Bayan Muna’s Jariz Vida survived two assassination attempts. But in a twist of fate, he had to post bail and face charges of frustrated murder filed against him by soldiers from the 9th Infantry Division. BY DABET CASTAÑEDA Bulatlat.com Looking thin and pale, 30-year old Jariz Vida spoke softly of his travails as secretary general…
Category: Human Rights
Act on 400 Rights Complaints Now, DoJ Asked
The justice department is being asked to act expeditiously on several human rights complaints submitted by the CHR for prosecution “so that justice will be served on the victims and their surviving kin and those found guilty meted out corresponding punishment.” BY BULATLAT The Department of Justice (DoJ) has been urged to prosecute suspects in…
Palparan in Hot Water at UN Rights Body’s Session
The Arroyo administration appears to consider recently-retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr. an asset. But he may turn out to be a liability for the Philippine government at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, which has been in session to hear complaints of human rights violations filed by several cause-oriented groups against…
Arroyo Cannot Be Expected to Comply With Memorandum of Amnesty International
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee International League of Peoples” Struggle Posted by Bulatlat.com Driven by self-interest and malice, Gloria M. Arroyo cannot be expected to comply with the memorandum of the Amnesty International for ensuring that the Melo commission is transparent, its investigation is independently conducted and leads to accountability and…
Philippines: Toward Ensuring Justice and Ending Political Killings
Memorandum submitted to Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International Posted by Bulatlat.com Introduction On 15 August 2006, Amnesty International issued a report, Philippines: Political Killings, Human Rights and the Peace Process (AI Index: ASA 35/006/2006),(1) expressing grave concern at an intensifying…
Victims’ Kin See No Hope in Melo Commission
Between January 2001 to September this year, records from the human rights alliance Karapatan-Southern Tagalog showed 142 extra-judicial killings in the region. Cases of human rights violations have reached 2,280 affecting 9,222 individuals or 13,102 families. By Dennis Espada Bulatlat.com CALAMBA CITY, Laguna – Relatives of slain political activists believe the Melo Commission created by…
New Victim’s Group Vows to Fight Lethargy and Apathy
As the ranks of victims of human rights violations under the Arroyo administration continue to grow, their families, survivors of rights abuses and rights advocates had formed HUSTISYA, or justice, which they vowed will tirelessly fight until justice is served. BY FRED VILLAREAL Gitnang Luson News Service Posted by Bulatlat.com Dr. Constancio “Chandu” Claver, wore…
Attack on Local Journalist: Plain Robbery or Political Threat?
Was it a simple case of attempted hold-up, or was it a political threat? The recent attack on a council member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJP) Baguio-Benguet chapter by an unidentified knife-wielding man has brought this question to the fore. BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW Northern Dispatch Bulatlat.com LA TRINIDAD, BENGUET – Was it…
‘Ka Bel’ Fights Back, Charges Captors
He may have been detained for almost seven months now, but Ka Bel is not letting his captors off the hook. Clad in a red barong and escorted by fully-armed Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel, detained Anakpawis (AP) Congressman Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran personally filed a case against his captors at the Office of the…
A Lawyer and Martial Law: Been There and Back Again
He was vice mayor of Cebu and a human rights lawyer when arrested and detained for three months in 1972. He pursued human rights lawyering even after his release. Thirty four years hence and three kids later, he feels that human rights work is as urgent today under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration as it was before…
‘We Feel It… Martial Law is Back’
If there is anyone who knows what Martial Law was like, it would be people like Carmencita Mendoza-Florentino and Rodolfo del Rosario, who were both victims of the Marcos dictatorship. Many people thought that after Marcos’ ouster in 1986 no dictatorship would ever happen again, but Florentino and Del Rosario believe otherwise. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN…