Groups denounce killing of Moro human rights defender
Human Rights group Karapatan and Kawagib Moro Human Rights Alliance held an indignation protest Tuesday, September 25, at the Timog Circle in Quezon City against the recent killing of a Moro human rights worker in Mindanao. Mariam Uy Acob, 43 years old and paralegal of Kawagib, was gunned down by suspected military agents last September […]
Moro group blames Duterte for the massacre of Tausug evacuees
National minority group Suara Bangsamoro blamed President Rodrigo Duterte for the massacre of seven Tausug civilians Friday in Patikul, Sulu by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). “President Duterte’s all-out war policy is killing more and more of our Moro brothers and sisters. We are enraged that, to appease his Filipino soldiers, he would […]
Ampatuan furlough alarms journos, rights groups
Journalists and human rights advocates expressed alarm over a four-hour furlough given by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC-RTC) to a primary suspect in the November 24, 2009 Ampatuan Massacre that killed 58 victims, including 32 reporters. The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said in a statement it is concerned to […]
Duterte insincere on talks – peace groups
By April Burcer June 21 should have been the day “Stand Down Agreement” between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is signed, but the ceasefire did not push through because of the government’s decision to cancel formal talks between the parties. In the “Are GRP-NDFP Peace Talks Still Possible with […]
Congress mangled BBL, critics say
Critics have slammed the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) measures passed by both Houses of Congress, saying these fail to recognize the Bangsamoro’s right to self-determination. In separate statements, Suara Bangsamoro and Bayan Muna have dismissed the approved versions of the bills at the House of Representatives and the Senate as a betrayal of the Bangsamoro […]
Group accuses police, military of massacre in Matalam
A Bangsamoro group has accused the Philippine National Police (PNP) of the “massacre” of nine Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) fighters who have reportedly already surrendered before being mercilessly mowed down with automatic gunfire last May 25 in North Cotabato. The Suara Bangsamoro said that in the guise of an anti-drug operation in Sitio Biao, […]
Jerome Aba narrates ordeal in US
Jerome Aba, Sandugo co-chairperson, narrates his ordeal at the San Francisco International Airport when denied entry and interrogated by US immigration and homeland security agents for nearly 30-hours. He was invited by Church groups to talk about the human rights situation in the Philippines.
Lift martial law in Mindanao now, Moro groups urge Duterte
Moro groups called for the immediate lifting of martial law in Mindanao and the pull-out of both Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and United States troops following President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of the liberation of Marawi City after five months of fighting. In a statement Thursday, Tindeg Ranao and Suara Bangsamoro said they find […]
Duterte’s Mindanao-wide martial law is unjustified–Joma
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has no or little justification to declare martial law in the whole of Mindanao, National Democratic Front of the Philippines Chief Political Consultant Jose Maria Sison said. After the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced the ongoing clash in Marawi City is a mere diversionary tactic by the Maute Group, Sison questioned if […]