Baguio councilor wins nat’l Gawad Gabay Karapatan award

By Gina Dizon

QUEZON CITY -- Baguio City Councilor Arthur Allad-iw was adjudged winner by the Commission on Human Rights of this year’s Gawad Gabay Karapatan category of the Gawad Karapatan Pantao.

    Allad-iw received the plaque of recognition from CHR Commissioner Monina A Zenarosa during the culminating commemoration of national human rights consciousness week held Dec.10, celebration of International Human Rights Day.
Following a search by the national screening committee of the CHR, other three government officials were awarded the honors of being Gawad Bantay Karapatan, Gawad Tanggol Karapatan and Gawad Sulong Karapatan.
    In said ceremony, Allad-iw re-echoing Ka Pepe Diokno’s advocacy for human rights said, “We aspire for a situation where we stand as human beings enjoying these rights and freedoms whether as individual, sector or as a people.”
    Arthur Lapa-an Allad-iw from Sagada Mountain Province has long been an advocate for indigenous people’s rights, human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities. 

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12th business, human rights forum CPA head elected co-chair of Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus

 

Cordillera Peoples Alliance Secretary General, Bestang Sarah Dekdeken, delivers a statement at the conclusion of the 12th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (BHR) held from 27-29 November in Geneva, Switzerland. Dekdeken was elected as Co-Chair of the Global Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus.      Among the issues and recommendations emphasized by Dekdeken in her statement is “For states and businesses to ensure the protection of Indigenous Peoples and Defenders from the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples’ resistance against corporate projects including tagging Indigenous Peoples’ struggles as acts of terrorism as in the case of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance in the Philippines, extrajudicial killings and various forms of human rights violations, and State reprisals, with impunity.”      According to Dekdeken, “We participated in the Forum to bring attention to the urgent issues faced by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and its leaders, especially the arbitrary designation of 4 CPA leaders as “terrorists” by the Anti-Terrorism Council. We are here to seek the support of governments and civil society to put a stop to the attacks against Cordillera indigenous peoples and the CPA.”     “We also came to raise concerns on the continued FPIC violations in the proposed dam projects in the Cordillera, such as the case in the proposed Gened dams and the other Apayao dams, and the widely opposed Saltan dam prjects in Kalinga,” added Dekdeken.      CPA Public Information Staff, Astrid Bolinget, has likewise raised concerns on the continuing attacks against the human rights of indigenous youth. In her statement, Astrid stated that “Human rights attacks on indigenous youth such as red-tagging, terrorist tagging, trumped-up charges, abduction, intimidation, and harassment must stop to enable meaningful participation of indigenous youth in decision-making, empowerment of Indigenous Peoples in asserting our collective rights to land, territories, resources, and our rights as indigenous youth in particular.”     The annual UN BHR Forum is the world's largest annual gathering on business and human rights, this year with 3,993 participants from government, business, community groups and civil society including Indigenous Peoples, law firms, investor organisations, UN bodies, national human rights institutions, and other groups. The agenda of the forum is to discuss the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights  (the United Nations "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework), as well as current business-related human rights issues.

 

 

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UN rapporteur calls for repeal of anti-terror law, ELCAC abolition

The United Nations Special Rapporteur Ian Fry urged the government on Wednesday to revoke the Anti-Terrorism Act and abolish its anticommunist task force, noting how both were facilitating human rights violations and harassment of environmental defenders.
    “The government needs to create a clean slate around its approach to antiterrorism and revise the laws to make them appropriate for the circumstances occurring now, and not to use the laws to harass, vilify and kill environmental human rights defenders,” Fry said in a press briefing.
    The international environmental law and policy expert spoke on the last day of his 10-day visit to the country to study and identify how the adverse impacts of climate change were affecting the “full and effective enjoyment of human rights.”
    Citing “horrific stories” from civil society groups and indigenous peoples (IPs) organizations who were subjected to attacks, he urged government to disband the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) “because it is operating beyond its original mandate and is Red-tagging people from the community.”
    Fry said that during his consultations, he heard testimonies from civil society organizations and even church leaders who were attacked, Red-tagged and their assets ordered frozen—actions by the military which the UN expert said were “totally unreasonable.”
    He cited the need to investigate previous NTF-Elcac operations in addition to reported cases of extrajudicial killings.
    Fry also recommended the formulation of a truth and reconciliation process, noting that “there [were] clearly people who suffered dramatically as a consequence of the persecution of environmental rights defenders and there needs to be a process to properly review effects of the actions of the military.”
    The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, he added, must be reformed, as he suggested the establishment of a grievance mechanism to hear the harm that IPs suffered due to “inappropriate” development projects and military action.
Fry noted that the country was “under a lot of pressure” to provide to the international economy minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel and gold in support of renewable energy initiatives.
    In turn, the opening of more mines led to more human rights violations such as displacement of IPs and serious contamination of river systems, resulting in reduced water supply for affected communities, he said.
Fry’s other recommendations included enforcement of a moratorium on all reclamation projects in the country and the revision of the Climate Change Act.
“    The government needs to take strong heed of the Commission on Human Rights’ Report on climate change and hold ‘carbon majors’ accountable for the greenhouse gas emissions they are responsible for,” he said in his interim report.
    Fry will present his formal report to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2024, which will provide feedback to the government through communication or exchange of letters.
    He added that while it was still up to the government to heed the recommendations, failure to do so would have its “biggest impact” on the country’s international image.

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Groups demand surfacing of ‘abducted’ missing activists

By Jennifer B. Balgos

National minority groups demanded the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police to surface activists Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil “Bazoo” De Jesus on the fifth month of their abduction allegedly by law enforcement agents.
    The groups gathered Sept. 28 at the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) in V. Luna Road corner East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City to press their surfacing.
    Families of the missing activists, friends and human rights organizations joined the protest.
    “This marks significance as the recent environmental advocates, Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro exposed in the press conference held by NTF-ELCAC itself that they were abducted by the military, forced to sign an affidavit in a military camp, and emphasized that they do not want to be under the custody of military,” they said in a press statement.
    Families and human rights organizations said they were “determined to expose the fact that Dexter and Bazoo were also abducted by the state forces -- Criminal Investigation and Detection Group agents and were last seen in Taytay, Rizal being forced into two separate vehicles,” they said in the statement. 
Indigenous peoples and Moro organizations joined the protest.
    After the mobilization, mural painting of the faces of Dexter and Bazoo took place at Katipunan Ave., at the back of UP Diliman, Student Union Building.

 

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Filipino rights defenders demand UN action on Philippines situation

 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

GENEVA, Switzerland — Filipino human rights advocates seek a comprehensive, relevant, and participatory evaluation of the United Nations Joint Program in the Philippines, saying it has been unable to significantly address continuing human rights violations in the country. They also say that, after more than a year in power, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has proven to be virtually indistinguishable from his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, where human rights are concerned.
    Representatives from leading Filipino human rights organizations, including the Karapatan, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Rise Up for Life and for Rights, and the KATRIBU - Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, are now at the UN Geneva Headquarters for the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The organizations are members of the Philippine Universal Periodic Review Watch (PUPR Watch), a network of civil society organizations engaging with United Nations processes.
    The rights groups are drawing particular attention to the unjust labeling of human rights and environment defenders as ‘communist-terrorists.’ In this intense and challenging climate, the defenders are calling on the UNHRC to raise its voice and address these pressing issues.
    "UPR Watch calls on the UNHRC to seriously look at the alarming human rights record of the Marcos Jr. administration and the harmful policies perpetuating it," said Beverly Longid of KATRIBU. “We are urging the UNHRC to look into the use and abuse of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, the anti-terrorism financing law, and international humanitarian law. Human rights violations — killings, arrests, and arbitrary detentions  — under Marcos Jr. continue, especially with the problematic presence of NTF-ELCAC, which misuses taxpayer funds for destructive red-tagging.
    The rights groups emphasized an ongoing wholesale violation of the Filipino people’s economic rights occurring amid a deep economic and ecological crisis. “This crisis is driven by the decades-long oligarchic control of the Philippine economy, and the systematic exploitation of natural resources,” said Clemente Bautista of KALIKASAN.
    Opposition to the rights violations has been met with state authoritarianism and fascism, resulting in harassment, intimidation, red-tagging, surveillance, and violence. “State forces have been connected to killings, enforced disappearance, arbitrary arrests and tortures.
    Likewise, they have been ineffective in solving and prosecuting these rights violations, such as the recent killing of a public interest lawyer, Ma. Saniata Liwliwa Gonzales-Alzate,” said Kristina Conti of NUPL.
    During their mission to Geneva, the Filipino human rights defenders will engage in dialogues with various UN special rapporteurs and country representatives and present their findings before the Council to shed light on widespread human rights violations.
 
 

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UP campuses: Surface missing activists taken by armed CIDG men

By Sherwin De Vera

BAGUIO CITY — Several University of the Philippines campuses have joined the call to surface two UP Baguio alumni who have been missing since April 28.
    In separate statements, the Baguio, Cebu, and Visayas campuses urged the government to assist in finding Dexter Capuyan, 56 and Gene Roz Jamil De Jesus, 27.    
     Human rights groups claimed armed men who presented themselves as members of the Philippines National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) forcibly took them in Taytay, Rizal.
    "Their disappearance has not only caused anxiety and distress to their loved ones but also created a chilling effect to the safety and security of our community," UP Baguio said in a May 24 statement.
    "We urge all government and concerned agencies, specifically those that have already been approached by the families of Bazoo and Dexter, to exhaust all means and resources to fully address their disappearance," the statement added.
    This is the first official pronouncement from the institution on the issue since the disappearance of its former student leaders. Capuyan was the editor-in-chief of the student publication, The Outcrop and chair of the city-wide chapter of the League of Filipino Students in the 80s. De Jesus, who graduated cum laude in 2016, formerly chaired the Alliance of Concerned Students and the UP Baguio Council of Leaders.
    The statement came a day after more than a hundred students, faculty, alumni, and supporters held a vigil inside the campus, attended by the mother of De Jesus and Capuyan's daughter.
    Speakers during the activity, including Capuyan's contemporary in the student publication and UP Baguio professor Willy Alangui, urged campus officials to support the call to surface the two alumni.
He cited the immediate condemnation by the administration of the enforced disappearance of James Balao in 2008, also a former Outcrop editor-in-chief.
    "Malaking bagay 'yong dapat suporta na pinapakita sa paghahanap sa kanilang alumni, malaking bagay sa pamilya marinig kung paano sila pumusisyon, kailangan pa natin silang kalampagin para lang mapilitang maglabas ng statement, hindi dapat," Alangui said.
    Hours before the UP Baguio statement, UP Cebu Chancellor Atty. Leo Malagar expressed "solidarity with the UP Baguio community, the families of Capuyan and De Jesus, and all who believe in human rights and freedom."     He said the disappearance of the two "unsettles as much as it reminds us of the abduction of Dyan Gumanao and Armand Jake Dayoha."
    Gumanao and Dayoha are UP Cebu alumni who were abducted by suspected state agents last January. The perpetrators eventually released them following a public outcry.
    "A troubling pattern emerges, calling for immediate and effective collective action. With urgency and optimism, we press for comprehensive investigations and active cooperation from the police and other law enforcement agencies to ascertain the whereabouts of Capuyan and De Jesus," Malagar said.
    "Enforced disappearances achieve nothing more than the erosion of the fabric of a democratic society. Silencing critics doesn't support the aims of mainstream society; it only weakens our democracy," he added.
Earlier, on May 23, the UP Visayas also called for the surfacing of the two UP Baguio alumni.
    "A society is never truly free if its activists and critics are subjected to constant harassment and must fear for their safety. For this reason, we express grave concern over the enforced disappearance of two graduates of UP Baguio," the statement said.
    "We call on our partners from all relevant agencies of government to help end this pattern of injustice and to join us in demanding for the safe return of the two activists," it added.
 

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UP Manila raises alarm over activists’ kidnapping

Janvic Mateo 

The University of the Philippines (UP) in Manila on Saturday expressed alarm over the reported kidnapping of two activists, including one of its alumna.
    Human rights groups reported that community organizers Patricia Cierva and Cedrick Casaño were taken by alleged members of the military in Gonzaga, Cagayan on May 18.
    Cierva is an alumna of UP Manila’s development studies program and a former officer of the university student council.
    The university said it is strongly supporting the call for the immediate surfacing of the two activists, and urged all concerned government agencies to assist in their release and ensure their safe return to their families.
    “We urge all government agencies to adhere to the basic tenets of democracy. We believe that our democracy, won through decades of activism and patriotism, can only be practiced to the fullest when the basic human rights of every Filipino is respected and protected, and these rights include individual safety, dignity and freedom of speech,” the university said.

    “We strongly urge all former and current teachers, students, officials, employees and friends of UP Manila to speak out and join the call for the surfacing of not just Cierva and Casaño, but of all those who were wrongly taken and arrested,” it added.

    The university condemned the continued red-tagging and threats against members of the UP community, citing the kidnapping of UP Cebu faculty Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha, the arrest of professor Melania Flores and the enforced disappearance of UP Baguio alumni Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz de Jesus.

 

 

 

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Groups to Marcos: Surface activists abducted by CIDG

  Capuyan, De Jesus case

Various indigenous peoples advocates and human rights organizations led a demonstration at the Philippine National Police headquarters last week to demand the surfacing of missing activists Dexter Capuyan and Bazoo de Jesus.
    It has been over two weeks since Capuyan and De Jesus were abducted on April 28 in Taytay, Rizal, they said.
    Based on information gathered from search missions, groups said it was confirmed that Capuyan and De Jesus were taken by “operatives who introduced themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).” 
    “These recent abductions of rights defenders under Marcos Jr.’s administration are a spitting image of his father’s atrocities during the dark years of martial law,” said Beverly Longid, national convenor of Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas, a national alliance of Indigenous Peoples’ organizations.     “Before Dexter and Bazoo’s disappearance, IP rights advocates Mary Joyce Lizada and Arnulfo Aumentado also went missing before being found in the hands of the AFP at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.”
    Various protest actions were held in the Cordillera and NCR demanding the safe surfacing of the two, but several Rizal-based law enforcement, security, and intelligence agencies have denied holding the two in custody.
    A press conference was held last May 10 at the Karapatan national office, where family members of the missing advocates expressed their concern alongside representatives from various indigenous peoples and human rights organizations.
    In Baguio City that same day, other family members alongside the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) conducted a simultaneous search mission in Camp Allen and Camp Dangwa, following the earlier search missions in Rizal.
    A complaint and a request for assistance in the search were also forwarded by the families to the Cordillera regional office of the Commission on Human Rights.
    “This cover-up has made us all the more eager to find Dexter and Bazoo. We urge Mr. Marcos and his subordinates to surface the two,” Longid added. Under the provisions of RA 10353, state security agents and government officials who are found to be perpetrators of enforced disappearances shall be held liable and punished by the law.
    Dexter, an Igorot, and Bazoo, an IP rights advocate, are both trailblazers in the promotion of indigenous peoples rights in the Cordillera.
“    As we continue our call to surface Dexter and Bazoo, we will never forget to hold the Marcos Jr. administration accountable in the activists’ disappearances,” Longid said.
 

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Groups hit 'mutiliation' of NPA rev in Kalinga clash

Karapatan condemned growing cases of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) in the country saying civilians were increasingly being victimized in government’s “brutal counter-insurgency war.”
    Karapatan said the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance received reports of  “gruesome mutilation of the body of an alleged NPA member reportedly killed in a firefight with the military in Balbalan, Kalinga on May 3, 2023.
    “The victim's head and limbs were missing and only the torso has been recovered. International humanitarian law strictly prohibits the mutilation and the desecration of the remains of combatants and even the killing or harming of hors de combat (a combatant who is no longer capable of fighting because he has surrendered, been captured, wounded, unconscious or ill),” Karapatan said in a press statement.
    “Mutilation is a grievous violation of IHL whether the victim was decapitated and his limbs hacked off before or after he was killed.
    “We denounce these war crimes and all other violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. We likewise call on the Commission on Human Rights to conduct through investigations into these and other reported violations.

Karapatan said latest case that came to their attention was the killing of two civilians in Barangay Sangay, Palapag, Northern Samar,” “According to reports reaching Karapatan, Joel Recare and Oscar Alastoy were in the area to work as chainsaw helpers. But the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force reported that they were slain in an alleged encounter on May 5, 2023 in Sitio Ibaliw, Barangay Capacujan of the said town. The village chief of Barangay Capacujan has vouched for the victims, saying they are not armed rebels and were not on any watchlist. The victims' families likewise complained that the PNP-SAF took more than 24 hours to deliver the decomposing bodies to the Regional Health Unit.”

In Negros, a civilian named Crispin Tingal Jr. was reportedly gunned down by elements of the 94th IB in Sitio Ulo-Tuburan, Barangay Buenavista, Himamaylan City on May 3.

According to witnesses, a rain-soaked Tingal had just arrived home with his wife from a local government-sponsored seminar at the Himamaylan City when he was shot by the soldiers, who later claimed that he was a New People’s Army casualty in an alleged 20-minute gunbattle. The incident was witnessed by the victim's family members as well as several students who had been stranded at a nearby house because of floods caused by the strong rains.

 

 

 

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Cordillera rights group to gov’t: Surface ‘NPA leader’

By Sherwin De Vera

BAGUIO CITY — Cordillera rights group called for the surfacing of two individuals whom they believe are under the custody of law enforcement after they went missing on April 28.
    “We express deep concern for the safety and well-being of Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil De Jesus,” said Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) in a May 3 urgent alert.
    CHRA said the last reported contact from their peers was last Friday, April 28, somewhere in Taytay, Rizal around 9 p.m.
    Capuyan is an Igorot from La Trinidad, Benguet. Meanwhile, De Jesus, a resident of Bulacan, last communicated at 7:36 p.m., according to his mother’s social media post.
    “Napakahirap para sa aming pamilya ang bagay na ito. Ilang araw nang dala-dala namin ang matinding pag-aalala. Pinipilit na maging normal ang pagharap sa lahat ngunit sa likod ay puno ng paghihinagpis. Sana ay magkaroon na ng linaw ang paghahanap,” De Jesus’ mother, Ditz said in the post.
    (This is very hard for our family. We have been deeply worried for several days now. We try our best to face all these despite our pain. We hope we can see the light in our search.)

    CHRA also appealed for public support to locate them and ascertain their situation.

    “We believe that state security units have them in custody and fear for their safety and well-being. We urge whoever holds them to surface them immediately, respect their rights and treat them humanely,” the group said.

    Capuyan is among individuals named in the list of alleged leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army released by the Dept. of National Defense and Department of the Interior and Local Government. Authorities are offering P1.85 million bounty for his arrest.

    He is 56 years old and allegedly a ranking officer of the Chadli Molintas Command NPA Ilocos Cordillera.

    He was among more than 600 individuals named in the Dept. of Justice petition to proscribe the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.

    His name was removed when state prosecutors trimmed the number of respondents to eight.

    The court junked the petition in September last year.

    His name was also implicated in the February 2015 NPA ambush against a military and police convoy in Quirino, Ilocos Sur, resulting in five soldiers’ killed and wounding of six others.

    The two were former University of the Philippines Baguio students.

    Capuyan was a BA Social Sciences student.

    He served as editor-in-chief of the student publication, Outcrop and the League of Filipino Students chairperson in the early 1980s.

    Meanwhile, De Jesus, a BA Communication Major in Journalism cum laude, was chairperson of the Alliance of Concerned Students and the UP Baguio Council of Leaders before graduating in 2016.

    He also served as the Cordillera regional coordinator of the National Union of Students of the Philippines.

    According to his family’s post, he is currently the information and networking officer of the Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples.

    Leia Castro-Margate, a former instructor of De Jesus in UP Baguio, described him as a “good writer.”

    “He was the kind of student you would be proud of as a teacher, didn’t neglect his studies while still serving the people outside school work. He is not just as activist for show but someone who walks the talk,” she said in an online interview.

    “He was very humble and down to earth,” Castro-Margate added. – Rappler.com

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Council ok's law vs red-tagging, abuse of rights advocates

By Jordan G. Habbiling

BAGUIO CITY -- Amid various complaints related to red-tagging, threats, and harassment, the committee on laws and human rights, the  City Council here has filed a proposed ordinance establishing protective mechanisms for human rights defenders in the city.
    The city council approved the said proposed ordinance on first reading last April 17 during its regular session.
    According to Councilor Peter Fianza, chairperson of the committee, human rights defenders and progressive groups in the city have experienced human rights violations such as political vilification, unfounded red-tagging and terrorist-labeling, harassment, and intimidation.
    He said these incidents had been reported to the city government and Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
Fianza claimed that activists and human rights groups in the city such as the Cordillera Youth Center, Tongtongan ti Umili, Youth Act Now Against Tyranny Baguio-Benguet, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, among others, have been seeking redress and have been lobbying to the city council since 2018 for policies and programs protecting and promoting human rights in the city. 
    The proposed ordinance seeks to protect human rights defenders in the city while awaiting the enactment of a human rights defenders’ law. 
    “Baguio City commits itself as a safe space for everyone, nurturing vibrant democracy and good governance,” Fianza stated.

The ordinance, once enacted, shall declare the rights and freedom of human rights defenders in the city. 

These rights and freedom are the right to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms; right to form groups, associations, and organizations; right to solicit, receive, and utilize resources; right to seek, receive, and disseminate information; right to develop and advocate for human rights ideas; right to communicate with non-governmental, governmental, and intergovernmental organizations; right against vilification; right to access, communicate, and cooperate with international and regional human rights bodies and mechanisms; right to participate in public affairs; right to peaceful assembly; right to represent and advocate; right to privacy; freedom from intimidation or reprisal; right to seek or establish a sanctuary for human rights violation victims and their families; freedom from defamation and stigmatization; right to exercise cultural rights and development of personality and right to effective remedy and full reparation.

The ordinance shall also impose the obligations of public authorities in protecting human rights defenders in the city. 

These obligations include providing free access and promote materials related to human rights and fundamental freedoms; securing the non-disclosure of the sources used by human rights defenders; preventing human rights violations and ensuring protection from intimidation or reprisal; penalizing intimidation or reprisal; desisting from derogatory and unfounded labeling; ensuring protection from arbitrary or unlawful intrusion and interference; not participating in violating human rights and fundamental freedoms; assisting in investigation; adopting human rights based governance; and promoting advocacies related to human rights.

The protective mechanisms for human rights defenders under the ordinance have four components. 

The first component is the coordination and cooperation among the city government and CHR-Baguio Field, and civil society organization for the streamlining of human rights education and investigation of complaints on human rights violations.

The second component is the establishment of a sanctuary for high risk human rights defenders, human rights violation victims, and their families. 

The third component is the provision of psychosocial assistance for high risk human rights defenders, human rights violation victims, and their families.

The fourth component is the campaign against derogatory and unfounded labeling.

Under the ordinance, freedom parks shall be identified. These declared freedom parks may be used for peaceful assemblies.

The ordinance also contains provisions on community-based campaigns on human rights and human rights defenders; integration of activities under this ordinance into the City Development Plan and Local Youth Development Plan; and commemoration and memorialization of human rights defenders and human rights violation victims.

 

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Congress probes AFP bombings in Kalinga, NL rights violations

CONGRESS is set to investigate bombing by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Kalinga and human rights violations in North Luzon.
    Congressmen Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang of Kalinga, Maximo Dalog Jr. of Mountain Province and Kabataan Partylist Raoul Manuel were set to file a House resolution to his effect.  
    This, after North Luzon cause oriented and human rights groups, embarked on a campaign dubbing it “Defend the North” by trooping to the House of Representatives to gain support for campaign also resulted in several positive developments, said Beverly L. Longid, Katribu national convenor.
    The delegation met with Rep. Mangaoang, chairman of the House committee on indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples committee; Mt. Province District Rep. Dalog Jr.; Manila District Rep. and chair of the House committee on human rights Benny Abante Jr.; Kabataan Partylist Rep. Manuel and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro. 
    Alongside raising human rights violation, the delegation also discussed the ongoing Gened dam project in Kabugao, Apayao, said a Katribu press statement. 
    Rep. Manuel delivered a privileged speech in which he challenged his fellow lawmakers to take action on the cases of the North.
    He urged stop to attacks, harassment and filing of false charges against citizens of Northern Luzon.
    The military reportedly bombed the hometown of Rep. Mangaong in Balbalan, Kalinga and even took into custody nine farmers, accusing them of being communist supporters.

The delegation of activists and human rights defenders came from Cordillera, Cagayan Valley and Ilocos regions and rallied to the National Capital Region March 20-21, the statement added.

The delegation reportedly aimed to engage government agencies, officials, and civil society in activities to bring light to continuous attacks on communities and human rights defenders nationwide.

They held a symbolic action and dialogue with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), lobbied at the House of Representatives, and organized a forum at the University of the Philippines-Diliman to give attention and solicit urgent responses to the intensifying human rights violations in Northern Luzon. Alongside these activities, the contingent also honor Northern Luzon heroes inscribed on the walls of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani.

The dialogue with the CHR proved fruitful, with representatives from national minority and peasant organizations in the NCR joining in solidarity with the pleas and demands of the delegations.

Highlighted in the dialogue were the recent community bombings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the barangays and municipalities in Cagayan and Kalinga provinces in recent months.

The CHR committed independent investigations of these bombing incidents, red-tagging and terrorist labeling of people’s organizations and trumped-up charges of the Northern Luzon 7 (activists who were filed “trumped up” charges by the Armed Forces of the Philippines).

The delegation also followed up on unresolved cases they raised recently such as the attempted assassination of Brandon Lee and the abduction of Steve Tauli.

 “Katribu supports the Defend the North campaign. We encourage all peace-loving citizens to stand in solidarity with them as well. The trooping of the delegation from the different regions is a first of a series of activities calling for judicial and legislative reforms to protect activists and human rights workers. The struggle continues for us human rights defenders to resound the calls and demands of Northern Luzon and to hold the perpetrators accountable,” Katribu said.

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CPA: Drop rebellion cases vs 7 NL activists

    BAGUIO CITY -- The militant Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance urged a stop to  arrest of activists due to “trumped up charges.”
     “We ask the Supreme Court to take swift action and look into these instances of wanton warrant issuances without due process. Moreover, we demand that those who are instrumental in these outright violations be held accountable.”
    The CPA said in a statement Jan. 30 that Jennifer “Jen” Awingan of the CPA’s Research Commission was arrested at her residence.  
    “Awingan and six other land rights, human rights and environmental defenders were named in Jan. 24 warrant of arrest issued by Abra Judge Corpus Alzate for a trumped-up charge of rebellion referring to an incident between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New People’s Army on Oct. 27, 2022 in Barangay Gacab, Malibcong, Abra,” the statement said.
    The other six activists reportedly accused in the same case were CPA leaders and members Windel Bolinget, Lulu Gimenez, Steve Tauli, Sarah Abellon-Alikes and Ilocos development workers Niño Oconer and Florence Kang.
    The human rights defenders named in the said case are collectively referred to in our campaign for justice and due process of law as the Northern Luzon 7.  
    “All of them have been subjected by the Philippine government, especially through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), to political vilification, surveillance and harassment prior to the filing of the rebellion case,” the CPA statement said.
    “Alikes and Bolinget faced trumped-up criminal charges that were dismissed due to the glaring lack of merit and evidence filed in courts since 2017. Tauli was a victim of abduction and torture in 2022.  The red tagging campaign against all of them by State security forces and their agents did not spare even their families.
    “We strongly assert that the rebellion and insurrection allegation is mired with inconsistencies, bereft of factual basis, and is generated despite non-observance of due process: from proper preliminary investigation to the issuance of a subpoena.
    “We have always stressed, and we reiterate that these unrelenting attacks on government critics, and human rights defenders by criminalization of activism, red-tagging and terrorist labeling of progressives is borne out of the government’s effort to stifle dissent.
    The CPA statement said “unconstitutional legal frameworks of the government’s anti-insurgency program, like the ATL, Duterte’s EO 70, are wielded against activists and human rights defenders with no regard to due process as in this case; such that state forces can easily target those they deem as enemies of the state even without proper and sufficient investigation. The distinction between legal, democratic civilians from armed rebels is no longer upheld.”
    The CPA urged charges against the NL7 be dropped and that Jen Awingan be released from detention, immediately.
    Awingan was released last week on bail.
 

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Karapatan hits ‘abduction, coercion of activists, civilians’

The militant Karapatan nongovernment organization assailed what it called the “abduction and coercion of activists and civilians particularly during the Duterte and now Marcos regimes.”    
    “Cordillera People’s Alliance Regional Council member Steve Tauli had this sordid experience when he was abducted on August 20, 2022 in Appas, Tabuk City in Kalinga, until he was surfaced on August 22, after his family and colleagues pressured military and police authorities in the region,” Karapatan said in a press statement.
    While in their custody, he was lectured on the mission and achievements of the NTF-ELCAC, told to work with his captors in identifying leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, forced to sign statements, and threatened with harm if he publicly reports on his abduction.
    One man spoke in Ilocano, while the rest spoke in Tagalog.
    Months after, men onboard a motorcycle passed by the place where Tauli was staying and dropped a note saying he should contact them.
    Latest incident was in the Visayas.
    As families of union organizers Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dahoya welcomed them back Jan. 16, 2023, six days after their abduction at the Pier 6 in Cebu City, Karapatan Central Visayas released a video sent by a concerned citizen showing at least four men pushing and hauling Gumanao and Dahoya onboard a grey vehicle on the morning of January 10. 
    The said video was initially uploaded by Tug-ani, the UP Cebu student publication on their Facebook page: https://fb.watch/i4HRGQwraM/?mibextid=v7YzmG 
    Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said that “the actions of the couple’s captors in the video indicate their stark brazenness in abducting people in broad daylight, where numerous witnesses are present.”
     “Walang takot sa pananagutan (no fear for accountability) – this is most apparent in the video. Who would have such brazen arrogance and brutality, as well as the motives, directives and means to do such acts, if not those who are in positions of power in government? The Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines and ports authorities should be made answerable for their lack of immediate action and seeming complicity in the abduction of Gumanao and Dahoya,” she said. Karapatan Central Visayas and the couple’s families had pointed out in statements and in the press conference yesterday that there were no immediate known actions undertaken by the said authorities, despite their pleas and requests since January 13. “To this day, a week after the two were abducted, the authorities, including the local government, have not spoken regarding the matter. Are they deliberately brushing this aside to save their own skin?” Palabay stated. 
    Karapatan said that such patterns of enforced disappearances are increasingly observed, as the rights group documented 20 victims of enforced disappearances under Duterte and while two have been documented under Marcos Jr., despite the existence of Republic Act No. 10353 or the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act. Under the Marcos administration, activists Elgene Mungcal and Ma. Elena Cortez Pampoza remain missing, since their last contact with families and co-workers on July 3, 2022, while in Tarlac. 
    Accounts of those abducted and surfaced in the recent years indicate the common patterns, among others:
- the survivor-victims are activists, who had previously been red-tagged and had been subjects of surveillance, threats and other forms of harassment by State forces; 

- their captors, in civilian clothes, had introduced and indicated to them that they are either police, soldiers or NTF-ELCAC officers;
- the survivor-victims were blindfolded, manhandled, brought onboard vehicles and to places surmised by the victims as either safehouses or camps;
- the captors used psychological torture, threatening further harm on them and their families if they do not “cooperate” with government and turn on their “communist” comrades; and
- the survivor-victims were told and coerced to abide by their captors’ storylines, if they want to get back to their families alive.
    Young peasant activist and cultural worker Jonathan Mercado from Lupang Ramos in Dasmarinas, Cavite was also abducted by suspected military personnel on the morning of March 10, 2022 and purportedly brought to a safehouse in a community in a nearby province, and then brought back to Lupang Ramos on the night of the same day, after being heavily interrogated and threatened. A tracking device was put on his ankle by his captors who told him that they needed to know where he would go. 
    A young urban poor activist from Pandi, Bulacan was abducted by four men in a mall in San Jose and was forced into a vehicle on the night of October 25, 2020. He was brought to a hut in an isolated farm area, with one of his captors introducing himself as a soldier of the 48^th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. He was accused of being an NPA member, told to identify Kadamay leaders and forced to be recruited as an asset of the military. Out of fear, he  agreed to be their asset, was given money and told to regularly report on his assignment. After four days, he was brought back to his community. 
     “Thousands of civilians had been forced to appear as combatant surrenderees. These gross violations on the right to due process, against torture and enforced disappearance should never be an acceptable State policy and practice. We are indignant on the brazenness of State forces in undertaking these gruesome forms of torture, and this climate of impunity should end. We call on the public to decry these policies and practices and demand accountability from the current Marcos Jr. government,” Palabay ended. 

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Current projects will dam Apayao River, tributaries

STATEMENT

This November 2022, officers of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) visited Kabugao, Apayao.  
    They started their investigation into the complaint they have received about the violation of the rights of the indigenous Isnag in connection with a set of projects to develop hydroelectric power facilities on the Apayao river and its tributaries.  
The Projects
 Through its most recently published list of the hydropower projects that it has awarded to various firms, the Department of Energy (DoE) has revealed that it has granted the Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippines Corporation a total of seven contracts to build and operate large dams on the Apayao river and its tributaries.
    On the same list is an eighth project for the province of Apayao.  But this is for the development of a 10 MW mini-hydro which will be situated within a separate river system, that of Nabuangan in the municipality Conner.          The DoE has awarded this project to Strategic Power Development Corporation, a subsidiary of San Miguel Corporation.  
    The mass media have referred to Pan Pacific as a company “controlled” by San Miguel (e.g. The Manila Times, 21 February 2022 and The Daily Guardian, 12 September 2022).  But we have yet to find out whether Pan Pacific is owned fully or in part by San Miguel, or is financed by investment or credit from this corporation.
 No Consent
 None of Pan Pacific’s projects has the free and prior informed consent (FPIC) of the Isnag.  The company and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) say otherwise.  They claim that “authorized elders/leaders” of Pudtol, Kabugao, and Calanasan have signed Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with them for Gened 1 and Gened 2.  (Via its Revised FPIC Guidelines, NCIP Administrative Order No. 3, s. 2012, the NCIP has authorized itself to co-sign as third party to all agreements that are entered by “indigenous cultural communities” with the individuals or corporations who wish to undertake projects within their ancestral domains.)
Because these involve the construction of large dams, Pan Pacific’s projects have been opposed by the Isnag of Kabugao since they were first consulted about these in 2015, during the environmental impact assessment (EIA) of Gened 1.  But NCIP officers have manipulated the FPIC process in order to make it appear that Pan Pacific’s projects were acceptable to the Isnag.
     Thrice – on 4 February, 26 September, and 4 December 2019 – the Isnag of Kabugao issued Resolutions of Non-Consent to Gened 1.  But each time, the NCIP and powerful officials in local government came to Pan Pacific’s aid.  
    They hounded the people’s elders and leaders until they got them to at least try to sit and negotiate with Pan Pacific.  This continued until February 2020.  The Covid 19 lockdown gave the people respite.  But as soon as the national government relaxed its pandemic protocols, the struggle resumed.  
     The Isnag of Kabugao issued another Resolution of Non-Consent on 15 January 2021, but this was invalidated by the NCIP on the grounds that it had not been prepared in accordance with prescribed procedure and that it had not been signed by “authorized elders/leaders”.  
     The NCIP then conducted a new round of consultations.  These culminated with a meeting on 7 April 2021 at which the NCIP suddenly presented a draft Memorandum of Agreement on Gened 1.  “Authorized elders/leaders” supposedly signed the MOA on 20 April.  But many of the elders and leaders whose names appeared on the document stated that the signatures were not theirs.  Some of the supposed signatories were persons who had already died.  Other elders and leaders stated that although they had indeed signed the document, they had done so under duress.  
     On 28 April 2021, more than 350 elders and leaders of Kabugao signed a final resolution on Gened 1 – a “Resolution irrevocably rejecting once and for all the proposed construction of a 150 MW hydroelectric power plant (Gened-1 Dam) at Waga, Kabugao... by Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippine Corporation (PPRPPC) and declaring all negotiations pertinent thereto and the concomitant memorandum of agreement (MOA) signed as null and void….”  
     The NCIP, however, ignored this final resolution.  It conducted another round of consultations, this time on Gened 2.  It convened a Decision Meeting on Gened 2 on 18 December 2021, and used the police to stop elders and leaders opposed to the project from entering the meeting hall.  This only inflamed the opposition, who convened later in the month and, on 31 December 2021, issued a Resolution of Non-Consent both to Gened 1 and to Gened 2.  This was signed by more than 2,000 elders, leaders, and ordinary community members.  Yet the following February, the NCIP produced a Resolution of Consent and MOA for Gened 2.  This was signed by more than 200 “authorized elders/leaders”.  
     The NCIP has issued Certifications Precondition, clearing Gened 1 and 2 for implementation.  But the Isnag of Kabugao have filed Motions for Reconsideration, and these have delayed the projects.
At stake
    At the core of the Kabugao Isnag’s opposition is concern for the fate of their land and livelihood.  If the Gened 1, Gened 2, and Sicapo dams are built, Kabugao will almost entirely be submerged in the reservoirs that these dams will create, and in the swells of the constricted river.  Even if Kabugao’s mountaintops are spared, the people will not be able to utilize these as home sites or agricultural lands because these will become part of the protected watershed of Pan Pacific’s hydros.
     Old ethnographies and our current studies teach us that the Isnag have always been able to provide for themselves quite adequately by practicing a balanced system of agricultural and environmental management.  At its core is rotational shifting cultivation with long fallows that,  even nowadays, last up to 15 years, and so enable the extensive regeneration of forest as well as soil micro-ecosystems on land that had been farmed.  Combined with occasional hunting in forests and seasonal fishing in rivers, their rice and vegetable production on shifting swiddens has afforded the Isnag food security.  At the same time, the Isnag have been producing cash crops on fields that they have managed similarly with their rice and vegetable swiddens.  In olden days, the crops were tobacco and coffee; for the past ten years or so, it has been yellow corn.  The cash crops have afforded the Isnag access to formal education, medicine, salt, cloth, and other goods that they do not produce themselves.
     Isnag villages are among the few places in the interior Cordillera where there is surplus production of rice (even though there is little, if any, irrigation).  And Kabugao, in particular, is among the few places in our region where the commercial production of yellow corn has, so far, not resulted in the degradation of the soil or the general environment.
     Thick-canopy forests still cover the mountain slopes in Kabugao and Calanasan, and those parts of Pudtol which are traversed by the Maton and Apayao rivers.  If the dams are built, these forests, too, and their 105 species of flora will be submerged.  Some 96 species of fauna will lose a precious habitat. (These numbers are based on the EIA for Gened 1.)  Among those displaced will be the Philippine eagle.
Call
It is but right for the Isnag to stubbornly oppose the large dams planned for construction on the Apayao river and its tributaries.  It is but right for them to defend their ancestral domains, the resources here, and the way of life these have supported.  They are but exercising their self-determination.  We hope they continue to assert this before capitalist corporations, government officials, and even state forces.  
    In recent months, elements of the police and the military have told some of the Isnag that if they persist in opposing and obstructing the dam projects, which are deemed a priority of the government, they will be no different from terrorists.  We hope that they recognize this as mere propaganda.  Theirs is a resistance to projects that threaten to obliterate their land, livelihood, and very lives.  It is a legitimate resistance.

APIT TAKO
Alliance of Peasants in the Cordillera
Cordillera Peoples Alliance
 

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3 Baguio cops sacked over US Navy man’s complaint

BAGUIO CITY — Three police officers were relieved from their posts while an entertainment bar was ordered closed in connection with a complaint filed against them by a US Navy serviceman.
    Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong earlier ordered an investigation into the complaint of US Navy officer Michelot Joseph, who said he was prevented from entering the bar due to his color and nationality.
    Joseph expressed dismay over how the three officers of the Baguio City police Station 3 handled his complaint against the bar management.
    City permits and licensing officer Allan Abayao said the establishment was ordered to stop operating as a bar on Oct. 24.
    Abayao said the bar was ordered to refrain from dispensing liquor and comply with its business permit to operate only as a restaurant.
    The bar operators apologized to Joseph, who accepted it and thanked Magalong and the city police for addressing his complaint.
    In a memorandum, Col. Francis Bulwayan, acting city police chief, directed his men to respect diversity as the city is a premier tourist destination.        

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Students, CPA hit redtagging in UP Baguio NSTP program

Chancellor issues apology 

BAGUIO CITY – The University of the Philippines Baguio community and other student organizations from Baguio universities gathered in UP Baguio on Nov. 8 and condemned the recent red-tagging and political vilification held in an online National Service Training Program (NSTP) class discussion on peace and national security last Nov. 7.
    About 400 students were present during the said lecture where retired Maj. Gen. Peale Jon Bondoc, former Commander of ARESCOM tagged progressive legal organizations like the Cordillera People’s Alliance , including duly recognized organizations in UPB such as Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students, as “fronts of communist-terrorist groups (CTGs).”
    A “statement of concern” issued by the UPB Office of the Director for Student Affairs and Student Relations Office said “categorizing duly recognized organizations as NUFCs under the communist terrorist group is a form of red-tagging which may compromise the safety and welfare of our students.”
    In the protest action, UPB Chancellor Corazon Abansi apologized for the lapse on the part of the administration and for allowing the retired military officer to have an avenue for red-tagging in the mentioned class.
    Abansi reassured the UPB community that the administration will install mechanisms to protect students, faculty and other university personnel against red-tagging.
    All UP Academic Employees Union – Baguio Chapter expressed their strong condemnation against the act of vilification done by the retired general in the mentioned NSTP class.
    AUPAEU Baguio Chapter said in their statement that the “NSTP class should have served as a platform to discuss holistic and inclusive viewpoint on peace and national security. However, the recent incident served as an avenue for the military to instill fear among the students and to vilify legal and progressive organizations, impeding the academic freedom of the whole UPB community.
     “While the UP Baguio community recognizes the apology pronounced by the UPB Chancellor, true accountability must come in the form of concrete mechanisms to actively combat redtagging being done towards various stakeholders of the university,” UPB University Student Council chairperson Sofia Trinidad said.
     “With the past and recent threats to UPB constituents, it was disappointing to hear that this happened within the control of the institution. Red tagging, no matter what shape or form, must not be welcomed nor tolerated whether it happens within or outside our schools and universities. Apologies are very much welcome and appreciated but should cases or similar cases like this happen again, or if there are no active steps in holding the state accountable for attacking our democratic rights and academic freedom, we will hold the UPB administration accountable,” Trinidad added.
    The CPA condemned the redtagging by Bondoc wherein he
presented a slide labelling several progressive organizations including the CPA as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA).
    “This will be the latest case of political vilification against the CPA, the organization said in a statement.
    On August 5, 2022, some 23 petitioners from the CPA reportedly filed a petition for a Writ of Amparo in hopes of acquiring court protection from the series of harassment, vilification, coercion to surrender as rebels, and trumped-up charges instigated by state security forces.
    “On August 20, 2022, CPA Regional Council Member Steve Tauli was mauled and abducted by suspected elements of the state who proceeded to lecture him about the counter-insurgency programs of the government, particularly NTF-ELCAC and pressured him to sign a sworn statement admitting his supposed leadership position in the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
    “On August 20, 2022, CPA Regional Council Member Steve Tauli was mauled and abducted by suspected elements of the state who proceeded to lecture him about the counter-insurgency programs of the government, particularly NTF-ELCAC and pressured him to sign a sworn statement admitting his supposed leadership position in the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.
    “His captors released him the following day. Steve then petitioned for a Writ of Amparo, making him the 24th petitioner from CPA.
    “On August 29-30, 2022, a redtagging forum by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was conducted at Teacher’s Camp, Baguio City.
    CPA was again named as a communist-terrorist front organization. The same activity was held in Ifugao on August 22-23, and if NCIP implements the same program and presentations, it is highly possible that the redtagging of CPA and the other organizations had been conducted in many of their forums held elsewhere.
    On October 25, 2022, Lorraine Badoy-Partosa recited the names of the CPA petitioners for a Writ of Amparo in her news show Laban Kasama ang Bayan which regularly airs at the SMNI network. She claimed that these were names of CPP-NPA members. Following this incident, we received the official dismissal of our petition for a Writ of Amparo.
    “Meanwhile, redtagging on social media continues unrelentlessly, with CPA Chairperson Windel Bolinget as one of the primary subjects of ridicule, harassment, and vilification. In these redtagging posts, there is no longer a distinction between armed combatants and civilians. Those who merely dissent in exercise of their democratic rights are directly labelled as members of an armed rebel group.
    “These instances are just a few of the reasons why we persist in availing human rights mechanisms despite its sorry state in the Philippines. The dangers are not ending; the attacks are organized and systematic. While we are disappointed by our Amparo petition’s dismissal despite the intensifying human rights violations (HRVs), it will not be the end of our efforts.”
    This November, CPA will be participating in the 4th cycle of the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR). We will be presenting our situation and recommendations in the side-events leading to the November 14 convention of the UN Human Rights Council.

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