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“Did it have to take so long for the Supreme Court to find out that the investigators made serious lapses? ...the Supreme Court took five weeks short of 2 years simply to say that it cannot rule on the case because there were lapses in the investigation?” Mrs. Edita Burgos said in a letter to the justices dated June 23, a copy of which was sent to Bulatlat.
By RONALYN OLEA
UN Special Rapporteur Prof. Philip Alston visited the country in February 2007 to look into the spate of extrajudicial killings. He cited the counter-insurgency program of the government and the failure to prosecute perpetrators as the main reasons behind the killings.
By ZOFIA LEAL
Another mother has gone to a place she had never been to find her missing son. Wilma Rodriguez has just started her long journey. Nagtatapang-tapangan lang ako. Hindi talaga ako matapang. Pero kapag hindi ka lumaban, hindi rin titigil ang mga yan,” (I just try to be a fighter. I am not really a fighter. Because if you don’t fight, they would not stop.) she said.
By ALDWIN QUITASOL Northern Dispatch Human Rights Watch Posted by Bulatlat BAGUIO CITY ? Human rights advocates together with the family of a missing activist staged a rally at the Igorot Park here as part of the observance of the International day of the...
A farmer in Compostela Valley who last seen beaten and forcibly taken allegedly by soldiers on July 4 remains missing. Alvin Lopez, 25, a resident of Monkayo was hogtied and forced into a military vehicle during a military operation. Alvin’s mother, Erlinda, has filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights against the military’s 26th Infantry Battalion. Read the full story
Groups Denounce Continued Use of Torture
The implementation of the writ of amparo which takes effect Oct 24 gives hope to families of about 200 victims of enforced disappearances. A test case is that of activist-agriculturist Jonas Burgos who was abducted allegedly by state agents on April 28. By Dabet...
At least eight fully armed and hooded men believed to be members of the military abducted the three health workers at gunpoint and herded them into a van that had no license plates. This is the first time that a Filipino-American has fallen victim to what looks like another case of enforced disappearance.
UPDATE: Melissa Roxas "was surfaced" at 6:30 a.m. Monday, according to Bayan's Renato Reyes Jr. She has been reunited with her family after five days in the hands of her captors, believed to be soldiers. Her two companions remain missing, missing.
There is no existing law in the Philippines criminalizing enforced disappearances. While Republic Act No. 7438 guarantees the rights of persons arrested, detained or under custodial investigation, it does not punish perpetrators of enforced disappearances. Victims...
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 10, April 13-19, 2008 Representatives of 17 countries – including four of the country’s main aid donors – raised questions on the Philippine government’s human rights record in Geneva,...
BY DAVE PUGH ALTERNATIVE READER Posted by Bulatlat Vol. VIII, No. 11, April 20-26, 2008 In January and March 2007, tens of thousands of peasants at Nandigram in West Bengal, India rose up to defend their land. By the time their struggle abated, the peasants had...
Luing’s life has been an extraordinary one, an exemplar of dedication to the highest ideals of a people struggling for genuine independence and a more humane social order. Luing speaks for herself here in a way that is at once starkly simple and powerfully...
BY JUAN ANGELO A. HONGO AND MARIANNE B. MIRAMBEL Bulatlat To mark the second year anniversary of his abduction, family members, friends and supporters of activist Jonas Burgos gathered today in a mass at Camp Agunaldo’s Gate 1. Jonas, son of the late press freedom...
The family, clan, colleagues, as well as friends of missing Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) member James Moy Balao held a photo exhibit and information drive on enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings at the public market of La Trinidad, Benguet on...
Relatives and colleagues of missing activist James Balao asked the Benguet Regional Trial Court to give teeth to its decision on the petition for writ of amparo. BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat LA TRINIDAD, Benguet –...
A Regional Trial Court in Benguet found substantial evidence to link Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and state security forces to the abduction of missing activist James Balao. BY BULATLAT HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Bulatlat LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (263 kms. North of Manila)– A...
BY JONI BALAO-STRUGAR DEMOCRATIC SPACE Posted by Bulatlat I am Joni Balao-Strugar, the youngest sister of James. My other two siblings went to Manila on December 9 and had a meeting with our comrade Igorots and friends. They have gathered there as we gather here...
BY BULATLAT Exactly two months since James Balao disappeared, his family called on the members of the House of Representatives to conduct investigation and help them in their continuing search. Balao, founding member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), was...
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Promotion of Jonas's 'Abductors' Slammed