Paninindigan January 2010
FEATURES
By Renato Reyes

At least nine partylist groups with linked to the administration have been accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Bayan has come up with a preliminary listing and said this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Bayan based its findings on a list drafted by poll watchdog Kontra Daya in 2007 and on a 2006 memorandum from the Office on External Affairs (OEA) in Malacanang which identified administration partylist groups to be supported. In 2007, several pro-admin and pseudo-partylist groups were fielded in the elections with the expressed intent of drawing away votes from legitimate partylist groups that were critical of the administration.

The table below shows the partylist groups previously identified with the Arroyo administration and have been recently accredited by the Comelec).

Four of the partylist groups – Agbiag, Babae Ka, Kalahi and LYPAD – were previously cited in a memo from the OEA in October 16, 2006. They were then considered the four main partylist groups to be supported by the administration in 2007 and were supposed to receive Palace funding according to the OEA memo. Receiving official funding from the government should already be a basis for disqualification.

For the May elections, these groups have been accredited again despite previous questions on their qualifications as legitimate partylist groups. In contrast, COMELEC has made it difficult for the legitimate partylist groups like Ang Ladlad, Migrante, ACT and Courage to get immediate accreditation.

Ang Ladlad has been included in the list of partylist groups only after a Supreme Court restraining order on the Comelec. Meanwhile, ACT was only recently accredited after it was initially disqualified.

Bigkis Pinoy Movement (BIGKIS), identified with PAGCOR chair Efraim Genuino, is another questionable partylist group accredited by the Comelec. The group’s previous nominees include PAGCOR officials Edward King and Ramon Agoncillo, consultants Mario Cornista (2001), Ismael Tabo (2004), and Tomas Toledo (2007) and Sheryl Genuino-See, the daughter of PAGCOR chairman Genuino. The group has failed to get elected to Congress the past three elections.

It is thus anomalous that this partylist group that has failed to get elected the last three polls is allowed to run again. Election rules state that if a partylist group fails to participate or obtain at least 2% of the votes cast under the party-list system in the 2 preceding elections, they should be delisted. But it appears that the rule does not apply to a partylist group that is identified with PAGCOR and Genuino and the Comelec is apparently giving special treatment to favored groups.

Kontra-Daya in its 2007 list also cited groups Aangat Tayo (AT), BANAT, Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD) and Kasangga sa Kaunlaran (Ang Kasangga) as partylist groups identified with the adminstration. These groups have since been given seats in Congress after a Supreme Court ruling on the appropriation of seats under the partylist system.

Ang Kasangga’s congressional representative is a sister of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. BANTAY’s representative is notorious human rights violator Gen. Jovito Palparan who claims to represent security guards and baranggay tanods. ANAD meanwhile is a group dedicated to fighting communism. Both ANAD and BANTAY are believed to be supported by the military. BANAT meanwhile has recently endorsed administration presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer also reported another partylist group, ARARO or Alliance for Rural Agrarian Reconstruction, has among its founders former police general Quirino dela Torre who was implicated in the ZTE-NBN deal and who was the Central Luzon police chief during the Hacienda Luisita Massacre in 2004.

The partylist system is supposed to be for the marginalized or underrepresented. However, over the past years, through the efforts of Arroyo and the Comelec, the partylist system has been undermined and corrupted to favor the incumbent in Malacanang.

Bayan and various poll watchdogs will closely monitor the partylist groups and will seek the disclosure of nominees by the Comelec. The disclosure of partylist nominees is a crucial aspect of transparency in the elections so that the electorate can better analyze and pinpoint the pseudo –partylist groups. ###

Paninindigan January 2010
FEATURES

“They are torturing me. They are torturing even my mind.”

This was what Adoracion Paulino recalled her son Valentin Paulino as saying to her during one of her visits to Camp Capinpin. The revelation came during a dialogue with Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Leila de Lima on Feb. 25.

Lawyers led by Atty. Romeo Capulong of the Public Interest Law Center and the National Union of Peoples Lawyers today filed a complaint before the CHR, seeking the commission’s help in probing the gross human rights abuses committed against Paulino and 42 others.

The younger Paulino is one of the 43 health workers who were illegally arrested and detained in Rizal and who are now collectively known as the “Morong 43”. On Feb. 11, military and police officials presented him to the media as a “communist rebel”. In the Feb. 11 press conference, he said he and his companions are members of the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA).

The military and the police have claimed that the “Morong 43” are NPA guerrillas who were in the thick of a “bomb-making seminar” when arrested. According to Paulino’s mother Adocracion, he had been browbeaten and even physically tortured to say what he said at the Feb. 11 AFP press conference.

De Lima said that that Commission was preparing an order for the AFP to formally respond to the allegations of torture and human rights abuses committed against the 43. The Department of Justice prosecutor Romeo Senson will also be asked to explain why the 43 were denied counsel during the inquest proceedings.

The “gross violations of constitutional rights” cited in the complaint include unlawful search, illegal arrest and detention, and physical and mental torture.

When they were arrested last Feb. 6 in Morong, Rizal, the 43 health workers were conducting a Community First Responders’ Health Skills Training sponsored by the Council for Health and development (CHD) and the community Medicine Development Foundation (Commed). The training was being held at a farmhouse at 266 Dela Paz St., Brgy. Maybangcal, Morong. The farmhouse is owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte, an infectious disease specialist at the Philippine General Hospital, and had been used several times before for similar activities.

The officers in Camp Capinpin have made it difficult for the detainees’ families, colleagues, friends, doctors, and even their lawyers to visit them.

The 43 health workers have all told of undergoing mental and psychological torture in the hands of their custodians. Aside from the younger Paulino, three others have told of being physically tortured – including 62-year-old Dr. Alex Montes, an officer of the health program at the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and an elder of its local congregation in Sampaloc, Manila – who was accused of being an NPA hitman out on a mission to kill former Army general and now Bantay Partylist Rep. Jovito Palparan Jr.

Several female detainees said they were subjected to sexual harassment while undergoing interrogation.

Baladad and Balonglong were named respondents in the complaint, together with Gen. Victor Ibrado, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff; Lt. Gen. Delfin Banngt, commanding general of the Philippine Army; Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali, commanding general of the Army’s Southern Luzon Command (Solcom); Brig. Gen. Jorge segovia, chief of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division; Lt. Col. Jaime Abawag, commander of the Army’s 16th Infantry Battalion; and Philippine National Police (PNP) Director-General Jesus Verzosa.

Also cited under the principle of command responsibility are President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

Mangrobang was cited for issuing the warrant used to justify the unlawful search of Velmonte’s house and the illegal arrest of the 43. State Prosecutor II Romeo Senson was cited for conducting the defective inquest proceedings, while Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Severino Gana was cited for signing Senson’s “findings”. Justice Secretary Agnes Devenadera among those cited in the complaint.###

Paninindigan January 2010
FEATURES
(Condensed version of the statement prepared by the International DEFEND Committee)

By virtue of its 30 September 2009 judgment, the European Court has removed the name of Prof. Jose Maria Sison from the terrorist blacklist and has unfrozen his small bank account. The judgment has become final and executory since 10 December 2009.

It is a brilliant landmark decision which upholds fundamental human and democratic rights and protects everyone in Europe from being arbitrarily blacklisted as a terrorist and made to suffer stigmatization and severe sanctions like Prof. Sison, without being properly investigated, prosecuted or convicted for any specific act of terrorism.

But the legal and political struggle for the fundamental rights, normalized residence and social benefits of Prof. Sison continues. It remains to be seen how the European Court will decide his moral and material compensation claims against the Council of the European Union. It also remains to be seen how the Dutch government will rectify and make amends for the wrongs and injustice that it has done to Prof. Sison.

From 22 October 2002 onwards, the Dutch government used the EU terrorist blacklist against Prof. Sison in order to terminate his social benefits, deny his application for residence permit and work permit and violate his fundamental rights under the pretext of temporarily restricting them.

But by current indications, based on the answers of Dutch ministers last 10 December 2009 to parliamentary questions, the Dutch government intends to continue the unjust and severe sanctions against Prof. Sison and make empty and useless the 30 September judgment of the European Court.

At this point, it is necessary and appropriate to expose the fact that based on official pronouncements and publications, the Dutch government has openly collaborated with  the US and Philippine governments in using lies and false charges for a long period of time  in order to oppress Prof. Sison.

The Dutch government has used the lies and false charges, supplied mainly by the Philippine government, to deny him legal admission as refugee (1988 to 2007)  and his application for work permit  (1998) and residence (1998, 2003 and 2008), to terminate his social benefits (2002 onwards)  and to arrest and detain him (2007).

All the lies and false charges used to oppose Prof. Sison’s application for asylum were carried in intelligence dossiers but publicized in the mass media.  They were used by the Dutch government to counter the clear merits of Prof. Sison’s application, the endorsements of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Amnesty International and the 1992 and 1995 judgments of the Raad van State recognizing Prof. Sison as a political refugee under Article 1 A of the Refugee Convention and as one protected by Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Dutch government made him liable even for incidents while he was in solitary confinement and under torture by the Marcos fascist dictatorship (1977 to 1986) or while he was preoccupied with his lectures abroad (1986 onwards). The subversion charge filed in 1988 was the only charge that reached a Philippine court and was dismissed by the court upon the repeal of the Anti-Subversion Law in 1992.  The charge of multiple murder arising from the 1971 Plaza Miranda bombing was filed in 1991 and was dismissed by the Manila prosecutors in 1994.  Ultimately, the Philippine secretary of justice issued in 1998 a certification that there was no pending criminal charge against Prof. Sison.

But the Dutch government stubbornly used the Dutch intelligence dossiers to make the false claim that Prof. Sison had criminal contacts with terrorist organizations and was a liability to the integrity and credibility of the Dutch state to its allies, especially the U.S. To this day, the Dutch government adheres to such unproven claims of the Dutch intelligence and yet admits that Prof. Sison has never been investigated for any specific act of terrorism.

Prof. Sison applied for residence and work permit as consultant of the Stichting NDF International Office in 1998.  But the Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) refused to grant the permit and went so far as to argue before the Rotterdam district court in November 2002 that Prof. Sison was a terrorist in addition to not having priorly gotten a residence permit.

Prof. Sison applied for residence (regulier) in The Netherlands in early 2003 on the ground that he is a recognized political refugee under Article 1 A of the Refugee Convention and has actually lived in The Netherlands for sixteen (16) years since 1987. The IND refused to give any explanation for refusing to grant the residence permit until early 2009 when it declared that Prof. Sison, despite threats to his life and travel restrictions on him, should have applied first for a temporary residence permit from a Dutch consular office near the Philippines.

Prof. Sison availed of the pardonregeling (amnesty regulation) by applying for amnesty and for the grant of residence permit. The IND made a negative decision by claiming that he is excluded by the national security provision of the pardonregeling. Legal experts point out that said provision excludes only those who have committed a specific act of terrorism against the Dutch state and that Prof. Sison has never been investigated, prosecuted nor convicted for such. The two residence cases (regulier and pardonregeling) are now pending before the district court of Zutphen.

It is of recent public knowledge how lies and false charges of murder (despite earlier dismissal of these by the Philippine Supreme Court)  have been used by the Dutch government to arrest and detain Prof. Sison in 2007 and have been dismissed by the Dutch courts and the examining judge for lack of evidence to try and detain him further.

Most emphatically, the European Court has in effect exposed the lies and false tag of terrorism on Prof. Sison and the brazen injustice of such labeling, the sanctions and violations of rights at the expense of Prof. Sison and the entire cause of human rights and rule of law.

The International DEFEND Committee appeals to all people, organizations and institutions interested in upholding justice, human rights and rule of law:

1.    To demand that the Dutch government  end its policy of oppressing Prof. Jose Maria Sison, respect his rights and start rectifying the wrongs done to him by expediting the grant of residence permit to him;

2.    To encourage a broad coalition of parliamentarians and respected institutions, organizations and personages to press for the foregoing demand;

3.    To engage in a campaign of information, education and other activities for upholding justice, human rights and the rule of law by using the case of Prof. Sison as an example; and

4.    To hold forums and mass meetings and issue publications for the foregoing purposes.

International DEFEND Committee

Paninindigan January 2010
FEATURES
By Arnold Padilla

Utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) recently announced that its February billing will go up by 56 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh). The rate hike should have been P1 per kWh, but the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) temporarily suspended the 26.9 centavos per kWh hike earlier granted by the agency to Meralco.

Unfortunately for consumers, this increase is only the start of what looms as successive months of increasing electricity bill. On top of Meralco’s rate hike, power users in Luzon and Visayas should also anticipate an increase of P3.38 and P4.71 per kWh, respectively in generation and transmission charges from the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

These increases continue the trend in soaring electricity rates in the country. Government says it is because of El Niño (i.e. higher demand for power amid lower supply). Some blame it on regulation failure or even regulatory capture. But the deeper issue is the neoliberal restructuring of the power sector that has legitimized these onerous power rate hikes.

Rate hikes

Last December 14, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) allowed Meralco to jack up its distribution charge from P1.2227 to P1.4917 per kWh. The rate hike was based on a formula under the commission’s so-called Performance-Based Regulation (PBR).

It was in fact the second round of increase in Meralco’s distribution charge through the PBR. In April last year, the ERC also let the company hike its rate from P1.0831 to P1.2227 per kWh. Thus, Meralco has raised its distribution charge by 40.86 centavos per kWh or by 37.7 percent in the last eight months.

Prior to the latest increase in its distribution charge, Meralco has also raised its metering charge by 9.45 centavos per kWh between December 2008 and December 2009. And there seems no end in sight for the woes of hapless power consumers.

Remember that Napocor too has pending applications before the ERC for rate increases. The most recent, filed last December 28, seeks to hike generation and transmission charges by P1.7033 per kWh in Luzon; P1.3545 in the Visayas; and 22.54 centavos in Mindanao. These applications fall under the so-called 14th Incremental Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment (ICERA) and 15th Generation Rate Adjustment Mechanism (GRAM).

The ERC has yet to decide on two previous ICERA (12th and 13th) and GRAM (13th and 14th) applications by Napocor. If approved, customers in Luzon will bear a total increase of P3.3811 while those in the Visayas, P4.7134 per kWh. Mindanao consumers, on the other hand, will see a reduction of P1.0977 per kWh. Napocor explained that 90 percent of Mindanao’s power supply is generated by cheaper hydro-power, thus the rate reduction.

But the situation of power supply in Mindanao is about to change due to the El Niño as hydropower plants now operate at lower capacity due to limited water supply. The region may be forced to shift to more expensive oil-powered generation plants. In the Visayas, consumers are not only burdened with high power rates but also with rotating brownouts since last year due to supposedly limited supply.

GRAM and ICERA are cost recovery mechanisms to make the power sector attractive to private investors. GRAM replaced the notorious purchased power adjustment (PPA). But the principle remains the same. Consumers bear all the risks associated with the operation of power plants including fuel costs and foreign exchange fluctuations.

“Good utility performance”

Some critics argue that unreasonable power rates are due to regulators’ failure to implement the law. They say that the ERC does not follow the intent of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001. There is a need to clarify this.

The problem is Epira itself. While couched with pro-consumer intensions, the law in reality aims to create the most conducive environment for private capital.

Epira created the ERC as an independent, quasi-judicial body. Among its key functions is to determine the distribution rates of utilities like Meralco. As to the methodology, Epira lets ERC to use any form as long as it is internationally accepted. As to the rates, the law said it must allow Meralco and others to “operate viably”. (Epira, Chapter IV Section 43 – f)

Based on this provision, the ERC is using the PBR to determine the rates that Meralco and others can charge. The PBR was chosen by design. Consistent with the neoliberal agenda of Epira, it makes rates setting more market-based and reduces regulatory oversight. It adheres to the principle that “good utility performance should lead to higher profits”. (Biewald et al: 1997)

But this raises a fundamental question. What exactly is good utility performance? For a private company, good performance means high profits. For consumers, it means reliable service at the most reasonable rates. The law, however, is clear. The bottom line is the commercial viability of private utilities.

Thus, despite unresolved consumer concerns on the reasonable-ness of power rates, Meralco still got away with another rate hike. Onerous charges and taxes like the value added tax (VAT) including on unused electricity remain. Consumers continue to shoulder the costs of Napocor’s onerous contracts with independent power producers (IPPs).

Milking customers dry

Worse, Meralco does not even need a rate hike to remain viable or profitable. It has been earning way beyond what it should at the expense of consumers. From 1987 to 2007, for instance, Meralco earned a total return of P39.28 billion. Its total paid-up capital during the period meanwhile was only P441.6 million. (Nasecore: 2009)

What do these figures mean? They show that from 1987 to 2007, Meralco’s annual rate of return was a whopping 423 percent. It is scandalous to say the least. The acceptable level of rate of return is only 12 percent for public utilities. (Supreme Court: 2002)

Meralco owners have been milking customers dry throughout the years. Yet customers are today forced to shell out more money not only to finance Meralco’s operations. They are also asked to pay more so Meralco owners can increase their already outrageous profits.

Further, Epira institutionalized private monopoly control over the power sector. Meralco, aside from its captured market in distribution, also has its own IPPs. This allowed the firm to overcharge as much as P49.56 billion from June 2003 to June 2006. The amount represents the difference between the generation rates of Napocor IPPs and Meralco IPPs. (Nasecore: 2009)

Indeed, its customers have not only long paid whatever increases in rates that Meralco is asking for. It is Meralco that owes consumers. Until today, it has not even completed the past refunds ordered by the Supreme Court and ERC worth more than P34.12 billion.

Towards lower power cost

The power sector certainly needs restructuring. But such reforms must be within the framework of nationalization and effective people’s control. To pave the way for these reforms, Epira must be repealed.

In the immediate, the courts and ERC must be pressured to issue a restraining order on approved rate hikes. Pending petitions should also be strongly opposed. Current rate setting methodology must be reviewed to capture the more important public interest. To do this, the review process must be democratic and participatory.

At the same time, concrete measures to bring down the cost of electricity must be implemented now. These include some policy proposals long pushed by consumers and advocacy groups, to wit:

(1)    Scrap the VAT on power and oil;
(2)    Refund to customers all illegal collections by Meralco, other distribution utilities, and Napocor;
(3)    Stop the imposition of questionable charges like system loss, which is partly associated with a firm’s inefficiency;
(4)    Cancel onerous IPP contracts to liberate consumers from paying unused electricity;
(5)    Credible and thorough audit of financial records of Napocor, Meralco, and other players in the power sector (i.e. COA plus a parallel audit by consumer groups, independent experts, etc)

Paninindigan September 2009
FEATURES
By Arnold Padilla

After steeply declining in the second half of 2008, global oil prices have again started to increase this year. Dubai crude prices, for instance, jumped from about $41 a barrel in December 2008 to almost $72 in August this year. Consequently, local pump prices have increased by an average of almost P4 per liter, or around 10% during the same period.

Amid all these, persistent allegations of overpricing continue to hound the oil firms and public pressure on the Department of Energy (DOE) to address such abuses intensifies. In fact, the issue has become so intense that it caused a rift between Secretary Angelo Reyes of the DOE and Sec. Ralph Recto of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA). The latter, who eventually resigned, accused the oil companies of overpricing their gasoline products by P8 a liter.

Anti-ODL sentiment

But more importantly, the unabated oil price hikes and unresolved allegations of overpricing have contributed to an anti-Oil Deregulation Law (ODL) public sentiment. Even the conservative Consumer and Oil Price Watch (COPW) has somewhat backtracked from its strong pro-deregulation stance. Meanwhile, the House’s energy committee under Rep. Mikey Arroyo has been forced to concede to public opinion and demanded an audit of the oil firms.

Despite these favorable developments, consumers and advocates of regulating the oil industry must not hold back in the campaign to repeal RA 8479 or the ODL. At present, the prevailing view among policy makers and the mainstream media is either the ODL just needs fine-tuning or that it is not properly implemented.

In a sense, Reyes is correct in his counter to critics that he could not curb overpricing because of deregulation. But it does not mean he must not be held accountable for conspiring with and defending the Big Three and for this, he should resign.

Curbing overpricing

At the same time, it is wrong to assume that replacing Reyes and/or amending the ODL would ensure reasonable oil prices. This is because allowing the DOE to determine and impose fair oil prices directly hits the very heart of deregulation – which is non-state intrusion in supposedly market-dictated prices. Thus, the only way overpricing can be averted or at least lessened is by repealing RA 8479 and instituting a new law to regulate the oil industry.

There are pending bills at the House to make this possible. House Bills filed by the progressive bloc of party-list groups, for instance, call for the repeal of the ODL (HB 3029), centralized importation of oil (HB 3030), and re-nationalization of Petron (HB 3031). These proposals have been pending deliberation since November 2008 and have been merged, according to House insiders, with other bills on ODL amendments.

To be sure, the legislative wheels will not roll unless consumers keenly press lawmakers to act on these bills. The expected continuing uptrend in global oil prices in the months ahead amid strong public opinion versus overpricing give favorable conditions for a compelling consumer lobby against the ODL.

Paninindigan January 2009
FEATURES
Contributed by the Kalikasan People’s Movement for the Environment

International and national groups under the Defend Patrimony! alliance gave support to the anti-large-scale mining campaign by communities in Nueva Vizcaya through an International Solidarity Mission (ISM) last December 7-8.

The ISM team visited the targeted expansion areas of the Didipio gold-copper mining project of Australia-based OceanaGold Corporation (OGC) in Barangays Alimit and Malabing in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya to document human rights violations, environmental, and other mining-related issues. They also held discussions with the affected communities on the negative effects of mining.

The 19,363-hectare Didipio gold-copper project is among the priority mining projects identified by the Arroyo administration and the first of the two Financial or Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAAs) approved in the country since the Mining Act of 1995 was passed. The project also covers the municipality of Cabarroguis in Quirino province.

“We were surprised at the solid campaign of the people to defend their lands and rights by opposing large-scale mining in their communities. The people of Nueva Vizcaya have much to lose, given their rich natural resources and long-established cultural community, if large-scale mining operations continue in their area,” said one of the international delegates, Edith Raseil of United Church of Christ, USA.

The ISM team witnessed the state of environmental destruction that affected areas are facing. Located within a watershed, the mining operations have resulted to deforestation, biodiversity loss, and watershed degradation. Hundreds of hectares of forestlands have been cleared and denuded and fertile agricultural lands have been converted into mining areas, causing massive environmental damage in nearby communities. Water bodies particularly the Cagayan River, the longest river in the Philippines, will be more contaminated with heavy metals once the commercial mining operations start and reach their full capacity.

The ISM team verified that Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) from the indigenous peoples in the directly impacted communities was not obtained. OGC asserts that it has no responsibility to get FPIC from the IP communities affected. The company claims that Philippine law does not require them get FPIC for the Didipio mining project because it was approved prior to the passage of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (Republic Act 8371).
IP leaders from the ISM team expressed concern over the displacement caused by the Didipio project.

“The IP communities in Brgy. Alimit and Malabing are at risk of experiencing the same fate as those communities where multinational mining corporations are allowed to enter. They are in danger of losing the resources most precious to us IPs, which is our land and right to self- determination,” said Himpad Mangumalas, leader of Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamayan sa Pilipinas (KAMP), a national IP organization.

Local participants who shared their struggle in their own communities, particularly those who have directly experienced the effects of mining in the neighboring towns of Didipio and Runruno and the adjacent province of Apayao, also joined the ISM. The ISM delegates also appealed to church, local and national government support the people’s campaign against OGC.

“Even though the local communities are opposed to mining and have exhausted means to stop mining in the area, Arroyo with her agencies still push for the liberalization of mining in the country,” said Clemente Bautista Jr., national coordinator of progressive environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment.

The ISM team also made recommendations on how to step up the campaign against large-scale mining in the Kasibu based on the data they have collated and the local situation presented by the mining-affected communities.

First, with the recent declaration of OGC of its care and maintenance stage, there is a need to systematically assess the damage the mining activities have incurred on the communities and to the local environment. This would serve as the basis for the eventual rehabilitation of the affected area and compensation for the affected communities where OGC is accountable.

Second, the provincial government is urged to take a stronger stance and pass a resolution declaring a moratorium on large-scale mining, as it was already proven that this does not bring economic benefits to the community and instead brings hardships and disunity among the tribes.

Third, the communities should develop a more concrete plan to adopt a policy geared towards genuine development through a strong sustainable agricultural base.

Ultimately, there should be a change in policy of the national government with the scrapping of Mining Act of 1995 and its mining revitalization program that would include complete cancellation of Didipio Gold-copper mining project of OGC in Nueva Vizcaya. (END)

Paninindigan January 2009
Features

Still under its counter-insurgency program Operational Plan Freedom Watch, more known as Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), the Arroyo administration has unleashed a new wave of attacks against activists and ordinary people. The OBL aims to defeat the communist armed insurgency but targets leaders and members of progressive groups, such as Bayan and its members, which military propaganda claims as communist front organizations.

The OBL is being steered by the National Security Council Cabinet Group, headed by the National Security Adviser. It coordinates various agencies of the government such as the departments of justice, foreign affairs, local government, and works closely with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances continued last year but another form of repression also emerged which involves the intensified use of wholesale legal attacks such as the case of the Southern Tagalog (ST) 72.

ST 72

The ST 72 case involves a series of trumped up charges filed against progressive leaders. It is similar to other trumped up charges filed against activists, where false witnesses and false testimonies were used. Bayan assailed the new wave of legal attacks as part of the government’s strategy to neutralize progressives and staunch critics of the Arroyo administration, as led by the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group or IALAG headed by National Security Adviser Secretary Norberto Gonzalez.

While using legal offensives is no longer new, the ST case is particularly alarming and in a sense unprecedented because of the number of activists implicated. Seventy-two (72) people, including almost all high-profile regional and provincial activist leaders, are currently facing arrest warrants based on trumped-up criminal charges of multiple murders, frustrated multiple murders, and arson. The charges stemmed from alleged operations carried out by the New People’s Army (NPA), armed wing of the revolutionary Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in particular its alleged ambush on military forces on 3 March 2006 and bombing of a cell site owned by local telecom giant Globe Telecom Inc. on 2 August 2008. Due process was capriciously circumvented as the list of people charged was repeatedly amended on a whim, the people implicated were not duly notified, and the arrest warrants were issued even without a preliminary investigation.

Among those who have already been arrested and detained are labor lawyer Remigio Saladero; bedridden peasant leader Rogelio Galit, who is seriously afflicted with diabetes; party-list local leaders Nestor San Jose and Crispin Zapanta; labor union organizer Arnaldo Seminiano; and labor NGO official Emmanuel Dionida. The rest have been forced to secure themselves, including Armand Albarillo, secretary-general of Bayan’s regional chapter in Southern Tagalog.

Atty. Saladero said that their rights were violated as they did not undergo preliminary investigation.  He underscored the importance of such a process to determine whether a complaint should be filed before a court, and whether this court should issue a warrant of arrest at all. However, none of those arrested received any notice of the charges and were not given any chance to file their counter-affidavits, as Atty. Rachel Pastores, of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and legal counsel of the respondents also noted.

Bayan warned that if the ST 72 case is not exposed and opposed, it will be repeated in other regions and areas of the Philippines. Note that it was in this same region where the initial spate of extrajudicial killings took place before it reached a nationwide scale and it seems that Southern Tagalog is again being pilot-tested for a refurbished tactic in political repression.

Meanwhile, other activist leaders are also currently detained due to similar trumped up charges. (See Box)

Box. Some activists in detention

Randall Echanis, deputy secretary general of peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) is presently detained in the Manila City Jail based on trumped up charges of multiple murder purportedly committed in 1985 and involving a mass grave discovered in Inopacan, Leyte in August 2006 – a rehash of the case filed against Vicente Ladlad and others involving another mass grave in Leyte holding the same set of supposed victims, as the prosecution used the same information in both cases.

Randy Felix Malayao, 39 years old, and former Vice President for Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and an NDFP consultant for the peace process in Cagayan Valley was abducted  May 16, 2008, but was surfaced by the PNP several days after, only to be detained based also on trumped up charges of multiple murder.

Bernadith Dignos, 26 years old, a KMP leader in Misamis Occidental had been missing since May 18, 2008, but was later surfaced to face murder charges. She is now detained in the provincial jail.

Extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances

The intensified use of legal attacks, however, does not mean that extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances are no longer employed by state security forces in its campaign to quash the progressive Left. Extra judicial killings continued in 2008, most of which took place in Mindanao, particularly in Compostela Valley.

Celso Pojas, 45 years old, Secretary General of Davao City Farmers Association (DCFA), was gunned down by motorcycle-riding men on 15 May 2008.  Maximo Baranda, Chairperson of Compostela Workers Association-KMU and Reol Daratot, Bayan Muna member in Monkayo, Compostella Valley were gunned down by military agents in the 3rd quarter of 2008.

According to Karapatan’s Report for 2008, there are 50 cases of extra-judicial killings in 2008 (January to October 31, 2008), increasing EJKs under the Arroyo administration to 977.
There are also seven cases of enforced disappearances in 2008, including those of James Balao and Flaviano Arante.

James Balao, 47 years old, member of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) was abducted by agents of the Intelligence Security Unit of the AFP last September 17, 2008.  CPA received reports a month later that Balao is alive and is still being held in one of the camps of the security forces. Flaviano Arante, council member of Nagkahiusang Mag-uuma, a farmers’ association in Sta. Catalina, Negros Oriental, was forcibly taken from his home, in front of his wife, by elements of the Bravo Company of the 61st Infantry Battalion.

People’s response

Member organizations and regional chapters of Bayan and allied groups have launched actions and campaigns to counter the continued political repression. A series of protest actions at the Department of Justice (DOJ), National Security Council, and Malacanang among others were conducted to expose and oppose the continuing political attacks, as well as effectively engaging in the legal battles. These campaigns have resulted in several victories such as the release of Pastor Mel Abesamis of the United Methodist Church and secretary general of Karapatan in Mindoro Occidental, Pastor Berlin Guerrero of the United Churches of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and the Tagaytay 5. The Free Saladero Campaign Coalition and the DEFEND ST (Task Force to Defend Southern Tagalog Activists) Coalition were launched last November 2008.

Bayan noted that the terrible human rights record of Arroyo is among the reasons that people must relentlessly oppose all moves by Arroyo and her cabal to stay in power beyond 2010 such as through Charter change (Cha-cha). The people must not stop in the struggle to demand justice for the victims of the killings, enforced disappearances, legal persecution and other human rights atrocities and punish the perpetrators. (END)