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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Mindanao IP group declares nat’l NCIP execs from Cordi personas-non-grata, bullies

New NCIP chair named 

Two Mindanao IP Organizations, through a resolution, labeled National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) top officials, most of them from the Cordillera Region, as bullies planning to change several bureau and regional directors of NCIP allegedly having crafted lies against the leadership of Chairperson Allen Capuyan and served as supporters of communist front organizations. 
    The resolution declared these people as personas-non-grata (PNG) in Mindanao.
    The Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council of Elders and Leaders (MIPCEL) and Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Youth Organization (MIPYO) were organizations identified with Capuyan and part of machinery that campaigned for Epanaw Partylist which Capuyan, including former NCIP officials organized. 
    The party had a poor showing in Mindanao, though it did well in the Cordillera.   
    The resolution came belatedly as Jennifer Sibug-Las, a Manobo who serves as commissioner of Central Mindanao, was declared new chairperson of NCIP. 
    She was sworn into office by DSWD secretary Rex Gatchalian last Sept. 7.
    During the budget hearing of NCIP in Sept. 8 which was not attended by Capuyan,  congressmen raised two issues which they wanted him to answer. 
    This was the suspension of the IPMR selection nationwide which Capuyan ordered even before it was deliberated by the Commission EnBanc and the series of killing of elders and leaders of the Matigsalog which has boundary conflict with Ovu Manubo. 
    Both IP groups are within the ethnographic region represented by Capuyan.
    The suspension of IPMR selection nationwide was accordingly Capuyan’s frustration over the poor showing of Epanaw Partylist in Mindanao.
    “Iyan nga ang problema with MIPCEL and MPYO.  They think they are somebody in Mindanao – they are just good at barking and they keep barking at the wrong tree.  Kung talaga sila, they should speak on the Matigsalog killing,” said one of the declared PNG.
    In a powerpoint presentation which Capuyan himself discussed during his visits in the Cordillera, a slide showed men in green accordingly part of a 400 strong bahani plus 25 bahani in every barangays.  
    Though armed with bolo in the presentation, Deputy House Speaker and Representative of the Third District of Davao City Isidro Ungab said that these bahani were armed with guns and were the suspects behind the killing.
    Various cases in Regions Cordillera and Region 1 were also raised against Capuyan, either with Commissioner Gaspar Cayat of Regions CAR and 1 and Director Atanacio Addog of CAR or both. 
    These included electioneering in favor of Epanaw Partylist, the dubious Certificate Precondition (CP) issued for Gened Dams; Certificate of None Overlap (CNO) in Sison Pangasinan and the very expensive but highly romanticized and erroneous NCIP Coffee Table Books.
 

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Protecting Phl sovereignty does not mean running away from international commitments

STATEMENT

The Philippine government must stop playing the so-called “sovereignty” card in its orchestrated effort to shield former President Rodrigo Duterte and other government officials from accountability for the thousands of deaths in connection with its so-called anti-drug war from 2016 onwards.
     In his latest appearance before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland last March 2, 2023, Department of Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla again in effect sought to shield Duterte and his slew of putative co-principals, accomplices and accessories, let alone enablers, from liability and culpability for the many deaths perpetrated by police and other state agents by saying it will not tolerate transgressions to Philippine sovereignty by international justice bodies such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).
    When will government officials be honorable and honest enough to admit that the Philippines willingly, voluntarily and solemnly endorsed and  signed the Rome Statute and that complaints filed against Duterte et. al. were made when it was still covered by the international treaty? How is it an overreach on the part of the ICC and a departure from the boundaries of its creation when everything was done in accordance with its mandate and procedures, matters that the Philippine government cannot pretend not to know or understand with a straight face and a forked tongue, including its lawyers who should know better? 
    On the other hand, how is it not a departure from justice when a government flees from its commitment just to provide escape investigation and prosecution of political allies from wrongdoing by a body it was part of?
    The extrajudicial killings connected with the war against illegal drugs were clearly the worst kind among wrongdoings, depriving citizens of their very right to life when they should first be investigated and rehabilitated if they were indeed involved. This much the Philippine government admits when it brags it has investigated and filed charges against 20 police officers against a backdrop of at least 6,000 extrajudicial deaths.
    Twenty police officers prosecuted when thousands drug war killings were sustained and nationwide, involving the President, the chief of police and many other government officials, does not  a working justice system make.     A government open to accountability is not one that proposes self-serving yet contradictory legislative resolutions shielding political patrons like Duterte from investigations.
    A government that claims to be openly and actively engaging in international human rights mechanisms such as those being discussed in the ongoing 52nd UN Human Rights Council session is not one that cherry picks which recommendations to support and which to reject, the latter involving accountability to wrongdoings such as extrajudicial killings, red-tagging, ICC membership restoration and weaponization of laws against human rights defenders, activists and critics.
    The previous and present Philippine governments sound  like a broken, nay discordant, record before the world when they turn upside down and distort basic legal principles to fit their sectarian interests. But many other UN member states have clearly made up their mind about the Philippine government’s culpability in many human rights violations committed against the Filipino people. 
    The Marcos Jr. government should begin earnestly committing to full justice and complete accountability that would make the country respected in the eyes of the world. A State that runs away from justice and accountability is a pariah, deserving of being called out by the rest of the civilized, decent world.
   ***
A PH UPR WATCH delegation would be attending the ongoing 52nd UNHRC Regular Sessions in Geneva at the latter half of this month when the Philippine human rights situation is against tabled for discussions during the adoption of the Universal Periodic Review outcomes.
    (KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign). 

Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights

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On promulgation of libel charge vs CPA head Bestang Dekdeken

STATEMENT 

 

Libel in the context of our current justice system is an attack on truth and freedom of speech.

    The court's guilty verdict of cyberlibel against CPA Secretary-General, Sarah "Bestang" Dekdeken, is an attack on truth itself.
    Dekdeken was charged by former Cordillera Police Chief R'win Pagkalinawan in 2021, after she relayed in a press conference, the details of incidents leading to the desecration of the Cordillera Heroes' Monument in Tinglayan, Kalinga, and the entities behind it.
    In her testimonies and affidavits to the court, Dekdeken made clear that the narratives of the incident are relayed as per the reports from the residents of Bugnay, Tinglayan, Kalinga who bore witness to the destruction of the structure in 2020. It is for this same reason that the Barangay council came up with a resolution condemning the 'dastardly act of the PNP', said resolution includes a request for a 'parallel in-depth investigation on the demolition of said structure.'
    This libel case is an attack on truth and those who wield it to champion peoples' political rights. It is a machination to cover-up their involvement in the desecration of the Cordillera Heroes' Monument, a symbolic structure of peoples' triumphs over state-sponsored destructive development initiatives. It is a part of their attempt to erase or deny their involvement for it would strip them of integrity if it was known that those who are supposed to serve their constituents, are the same ones violating our civil-political rights.
    This court ruling borne of an unscrupulous justice system gives an impression that even truth is without potency when we hold state entities to account for their actions against the people.This consequential implication can further embolden elements of the state to wantonly use the same machinations against activists, human rights defenders and other civil society actors.
    In fact, even without this example, Pagkalinawan earlier issued a 'shoot to kill' order for CPA Chairman Windel Bolinget for a trumped-up charge that was later dismissed. This is another example of wanton abuse of power and disregard for rule of law and due process which this recent court ruling has reinforced.
    The cyber libel case is clearly a part of the state-sponsored attacks against the CPA with the goal of delegitimizing the organization. No amount of repression, however, will deter us in our commitment to uphold human rights and justice as pioneered by our local Indigenous heroes.
    We maintain that speaking the truth is not libelous nor is it a crime; especially so if the truth narrative is a revelation of state institutions' abuse of power. This is a responsibility of every citizen in a democratic society.
We stand by Bestang Dekdeken and will be relentless in our continuing fight for justice, and to bring the real culprits to account.
    We pose a challenge and an encouragement to the champions of justice, the legal practitioners, may they be ruthless in pursuing justice and truth in every case, keeping in mind that the judiciary is a vital pillar of democracy.

Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance

 

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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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Statement on occasion of 38th Cordillera Day

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(Herewith is a statement of the Cordillera People’s Alliance on occasion of the 38th Cordillera Day last April 24):
                ***
    On the occasion of the 38th Peoples’ Cordillera Day, we remain steadfast in our struggles for land and life. We stand triumphant amid all the attacks inflicted by the Duterte regime upon our land, life, and honor. We stand united in our commitment to advance the people’s rights and welfare.
    In this time of remembering our Cordillera heroes and martyrs, we also pay our highest tribute to James Tayaban of Ifugao and Moses Bangit of the Malbong tribe in Kalinga, both community leaders and activists who passed away this year. Their commitment and contributions to the Cordillera mass movement will be dearly remembered and honored along with the many heroes who came before them. What they have started will surely be continued by this generation and the next to come. Today, our celebration falls at an extremely critical time. The coming May 2022 national elections is a crucial turning point in determining our way forward as a nation beset in many crises. For the Cordillera people, the parallels of the Marcos and Duterte regime are undeniable as seen in the brazen development aggression in our lands, escalated attacks to our human rights and intensified moves to misinform and revise our history.
    Clearly, what the current administration will leave behind is a mimicry of the Marcosian legacy and the candidacy of the Bongbong Marcos-Sara Duterte tandem in the 2022 national elections will only continue this.
    The return of the Marcoses to power is also an affront to the Cordillera heroes and martyrs of the Anti-Chico Dam and Anti-Cellophil Resources Corporation struggle. As a celebration borne out of the Macli-ing Memorials that commemorated the state-instigated killing of Ama Macli-ing Dulag in April 24, 1980, the Peoples’ Cordillera Day is a testament to the injustices committed by the Marcos dictatorship against the Cordillera peoples.
    It is also a long-standing testament of our unity in struggle. Over the pandemic, this historical fact has been subjected to systematic revisionism through twisted historical accounts and through the demolition of the Anti-Chico Dam Heroes Monument in 2021 reportedly ordered by former Cordillera police chief R’win Pagkalinawan.
    Now more than ever, this Peoples’ Cordillera Day is an important time to hold the Marcoses and the Duterte regime accountable for their crimes against the people. It is a time to live out the legacy of our ancestors and the lessons of the Cordillera peoples’ struggle during the Marcos dictatorship. It is a time that calls for peoples’ unity to stop the comeback of dictators, and the extension of their corrupt and rotten politics!
    Now that Duterte’s presidency is coming to a close, he and his cohorts are trying to railroad their projects and policies as the united opposition in the 2022 national elections threaten the extension of their regime.
    At a glance, the Cordillera people bear the brunt of neoliberal policies upheld by the Duterte administration. Companies are coddled by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) who assist in enforcing their destructive mining and energy applications.
    For instance, in Apayao, Pan Pacific Renewable Power Philippine Corp.’s (Pan Pacific) series of 6 megadams along the Apayao-Abulug River are aggressively being forwarded. NCIP and Pan Pacific are manipulating the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) process for Gened Dam 1 (150 MW), Gened Dam 2 (250 MW), Aoan Dam (191 MW), Calanasan Dam (170 MW) and are now beginning the consultations for two more dams, namely Madduang Dam (55 MW) and Sicapo Dam (40 MW). In Ifugao, the proposed 390 MW Alimit Hydropower Complex of SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) and the destructive mini-hydropower project application of the Ayala-backed Sta. Clara Power Corporation- Quad River Power Corporation are pending today given strong community oppositions.
    When it comes to large-scale mining applications, Cordillera Exploration Co., Inc. (CEXCI) has moved forward with its Application for Financial and Technical Assistance 008 (AFTA 008) and Exploration Permit Application 116 (EXPA 116). In fact, CEXCI and NCIP conducted the FPIC process in 2021 for their EXPA 116 which covers Mankayan and Bakun in Benguet.
    In Baguio City, the local government continues to forward plans and partnerships with businesses to “modernize” transportation and the public market, which in reality are meant to benefit investors and business owners.
    For transportation, China-bought mini-buses are favored over jeepneys that serve as a livelihood and main mode of public transport.
    For development of the public market, the “mallification” development plan of SM Prime Holdings, Inc. is awarded its original proponent status. Negotiations between SM and the LGU are still pushing through amid people’s protests. Under the guise of “modernization,” the city is being set for privatization and corporate-takeover.
    Further in line with privatization, the takeover of Duterte-backed personalities on electric cooperatives (ECs) is experienced in the Cordillera.
    The Benguet Electric Coop. (Beneco) has been subjected to this hostile takeover of Duterte-backed personalities, also backed by the National Electrification Administration (NEA).
    Even the Philippine National Police was involved in the October 2021 takeover by forcing open the locked doors of the Beneco South Drive Office in the wee hours of the morning.
    Our vegetable farmers in the region, on the other hand, are at a huge loss due to trade liberalization. With the smuggled and imported vegetables from China and other countries entering the Philippines unregulated, Benguet farmers are losing P2.5 million daily.
    The prices of these smuggled and imported agricultural products are lower than the local produce. Our local farmers are at a loss in the competition and are thus forced to throw away their harvests. More infuriating is the alleged big politicians and high-ranking government officials behind the smuggling as revealed in a Senate hearing for the said issue.
    Meanwhile, the Cordillera experience with Executive Order 70 that institutionalized the whole-of-nation approach (WONA) and created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is riddled with trumped-up charges against indigenous leaders and activists, red-tagging, terrorist-labelling, surveillance, weaponization of law to criminalize dissent, and forced and fake surrender of civilians as purported members of the New People’s Army.
    Government agencies are forced to participate in these acts instead of focusing on the delivery of basic social services to the people.
    With the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) at the helm, the task force is also bent on declaring Cordillera Peoples Alliance as persona-non-grata across the provinces of the region.
    The Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (RLECC), in which the PNP is also a part of, has also released resolutions in direct attack against civilians.
    Historical revisionism and fake news go along with these fascist agenda in an attempt to twist, blur and bury the valiant history of the Cordillera mass movement. More alarming is the participation of government agencies and officials in spreading such lies and disinformation.
    However, the Cordillera people’s unity is not and will not be defeated. The historic people’s unity during the Anti-Chico Dam and Anti-Cellophil Resources struggle is again alive in the current Kaigorotan struggle.
    The Isnag of Kabugao, Apayao is standing against the Gened Dams and actively exposing the FPIC violations committed by Pan Pacific and NCIP. The people of Mankayan voted “No” to CEXCI’s EXPA 116.
    Communities affected by the Alimit Dam continue to stand in defense of their land. The farmers in Benguet conducted protest actions against the importation and smuggling of vegetables.
    Beneco employees and members-owners-consumers (MCOs) led several mobilizations to protest the takeover of the cooperative. The different sectors in the region are active in their fight for aid, livelihood, safe resumption of classes, and other peoples’ demands.
    We have achieved a feat on human rights with the granting of the Writ of Amparo to youth leaders who are victims of red-tagging in Baguio City.
    In the midst of state terrorism, we remain. We stand tall with our undeterred commitment to struggle for self-determination and national democracy.
    This Cordillera Day 2022, let us celebrate these victories, and call for new politics. Our new politics is a rejection of the corrupt and rotten political system that dominates Philippine society.
    It is politics that promotes the interest of the majority rather than those of the few elites. It champions our right to national sovereignty and patrimony. It asserts our right to self-determination and ancestral domain.
    It seeks to end the neoliberal framework of our economy towards a progressive and self-reliant one. It recognizes our basic human rights and aims to achieve a just and lasting peace. Our new politics, in essence, is power to the people even beyond the elections.
    Now that the future of our country is at stake with the return of dictators, let us muster our strength and gather our efforts for a peoples’ unity that embodies what the anti-Marcos dictatorship taught us: that power belongs to the people. We have had enough. We deserve better. Let us bust the myth of “Solid North” for the Marcoses, and forward a United North for land, life, and new politics!
Cordillera People’s Alliance 

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NTF-ELCAC threatened by Baguio mayor’s anti-Red- tagging pronouncements

STATEMENT

In light of Baguio local government unit's move to ban Red-tagging posters in the city, NTF-ELCAC has released a statement condemning City Mayor Benjamin Magalong. Brashly written by Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy, the statement accused the mayor of protecting “communists,” specifically mentioning Kabataan Partylist (KPL) and Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in its baseless Red-tagging spree.
 We from (CPA) have always been critical of government policies that pose threat to human rights. The Red-tagging campaign of the National Task Force-End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has mainly targeted groups and individuals who are striving for peoples’ rights and welfare amid state negligence.
    Because of our work on indigenous peoples’ right to land, life and resources, our organization falls among their top targets evidenced by the relentless attacks and false association of CPA to communist rebels. Kabataan Partylist shares a similar situation as they take the lead in representing the interest of the youth in Congress.
     At this point, NTF-ELCAC is threatened as local leaders begin to counter their programs and policies. And with the groundswell of support for the political opposition in the national and local elections, NTF-ELCAC is desperate to prove its relevance considering the opposition’s commitment to abolish it. More than this, the task force can no longer save itself from the peoples’ rage and disgust over their corrupt schemes.
     As for Mayor Magalong, CPA is one with the people of Baguio in urging him to continue protecting democracy and the exercise of civil and political rights. He has recently entertained a dialogue with victims of Red-tagging in the city who have been trying to directly engage with him since the height of political vilification amid the pandemic.
    The dialogue resulted in the banning of Red-tagging posters but the legal battles of some victims continue. For this case, we laud the Baguio LGU for taking a stand, but we nonetheless remain critical of Magalong’s involvement in the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) resolutions on Dumanon, Makitongtong strategy a.k.a Oplan Tokhang against activists. The Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) which Magalong heads adopted the Dumanon, Makitongtong RLECC resolution last year despite public outcry.  
    Succeeding the development from the city chief executive, we sincerely hope for more decisive efforts from the LGU in various levels to ensure the preservation of civic spaces for dialogues, academic discourses for the youth sector and the exercise of our constitutional rights for redress of government grievances without fear of retribution or state attacks. 
    Ultimately, this crazed counter-insurgency campaign that refuses to differentiate armed combatants from civilians should be directed towards the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) for a just and lasting peace. Stop the attacks. No to Red-tagging. No to tokhang. Abolish the NTF-ELCAC!
Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) 

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Statements on Beneco power struggle

 BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(Yours Truly would like to share some statements on the controversy regarding the power struggle at Benguet Electric Cooperative. In interest of fair play, those alluded to may e-mail us their response for publication) 
                ***
On the forceful takeover of Beneco
    Lubos nating kinokondena ang sapilitang pagtake-over sa Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) nitong Lunes, kung saan naging kasangkapan pa ang mga miyembro ng kapulisan sa panig ng puwersahang pagkamkam sa liderato ng kooperatiba.
It was reported that many consumers and employees were affected, with some Beneco employees even barred from work after they criticized the forceful takeover.
    Ang nakakagalit at kasuklam-suklam dito: Sa gitna ng pandemya, at sa panahon ng pagbangon sa katatapos lang na kalamidad, naaatim pa talaga na ipadanas sa mga nasalanta at naghihikahos ang ganitong walang pakundangang proseso para lamang mailuklok lang ang sarili sa poder.
    Where is the humanity?  Nasaan ang puso at awa?  Hindi dapat hinahayaan ang kaganiran ang mangibabaw sa bayan.
    Hangad natin ang maigting na imbestigasyon ukol sa isyung ito, at ang agarang pagtugon dito sa payapa, makatotohanan at makatarungang proseso.

Sen. Leila M. de Lima

Dispatch from Camp Crame
            (10/20/21)
                ***
Gestapo-like raid on Beneco
    I am saddened and concerned with the power struggle that has enveloped the Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco), one of the most successful electric cooperatives in the Philippines and a respected and loved institution in the Cordillera region.
I strongly condemn the Gestapo-like raid on the Beneco head office assisted by armed police before daybreak and while Beneco linemen were busy repairing downed power infrastructure.
    Such strong-arm tactics are not the indigenous peoples' way. We do not force ourselves or our opinions on others. We seek consensus, however long the process takes. In the end, the resolution is more binding and enduring for all concerned.
I implore the parties that have initiated and enabled these damaging acts to desist and find ways within the rule of law to settle this contentious situation.
    Beneco is a well-run organization with a professional management and invested member consumer-owners (MCOs). There has so far been no showing that it is mismanaged or in financial trouble, so why the need for outside and forceful intervention?
I totally support the people of Benguet, Baguio City, and the Beneco MCOs in their fight for the beloved electric cooperative.
I have always supported the protection of consumer-owned organizations and cooperatives from unfair and unjust outside intervention, and I hope to give them stronger protection through clear laws.
     Haggiyo, Beneco!
     

(Sgd.) Teddy Brawner Baguilat

    Proud Cordilleran
                (Teddy B. Baguilat is former governor and congressman of Ifugao who is now a senatorial candidate – Ed)       
                ***
Again, on red-tagging amid the Beneco row
    It has come to our attention that some unscrupulous individuals, groups, pages, and apparent Facebook trolls are again spreading disinformation about Tongtongan ti Umili, its allied organizations, and other concerned member-consumer-owners (MCOs) for its support to the Benguet Electric Cooperative.
    These are the usual red-tagging posts which we have faced in the past because of our unstifled efforts to raise the issues of the umili and fight for our rights and welfare. To make matters worse, a concerned MCO and one of the more active voice in this issue, Ms. Mia Magdalena Fokno, was falsely and maliciously tagged by the Regional Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office Cordillera (PROCOR) in their police journal as a communist-front organization (CFO) personality, similar to what they did to a journalist in recent past. 
    We strongly denounce these incidents of red-tagging. Already, we have filed complaints to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and lodged cases in court to battle this kind of disinformation.
    We wish to reiterate that we will exhaust all legal remedies to hold accountable those who we have identified to be party to the spreading of these malicious claims such as red-tagging and terrorist-tagging.
    Kakailian, saan tayo agpaapekto iti pammadakes ken panangdadael nga araramiden da. Saan tayon a mamati iti ikakasta da a red-tagging. Namin-mano nga beses dan inred-tag ti organisasyon tayo ngem adda tayo met latta, sibibiag, ken situtured nga ilablaban ti karbengan tayo ken pagsayaatan tayo. Napaneknekan tayo metlaeng babaen iti CHR ken dagiti desisyon ti korte nga madi ken awan pulos ti kinapudno dagiti iwarwaragawag da a red-tagging*. 
    Ti aktibismo ket saan a terorismo. Sino aya ti adda palpaltog kas kada dadakkel nga armas da idiay Beneco? Saan a datayo.
    Para kadagiti red-taggers: we are noting your names and gathering evidences. Persist in spreading these falsities and maliciousness, then we will see you in court. 
    As for the police, we challenge them to stand with the wider member-consumer-owners (MCOs) of the cooperative. We ask that you not become tools of terror, like what the camp of Ms. Rafael and NEA made you be on the morning of October 18. We challenge you to be true to your mandate in protecting the people, not sow fear, and stop spreading malicious lies.
    This is no longer an issue of who is left and who is right. This Beneco issue cuts through political colors. This concerns the welfare of the umili of Baguio and Benguet. Let us focus on this and other important issues. Let us continue to unite, collectively stand up for what is right, work for justice, and ending tyranny.
    Court decisions say red-tagging is wrong and punishable by law.

Jeoffrey Larua, Secretary-General

Tongtongan ti Umili
Cordillera Peoples Alliance

(Tongtongan ti Umili is a people’s forum in Baguio City, a network of progressive peoples' organizations in the city advocating people’s rights and welfare. Tongtongan is the local chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) and the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in Metro Baguio.) 

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Hedcor remains hopeful for resolution with Bakun IP

STATEMENT

Hedcor has continuously reached out to the IPs for a dialogue even prior to and amid its shutdown in Bakun. In fact, officials from the energy sector as well as Benguet Governor Melchor Diclas have issued statements calling for talks between both parties and for Hedcor’s resumed operations. In spite of Hedcor's efforts and the growing call for a dialogue, the BITO, and the Bakun LGU, remain firm on the refusal to sit down and talk. 

The BITO has recently issued a resolution stating the termination of future talks and negotiations with Hedcor. The issued resolution cited the recent cases which Hedcor has filed in order for the company to continue operating the Bakun hydropower plants.
     “We are really saddened by how the issues unfolded. We have received orders to keep our plants running but we are constrained from resuming operations to prioritize the safety and security of the community, our IP employees and our assets.” said Leo Lungay, Hedcor’s Vice President for Operations.

The continued operations of Hedcor’s plants in Bakun is within the relief granted under the Writ of Preliminary Injunction (WPI) issued by the Regional Trial Court effective July 6. This follows the Status Quo Ante Order which was also issued by the court in view of the mutual agreement of Hedcor and the Bakun LGU to ensure the continued operations of the Bakun plants. 

The WPI clearly prevents the Bakun LGU and all persons acting on its behalf from further threatening or actually stopping the operations of the Bakun plants. Hedcor clarifies that it was compelled to resort to legal remedies to defend itself against the threats to its operations. 

The company also emphasizes that the legal steps it has taken so far are neither criminal or administrative actions against the LGU or NCIP-CAR officials, nor are the officials sought to be made personally liable.

“As we’ve stated before, Hedcor also has equally important obligations to the energy consumers, the government, and its other stakeholders. We are exhausting all available remedies so that the energy needs of the community and the COVID-19 efforts of the government are not compromised,” Lungay said.

In addition to the WPI, Hedcor also received a letter from the Department of Energy (DOE) on July 1 directing Hedcor’s Bakun plants to reconnect to the grid, in very clear terms, specifically “to ensure your company’s supply to the grid and if you have disconnected, you are ordered to connect to the grid the soonest possible or upon receipt of this letter.” 

In the letter, DOE reiterated its earlier directive in its June 25 letter to Hedcor, emphasizing the tight power supply situation in the Luzon grid, thus the need for the Bakun hydros to continue operations. 

The DOE also cited its March 2 Advisory on “Ensuring Reliable and Stable Electric Power Supply during the Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Program” and the Department Circular No. DC2020-04-0008 entitled “Rationalizing the Utilization of Energy Regulation (ER) 1-94 Funds by Host Local Government Units in Response to COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.”

At present, Hedcor remains willing and ready for a dialogue with the BITO. The company believes that if both parties sit down and talk, they can come up with a mutually beneficial resolution.

About Hedcor

Hedcor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AboitizPower. It specializes in generating renewable energy from run-of-river hydropower systems.

Today, Hedcor manages and operates 22 hydropower plants located in Ilocos Sur, Mt. Province, Benguet, Davao, and Bukidnon. They continue to supply the country with 278 MW of clean and renewable energy.

With 42 years of experience, Hedcor is one of the leading run-of-river hydropower operators in the Philippines.

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Tabuk officials: CPP persona non grata

By Liza Agoot  

TABUK CITY — Officials of this city declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) members persona non grata in Tabuk. Mayor Darwin  Estrañero and village officials, during the orientation of the “Situational awareness and knowledge management cluster” meeting of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict on June 4, denounced the armed struggle waged by communist groups.
    The orientation was organized by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Region 2.
    “We denounce the CPP-NPA-NDF, its officers, and members for their attempts to overthrow the government,” Estrañero said in a statement, following the issuance of executive order recently that declared CPP-NPA-NDF members unwelcome in Tabuk City.

    On March 19, 2018, the city council of Tabuk passed resolution 041-A series “denouncing the CPP-NPA-NDF for engaging in illegal/unlawful transactions/activities within the different barangays.”

    In a video message, the mayor also called on his constituents to be vigilant and monitor the youth who could be swayed by communist groups into joining the movement.

    “Let us continue to make Tabuk City a progressive and peaceful place,” he said.

    Kalinga Provincial Police Director Davy Vicente Limmong joined the official declaration against the CPP-NPA-NDF, saying Tabuk City and all seven towns in Kalinga condemn the communist groups.

    The town of Pasil, the last municipality that declared the CPP-NPA-NDF persona non grata in 2020, will reportedly also sue those who will support the insurgents. — PNA

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Hedcor statement on Bakun hydro controversy/ Red-tagging

BEHIND THE SCENES 
Alfred P. Dizon

(Hereunder is a statement of Hedcor on the Bakun hydro controversy): 

The Bakun Indigenous Tribe Organization (BITO) has issued a resolution of non-consent to operate our hydro power plants in Bakun.  

Having been in the community for 30 years, we are saddened by this turn of events. From 2017, we, together with the BITO, and guided by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), have gone through a successful free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) process, which resulted in the issuance of the certificate of consent, and consequently, a signed FPIC-memorandum of agreement (MOA) in October 2019.
    This process is time-tested and it involves securing the consent of the entire indigenous people community in Bakun. . 

We understand from the resolution that this has been triggered by the petition for certiorari that the company had to file with the Court, to protect our plants from being unduly shut down. 

It is our hope that the community understands that the company has been left with no choice but to file the petition, given the threat to shut down our operations by March 31, 2021, was issued by the municipality while the dialogue for the new MOA on a voluntary shares with the LGU is ongoing.

It is our firm position that the negotiations for a new commercial MOA for additional shares is not a requirement for a business permit, and this has been supported in the opinions issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

In the spirit of fairness, we find that a free and reasonable commercial negotiation is not possible with the undue threat to our operations brought about by the withholding of our business permit.

We would like to continue to be Bakun’s partner for progress for a long time. We appeal to our BITO leaders to support us in continuing the processing of our certification precondition (CP), so that we can commence the benefit sharing as agreed in the MOA.

We hope that the Bakun LGU will grant the renewal of business permit to continue our operation and sustain our relationship with the best interest of the entire Bakun community during this pandemic.

Hedcor remains committed to supporting the Bakun community, the same way we are providing our other host communities across the country with benefits that are reasonable and sustainable.

HEDCOR

   ***

Senators last week called on the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) to stop red-tagging government critics.

“In my opinion, their effort to red-tag people is out of place,” said Sen. Francis Pangilinan, referring to NICA director general Alex Monteagudo’s pronouncement that communist rebels have had insiders among Senate employees for a long time.

Pangilinan said the intelligence officials might be trying to find ways to justify their multibillion-peso intelligence funds.

He said the red-tagging comes in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases.

“Our people are unable to enter hospitals. They are waiting in the parking lot, in tents and in ambulances, and these officials prioritize this. This not really right. They should stop that,” he said.

Alarmed by the rising cases of red-tagging, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon proposed a measure that will make red-tagging punishable by up to 10 years in prison and disqualify persons convicted of red-tagging from holding public office.

Drilon said Senate Bill 2121 seeks to criminalize red-tagging and provide for penalties as deterrence “in order to fix the legal gaps, address impunity and institutionalize a system of accountability.”

Libel or grave threats is not appropriate where a state agent vilifies a person as an enemy of the state, thereby impinging on the rights of that individual, Drilon said.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel II said senators would ask Monteagudo for the basis of his pronouncement.

“Just because they are activists, you think they are communists,” he said in a radio interview.

He encouraged those red-tagged to share their experiences and the effects on their lives, which could be used as a basis in criminalizing red-tagging.

In its report, the Senate committee on national defense and security, peace, unification, and reconciliation said criminalizing red-tagging is no longer necessary as there are existing laws if the alleged red-tagging violated certain individuals’ constitutional rights.

The report of the Senate committee chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson stated that legal remedies are sufficient and available for personalities or groups that have been the subject of red-tagging. Some of them have availed themselves of these remedies, as evidenced by cases filed in the Ombudsman, according to the report.

 

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On ‘tokhang’ against ‘left- leanlng’ media, individuals

STATEMENT

In a recent pronouncement broadcast and published by a local media outfit, the Police Regional Police Regional Office Cordillera claimed it identified more than 300 "left-leaning" individuals in the Cordillera Region.
    Included in the list according to the police, are government officials and members of the media. The said number according to the police are supporters of the leftist group.
    Last month, the media discovered that the Cordillera Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) passed a resolution on employing "tokhang" approach against "left-leaning" personalities including people in government and media.
    The resolution signed by the Cordillera Regional Executives including other representatives of different government agencies and bodies sought the use of "tokhang" which was used during the bloody war on drugs that led to thousands of deaths, left countless orphans and widows as many of them were said to have resorted to "nanlaban" against the authorities.
    The Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) finds the resolution an affront to the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press.
    We find the resolution an abridgment of the freedom of the press since media had been categorically tagged and identified in the enumeration of the sectors to be subjected to “tokhang.”
    The resolution has branded members of media left leaning or simply communists without the benefit of due process of law. 
    And now, PROCor announced there is already a plan to implement tokhang to the more than 300 individuals this March and there is even a target completion by the end of the said month. We find it alarming to us members of the media.
    The conduct of tokhang on offices and residences of media people identified as left leaning to tell them not to support the CPP-NPA-NDF is invasive to the privacy and rights of media men if not an outright insult and denigration of their person and function as members of the Fourth Estate.
    The measure harps on the way Operation Tokhang was enforced for drug law violators but the comparison smacks of ignorance and incompetence in understanding the role of the press. Drug use or drug dealing are oceans apart from the profession of journalism whose simple task is to report facts and inform the public.
    The resolution is a nightmare to media and the press. The constitutional provision is clear:  “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances. The right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized.”
    The resolution may not be a law itself but the attributes thereof partake of an action, or tokhang, to be enforced that curtails the very nature why the freedom of the press is one of the most revered freedom in a truly democratic society.
    The identification of media as one of the sectors to be included in the tokhang is a reprehensible assault on the nature of a free press. Imagine a law enforcer knocking ion the door of the house of a journalist and be told that he or she is a known communist sympathizer or supporter and the he or she must refrain from writing articles about the enemy. That simply sucks. 
If the government believes that an article is damaging to the authorities or that it promotes insurgency or communism, there are legitimate means to seek redress against it.
    But not to suppress the exercise of the right to write or broadcast by knocking on doors to tell the reporter to avoid being a sympathizer for that is tantamount to the authorities being both a judge and an executioner bereft of the decency that must be accorded journalists in view of the nature of their profession.
    According to Cordillera Police, charges will be filed against the individuals who will not adhere to their pleas. From that pronouncement, are they already judged as "left-leaning" individuals or "simply leftists? Again, from whose or what parameters will the definition of “left-leaning” and “leftist” will come from?  If they do not stop being "such", what charges are they going to face? What are the legal basis?
    We challenge the PROCor to show its list of the more than 300 "left-leaning" individuals including people from the government moreover members of the media for us not to be left in the dark and be surprised one day that people will be knocking on our doors. We also urge the police to give or provide legal bases why they addressed the individuals as such.

Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club Inc.
March 4, 2021

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BCBC on RLECC ‘tokhang’ resolution

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(Hereunder is a statement of the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) on resolution of the Cordillera Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) to conduct “tokhang” on “left-leaning” groups or individuals like the media or even those in government):
                ***
Do not gag us with your "Tokhang" as we persevere to tell the truth. 
    The latest resolution of the Regional Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (RLECC) enjoining members of the law enforcement agencies together with representatives of local government units to conduct tokhang to known "left-leaning" personalities in the government, media, and other entities is sending a chilling effect to the people who believe in the freedom of expression and who have still faith in democracy. 
    Even the timing of the letter, at the eve of the 35th Anniversary of the EDSA Revolution, is ironic.
    The word "Tokhang" will never be forgotten by the families, friends, relatives, and survivors of the war on drugs that was boasted as the solution to the drug menace and drug trade.
    The Oplan Tokhang used in the government's war on drugs by visiting or knocking on the doors of suspected drug personalities and plea for them to stop dealing and using drugs will be used against known "left-leaning personalities" to dissuade them from supporting or being active members of the CPP-NPA-NDF or any of its so-called known front organizations and return to the folds of the law. 
    Such is what the members of the RLECC see as the solution to the insurgency problem of the country that lasted for over five decades.
    The use of tokhang sets up a dangerous precedent because it follows the same procedure of the war against drugs which is a failure in stopping the drug trade and instead caused the death of thousands. Years passed since tokhang was unleashed and yet news on drug addicts, drug addiction, drug market still occupy the headlines.
    And they expect this tokhang will be the answer to why there are many poor people who are struggling against oppression and discrimination and other historical injustices? And from whose discretion will the definition of "left-leaning" or "leftists" be derived? Who are the people that will fall under their category or branding of "left-leaning" or "leftists"?
    Members of the media are not spared of this tokhang approach as indicated in the title of the RLECC resolution. 
    Whenever the media interviews people who are critical to someone else especially those who are in government positions or those who have power and they will publish it, they will be perceived as siding with the critics. Whenever the media writes, broadcasts or publishes information so that the citizens will be challenged to think or make a realization of their leaders’ successes or failures and from that, an open exchange of ideas and opinions flourish, they will be branded as bias.
    Whenever the media conveys the people’s concerns, demands,  desires, and pleas to government bodies, they will be bombarded with legal actions and condemnation from the people who are supposed to be standing by the provisions of the Philippine Constitution on the rights of every Filipino.
    If ever the resolution would be adapted and implemented by the law enforcers, local government units, and different government and non-government institutions, will it mean that they will be going against the media who are covering the people who are branded according to their standards or definition as left-leaning, leftists and supporters of the CPP-NPA-NDF? 
    The media write or bring out news from the mouth of news sources whether "leftists", "rightists" or centrists". Writing about the statement of anyone should not be mistaken as support for the news sources. It is about bringing out the information and truth the people deserve to know.
    The freedom of the media is a fundamental Constitutional right.
    The media have the right to move freely without control of those in power. This role is a crucial indicator of democracy, which earned us the role as the fourth pillar of democracy.
    We welcome the withdrawal of the Commission on Human Rights Cordillera Regional Director Atty. Rommel Daguimol of his signature from the resolution and standing by the rights of the people of the freedom of expression. We appeal to the other signatories to do the same. May we appeal also to members of the Cordillera Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) to reject the resolution on Constitutional grounds.

Aldwin Quitasol
President
Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC)

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