Jennifer Laude hate crime: Murder most foul, pathetic mendicancy like no other

Press Statement
15 October 2014



We cannot perhaps add anything more to the universal condemnation and loud calls for justice for the grisly murder of Jennifer Laude. There is no legal nor moral justification for an apparent hate crime.

Yet the BS Aquino government is failing us again. It is not standing up for its own people despite the horrible beastly murder. It is simply pathetic to grovel for custody of a suspect just to routinely bring him to justice.

You bellow grandiosely that you have legal jurisdiction over a suspect yet you peep with a whimper over a simple exercise of custody?

And the US is flouting all laws of decency and humanity for its own military interests. Shielding US Marine Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton is unmitigated callousness.

What if it were an American transgender and a Filipino soldier? The latter would be instantly renditioned by the US and thrown overboard from the docks.

The nexus with scandalously one-sided "agreements" that institutionalize and legalize what are essentially master-slave arrangements like the so-called Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) on the one hand, and transgressions against our sovereignty, our laws, our environment, our dignity as a people and as human beings is patent as it is overt, on the other hand.

From Subic to Tubbataha, from Smith to Pemberton: it is one straight path to subservience and docility sanctified by legal gobbledygook and discombobulated by legal hermeneutics.

We told you so. These and other outrageous things are bound to happen. And will happen again.

But we will tell you again and again and again and again. Until lowly life forms camouflaged in elegant uniforms are brought to us for reckoning. Until you respect us as a people. Until you treat us as human beings. #

Reference:

Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
+639175113373

--

National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax no.920-6660
Email addresses: nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
Follow us on twitter @nuplphilippines and facebook @https://www.facebook.com/nuplphilippines
Visit the NUPL website at http://www.nupl.net/

Karapatan on BS Aquino's SONA: Delusions, lies, crocodile tears - all signs of a beleaguered President

Press Statement
July 29, 2014

Reference: Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General, 0917-3162831
Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580

Karapatan on BS Aquino's SONA: Delusions, lies, crocodile tears - all signs of a beleaguered President


"The web of lies woven by BS Aquino during his SONA on the alleviation of poverty in the country, job creation, and immediate response to disasters reflects his disconnect with the real world. By all indications, the lives of the majority of Filipinos have deteriorated immensely under his watch. Shedding crocodile tears to gain the sympathy of the public is straight out of a poorly made script to save face amid rising people’s protests and three impeachment cases,” Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan said on BS Aquino’s SONA.


Karapatan also condemned the arrest of four activists during the SONA - Maria Luisa Garcia, 46, and Rosita Labarez, 57, of Controlled Economic Zone Federation; and Rodel, 33, and Rochel Ann Tortola, 12, of Migrante International, all resident of Bgy. Holy Spirit, Quezon City. A stun gun was used to immobilize Rodel and Rochel Ann Tortola, while they were inside a jeepney. All were released after intervention by Karapatan paralegals and lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers.


"The repressive measures used against the protesters—the overkill presence of police and military, the layers of barriers and concertina wires and container vans, and the water cannon and stun guns are tell-tale signs of a beleaguered presidency. The layers of barricades literally and figuratively show the isolation of BS Aquino from the people," Palabay said.


"In just four years, Aquino has used up all of Cory’s magic," Palabay said. Aquino now faces three impeachment complaints for his presidential pork, the Disbursement Accelaration Program (DAP) and the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the Obama Administration. "Caught with nothing to gain people's trust, BS Aquino resorted to emotional blackmail by again invoking the name of his parents," Palabay said.


"BS Aquino even had the gall to boast of the arrest of the Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon when the arrest was a violation of the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The peace negotiation between GPH and the NDFP has been stalled despite billions of pesos poured into the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)," Palabay said.


Karapatan has documented 204 victims of extrajudicial killings and 207 cases of frustrated killing committed under the Aquino regime. There are 99 victims of torture, 21 enforced disappearances and 504 political prisoners. "With Aquino’s desperation to stay in power and the full blast modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, more rights violations will be committed as its protector, the AFP, sow terror to silence opposition," she said.


"But the Filipino people will bow down. With pride and courage, we will continue fight to break the bankrupt system which the rich and the powerful, like BS Aquino, benefitted from at the expense of the Filipino people," Palabay ended. ###
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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Bldg., #1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District
Diliman, Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

PHOTO credit: Kilusang Mayo Uno

Justice for Melissa Roxas--Open Letter to President Barack Obama

Open Letter to President Obama
May 19th, 2014

Dear President Obama,

I write to you, Mr. President Obama, on the five-year anniversary of my abduction and torture by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. On May 19, 2009, while conducting health care work in the community of La Paz, Tarlac, Philippines, I was abducted by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

As a U.S. citizen, your recent trip to the Philippines deeply disturbed me, because while there are still no genuine steps being taken to address past and present human rights violations in the Philippines, your actions did nothing to help. In fact, the signing of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the U.S. and the Philippines made the situation in the Philippines worse. EDCA is an unequal agreement in favor of the U.S. and in violation of the sovereignty of the Philippines. Agreements like this, and the possible signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, embolden the already corrupt B.S. Aquino administration and worsen the human rights situation in the country.

Five years ago, I disappeared from those I love: the communities I dedicated my life to serve, my family, my friends, and my colleagues. I was held in secret detention and tortured for six days inside the military camp of Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, residence of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army.

I was suffocated with plastic bags, my head was repeatedly banged against the concrete wall, and for six days I suffered other severe forms of torture that caused lasting physical injuries. Every time I see the scars on my body, it reminds me of the torture I endured.

After I was surfaced, I requested the assistance of the U.S. Embassy in Manila. Essentially the U.S. Embassy told me I was on my own. I later found out that the U.S. Embassy’s portrayal of their correspondence with me after I was surfaced was inaccurate, as revealed by the three Wikileaks cables that came out in 2011. The Chief of the American Citizens Service of the Embassy misreported that I was “in good physical condition.” In fact, I had sustained physical injuries and suffered psychological trauma after the incident. The Embassy also initially offered three options for me to provide more information about my case. But when I took the option of having a representative come to my relative’s home because I felt unsafe to leave the house, they withdrew that option. There was a lack of meaningful assistance given to me, and the U.S. Embassy abandoned their responsibility to me as a U.S. citizen.

Five years later, there is still no justice in my case nor the countless others, like Jonas Burgos, Sherlyn Cadapan, and Karen Empeno, who were all forcibly disappeared under the presidency of Arroyo. No one has been prosecuted for these human rights abuses. The Armed Forces of the Philippines—the very military that was involved in my abduction and torture and the torture of others—continues to receive funding and training from the U.S. government. As a U.S. citizen, I don’t want my taxpayer dollars going towards funding the Philippine military that continues to commit heinous crimes against humanity.

Under President B.S. Aquino III’s administration, human rights violations continue with impunity. Massive human rights violations are part of the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan and have caused displacement of peasants and indigenous peoples.

According to the human rights organization, Karapatan, in the last four years, there were 192 cases of extrajudicial killings; the majority of them were farmers, indigenous and environmental rights defenders. They also reported there are 489 political prisoners—a majority of whom were abducted and detained on fabricated charges. Nearly 40,000 people have been internally displaced, and 134,110 individuals affected due to the illegal use of schools, homes, hospitals and places of worship for military purposes.

Through war, the U.S. acquired the Philippines as a colony and occupied it for the first half of the twentieth century. Since then, the United States has enjoyed an unequal relationship with the Philippines—using the country as its colonial and now neo-colonial outpost to advance U.S. hegemony in the Asia Pacific region. Despite rhetoric about “cooperation,” “friendship” and “partnership,” the U.S. has shown no interest in genuinely addressing the problems of the Philippines and instead advances the economic and political interests of the elite of the United States and the rich few in the Philippines who benefit from the inequities.

Often, as the leaders of nation-states like the Philippines and United States determine the fate of their people, they do so in disregard to the everyday struggles of workers, peasants, the various indigenous groups, women, youth and students in the Philippines. Within these communities, massive human rights violations are committed and compounded with increased militarization.

One such area is near Davao, Mindanao, where the peace-loving, indigenous Talaingod Monobos were uprooted from their lands by an overzealous military trying to push them from their ancestral lands to make way for illegal mining and logging operations.

This past April 2, 2014, over three hundred Talaingod Manobo families had to flee their homes because of military bombings and occupation of their villages. Some families were forced to starve because they were prevented from going to their farms by the military. A twelve-day old boy died during the evacuation. His mother cried in silence as they escaped the military. The boy’s father buried him by digging a shallow grave with his bare hands and a bolo. A newborn baby was not given the chance to live and his family was driven away from their home.

The brutality of the Philippine military knows no bounds—they intentionally damaged the corn and rice mill that the Manobos rely on for food and their livelihood. In a household in another village, a soldier excreted feces into their cooking pot meant for rice and boiling water.

The Manobo tribes have suffered a long history of human rights violations perpetrated by the military—including harassment, destruction of farms and killings. Stationing U.S. troops and equipment permanently in the Philippines under the new EDCA will further exacerbate the militarization of communities like the Manobos. There should be a permanent withdrawal of the Philippine military from their areas and a stop to U.S.-designed and funded Oplan Bayanihan. These atrocities have to stop.

The U.S. cannot conscionably and legally continue to provide training and equipment to the Armed Forces of the Philippines knowing they commit crimes against humanity. Providing U.S. military aid to the Philippines is in violation of existing U.S. laws. The Arms Export Control Act, the Leahy Law and the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 state that no funding should be provided to foreign security forces where the United States has knowledge that they have committed “gross violations of human rights.”

You said in your first presidential victory speech on November 7, 2012 that “I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting.”

People all over the world want the same things that we want here in the U.S. They want the same things that you want as a man, as a father, as a leader of a nation—to live in a world of freedom and peace. They cling to that hope that one day they will achieve it, and they are willing to do what they can to keep fighting for it.

You cannot achieve freedom and peace through war or occupation of other lands like the Philippines. You cannot pretend that agreements like EDCA do not violate the sovereignty of the Filipino people. You cannot turn a blind eye on the extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and torture still happening in the Philippines. By entering into agreements with the Philippine government and continuing to fund the Armed Forces of the Philippines, you are in effect giving your seal of approval for the B.S. Aquino administration to continue its corruption and deceit, and to continue to commit human rights abuses.

What should be said about the United States, which supports governments like the Philippines that are corrupt and which silences dissent through extrajudicial killings, abductions, and torture? Are you willing to sacrifice the sovereignty and well-being of the Filipino people as well as the well-being of the majority of the American people, for the sake of profit and power for the elite few of the United States? Are you willing to continue draining away billions of dollars from education, housing, healthcare and sustainable energy for poor and struggling American families in order to continue enriching the giant military corporations?

Like you, I continue with a stubborn hope that things will change and that something better awaits us. That is why I write this letter to you. Five years later and there is still no justice for my case. As President of the United States, I hope that you will push for the genuine investigation into my abduction and torture and demand that the Philippines punish the perpetrators.

I also demand that our taxpayer dollars are not used to fund the Philippine military which continues to commit human rights violations. I demand that the U.S. withdraw our troops from the Philippines and terminate unequal agreements like EDCA.

I hope that one day there will be a world without torture, a world with a just and lasting peace. But unlike you Mr. President, I don’t want to side with oppressive governments like the administration of B.S. Aquino in the Philippines. I want to be on the side of history that aligns itself with the basic masses of the people who continue to fight to overcome oppression and exploitation. I want to be on the side of history that believes in the right of all people to live with genuine freedom and democracy.

Sincerely,

Melissa Roxas

Posted in Melissa's Words
http://justiceformelissa.org/

No mother deserves this kind of indescribable heartbreak many times over

Press Statement
19 May 2014

On the death of Andrea Rosal’s newborn baby

From the time of her arrest on March 27, 2014, the treatment of then pregnant Andrea Rosal was dehumanizing and heightened by obvious bad faith if not disregard for basic human rights. She was subjected to undue stress, tension, anxiety and discomfort in infernal, humid and crowded jail conditions.

Immediately after birth last May 17, 2014, her baby daughter was placed in the incubator of the Philippine General Hospital’s Natal Intensive Care Unit. She was not given the once-in-a-lifetime, irreplaceable chance to see her baby daughter Diona Andrea while she was still alive. She was deprived the opportunity to hear her baby cry and to cuddle her, and to give her the comfort and care which only a mother could give. The maternal instincts of a first-time mother like Andrea is no less any other mother’s.

Even as Andrea remains distressed, devastated and even inconsolable with such avoidable tragedy, the wake of her baby daughter has been arranged through her family and friends at the Church of the Risen Lord at the University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus the whole day of May 20, 2014 while the burial is scheduled on May 21, 2014 at Andrea’s hometown of Ibaan, Batangas.

We implore fairness and beseech the basic sense of humanity that Andrea be allowed to attend the wake of her baby Diona Andrea as well as to attend her burial to give her the opportunity to properly mourn the death of her baby.

This will give both mother and child due respect, civility, and decency; as what the child Diona Andrea was not given in life, may she be shown in death.

No mother deserves this kind of indescribable heartbreak many times over.
We plead to make haste in assuaging the pain visited by the cruelty and barbarity of the callous. #
Reference
Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
+639175113373


--

National Secretariat
National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL)
3F Erythrina Bldg., Maaralin corner Matatag Sts. Central District,Quezon City, Philippines
Telefax no.920-6660
Email addresses: nupl2007@gmail.com and nuplphilippines@yahoo.com
Follow us on twitter @nuplphilippines and facebook @https://www.facebook.com/nuplphilippines
Visit the NUPL website at http://www.nupl.net/


Photo credit: KARAPATAN

Environmental activist abducted and detained in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Philippines

Case:

Illegal arrest and detention; Violation of rights of persons arrested and detained; Torture (psychological); Violation of domicile;Threat, harassment and intimidation

Victims:

ROMEO “Gingging” RIVERA, Jr.,

- Male, 52 years old, married, employed as Carpenter/technician of
VermiCulture Project under the Department of Agriculture in Tampakan, South
Cotabato

- Co-convenor of Tampakan Panalipdan (Defend Tampakan), an
organization opposed to large-scale and destructive mining in Tampakan

AREL RIVERA, son of Romeo



Place of Incident: Barangay (village) San Roque, Koronadal City, South Cotabato

Date of Incident: May 2, 2014, at around 1:30 p.m.

Alleged Perpetrator(s): At least 20 soldiers of the 39th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army in plain clothes and wearing bonnets over their
faces. Capt. Anthony Albuera was identified as the leader of the group.


Account of the Incident:


On May 3, the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), through its spokesperson Capt. Alberto Caber, released a statement to the media claiming it has captured the “notorious NPA front secretary Felix Armodia who operated in Davao del Sur, South Cotabato and Tulunan, North Cotabato.”


Contrary to the claims of the AFP, they illegally arrested and detained 52 year-old Romeo Rivera, an environmental activist who is a co-convenor of the Tampakan Panalipdan (Defend Tampakan), an organization campaigning against large-scale and destructive mining in Tampakan, South Cotabato.


Romeo Rivera was falsely charged with slight illegal detention, robbery with violence, murder and murder with frustrated murder. But the name Romeo Rivera does not appear on any arrest warrant presented by the authorities. Said warrants were issued against Armodia. The National Democratic Front in Southern Mindanao also issued a statement saying Rivera and Armodia is not the same person.


On May 2, 2014, at around 1:30 p.m, Romeo Rivera, 52 was taking his nap on a hammock outside their house at Barangay San Roque, Koronadal City when some 20 armed men in plain clothes and bonnets on their faces arrived and surrounded Rivera.


With the guns pointed at him, Rivera was immediately handcuffed and blindfolded. He pleaded that he be allowed to put his shirt on, but the men disregarded his request. The men seized his cellphone and took him inside a car.


Romeo’s son, Arel, was inside the house when he heard screaming and commotion outside. When he looked up, several armed men already entered their house. Arel was ordered to lie on his stomach. He was hit and ordered to crawl outside the house.


According to witnesses, the armed men fled on board a grey Toyota Tamaraw FX (NIC316) and two Hilux vans with a “For Registration” card instead of a plate number.


Rivera was kept blindfolded and handcuffed inside the vehicle as they drove off to Digos City. The abductors forced Rivera to admit he is “Felix Armodia,” allegedly the secretary of a guerrilla front of the New People’s Army. One of his abductors told Rivera that his case would be reduced if he cooperated, while another threatened to kill him.


After hours of travel, Rivera was transferred into another vehicle where the interrogation continued.


At around 7:40 p.m. they reached Digos City. Rivera’s blindfold was removed and he was turned over to the Digos City police by Capt. Anthony Albuera of the 39th Infantry Battalion- Philippine Army (IBPA).


Speaking to a news reporter inside Digos police detention center, Rivera gave names of his relatives who can vouch for his identity, and places where he lived.


Rivera is the third Karapatan-documented case of illegal arrest and false charges, because they were said to be mistaken for NPA leaders. There was security guard Rolly Panesa who was captured and tortured because he was mistaken to be “Benjamin Mendoza” allegedly a CPP leader in Southern Luzon. Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay also cited the case of farmer Olegario Sevas, 65, who was illegally arrested on December 25, 2011 in Negros Oriental by elements of the AFP and PNP because he was mistaken to be “Filemon Mendrez,” purportedly a leader of the NPA. The warrant of arrest issued against Sevas did not bear his name.


“Benjamin Mendoza” had Php 5.6 million and “Filemon Mendrez” Php 5.25 million on their heads as reward for their capture. The reward system is contained in a hitlist of the Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Governments known as Joint Order Number 14-2012.


Karapatan believes that Rivera was targetted because of his work as leader of Tampakan Panalipdan. On April 22, Tampakan Panalipdan spearheaded a Mindanao-wide forum at Tampakan National High School opposing the Tampakan Project operations of the Sagittarius Mines, Inc. The Tampakan project targets the 15 million tons of copper and 18 million ounces of gold in the area. SMI is largely operated by Anglo-swiss company Glencore-Xstrata and Australian Indophil Resources NL.


Karapatan has documented several cases of human rights violations in the Tampakan area including at least 10 victims of extrajudicial killings related to the operations of GlencoreXstrata-SMI. Among those killed are members of the Capion family – Juvy Capion, her two children – who were strafed by soldiers of the 27th IBPA in October 2012. Juvy’s brother-in-law Kitari was killed in January 2013.


UA Date: May 15, 2014

Recommended Action:

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1. The immediate release of Romeo “Gingging” Rivera from detention, and the dropping of charges against him;
2. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the arbitrary arrest and detention of Romeo Rivera.
3. The end to the policy of labeling and targeting of human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and
“enemies of the state.”
4. The withdrawal of Oplan Bayanihan, the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency program, that victimizes innnocent and unarmed civilians.
5. The Philippine Government to observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the major Human Rights instruments that it is a party and signatory to.

You may send your communications to:


H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: op@president.gov.ph



Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
(OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
stqd.papp@opapp.gov.ph



Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National
Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-6193 / 911-0488 / 982-5600
Fax:+63(2) 982-5600
Email: osnd@philonline.com, dnd.opla@gmail.com



Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-1908
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.211/214
Fax: (+632) 523-9548
Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph, lmdelima.doj@gmail.com, lmdelima.doj2@gmail.com



Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human
Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com



Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address below.


URGENT ACTION Prepared by:


Karapatan Monitor 2014 issue 1 (Jan-Mar 2014) now available for download
publicinfo May 15 10:36AM +0800

Dear friends,

We are happy to announce that the First Quarter 2014 Karapatan Monitor January to March 2014) is now available for download via this link:

http://www.karapatan.org/Karapatan+Monitor+2014+Issue+No.+1

​
Please feel free to circulate and share.
Thank you for your support for the promotion of human rights.

JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE PHILIPPINES!

APPEAL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION- JUSTICE FOR SUMMARILY KILLED PEASANT LEADERS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Call for justice for the killing of Menelao "Boy" Barcia and
for the persecution and harassment of Antonio Tolentino and other farmers of Hacienda Dolores, Porac, Pampanga


Dear friends,

Please join us in our call for justice for the human rights violations of farmers in Hacienda Dolores, Porac, Pampanga.

Killing of village councilor

Initial reports from Karapatan-Central Luzon cited the killing of Menelao "Boy" Barcia, 57. Barcia was a Barangay councilor (kagawad) and an official of Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Hacienda Dolores (Aniban or Alliance of United People of Hacienda Dolores).

On May 2, at around 10:00 p.m. Barcia picked up his wife Maria at a gas station in Angeles City where she worked. While driving their jeep back to Brgy. Hacienda Dolores, two motorcycles drove alongside them. There were two unidentified men on each of the motorcycles.

Suddenly, the men fired at Barcia's vehicle, killing him instantly. Barcia sustained four gunshot wounds—three in the chest and one at the back of his head. Maria was also injured and was brought by residents nearby to the Mt. Carmel Hospital in San Fernando, Pampanga. As of this writing, Maria’s foot is scheduled for operation.

Witnesses of the incident are afraid to speak for fear of retaliation. Farmers of Hacienda Dolores believe that state security forces or goons hired by Triple L were involved in the killing.

Menelao Barcia had been monitoring of the administrative charges against Barangay captain Antonio Tolentino. With Tolentino, Barcia was also involved in uniting the farmers of Hacienda Dolores against the moves of the Triple L Company to grab their lands.

Harassment suits and trumped-up charges against ANIBAN members

Before Barcia was killed, on April 16, 2014, around 30 members of San Fernando City and Porac City PNP, all in combat gear, arrived at the barangay hall of Brgy. Hacienda Dolores and arrested village chief Antonio Tolentino.

Tolentino was talking with Barcia and the barangay treasurer when members of the PNP arrived. After briefly showing Tolentino a warrant of arrest for carnapping charge, the police grabbed and pulled Tolentino into a waiting police vehicle. Two residents who were also at the barangay hall at that time accompanied Tolentino despite attempts of the police to ward them off.

Tolentino is currently detained at Angeles City District Jail for charges of carnapping and kidnapping with serious physical injuries. The village chief was also slapped with an administrative complaint for grave misconduct, oppression, abuse of authority and acts prejudicial to public service. The bail for the carnapping charge is PhP 180,000.

Two days after, on April 18, the policemen returned to Brgy. Hacienda Dolores and surrounded several households in Sitio Balucboc, Purok 8, Brgy. Hacienda Dolores. The police operation was conducted to arrest all of Tolentino's sons, namely: Tirso, Ener, Ed, Erwin, Eddie. All were named in the carnapping charge but none were arrested at the time of the police operation. According to witnesses, some of the police were in full combat gear but without nameplates; while several others including Porac PNP Chief Miro were in civilian clothes. Some security personnel of Triple L accompanied the police.

Lucila Tolentino, wife of Tirso Tolentino, was in their house when the police arrived. She trembled in fear when she saw the armed policemen.

Antonio Tolentino was earlier arrested with his son Ener in January 13, a day after Triple L security guards shot and killed farmer Arman Padiño and injured Noel Tumali. The Tolentino's posted bail for charges of slight physical injuries and grave threats.

As early as October 2013, members of Aniban were subjected to harassment and intimidation, illegal arrests and detention. During an assembly, while members of Aniban were discussing concrete steps to take to stop the Triple L Company from seizing their farm lands, several members of the PNP arrived and sat in the meeting. PSupt. Juritz Rara also talked to barangay chairperson Antonio Tolentino who was facilitating the farmers' assembly.

While the assembly was going on, security guards of the Triple L tried to fence off the lands being tilled by the farmers of Hacienda Dolores. But they were stopped by the women farmers who are members of Aniban. Village councilors Menelao Barcia and Cornelio Pineda demanded from the guards proof that they have permission to fence off the said areas. The security guards were forced away by the residents when they could not show any proof.

As a result, 30 Aniban members were charged of grave threats, grave coercion and usurpation of real rights in real property. The charge was filed by the security guards of Triple L. Those charged received a subpoena in March ordering them to appear before the provincial prosecutor of Pampanga.

The farmers of Hacienda Dolores face threats of eviction from the land they tilled for generations as the Leonardo-Lachenal Leonio Holdings, Inc (LLL), FL Property Management Corporation (FL) and Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) eye the vast tracts of lands of the hacienda.

We call on friends and human rights advocates to send letters of concern calling for:
1. Justice for the extrajudicial killing of Menelao Barcia and the frustrated killing of his wife Maria.
2. The iimmediate release of Barangay Captain Antonio Tolentino, and to stop filing of fabricated charges and arbitrary arrests against members of Alyansa ng Nagkakaisang Mamamayan ng Hacienda Dolores (Aniban or Alliance of United People of Hacienda Dolores) and farmers.
3. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the incidents of human rights violations, to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, and to investigate the landgrabbing in lands in Hacienda Dolores, Porac, Pampanga by the Triple L Company.
4. The PH government and its state security forces to stop labelling and targeting human rights defenders as “members of front organizations of the communists” and “enemies of the state.”
5. The withdrawal of Oplan Bayanihan, the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency program that victimizes innocent and unarmed civilians.
6. The Philippine Government to observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the major Human Rights instruments that it is a party and signatory to.

You may send your communications to the following agencies through mail, e-mail or fax:

H.E. Benigno C. Aquino III
President of the Republic
Malacañang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
E-mail: op@president.gov.ph

Sec. Teresita Quintos-Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice:+63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Fax:+63 (2) 638 2216
stqd.papp@opapp.gov.ph

Ret. Lt. Gen. Voltaire T. Gazmin
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue, Quezon City
Voice:+63(2) 911-6193 / 911-0488 / 982-5600
Fax:+63(2) 982-5600
Email: osnd@philonline.com, dnd.opla@gmail.com

Atty. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-1908
Trunkline 523-84-81 loc.211/214
Fax: (+632) 523-9548
Email: lmdelima@doj.gov.ph, lmdelima.doj@gmail.com, lmdelima.doj2@gmail.com

Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Voice: (+632) 928-5655, 926-6188
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com, lorettann@gmail.com

Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to the above-named government officials, to our address below.

URGENT ACTION Prepared by:



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KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights

Protest at the 19 extrajudicial killings perpetrated in the Philippines since January 1, 2014- Philippines Australia Union Link

March 29, 2014,



H. E. Benigno C Aquino III
President of the Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
San Miguel, Manila
Philippines
Email: op@president.gov.ph



Protest at the 19 extrajudicial killings perpetrated in the Philippines since January 1, 2014

Dear Excellency,

Our organisation has been working with the trade union movement in the Philippines since 1984. We find that your presidency is becoming just as deadly for trade union leaders, peasant leaders, political activists and all kinds of human rights advocates as was the notorious presidency of your predecessors, the dictator Marcos and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Here is the deadly tally of 19 people so far this year:

January 03, 2014 - MONTERONA, Marcelo, 41, Farmer, Indug Kautawan, Maco, Compostela Valley
January 12, 2014 - TOLENTINO, Antonio, 62, Farmer, Aniban, Hacienda Dolores, Porac, Pampanga
January 30, 2014 - ORBINA, Henry, Worker, Cabadian, Sorsogon
January 31, 2014 - AMBONGAN, Datu Rolando, 39, Higaonon tribe, Katribu Partylist member, Buenavista, Agusan del Norte

February 05, 2014 - LAURON, Julieto, 41, Farmer, Kasama - Bukidnon, Valencia, Bukidnon
February 06, 2014 - RAYTERAN, Rosaldo, Driver, Albay People's Org, Libon, Albay
February 06, 2014 - RAYTERAN, Rasty, 18, Youth, Libon, Albay
February 18, 2014 - ARCHIVAL, Noel, 53, Lawyer, Dalaguette, Cebu
February 18, 2014 - MIÑOZA, Candido, 47, Archival's aide, Dalaguette, Cebu
February 18, 2014 - JAYME, Alejandro, 45, Archival's driver, Dalaguette, Cebu

March 03, 2014 - LIGIW, Fermin, 29, Binongan-Tinguian tribe, Anakbayan/Kastan (CPA provincial chapter), Baay-Licuan, Abra
March 03, 2014 - LIGIW, Eddie, 45, Binongan-Tinguian tribe, Kastan, Baay-Licuan, Abra
March 03, 2014 - LIGIW, Licuben, 77, Binongan-Tinguian tribe, Kastan, Baay-Licuan, Abra
March 15, 2014 - CAPALLA, Romeo, 65, entrepreneur, PFTC, SELDA, Oton, Iloilo
March 22, 2014 - LUBIANO, Julio, 31, Small-scale miner, Caramoan, Camarines Sur
March 22, 2014 - LUBIANO, Rene, 28, Small-scale miner, Caramoan, Camarines Sur
March 22, 2014 - VIRTUS, Salem, 24, Small-scale miner, Caramoan, Camarines Sur
March 22, 2014 - BRONDIA, Jesse, 35, Small-scale miner, Caramoan, Camarines Sur
March 25, 2014 - BUGATTI, William, 43, CHRA, CPA, BM provincial coordinator, Kiangan, Ifugao

Among all these fine Filipino people who have been murdered for their political activity, we especially note the workers Henry Orbina, Rosaldo and Rasty Reyteran, and selfless people’s advocates Romeo Capalla, Noel Archival, and William Bugatti.

We condemn these political murders and urgently call on your government to act now for justice for these victims of extra-judicial killing.

The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into these incidents of human rights violations, and to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators.
The withdrawal of Oplan Bayanihan, the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency program that victimizes innocent and unarmed civilians.
3. The Philippine Government to observe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all the major Human Rights instruments that it is a party and signatory to.

Yours sincerely,



Peter Murphy
Secretary

Cc: Sec. Leila De Lima
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
doj.delima2@gmail.com

Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com lorettann@gmail.com

Hon Julie Bishop MHR
Minister for Foreign Affairs
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
foreignminister2013@dfat.gov.au