In 1980, the PPT convened a Session on the Philippines to hear the case filed by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) against then President Ferdinand Marcos, the U.S. government, and U.S.-controlled financial institutions, multi-national corporations and commercial banks. The Marcos dictatorship, which was supported by the U.S. government, was specifically charged with violation of human rights and peoples rights, and crimes under international law.

After a trial, the PPT delivered a “Guilty” verdict on Marcos and his government – in effect becoming the first international body to condemn the Marcos dictatorship. It also recognized the NDFP and the MNLF as the “legitimate representatives” of the Filipino and Moro peoples, respectively.

Convening in The Hague this Oct. 30 is the PPT’s Second Session on the Philippines. In March next year, the PPT will be hearing a case filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the U.S. government, and multi-national agencies “acting as their accomplices in violating the individual and collective rights of the Filipino people.”

Filing the indictment on behalf of the Filipino people are: Hustisya (Justice), an organization of human rights victims under the Arroyo administration and their relatives; Desaparecidos, a group of relatives of victims of enforced disappearances; Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (SELDA or Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and for Amnesty); and the multi-sectoral Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance).

FULL STORY HERE

Related:

Verdict of the First Session on the Philippines (1980), Permanent Peoples' Tribunal

An Urgent Appeal to the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT) of the Lelio Basso International Foundation for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples

FULL STORY HERE

Communique of the 3rd IAPL Congress

Highly regarded as a progressive religious leader, Bishop Ramento has condemned attacks on leaders of activist organizations since 2001, among them Fr. William Tadena, IFI who was ambushed on March 13, 2005 by what activists now call as “death squads.”

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Central Luzon (Bayan-CL) in an SMS statement dubbed the killing as a “brazen attack on a peace-loving church leader,” calling it further as a “damnable imprint of a dictatorship.”

A fact-finding mission led by the human rights group Karapatan is now on its way to Tarlac City. Gitnang Luson News Service

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And They Say It was a Robbery with Homicide
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Robbery?
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A Cry for Justice
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Pagtatapat ng Patalim na Nagkamalay
Sa Araw na Ganap Nating Bawiin ang Ating Pagpapahintulot
For Genuine Truth and Justice

This infamous US covert program may well have been the forerunner of all the so-called counter-insurgency programs launched by the Philippine reactionary state since the Marcos dictatorship. The various Orwellian-labeled "oplans"—from Marcos' "Katatagan" to Macapagal-Arroyo's "Bantay-Laya"—aimed to coordinate the state's US-directed counterrevolutionary efforts for every administration, just like Phoenix sought to do.

As in Phoenix, all these Philippine oplans seem to have been laid down in tight coordination with the US military establishment, from the US-RP Mutual Defense Board during Marcos' heyday to the US-RP Defense Policy Board and the current US-RP Security Engagement Board, though the newly-formed security engagement board stands on shaky legal grounds as the agreement that formed it has not gone through the constitutionally-mandated approval of both the US and Philippine Senates.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Since February, dozens of killings, many widely thought to be politically motivated, have taken place. None of the recent cases have been brought to trial yet and only a handful of cases have been filed.

The special 10-week investigation, headed by Task Force Usig, began August 1 when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo instructed the Department of Justice and the Philippine National Police to jail suspects in at least 10 killings before the October deadline. At the time, President Arroyo said, “I continue to condemn media and leftist killings in the strongest terms, and I have ordered law enforcement to dig deeper into the motives involved.” No updates on Task Force Usig’s or other authorities’ efforts have been made public, however.

“The government’s special investigation in the killings must be effective. Otherwise, justice is in jeopardy in the Philippines,” said Sophie Richardson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Prompt and thorough investigations, credible prosecutions and public access to justice should be the norm, not the exception.”

FULL TEXT HERE

CODAL condemns the shameless lack of remorse and sensitivity of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile for his role as the implementor of martial law. He misses the point when he justified his role by using the ‘constitutionality’ of martial law, since the issue is not merely whether Pres. Ferdinand Marcos had the power to declare martial law but whether he had the power to close Congress, to conduct political killings, illegally arrest and detain the opposition and enrich his family through graft and corruption. Surely, many of the acts Hitler may have constitutional basis in Germany, but they were crimes against humanity under international law just the same.

CODAL is seriously concerned that the Melo Commission is contributing to the military’s media counter offensive when it allowed the AFP to explain why they are not guilty of the political killings rather than asking the victims what actually happened. Any serious, competent and genuine fact finding body or court for that matter must first establish the facts of the incident before interviewing the suspects. The prosecutor must first lay the basis of the case before the accused or the respondent is allowed to present his or her defense. This major mistake of the Melo Commission is a serious blow to its already tattered credibility, from which the Commission may not be able to recover. From the conduct and composition of the Melo Commission, it is no longer surprising to expect that it will come out with a decision declaring that there is no evidence proving government involvement in the killings, using the killing of journalists as a basis. It may sacrifice an individual soldier or two as perpetrators but will point to the NPAs and criminal syndicates as the main perpetrators of the killings.

The sinister inclusion of the Committee on Defense and the Public Order Committee headed by former military officers in the House of Representatives’ investigation of the political killings is one more proof of the malicious effort by government to derail the ongoing investigation and discourage witnesses from testifying. Rep. Abante, who chairs the human rights committee, shows his lack of human rights advocacy and sensitivity by inviting former military officers to join in his committee’s investigation.

FULL TEXT HERE

Although the complaints focus on major unsolved killings and enforced disappearances, latest reports show that the number of summary executions allegedly perpetrated by Arroyo military, police and paramilitary forces has reached 755 and 184 for enforced disappearances. The figures do not include other types of crimes against humanity reportedly perpetrated by the Arroyo security forces including torture, forcible evacuation of villages, illegal arrests and others.

The complaints could go all the way to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and thereafter for appropriate action. As an organ of the UN General Assembly, the 47-member UNHRC may vote to suspend the membership of the Philippines in the said council for gross and systematic violations of human rights.

FULL STORY HERE

During her recent trip to Europe, leaders of various countries expressed concern over the Arroyo government’s bad human rights record.

From Europe, Arroyo flew to Hawaii. Again, she was confronted with protests. Members of Anakbayan at the University of Hawaii and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-United States chapter led a picket outside the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

Other international groups who have expressed alarm over the human rights situation in the Philippines include the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, London-based Amnesty International, the Asian Human Rights Council in Hong Kong, the Fact-Finding Mission of Dutch and Belgian judges and lawyers, the United Church of Canada, and the Uniting Church of Australia, among others.

Condemnation from other countries did not end with Arroyo’s arrival in Manila on Sept. 18.

Murphy also called on the Australian government to review its $4.2 million annual aid to the Philippine military.

Moreover, an Australian senator said that the continuing detention of Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran is a sign of the Philippines’ “dying democracy.”

In an article published in Socialist Objective (v.18 n.2), Senator Gavin Marshall, Labor Senator for Victoria, wrote, "Most of us assume that democracy is alive and well in the Philippines, yet there are some very worrying signs that the Philippines is becoming once more a nation where the government can and will abuse its power and citizens.”

Marshall expressed concern over the mounting repression of progressive Philippine lawmakers such as Beltran, saying that "If the Parliamentarians cannot even feel safe in the Philippines, then what hope for ordinary citizens?"

FULL STORY HERE

PHOTOS OF ACTIONS ABROAD

This is the highest number of libel charges filed by a single person. Arroyo has been “fighting back” against journalists and media outfits publishing articles criticizing him by filing libel suits.

“This situation highlights the predicament of journalists who risk imprisonment when reporting on controversial issues, particularly those involving powerful individuals,” said Jose Torres Jr. and Rowena Carranza-Paraan, NUJP chairman and secretary-general, respectively, in a letter to fellow journalists.

“It also highlights the need for the decriminalization of libel to allow greater room for open debate and public discussion of socially-relevant issues,” Torres and Paraan added. “Decriminalization of libel will strengthen the safeguards on free speech and expression and promote free flow of information – ingredients necessary in a democracy which we claim to enjoy.”

SEE LIST OF JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH LIBEL HERE

14 September 2006 AI Index: ASA 35/010/2006 (Public)

The work of the Melo Commission should assist and should not prejudice current or future criminal proceedings. If the Commission obtains information indicating that identified individuals may have been responsible for committing, ordering, encouraging or permitting unlawful killings, abductions and enforced disappearances, that information should be passed to the relevant judicial or law enforcement bodies for investigation without delay, with a view to bringing those individuals to justice. Principle 8(e) of the updated Set of Principles to Combat Impunity states:

"Commissions of inquiry shall endeavour to safeguard evidence for later use in the administration of justice."

In carrying out their mandate, the Commission should bear in mind the rules and conditions for the admissibility of evidence in the criminal process and should ensure that they produce admissible evidence for later criminal proceedings.

The government should ensure that persons identified by the investigation as having participated in the unlawful killings, abductions and enforced disappearances investigated are brought to justice. The Commission should recommend modalities of bringing to justice alleged perpetrators from both sides.

READ FULL TEXT HERE

The protesters carried a big banner, in full view of many motorists and pedestrians, which read “Stop the Political Killings.” They also paraded placards that read: “GMA, Norberto Gonzales, War Criminals, R.I.P. (Rot in Prison)” demanding that they be tried before the war crimes tribunal in the Hague, and “GMA, AFP, PNP -- masterminds of political killings.” They occupied the small plaza and laid out wooden crosses and photos of some of the more than 752 persons murdered by military death squads allegedly directed by GMA herself and the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security.

Inga Verhaer and Eloi Glorieux, members of the Belgian and Flemish Parliaments, respectively, were among the protesters. They spoke to the crowd about the need to defend human rights and democracy in the Philippines and to stamp out repressive regimes.

FULL STORY HERE

PHOTOS OF THE PROTEST ACTION IN BRUSSELS

Twenty-one church workers, including nine pastors and priests, have been killed since 2001.

Most of the attacks have been committed by unidentified men shooting from unmarked vehicles or motorcycles. Paramilitary groups armed by the military, and even members of the military and police, have been implicated in these killings.

While a few suspects have been detained briefly, no charges have yet been issued in relation to these killings. All cases remain unsolved.

The government has allowed these crimes to take place with impunity, and is failing in its statutory obligations to protect the right to life and to maintain the rule of law.

FULL TEXT HERE

On Tuesday Sept. 12, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo will visit the European Commission in Brussels. She will meet Commission Chair Jose Manuel Barroso, among others. Solidarity workers, human rights advocates and trade union activists will meet her arrival with a protest action in the middle of the European neighbourhood in Brussels. They call for decisive action against political killings in the Philippines.

Since Arroyo came to power in 2001, almost 750 people fell victim to extrajudicial killings. Many of them are leaders of people's organizations, trade unions and progressive political parties but also journalists, lawyers and ordinary civilians are killed by death squads.

Several international agencies have criticized the government of Arroyo recently:

* The ICFTU warned Arroyo on July 11 that the Philippines is already in the same category as Colombia when it comes to murders on trade union activists.

* Amnesty International reminded Arroyo on Aug. 15 that the government has to take decisive action to stop the political killings if it wants to give peace a chance.

* The International Federation of Journalists declared on Aug. 22 it is appalled by the continued inaction of the Philippine government although it is ranked as the second most dangerous country in the world for journalists, after Iraq.

* On Sept. 5, the World Council of Churches called on the government of the Philippines to disband "death squads", private militias and paramilitary forces operating with impunity in the country.

Also diplomatic pressure on the Philippine government is mounting. The European Commission's representative in the Philippines, Jan De Kok, already said that human rights will be on the agenda during Arroyo's visit. The demonstrators will remind Barroso that, towards the Arroyo government, a critical attitude is appropriate.

The protest action is also an opportunity to launch the broad "Stop the killings in the Philippines!" campaign. Solidarity groups, human rights advocates and trade union activists are defending in this campaign their Philippine colleagues' right to life. More information at www.stopthekillings.be

FULL STORY HERE

FULL STORY HERE

Part 1: Breaking Ties, Wounding Lives

Part 2: Children Victims of the All-Out War

RELATED STORY:

Refugees of the All-Out War BY JHONG DELA CRUZ

Reports received by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the MTRCB, after reviewing materials for Frontline's episode called "Shadow" (a story about the shadow government of the NPA), has told producers to delete portions of the show.

Aside from the questioned story, Frontline will also feature the Mayon volcano eruption, NUJP learned.

The MTRCB move constitutes prior restraint which is a grave infringement on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and of the press.

NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES

In its concluding observations in 2003, the UNHRC lined up several questions on the Philippine government's poor performance in its compliance to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The UN body instructed the Philippine government to reply to these observations on Nov. 1 this year.

Karapatan is also set to lobby for the review of the pledges the government promised as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

According to the rights alliance, 729 persons, many of them confirmed to be identified with cause-oriented organizations and progressive party-list groups, were killed extra-judicially allegedly by military, paramilitary and police forces since Macapagal-Arroyo took power in early 2001. The number does not include 181 abduction cases during the same period.

Reports of political killings, where not one case has been investigated or suspects brought to courts, have increasingly alarmed international bodies. Nobel Peace Prize winner Amnesty International, the World Council of Churches and the Vatican’s Papal Nuncio in Manila, the International Parliamentary Union and several other groups in Europe, the United States and other countries have criticized the Macapagal-Arroyo government for its failure to rein in its security forces over the killings.

FULL STORY

The attacks, mostly carried out by unidentified men who shoot the victims before escaping on motorcycles, have very rarely led to the arrest, prosecution and punishment of those responsible. Amnesty International believes that the killings constitute a pattern and that a continuing failure to deliver justice to the victims represents a failure by the Government of the Philippines to fulfil its obligation to protect the right to life of every individual in its jurisdiction.

The organisation is also concerned that the killings have played a major role in the break-down of a protracted peace process and an accompanying human rights agreement, between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

The common features in the methodology of the attacks, leftist profile of the victims, and an apparent culture of impunity shielding the perpetrators, has led Amnesty International to believe that the killings are not an unconnected series of criminal murders, armed robberies or other unlawful killings. Rather they constitute a pattern of politically targeted extrajudicial executions taking place within the broader context of a continuing counter-insurgency campaign. The organisation remains gravely concerned at repeated credible reports that members of the security forces have been directly involved in the attacks, or else have tolerated, acquiesced to, or been complicit in them.

READ FULL REPORT HERE

In the long-drawn war against the Marxist guerrillas where force takes the lead, the country’s security forces have had a reproachable record in human rights threatening even legitimate political dissent, the peaceful advocacy of radical reform and, now, the use of the legislature to push for patriotic and progressive legislation. BY BOBBY TUAZON

The U.S. Doctrine of Counter-insurgency in the 'Silent War'
Second of three parts

The deliberate use of terror is “a legitimate and highly effective tactical tool of unconventional warfare.” This unconventional warfare is designated as a “national policy” with the military assigned the primary responsibility in “the conduct of punitive operations” backed by police, paramilitary and civilian agencies. BY BOBBY TUAZON

What Drives Macapagal-Arroyo's 'Silent War'?
Last of three parts

The issue of political murders is tied to the issue of regime survival. BY BOBBY TUAZON

We call on U.S. citizens to demand the cut-off of U.S. military and other assistance to the corrupt and illegitimate Arroyo regime as a gesture of solidarity to millions of Filipinos victimized by the tyrannical, militarist Arroyo regime. READ MORE

We sat through the chilling stories of political repression narrated by kith and kin of women and men whose sole purpose in life was to ensure that justice and freedom are lived realities for every Filipino. We were anguished at the reality that the state which is supposed to protect the life of its citizens is, according to these victims, responsible for these violations. We listened intently to an elucidation of Oplan Bantay Laya, the government's organizing principle for the "reign of terror" it is presently sowing in the midst of a struggling people. We were painfully reminded that the pattern of human rights violations is the way in which the US War on Terror is being played out in the Philippines. We unearthed possibilities and prospects for peace, drawing wisdom and inspiration from our learnings to live out our days courageously.

We are confounded by the fact that this attack on life is carried out in a culture of impunity and that our leaders refuse to lift a finger in order to bring to a halt these human rights violations. We are appalled at the political intolerance of the State authorities whose response to abject poverty, unemployment and landlessness is military might and a vicious campaign to obliterate a bourgeoning revolutionary movement.

The political repression that is done with such savage brutality insults the sense of justice of people of goodwill. Everytime we hear the dull thud of a body that falls to the ground or the painful wail from the lips of a dying victim, a righteous indignation is fanned in our hearts, compelling us to fight for the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the perpetrator. From the nooks and corners of this beleaguered land, people are expressing their rage against the dying of the light of freedom in our society. And the voices of our overseas partners and friends blend with ours in a rising crescendo of concern and protest.

Today, we stand on sacred ground watered by the blood of the people's martyrs. Moved by their heroism, we call….

1. for the conduct of an independent investigation on these violations of human rights by a group of esteemed individuals from different walks of life such as church people, academicians, lawyers, legislators and leaders of peasants and workers, to be done with dispatch;

2. for a thorough inquiry by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international courts of justice to ferret out the truth and to hold accountable those responsible for such wrongdoings;

3. for the government to exercise its political will to put an immediate end to the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other forms of political persecution.

4. for the resumption of peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

5. for concrete initiatives and programs to support the efforts of victims and families of human rights violations to rebuild their lives, i.e. scholarships, financial and livelihood assistance, etc.

July 21, 2006
St. Cecilia's Hall
St. Scholastica's College
Manila, Philippines

Other documents of the Human Rights and Peace Summit are available at http://contakphilippines.tripod.com/statementsandresolutions/id13.html

PHOTOS

The witness, Antonio Lacno, said he escaped from his alleged military captors on June 27 somewhere in Camarines Sur a day after he and four others were reportedly abducted.

The four others are Prudencio Calubid, said to be a regional consultant to the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace panel; Ariel Beloy, Calubid’s staff member; Calubid’s wife, Celina Palma, and sister-in-law, Gloria Soco.

Bishop Emeritus Julio Xavier Labayen of the Roman Catholic church’s Prelature of Infanta, Quezon made this observation in an interview with Bulatlat on June 26, during the launching of The GRP-NDFP Peace Negotiations: Major Written Agreements & Outstanding Issues, a book published by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Human Rights Monitoring Committee containing all 17 major written agreements in its peace negotiations with the Philippine government.

Both Labayen and NDFP chief political consultant Jose Maria Sison criticized the proposal by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, Jr. of solving the “insurgency” through what he described as development.

FULL STORY

In the manifesto they signed with their own blood, the peasant leaders from Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog regions accused Mrs. Arroyo of murdering peasant leaders, diverting fertilizer and other farm funds towards her 2004 electoral campaign, authoring or perpetrating pro-imperialist globalization measures and for siding with oppressive landlords who dispossess peasants.

The Mendiola Massacre occurred on Jan. 22, 1987 after Philippine police and soldiers fired at a peaceful peasant demonstration led by the KMP. It demanded the then Aquino regime to implement a genuine agrarian reform. Thirteen peasants were killed in the massacre, while scores were injured. Read a survivor's account of the Mendiola Massacre

Mendiola is the name of a bridge leading to the presidential palace.

The probe will proceed as planned from August 14 to 19 with 85 foreign and local delegates representing 17 countries worldwide. The ISM 2005 delegates will visit five areas where the grossest human rights violations (HRVs) under the Arroyo administration were recorded: Mindoro Island, Hacienda Luisita (Tarlac), Samar Island, Surigao del Sur, and Jolo Island, Karapatan secretary-general Marie Hilao-Enriquez said.

The data collated during the ISM 2005 may possibly be included as evidence in the ongoing impeachment case against Pres. Arroyo. “The rising trend of killings since 2001 is alarming and unprecedented enough; these could not have possibly escaped the President’s attention without her consent,” she said.

The ISM 2005 will end with an International Peoples’ Tribunal at the University of the Philippines Film Center on August 19, where a jury composed of distinguished international delegates will issue their verdict based upon the body of evidence gathered during the ISM 2005.

FULL STORY
Selected Profiles of ISM Delegates

Adan may argue to high heavens that the proposal is not meant to stifle press freedom, as he was quoted as saying in a recent press interview. But it cannot be denied that the proposal carries grave implications for press freedom, a sacred right enshrined in no less than the Philippine Constitution as one of the foundations of the democracy that the government claims the Republic of the Philippines to be.

If there is anything that the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has proven so indisputably in the three years since the people catapulted her to power, it is that its use of the term "terrorism" is not at all founded on an even remotely accurate definition of the word.

The public has not forgotten that Macapagal-Arroyo called nationalists and legal cause-oriented groups "terrorist lovers" amid the controversy over the RP-US Balikatan military "exercises" in late 2001 and early 2002.

These same nationalists and legal cause-oriented groups have at various instances been called "communist fronts" or "communist sympathizers" by Malacañang spokespersons. Which also means danger for them, considering that the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) is included in the US Department of State's list of "foreign terrorists," together with its armed component the New People's Army (NPA) and its founding chairman Jose Maria Sison.

There can be no denying that the Macapagal-Arroyo government has been dubbing as "terrorist" anyone it pleases to, but most particularly those personalities and groups critical of its anti-national and anti-people policies.

With his proposal, Adan is advocating a return to the days of dictatorship, when the military had a monopoly of access to the media while the torture and slaughter of hundreds of thousands of freedom-loving and justice-loving Filipinos went unreported and those who reported on these paid dearly -- like Henry Romero who remains missing nearly 30 years after he disappeared.

QC Indymedia is committed to joining all efforts at fighting off this attempt to further constrict our already limited democratic space and imposing a regime of open state terrorism against Philippine media and the Filipino people -- all in furtherance of a US-led war on "terror" that had long ago bared itself to be totally devoid of moral and legal basis.

Malacañang is confident that a national identification (ID) system, which it is now pushing for in the wake of the Valentine's Day bombings will not run into conflict with the country's laws. "We are confident that any legal barriers on the implementation of the national I.D. system can be overcome," said Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye in a Feb. 21 statement.

Bunye's statement echoes a view expressed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Feb. 18 in Bohol. "That’s why we’re working for a law, or at the local level an ordinance," Macapagal-Arroyo said when asked whether a national ID system would not run counter to a Supreme Court decision declaring it as unconstitutional. "For the national ID, we need a law precisely why I am pushing for this bill."

Senate Bill 833, filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, provides for the establishment of a national reference card system that will supposedly facilitate government transactions. Under the bill, all citizens are assigned a reference number upon birth and issued a National Reference Card free of charge at age 18.

Opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is a proponent of the national ID system. The national ID system is one issue in which Macapagal-Arroyo sees eye-to-eye with opponents Lacson and Enrile.

The opponents of the bill argue that a national ID system would violate human rights.

"This measure will be used to monitor citizens and groups opposing the Macapagal-Arroyo administration’s anti-people policies," said Joel Maglunsod, KMU secretary-general. "Wanton violation of civil, political and human rights will take place if the ID system will be approved."

Arroyo and Pangilinan, for their part, said that the national ID system would violate civil liberties and the right to privacy.

"Today more taxes, tomorrow less liberties, what next? That is what happens when the president has an unthinking, unfeeling support staff," Arroyo said.

Four gun men on board a Nissan Patrol driving from inside Las Haciendas De Luisita and coming out to the west gate drove through the makeshift barricade manned by striking workers at about 10 pm Wednesday night and shot Jorge Loveland, 32, resident of Barangay Balete, Tarlac City and critically wounded Ernesto Ramos, 50, of Barangay Mapalacsiao, uncle of CATLU president, Ricardo Ramos.

Doctors at the Ramos General Hospital, where the victims were rushed, pronounced Loveland, who was hit by a single bullet in the upper left breast, in stable condition. Ramos, who was also hit by a single bullet in the stomach is in critical condition and will undergo a major operation. (more)

Related story: KARAPATAN denounces new attempt on the lives of striking workers in Luisita

On the other hand, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Labor Center) hopes that the bombing was not the handiwork of the military and is not a pretext for an escalation of the presence of state forces in the city. The KMU calls for an independent investigation into the bombings.

In response, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) will lead a nationwide mediapersons' protest on Nov. 17 to seek justice for their slain members and to demand an end to the killings and intimidation of members of Philippine media which, the group laments, continues to this day.

Gene Boyd Lumawag (in photo), 26 years old, was shot dead by still unidentified assailants in downtown Jolo Nov. 12 after taking photos of the sunset at the pier. He had come to Jolo along with fellow journalist Carolyn Arguillas of the MindaNews news agency to pursue a story on graft in local governments.

Herson "Bombo Boy" Hinolan, 38, was shot by a lone gunman a day after Lumawag's killing. He died yesterday while undergoing medication at a local hospital.

Lumawag and Hinolan the 57th and 58th casualties in the unending spate of murders of journalists since the so-called restoration of democracy in 1986 with the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship.

The Antonio Zumel Center likened the situation to the post-1986 media atmosphere with the martial law years, "when journalists like the late Antonio Zumel were relentlessly pursued by the state, and many of them landed behind bars and not a few were killed or abducted, for exposing the fascist regime's atrocities against the people. Journalists were among the first to be arrested following the Sept. 21, 1972 declaration of martial law."

In a brief statement, Indymedia QC (Pilipinas) expressed full support to the NUJP and the AZC, vowing to expose on the worldwide alternative media network the ongoing murderous spree against Filipino journalists. "We will fight back by exposing to the whole world these cold-blooded murders and the refusal of the Philippine government to protect Filipino journalists."

(In photo: Gene Boyd Lumawag)

Indeed, the weather last Sept. 21 was the doing of a sky seemingly gone berserk. At first it was hotter than the hottest summer day. Then a little over an hour later, it was raining cats and dogs, and very few of the ralliers had brought their umbrellas and jackets.

Still they marched on. After all, they were thinking, the country had gone through far worse on that very day 32 years ago.

It was a day that had to be commemorated, the declaration of martial law. It was a day that ushered in some 14 years in which many of the best and brightest Filipinos were punished for fighting for a life fit for all.

Data from human rights groups working since the late 1970s places the number of human rights victims of the martial law period at no less than 104,000. Of these, at least 35,000 were tortured, according to military historian Alfred McCoy.

In a statement, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is becoming "more like Marcos."

Prof. Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and himself a martial law victim, is similarly convinced. In an e-mail interview, Sison said that there are many similarities between 1972 and 2004.

But he also mentioned several dissimilarities which, he said, would have implications on whether Macapagal-Arroyo would succeed in doing a Marcos.

He has called for struggle against the escalation of terrorism by the US and the puppet state.

Meanwhile, the progressive party-list group Bayan Muna is asking what happened to the Marcos escrow funds. The Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya, through the Bayan Muna representatives, has refiled the bill seeking indemnification of martial law victims.

Thirty-two years after the declaration of martial law, its victims have yet to receive justice. Sad to say, but hardly surprising since no government after Marcos has made any serious measure to prosecute its perpetrators.

Which is why many of Marcos' cronies are still here.

- Alexander Martin Remollino

Hundreds of friends and supporters of the victim staged an indignation march in the afternoon of Aug. 27 in front of the Sta. Rosa City Hall to condemn the perpetrators of the killing.

GWP secretary-general Emmi de Jesus has released a statement condemning the killing.

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> The butcher is at the helm of the Philippine Army

The NUJP had earlier slammed what it called the constriction of democratic space for media, referring to the Philippine military's plan to embed soldiers in media organizations. It called the plan "a heavy-handed attempt at news management and the latest sign of the constriction of democratic space in the country."

In letters to AFP Chief of Staff, Gen. Narciso L. Abaya; AFP civil relations service chief, Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus, and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the NUJP had questioned how the embedded soldiers would be able to maintain objective, much less critical, reportage. The letters were signed by NUJP chairperson, Inday Espina-Varona and NUJP secretary-general Carlos Conde.

“The end of World War 2 ushered the colonial influence and continuing dominance of the United States in world politics and economy,” said Emmi de Jesus, GABRIELA secretary-general. “Under the guise of the War on Terrorism, the US continues to impose its imperial armed might to Afghanistan and Iraq. As a second front of this war, the US continues to justify its intervention in our political, economic and even military affairs, even after we supposedly declared independence more than fifty years ago.”

The reiteration of the call is timely, especially since reports of rapes of Iraqi civilian women by US occupation forces have been spreading over the Internet. Backing such reports are photos from confidential sources, with similarities to pictures of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib released by CBS News.

De Castro, a media practitioner since the 1960s, was known as news anchor of ABS-CBN's TV Patrol and host of Magandang Gabi, Bayan for several years.

Radio commentator Roger Mariano of Ilocos Norte was gunned down July 31 by still-unidentified assailants. Yesterday, columnist and reporter Arnel Manalo of Batangas was murdered in Bauan town, same province. Full story

The arrest of Ian, a well-known youth leader, is undoubtedly politically motivated as it comes in the midst of an orchestrated campaign to discredit progressive political groups. Ian is the 5th nominee of Anak ng Bayan, a progressive partylist of youth and students vying for congress seats in the coming May 10, 2004 elections. He is also the Regional Vice Chairperson of BAYAN-Negros Island.

Progressive groups, including BAYAN and BAYAN MUNA, have denounced the arrest and called for Ian's immediate release.