ADVERTISEMENT
“Paramilitaries in Mindanao have been terrorizing tribal people, while the military, at best, does nothing.”
“It would have been hard not to notice this forced confinement. There were no armed guards to restrict their movement.”
“There is no truth that I was released because my case went through a democratic process. If so, there should have never been a case against me. I should not have been imprisoned. And my daughter would not have died.”
“Pope Francis, hear our misery and prolonged sufferings. Help us protect the indigenous schools, communities and people in Mindanao."
“Military occupation of civilian institutions and killing of civilians...are unacceptable, deplorable and contrary to international human rights and international humanitarian standards.”
All throughout the event, silence would fall on the entire room when a performer delivers a poignant song, dance or poem.
On the 43rd anniversary of the declaration of martial law, some netizens share their experiences.
“We believe that no real freedom and peace will prosper in the Philippines if our state forces remain to be the number one human rights violator.”
BULATLAT SPECIAL REPORT:
As “force multipliers” for the Philippine Army, paramilitary groups were also multipliers of its human rights abuses in the past four decades.
Every night, they would hear the door open. When soldiers hit the door with truncheons, they knew one of them would be taken out.
A human rights leader who is at the forefront of assisting Lumad victims and evacuees is the latest to be slapped with criminal charges.
“The presence of the military’s ‘peace and development teams’ in the community bolstered the culture of impunity and even emboldened the perpetrators who killed the farmer-couple.”
“We have no discord, they are our brothers...but when the military armed them, they no longer recognize us as kin. And it hurts, because Lumads are being killed by other Lumads.”
“Such documents could only have been obtained by deliberate and systematized acts of surveillance and data-gathering on the part of respondents.”
“It betrays the mindset of dangerous people who do not know how to distinguish between criticism and dissent and rebellion.”
“The filing of the criminal charges was obviously orchestrated by the military.”
“They make it appear as though we are criminals.”
RELATED STORY: Charges against 15 activists in Haran ‘ridiculous’
“We are demanding an investigation without the presence of the military because any investigation with their presence is useless.”
“Their murder is the murder of the peoples’ soul.”
Among some 3,000 Lumads seeking refuge at the Surigao del Sur Sports Center, there are two mothers of nearly the same age named Maribel Enriquez. Both seek justice for the plight they are going through because of the military.
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.