The Philippine UPR Watch delegates are off to Geneva to lobby against the Philippine Government’s report which paints a rosy picture of the human rights situation in the Philippines by talking with the foreign missions who are tasked to ask questions to the Philippine Government regarding its human rights report and its accountabilities.

The alternative reports submitted by members of the UPR Watch enumerated the various and continuous violation of civil and political rights, and economic, cultural and social rights. Evidence of violation of civil and political rights is the continuing occurrence of extrajudicial killings of persons advocating for the environment, urban poor, indigenous communities; and, persons advocating against large-scale mining activities and anti-demolition of homes of urban poor dwellers.  Moreover, the ratification of the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) clearly violates of the country’s right to self-determination.  Attempts to amend the 1987 Constitution to remove restrictions on foreign ownership of land, public utilities, exploration of natural resources, among others will further violate economic and cultural rights of the Filipinos.

Furthermore, the alternative reports point to the Philippine Government’s inaction on the recommendations of the different UN-member countries that sat during the first Universal Periodic Review.  Among these recommendations are to develop a gender-responsive approach to issues of violence against women and take into account special needs of rehabilitation and post-conflict care of women and children in conflict areas (New Zealand), eliminate torture and extrajudicial killings (Holy See); intensify efforts to investigate, prosecute, and punish those responsible for extrajudicial killings (Switzerland) and to sign and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Slovenia and Mexico).

The NCCP has always upheld the dignity of human persons as they are created in the image and likeness of God.  Participation in the UNHRC’s Universal Periodic Review is one of the expressions of the NCCP’s commitment to protect human rights.

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The Most Reverend Ephraim S. Fajutagana
Chairperson

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Rev. Rex R.B. Reyes, Jr.
General Secretary

The community where rehabilitation work will commence is Barangay (Village) Digkilaan, specifically Purok (Area) 5, 6, and 7.  Purok 5 has mostly Christian residents while Purok 6 and 7 has a mix of Christians, Muslims and Lumad (indigenous people).  Each Purok has 38, 50, 56 families residing, respectively.  Among the three areas, Purok 7 is the farthest into the mountain side.  In Sitio Malaigang, Purok 5, 6 and 7 of Barangay Digkilaan identified needs of the members of the community are corn and vegetable seeds to allow them to grow their own food and hopefully reap more than they can consume to sell at the local market.  Also, they identified that they need a cow whose services will be shared by the community.  As soon as the NCCP has procured the seeds and cow, they will be turned over to the community with the help of the Redeemer Lutheran Church.

The community where rehabilitation work will commence is Barangay Digkilaan, specifically Purok 5,6 and 7 composed of  Christians, Muslims and Lumads.  A total of 144 families will be provided with corn and vegetable seeds to replenish their crops which were destroyed during the onslaught of typhoon Sendong. Each purok will also receive one cow which will be used in their farm production.

The first batch of housing assistance will also be given to the selected 22 families in Brgy. Bagong Silang and nearby barangays. Twelve of these families whose houses were totally damaged would need to reconstruct their houses.

Preparations are also underway for the distribution of agriculture assistance to Misamis Oriental.

Meanwhile, Disaster Risk Reduction Orientations are ongoing in other parts of the country.  There is a scheduled seminar  in the province of Isabela in partnership with the Iglesia Filipina Independiente-Diocese of Isabela, Another in Bicol, a province in the southern part of Luzon, that is slated on May 21-24.  This will be facilitated by Andurog Mayon, an ecumenical disaster response committee that the NCCP helped organize in 2001.

This year, there are 26 participants from St. Andrew’s Theological Seminary, Silliman University Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary, Aglipay Central Theological Seminary and the Ecumenical Theological Seminary.  At present they are into the immersion phase of the program where are sent to different sectors of the community to learn from the people of their issues and struggle.  They are fielded to IP communities in Mindoro and Cordillera, to urban poor communities in partnership with SAMAKANA, to peasant communities in partnership with AMIHAN and Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, to communities where families have at least one family member who is a migrant worker in partnership with Migrante and to identified communities and manufacturing areas where they will be able to see real labor issues and problems in partnership with Kilusang Mayo Uno.

The interns are back from their immersion sites and are now into the last phase of the program which is the processing of their experience.  Part of the debriefing process is an input on HIV/AIDS and how this reality is related to the communities they have been to.  This whole day orientation on HIV/AIDS is also open to youths who have attended the Ecu 101 course.  The session is slated for May 10, 2012.

This year’s theme is Bearers of Hope, Bridges of Love.  The objectives of the Camp are to allow the children to get to know each other, share and work together, and hone their talent for arts and music.  There will also be games and sports fest that the children will surely enjoy while learning teamwork and being a good sport.  The children will be treated to a swimming activity on the last day for fun and to beat the summer heat.

There is a registration of PhP 100.00 per child and children are expected to be at the BLVDMEC at 8:00 a.m. on May 15.  The entire programme ends on May 17 at 6 p.m.  Call now for reservations as the number of participants is limited by the physical environs of the venue.  For inquiries, you may call 926-9760 and look for Marge.

The saying is true that indigenous peoples here and around the world can contribute to just and lasting peace.  By our very nature as indigenous people’s we shun away from violence done to others and to the land.  This deep spirituality has been exploited by many who covet the lands where we are for profit and more profit at our expense and destruction.

All over the world, indigenous peoples are sharing their stories to teach the importance of protecting ourselves, our natural resources and our communities.  Traditional knowledge is not outdated.  It has timely messages to those who are greedy for profit and use power to impose their greed.  The welfare of future generations of Filipinos is at stake when we allow the destruction of our natural resources.  Our strength comes from this deep identity with the land and a profound sense of responsibility for the well being of those who came after us.

Our songs and dances express our reverence to land as well as the joys of living in peace as communities.  May we continue singing and dancing.

It is good.

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REV. REX RB REYES, JR.
General Secretary

Cordillera Day is about the continuing struggle for land, life and rights.  This struggle is vigilant and militant in its various forms.  The campaign to save the 182 pine trees in Baguio and denounce capitalist greed is one recent form.  The growing opposition to massive resource-extraction is another level and so is exposing the relationship between these projects and other human rights violations.  It is a struggle because the opposition grounded on indigenous people’s values is met by the repressive forces of the state.  It is a struggle  because the democratic space is getting narrower.  The continuing harassment and vilification of organized community leaders is evidence enough.  It is a fight we do not want but must carry on.

Cordillera Day is about the solidarity of indigenous peoples everywhere.  Time was when indigenous peoples in this country and around the world were not aware of the similarity of their predicament and struggle.  As we are brought together, we have become more deeply concerned with the violence done upon the land.  The indigenous peoples affirmation of land and rights is our unique contribution to peace and justice wherever we are, grounded as it is by a spirituality that easily sees the interdependent relationship of all created things, easily notices any attempt to subvert that symbiotic relationship, and that compels us to come to its defense.

We rejoice that the torch holding high the fight for land, life and rights refuses to die out.  The credibility of this fight is seen in the growing number of people, young and old, men and women, gays and non-gays, students, laborers, migrant workers, farmers professionals, and church peoples appreciating the justness of the cause and joining the march to genuine social transformation.

And so may the mountains, the trees and the rivers in the Cordilleras and all living things therein forever chant peace and justice.

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REV. REX RB REYES, JR.
General Secretary

April 3, 2012

“There is no change between the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and President Aquino,” Bishop Reuel Marigza,  vice chairperson of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and general secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), said during a presentation before leaders and members of religious and diplomatic communities.

The presentation was held at the Church Center for the United Nations.

“With President Aquino being the son of a martyr during the Marcos dictatorship, and him being the son of our People Power icon, you’d think that human rights situation in the Philippines would improve under his administration,” Angelina Bisuna Ipong, secretary general of the Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and Arrest (SELDA). “But human rights abuses under President Aquino did not stop,” she added.

Aquino is the son of former Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., whose death in 1983 sparked protests against the Marcos regime, and former President Corazon Aquino, who was catapulted to power by the People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos.

Ipong is considered the oldest female political prisoner in the Philippines until her release in 2011 after six years in prison. She was 66 years old when she was released.

Marigza and Ipong are part of a delegation that is currently visiting U.S. cities to seek the support of the American church and government leaders, members of the diplomatic community and the Filipino Americans in asking the Philippine government to address the human rights violations in the country.

“We would like to have the international community help us in holding the Philippine government to its promise to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines,“ Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (or the Philippine Independent Church), who is also a member of the delegation, said during the presentation.

Calang, who is also chairman of the peace advocacy group Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace Mindanao), said the Philippines is a signatory to various international humanitarian laws.

There have been 67 extrajudicial killings, nine disappearances, 55 cases of torture and 78 political arrests in the first one-and-a-half years in power of President Aquino, according to a 2011 report prepared by the human rights group Karapatan.

By the end of President Arroyo’s nine-year term in 2010, there were a total of 1, 206 victims of extrajudicial killings, 206 cases of disappearances and 2,059 arrests, according to a report by the Philippine UPR Watch.

The Philippine UPR Watch is an ecumenical network of Philippine human rights organizations and advocates that are committed to submit a Universal Periodic Review reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.

The U.S. tour of Marigza, Calang and Ipong is sponsored by the Asia Pacific Forum of US and Canadian churches with Asia and Pacific related programs and concerns.

As secretary general of the UCCP, Bishop Marigza, led the church in filing court cases against former President and top military officials for the killing, disappearances and detention of UCCP clergy. Since 2001, more than 20 UCCP clergy and members have been killed.

Bishop Calang’s organization, Barug Katungod Mindanao (or Stand Up for your Rights, Mindanao), is in the forefront of the campaign seeking justice for Father Fausto Tentorio, an Italian Roman Catholic missionary priest who was a victim of extrajudicial killing in Mindanao.

Ipong was arrested by the Philippine military on March 8, 2005, which ironically was International Women’s Day and was detained until 2011. During her detention, she was subjected to torture, sexual abuse, and continuous interrogations.

In February 2011, she was released from prison after the rebellion and criminal charges filed against her by the military were dismissed. She wrote about her ordeal in prison in her book, “Garden Behind Bars”, and published another book, “Red Rose for Andrea: Writings from Prison”, about the experiences of other political prisoners in the Philippines.

The delegation is now in Washington, D.C. and is scheduled to meet with U.S. House,  Senate and State Department committees. The group is also trying to work out an audience with the White House.

They will attend the Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) in Washington, D.C. on March 23-26 to rally the support of the U.S. religious and faith-based community in convincing the the U.S. Congress to investigate the connection between U.S. military aid to the Philippines and human rights violations under President Aquino.

They will proceed to Canada to convince Canadian lawmakers to support the Philippine UPR Watch’s position at the next UN HRC Session that the Philippines live up to its human rights commitments.

This trip to the U.S. and Canada is a follow-up to the 2007 International Human Rights Conference on the Philippines.

That year, a delegation of Filipino church leaders, lawyers and human rights advocates attended the EAD and brought to the U.S. religious community’s attention the growing cases of unsolved extrajudicial killings under the Arroyo government.

The 2007 delegation also convened an international conference on human rights in the Philippines in Washington, D.C.. They presented their report before a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing conducted by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California).

Senator Boxer called on the U.S. government to withdraw economic aid to the government of then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo unless it institutes reforms to curb human rights abuses in the Philippines.

The Boxer hearing concluded that the Philippine military, aided by U.S. military aid and resources, is largely responsible for the human rights violations in the Philippines.