICPPED”, Murphy said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Migrante International to gov’t: Help OFWs sent home by Kuwait

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Migrante International (MI) called on the Philippine government to provide immediate assistance to overseas workers sent back by Kuwait resulting from the ongoing dispute between the two governments.

MI reported that many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have been offloaded from their flights while others have been repatriated since the emirate halted the issuance of entry and labor visas to Filipinos effective May 10.

Since May 12, 78 OFWs have been repatriated and a reported 130 OFWs are stranded daily, MI said.

“Not allowed to enter Kuwait, they will not earn the salary that they would have sent to their families or used to start paying their debts,” MI said in a statement.

“We condemn the Kuwait government for sending back OFWs because it sees the Philippine government as abetting violations of labor agreements by providing shelters to distressed OFWs,” it added.

Kuwait’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Talaal Al Khalid issued a circular May 10 announcing the ban and accusing the Philippines of failing to comply with a labor agreement between the two countries.

The 2020 agreement was signed after an OFW deployment ban to Kuwait was issued by the Philippine government after the deaths of domestic workers Joanna Demafelis and Jeanelyn Villaverde in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The agreement commits both governments to ensuring the protection and welfare of Filipino workers.

According to media reports, Kuwait specifically complains of the existence of Philippine government-maintained shelters for “runaway OFWs.”

Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Eduardo de Vega told reporters that if the shelters are the issue, “…[T]hen it would be non-negotiable for the Philippines because we will not close down our shelters there since it is required under our law.”

MI said it agrees with the Philippine government in maintaining the shelters and should in fact expand the program.

“Domestic workers, who comprise a big chunk of OFWs in Kuwait, are most vulnerable to labor exploitation and sexual abuse and violence, especially in foreign lands,” MI said.

The group added that the Philippine government must also oppose the emirate’s kafala system that makes employers’ control over OFWs nearly absolute in order to uphold workers’ and migrants’ rights. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Canadian foreign minister urged to voice rights violations concerns in PH visit

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A group asked the Canadian foreign affairs minister to stop her government’s support to the Philippines’ counter-terrorism campaign they say often leads to human rights violations.

In a May 18 letter, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP)-Canada asked Minister Melanie Joly to bring up human rights concerns in her ongoing visit to the country.

“It is important for Canada to stop offering financial, programmatic, and technical assistance to the Philippine Government as it may lead to the oppression of its own citizens through counter-terrorism measures,” ICHRP Canada said in its letter.

Joly is in the Philippines from May 18 to 20 to strengthen bilateral relations between the Canadian and Philippine governments.

The Canadian foreign minister is set to meet with Philippine foreign affairs secretary Enrique Manalo and other Cabinet members on matters including regional security and stability, maintenance of a rules-based international order, Canada’s Indo-Pacific strategy and partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

ICHRP however urged Joly to ask the Philippine government to stop the red-tagging of Filipino human rights defenders the Philippine military and several government officials accuse of being “enemies of the state.”  

Red-tagging and similar campaigns are “questionable counter-terrorism efforts,” the group said.

“In less than a year since President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. assumed office, eight human rights defenders and community organizers have involuntarily disappeared. By continuing to support the Philippine Government, Canada risks being complicit in serious and widespread human rights violations. Therefore, this issue needs to be addressed promptly,” ICHRP explained.

ICHRP also called on Minister Joly to call on the Philippine government to:

  • Repeal the Anti-Terror Law and recall Executive Order No. 70, creating a National Taskforce to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), stop all activities emanating from this order, including the escalation of smear campaigns and judicial harassment against human rights defenders and specifically, call on Philippine authorities to surface the eight human rights defenders, who have involuntarily disappeared in the past 11 months, alive and safe;
  • End impunity and prosecute the perpetrators of human rights violations, and
  • Adhere to and respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights instruments to which the Philippines is a party and signatory.

ICHRP said its partners have reported that the counter-terrorism policies and programs of the Philippine Government do not meet the international standards for counter-terrorism and human rights obligations.

“Canada’s response to this issue serves as a test of its dedication to protecting human rights and those who defend them,” the group said.

“This is a critical issue that demands prompt attention,” it added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)