Karong adlawa ang ika-24 ka tuig sa pagkatukod sa Samahan ng Maralitang Kababaihang Nagkakaisa o SAMAKANA. Taas na ang kasaysayan sa atong organisasyon isip timaan sa panaghiusa sa mga kababayen-ang kabus sa syudad.
Mabayanihon ang gipakitang kaisog ug kamilitante sa atong organisasyon diha sa pag-asdang alang sa mga katungod sa kababayen-an. Sa mga isyung pang-ekonomiya, maisugon natong gibarugan ang atong katungod sa pabalay.
Hugot kitang nakighiusa sa pakigbisog sa tanang kabus sa syudad ilabina sa panahon sa demolisyon. Usa kita sa mga pwersang nagdemanda og dugang suholan ug benepisyo sa mga trabahante, ingon man ang pagpangayog panginabuhian alang kanatong mga kabus.
Ang SAMAKANA, kauban ang GABRIELA, naila nga tigpanalipod sa mga katungod sa kababayen-an. Nakigbisog kini batuk sa tanang dagway sa pangdaugdaug sa mga kababayen-an ug mga bata. Kusog ang atong tingog sa panawagan nga hatagan og hustisya ang tanang babayeng biktima sa kapintas sama sa reyp, pagpangulata sa bana, pagharas sa mga kababayen-an diha sa trabaho ug sa komunidad.
Hugot usab nga gibarugan sa SAMAKANA ang pagpanalipod sa tawhanong katungod sa tanang kababayen-ang kabus sama sa pagkondena sa Human Security Act o balaod nga kuno kontra-terorismo. Nakighiusa ang SAMAKANA sa pakigbisog sa mga mag-uuma ug lumad batuk sa militarisasyon nga nagdaut sa ilang kinabuhi ug sa panginabuhian diha sa mga kabukiran.
Apan taliwala sa pagsaulog sa ika-24 nga tuig sa pagkatukod sa SAMAKANA, nagpabiling makaluoy ang kahimtang sa mga kabus sa syudad. Misamot ang kawad-on ug mas midaghan ang kabus ubos sa gobyernong Arroyo.
Sa matag 100 ka nanay, adunay 30 nga walay kayang makakuhag limpyong tubig mainom. Sa kada 100 ka nanay, adunay 40 nga walay kuryente sa ilang pinuy-anan.
Sa kada 100 ka nanay, adunay 60 nga walay disenteng puy-anan, 30 kanila ang walay kasilyas ug 40 sa ila ang dili na makapa-iskwela sa ilang mga anak.
Mas daghan ang walay panginabuhian karon ug samot pang nag-ilaid sa kapit-os ang katawhan tungod kay sumala sa National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), ang usa ka pamilyang dunay 6 ka sakop nanginahanglan og P631 kada adlaw aron mabuhing tawhanon ug makakaon tulo ka beses sa usa ka adlaw. Ang gobyerno ni Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nagpaka-buta-bungol sa kahimtang sa mga kabus.
Gipalabi niini ang pagbayad sa langyawng utang nga mokabat na sa P1.75 trilyon.
Gikan sa nasudnong badyet, awtomatik nga 25% niini o kapin sa P300 bilyon, ang pangbayad utang. Buot ipasabot, matag usa kanato duna nay ginabayarang utang nga P44,307.00. Gisakripisyo niini ang badyet alang sa serbisyong katilingbanon.
Ang badyet kada adlaw kada tawo nagpabiling P0.45 sentabos para sa panglawas ug P5.00 para sa edukasyon. Busa misamot pagdaghan ang mga kabus sa syudad nga mokabat na karon sa 20 milyones sa tibuok nasud.
Luyo sa mga balaod nga nagtagad sa isyu sa kababayen-an ug mga bata, nagpadayon ang pagsaka sa ihap sa mga kaso sa kapintas batuk sa kababayen-an ug mga bata.
Sa unang kwarter lang sa 2007, misaka na sa 40% ang mga kaso sa reyp, itandi sa unang kwarter sa 2006. Misaka usab og 35% ang insidente sa pagpangulata sa asawa ug anak ug ingon man ang mga insidente sa sexual harassment.
Kining tanan nagpakita lang nga bisan anaa nay balaod, magpadayon ang kapintas batuk sa kababayen-an, ilabina sa mga kabus, tungod kay anaa pa ang pagtan-aw nga ang kababayen-an napailalom sa gahum sa kalalakihan.
Dili lang balaod ang solusyon niini kundili ang pag-usab sa panglantaw nga ang kababayen-an magsunud-sunod lang sa gusto sa kalalakihan.
Busa niining ika-24 tuig sa kasaulogan sa SAMAKANA, huptan nato usab ang kaisog nga makigbisog batuk sa tanang pangdaugdaug ug pagpahimulos. Barugan nato ang atong katungod nga mabuhing tawhanon ug malinawon.
Kini makab-ot lang diha sa pag-organisa ug paglihuk natong mga kababayen-ang kabus. Magtuon kita ug militanteng iasdang ang kalihukan sa kababayen-an batuk sa mga babag sa atong paglambo. Ipadahunog nato ang atong mga tingog sa pagsupak sa mga palisiya ug balaod ni GMA nga walay gihatag nga kaayohan kanatong mga kabus. Ibasura ang Human Security Act! Hunungon ang militarisasyon sa kabukiran!
Ipatuman ang tinuod nga Reporma sa yuta ug hatagan og panginabuhian ang mga kabus sa syudad, ingon man ang dugang nga suholan sa mga mamumuo. Mga kababayen-an, molihuk kita aron supakon ug babagan ang mga planong pribatisasyon sa tubig.
Pakigbisugan nato ang dakung badyet alang sa serbisyo sosyal ug molihuk kita aron tapuson ang tanang porma sa kapitas batuk sa kababayen-an ug katawhan. Kondenahon ang gobyernong Arroyo sa halos usa ka libong biktima sa extrajudicial killing nga gipamatay tungod kay nagasupak sa iyang madaugdaugong gobyerno.
Kun nahatag man ang hustisya sa salang pagpangawkaw ni Erap Estrada, walay rason nganong dili husgahan ang salang korapsyon, pagpangawkaw ug pagpamatay ni Arroyo sa katawhang Pilipino. Mga kababayen-an, mag-organisa kita, magtuon ug molihuk alang sa atong kaugmaon ug sa atong mga sumusunod nga kaliwatan.
Napamatud-an sa kasaysayan nga kitang mga kababayen-an usa ka dakung pwersa sa kausaban kun kita maghiusa ug dungan nga molihuk.
Kab-oton nato ang usa ka katilingban nga haruhay ug malinawon tungod kay duna nay pagkaon sa atong lamesa ug wala nay hulga sa kababayen-an ug bata nga mabiktima sa kapintas.
Showing posts with label Press Statement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Press Statement. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
Press Statement Of Abducted UCCP Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero
What does it take a government to have the nerve to abduct, torture, and terrorize my family on the basis of an old inciting to sedition case and a baseless murder charge?
Far more absurd is the accusation that I am the Secretary of the CPP Provincial committee in Cavite.
This lie that they tried to extract from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and projecting me in public as a "hand-gun and grenade carrying rebel."
I am a Pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and never participated in any killings, illegal or unlawful activities, or any common crime.
My family and I have just taken a tricycle from the local church which I have served for two consecutive years (June 2006-2007) where we just celebrated UCCP's and the local church's 59th and 72nd anniversaries respectively (On May 27, at around 5:30 pm, a white van cut the tricycle's path and military-looking men quickly alighted to grab me; despite my plea that they show me the warrant they said they had. I was man-handled and forcefully shoved inside the van, put a handcuff on my hands behind me, covered my head with a cloth and packing tape, was beaten, punched and kicked repeatedly.
They brought me to a place I didn't know. Here, still handcuffed, men would take turn interrogating and beating my head with their fists and blunt objects. (Like a 1,000 ml mineral bottle and other objects). All throughout, layers of plastic bags covered my head. My torturers would tighten the bag until I could no longer breathe. I passed out two times and urinated in my pants.
They made me shake my head for about an hour and beat me whenever I stopped they said they would do these things to my family if I did not cooperate. I was forced to give names and addresses of my whole family, officers of church and conferences, name of my administrator at Union Theological Seminary where I am studying theology, leaders of progressive labour and peasant organizations in Southern Tagalog.
They opened my computer by forcing me to give the password, got my e-mail password. They erased all of my church, school and personal files and replace it with documents that belong to the so-called underground left.
After about twelve hours, they put me back on the van still handcuffed and blindfolded. They threatened to kill me, burn me or bury me. They continued to beat me and make new names for me. They got my SIM card.
They called me Pastor-Impostor. And lectured me on the "evils" of communism and how the church, legal people's organizations are "used" to create trouble by criticizing the government.
When the van stopped, it took an hour before they led me down, made me sit down and lie down. After an hour, they removed my blindfold. Here I learned I was in Imus, Cavite specifically at Camp Pantaleon Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).
Later on in the afternoon, that was the only time I saw the warrants of arrest and to what unit of the PNP I was turned over to by my abductors.
Now that I have the time to collect my thoughts and view my situation inside what police offices "call a subhuman" cell, let me make a preliminary analysis of my unfinished ordeal.
(1) The unit which abducted me is an organized AFP unit which operates covertly or below the law. It is composed of elements coming from different units of AFP's Intelligence Community. As a counter-insurgency unit, it uses ex-NPAs. They are lawless enforcers.
(2) Making use of court cases which involves suspected personalities of the left, no matter how weak, these cases may be served and used to make the arrest legitimate. In my case, I am implicated in a Murder Case in 1990. Case files show that I do not have a direct or indirect link to the crime.
(3) To bring me to the court by means of the arrest warrants issecondary. Their primary objective is to extract information from meby means of torture.
(4) It is also meant to terrorize my family, my relatives, friends, church members and practically everyone I know and who know me. It creates a thinking that this repeated attack on a person's right, which may end in incarceration or death, can happen to anybody.
I am outraged by their branding me as a "Pastor-Impostor" because it is an affront to the sacred office I have sworn to serve God Almighty who knows every heart and mind.
Finally, I hold the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government responsible for the abduction and torture I have suffered and the subhuman captivity I am forced to accept. The GMA Administration should listen to the repeated cries of the people to stop violation of human rights and the political killings.
They may have put in jail, but my spirit is free and firm because God is with us always.
(SGD.) PASTOR BERLIN V. GUERRERO
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Inside the Camp Pantaleon Garcia
Cavite Provincial Police Office
Imus, Cavite
Note: Please find related stories and articles about Pastor Berlin Guererro (Ed.)
Far more absurd is the accusation that I am the Secretary of the CPP Provincial committee in Cavite.
This lie that they tried to extract from me by means of physical, mental and psychological torture and projecting me in public as a "hand-gun and grenade carrying rebel."
I am a Pastor of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and never participated in any killings, illegal or unlawful activities, or any common crime.
My family and I have just taken a tricycle from the local church which I have served for two consecutive years (June 2006-2007) where we just celebrated UCCP's and the local church's 59th and 72nd anniversaries respectively (On May 27, at around 5:30 pm, a white van cut the tricycle's path and military-looking men quickly alighted to grab me; despite my plea that they show me the warrant they said they had. I was man-handled and forcefully shoved inside the van, put a handcuff on my hands behind me, covered my head with a cloth and packing tape, was beaten, punched and kicked repeatedly.
They brought me to a place I didn't know. Here, still handcuffed, men would take turn interrogating and beating my head with their fists and blunt objects. (Like a 1,000 ml mineral bottle and other objects). All throughout, layers of plastic bags covered my head. My torturers would tighten the bag until I could no longer breathe. I passed out two times and urinated in my pants.
They made me shake my head for about an hour and beat me whenever I stopped they said they would do these things to my family if I did not cooperate. I was forced to give names and addresses of my whole family, officers of church and conferences, name of my administrator at Union Theological Seminary where I am studying theology, leaders of progressive labour and peasant organizations in Southern Tagalog.
They opened my computer by forcing me to give the password, got my e-mail password. They erased all of my church, school and personal files and replace it with documents that belong to the so-called underground left.
After about twelve hours, they put me back on the van still handcuffed and blindfolded. They threatened to kill me, burn me or bury me. They continued to beat me and make new names for me. They got my SIM card.
They called me Pastor-Impostor. And lectured me on the "evils" of communism and how the church, legal people's organizations are "used" to create trouble by criticizing the government.
When the van stopped, it took an hour before they led me down, made me sit down and lie down. After an hour, they removed my blindfold. Here I learned I was in Imus, Cavite specifically at Camp Pantaleon Garcia, Cavite Provincial Police Office (PPO).
Later on in the afternoon, that was the only time I saw the warrants of arrest and to what unit of the PNP I was turned over to by my abductors.
Now that I have the time to collect my thoughts and view my situation inside what police offices "call a subhuman" cell, let me make a preliminary analysis of my unfinished ordeal.
(1) The unit which abducted me is an organized AFP unit which operates covertly or below the law. It is composed of elements coming from different units of AFP's Intelligence Community. As a counter-insurgency unit, it uses ex-NPAs. They are lawless enforcers.
(2) Making use of court cases which involves suspected personalities of the left, no matter how weak, these cases may be served and used to make the arrest legitimate. In my case, I am implicated in a Murder Case in 1990. Case files show that I do not have a direct or indirect link to the crime.
(3) To bring me to the court by means of the arrest warrants issecondary. Their primary objective is to extract information from meby means of torture.
(4) It is also meant to terrorize my family, my relatives, friends, church members and practically everyone I know and who know me. It creates a thinking that this repeated attack on a person's right, which may end in incarceration or death, can happen to anybody.
I am outraged by their branding me as a "Pastor-Impostor" because it is an affront to the sacred office I have sworn to serve God Almighty who knows every heart and mind.
Finally, I hold the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo government responsible for the abduction and torture I have suffered and the subhuman captivity I am forced to accept. The GMA Administration should listen to the repeated cries of the people to stop violation of human rights and the political killings.
They may have put in jail, but my spirit is free and firm because God is with us always.
(SGD.) PASTOR BERLIN V. GUERRERO
United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Inside the Camp Pantaleon Garcia
Cavite Provincial Police Office
Imus, Cavite
Note: Please find related stories and articles about Pastor Berlin Guererro (Ed.)
Thursday, March 01, 2007
KMU Backs Political Debates Between Senatorial Bets
MANILA – The Kilusang Mayo Uno welcomed the possibility of Senatorial candidates engaging in political debate and recommended the issue of wage hike to be one of the propositions.
“The issue of wage hike and the posture of Senate candidates on thismatter is very crucial for all working people in their decision to gofor a candidate or not. Since they are seeking legislative position, one proposition should be whether or not they are in favor of the Barinaga-Beltran Bill seeking for P125 across-the-board wage hike?”said Elmer Labog, national chairperson of the KMU Labor Center.
The Barinaga-Beltran bill was endorsed by Senate Labor Committee and the Lower House but was outmaneuvered by anti-worker solons headed by House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Majority floor leader Prospero Nograles and Rep. Crispin Remulla who filed the motion for reconsideration on the bill.
“Another important matter that should be discussed is how they canimprove employment. With unemployment rate and underemployment at 40.8% (NSO, Labor Force Survey Oct. 2006), nearly half of the 35.8M totallabor force are facing great difficulties about work.”
“The current plight of our medical professionals is an important point and we must hear every Senate bet on how they can increase the benefits of our nurses and doctors to make them stay in the country instead of working abroad,” Labog said.
He said the issue of political killings, especially of unionist and labor activists, should be part of the debate.
“We must hear what this candidates plan to do to stop the bloodbath inour country and how they will go about to seek justice for the victimsand their families,” he said.
Mindanao Students Burdened With Tuition Fee Hikes
DAVAO CITY – The Kabataan Party List on Thursday scored the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for being inutile in enforcing its mandate in regulating tuition and other fees increases leading to the youth’s perennial and annual problem of the rising cost of education.
“Their inutility and submissiveness of CHED to abusive private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has cost sweat and blood of Filipino students clamoring for accessible education,” Karla Hyasmind Apat, the party list vice president for Mindanao, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
Apat cited the current proposal of the local University of Mindanao (UM) administration to increase their tuition and miscellaneous fees by 11.36%.
Davin Acuram, president of the College Student Government, said the school administration reasoned out that the tuition fee increase was prompted by the escalating prices of commodities.
However, Acuram argued that the administration lacks genuine consultation from the stakeholders of the University especially the students who will be most affected of the increase.
“For one, they failed to post a public notice that a consultation regarding the increase will take place,” Acuram said.
He said that participants to the supposed consultation were limited to less than 15 participants coming from the college student government, council of student organizations, council of fraternities and sororities and the supreme faculty council.
“Worse, there was no audited financial statement that was shown to us to present where the increase in tuition last year went,” Acuram said.
CHEd Memo Order No. 14 ensures that copies of the school’s latest audited financial statement and tuition utilizations must be furnished to the student representatives during consultations.
“In this case however, there was no financial statement presented to us,” Acuram said.
Political Science student Winston Concoles, who is also the Kabataan coordinator, said if the proposed tuition hike is approved the UM students would have to pay P325 per unit upon enrollment from P275 per unit last year.
“We are faced with the yearly increase in tuition and we hold the CHED accountable for it because it is their mandate to regulate increases. But we don’t see CHED favoring the students instead they are favoring Higher Education Institutions (HEIs),” Concoles said.
“CHED seems to institutionalize the annual increase without due consideration that Filipino students and their families cannot afford such increases because of the increasing gap between the price of education and the capacity of the Filipinos to spend on it,” Apat said.
“Their inutility and submissiveness of CHED to abusive private Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has cost sweat and blood of Filipino students clamoring for accessible education,” Karla Hyasmind Apat, the party list vice president for Mindanao, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
Apat cited the current proposal of the local University of Mindanao (UM) administration to increase their tuition and miscellaneous fees by 11.36%.
Davin Acuram, president of the College Student Government, said the school administration reasoned out that the tuition fee increase was prompted by the escalating prices of commodities.
However, Acuram argued that the administration lacks genuine consultation from the stakeholders of the University especially the students who will be most affected of the increase.
“For one, they failed to post a public notice that a consultation regarding the increase will take place,” Acuram said.
He said that participants to the supposed consultation were limited to less than 15 participants coming from the college student government, council of student organizations, council of fraternities and sororities and the supreme faculty council.
“Worse, there was no audited financial statement that was shown to us to present where the increase in tuition last year went,” Acuram said.
CHEd Memo Order No. 14 ensures that copies of the school’s latest audited financial statement and tuition utilizations must be furnished to the student representatives during consultations.
“In this case however, there was no financial statement presented to us,” Acuram said.
Political Science student Winston Concoles, who is also the Kabataan coordinator, said if the proposed tuition hike is approved the UM students would have to pay P325 per unit upon enrollment from P275 per unit last year.
“We are faced with the yearly increase in tuition and we hold the CHED accountable for it because it is their mandate to regulate increases. But we don’t see CHED favoring the students instead they are favoring Higher Education Institutions (HEIs),” Concoles said.
“CHED seems to institutionalize the annual increase without due consideration that Filipino students and their families cannot afford such increases because of the increasing gap between the price of education and the capacity of the Filipinos to spend on it,” Apat said.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Suara Fears Escalation Of Violence In Sulu
THE SUARA PARTY LIST expressed fear Wednesday over a possible escalation of more violence in the province of Sulu as skirmishes between the Abu Sayyaf Group and government troops are rapidly slipping out of hand.
This, as the involvement of members of the Moro National Liberation Front in the fighting is also dreaded as inevitable because government troopers are now hunting down members of the Abu Sayyaf in the areas considered as territory of the MNLF.
Zaynab Ampatuan, national deputy secretary general of Suara, said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in an MNLF area is an open invitation for a confrontation.
“We think that government troops are teasing the MNLF to shoot at them. The situation in Sulu is very critical now knowing that the government and MNLF officials are still ironing the kinks of the final peace agreement they signed in 1996,” Ampatuan said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
“We hope that the MNLF will not be ensnared and drag themselves into a situation that will absolutely endanger the peace negotiations,” Ampatuan said.
The military, through Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the joint special operations forces hunting down the Abu Sayyaf, said that they were able to receive information that the MNLF is coddling members of the Abu Sayyaf.
Marine Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, however, said that he has advised Pabustan not to believe in the report as “somebody is trying to get the AFP to the MNLF and start a confrontation again.” At least 13 scout rangers were reportedly hurt while six soldiers were killed in the gun battle that already involved members of the MNLF.
This came after the scout rangers conducted a hot pursuit operations against Abu Sayyaf bandits who fled and allegedly sought refuge in MNLF camp in Jolo’s Sitio Marang, Barangay Buanza.
Ampatuan said they were able to receive reports that a number of civilian Moro families have left their homes again for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
“Evacuation seems to be a never ending affair of the Moro people as the government continues to advance its misplaced policies like the antiterrorism law which, in the end, only hurt the civilians more than their supposed targets,” Ampatuan said.
“We fear that civilians will again be the casualties of this recent clash as it did before. The fighting has to stop for the sake of the civilians—the children, the elderly and women,” Ampatuan added.
This, as the involvement of members of the Moro National Liberation Front in the fighting is also dreaded as inevitable because government troopers are now hunting down members of the Abu Sayyaf in the areas considered as territory of the MNLF.
Zaynab Ampatuan, national deputy secretary general of Suara, said the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in an MNLF area is an open invitation for a confrontation.
“We think that government troops are teasing the MNLF to shoot at them. The situation in Sulu is very critical now knowing that the government and MNLF officials are still ironing the kinks of the final peace agreement they signed in 1996,” Ampatuan said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
“We hope that the MNLF will not be ensnared and drag themselves into a situation that will absolutely endanger the peace negotiations,” Ampatuan said.
The military, through Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the joint special operations forces hunting down the Abu Sayyaf, said that they were able to receive information that the MNLF is coddling members of the Abu Sayyaf.
Marine Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino, however, said that he has advised Pabustan not to believe in the report as “somebody is trying to get the AFP to the MNLF and start a confrontation again.” At least 13 scout rangers were reportedly hurt while six soldiers were killed in the gun battle that already involved members of the MNLF.
This came after the scout rangers conducted a hot pursuit operations against Abu Sayyaf bandits who fled and allegedly sought refuge in MNLF camp in Jolo’s Sitio Marang, Barangay Buanza.
Ampatuan said they were able to receive reports that a number of civilian Moro families have left their homes again for fear of being caught in the crossfire.
“Evacuation seems to be a never ending affair of the Moro people as the government continues to advance its misplaced policies like the antiterrorism law which, in the end, only hurt the civilians more than their supposed targets,” Ampatuan said.
“We fear that civilians will again be the casualties of this recent clash as it did before. The fighting has to stop for the sake of the civilians—the children, the elderly and women,” Ampatuan added.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Gov't Overreacting On UN Report– Bayan Muna
Bayan Muna expressed its appreciation Thursday to Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Special Executions, for fairly listening to all sides and challenged the Arroyo administration to just admit its militarist policies instead of overreacting, and displaying shameful defensive statements.
Bayan Muna said the Arroyo government's defensive statements were provoked by UN Rapporteur's initial report that somehow proves Malacanang and the Armed Forces of the Philippine's (AFP) culpability in the killings of activists and innocent civilians.
Bayan Muna said today that government officials should instead acknowledge the fact the extrajudicial killings were happening due to its militarist policies as a result of its desperation to eliminate critics of the government.
In Alston's initial report he said that he is convinced that military is behind killings but just in state of denial.
Bayan Muna's belief that the government is not really sincere in solving the killings is confirmed by government agencies statements against Alston, when it was Arroyo herself that sought the help of international bodies to conduct independent investigations.
"Alston is right in his observation that the government don't seem to truly acknowledge the need to respond seriously, effectively and authentically the political killings in the country and has instead threw harsh statements against the UN official," Bayan Muna said in a press statement.
Bayan Muna also appreciated Alston for observing the concerted efforts by government agencies in 'circumventing' the political space allowed leftists in entering the democratic system.
Alston's initial report also confirms further that the Arroyo government is somehow resolute in physically eliminating the progressives where he said that in some instances, such intimidation efforts had escalated into judicial execution.
Bayan Muna also said that it is unfair to Alston to be accused by the government of siding with the left because he already gave all parties the chance to provide evidences and respective statements. Bayan Muna said 'the truth always prevails.'
Bayan Muna said the Arroyo government's defensive statements were provoked by UN Rapporteur's initial report that somehow proves Malacanang and the Armed Forces of the Philippine's (AFP) culpability in the killings of activists and innocent civilians.
Bayan Muna said today that government officials should instead acknowledge the fact the extrajudicial killings were happening due to its militarist policies as a result of its desperation to eliminate critics of the government.
In Alston's initial report he said that he is convinced that military is behind killings but just in state of denial.
Bayan Muna's belief that the government is not really sincere in solving the killings is confirmed by government agencies statements against Alston, when it was Arroyo herself that sought the help of international bodies to conduct independent investigations.
"Alston is right in his observation that the government don't seem to truly acknowledge the need to respond seriously, effectively and authentically the political killings in the country and has instead threw harsh statements against the UN official," Bayan Muna said in a press statement.
Bayan Muna also appreciated Alston for observing the concerted efforts by government agencies in 'circumventing' the political space allowed leftists in entering the democratic system.
Alston's initial report also confirms further that the Arroyo government is somehow resolute in physically eliminating the progressives where he said that in some instances, such intimidation efforts had escalated into judicial execution.
Bayan Muna also said that it is unfair to Alston to be accused by the government of siding with the left because he already gave all parties the chance to provide evidences and respective statements. Bayan Muna said 'the truth always prevails.'
Manila Gets U.S. Chemical Weapons Emergency Equipment
U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Paul Jones speaks with unidentified Filipino officials during the hand-over of chemical weapons emergency equipment in Manila.MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 22 Feb) – Washington donated chemical weapons emergency equipment worth some $150,000 to the Philippines’ Bureau of Fire, the U.S. Embassy said Thursday.
The ceremony was held Tuesday at the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC).
"The equipment, which came from the U.S. Department of State’s Anti-terrorism Assistance Program, included a rapid response trailer, chemical detection equipment, air compressors, decontamination clothing and kits, evidence collection equipment, hazardous material safety gear, and various types of medical and triage tools," it said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
The BFP’s Special Rescue Unit was part of a group of Philippine law enforcement, public safety, and health officials who were trained on the use of the equipment during a three-week course in January provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Anti-terrorism Assistance Program. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
GMA Sees Bright Economic Progress Ahead
MANILA - Citing the country’s sustained economic growth over the last six years, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressed Tuesday that there will be no turning back in her efforts to lift the nation up, a government statement said.
In a speech at a Conference on Economic Growth hosted jointly by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) and the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City, the President pointed out why the nation is better off today than it was six years ago, it said.
"We have proven that we can sustain economic growth and not be derailed by political sideshows," she explained. "We aim to stay this course and prove to ourselves and to the world that the Philippines has arrived…"
The President said that the painful steps her government took like the tough economic and fiscal reforms she initiated, are finally paying off.
She emphasized that for the first time in a long time, the Philippines is doing what every household should be doing – moving towards a balanced budget and not borrowing.
"We have forged new partnerships that have created five million more jobs. We have strengthened military and security alliances with the rest of the world, cracking down on terrorists that have made our barangays and our nation more peaceful, more stable," she said.
The Chief Executive then thanked the House of Representatives for ratifying the anti-terror bill which she described as a potent weapon and armor in the fight against terror.
Reforming the economy, according to the President, is not an easy task. "It is not easy to raise revenues by raising taxes and making people angry. It is not easy to crack down on tax cheats but necessary if we are to invest in education and health care. It is not easy to balance the budget but necessary to modernize the nation and lift up the poor," she explained.
In the next three and a half years, the President said her administration will invest a trillion pesos to build the infrastructure that will support the economy and attract further investments.
It will focus, she said, on her national agenda of more jobs, stable prices and peace and order. It will also push for a green Philippines agenda "to improve the environment and beautify our communities."
"We’re working hard to create an environment conducive to businesses and economic growth," she pointed out.
President Arroyo then outlined five comprehensive strategies for competitiveness, namely:
* Make food plentiful and affordable.* Reduce cost of electricity.* Modernize infrastructure at the least cost.* Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.* Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.
The President said there is still much to be done "if we are to work for a just modern and prosperous nation."
"We challenge the business community therefore to take a bigger stake in the country’s development," she said. "This partnership with the government should focus on the exchange of new ideas to propel the economy forward. It should be about fighting for a stronger nation," she added.
In a speech at a Conference on Economic Growth hosted jointly by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) and the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City, the President pointed out why the nation is better off today than it was six years ago, it said.
"We have proven that we can sustain economic growth and not be derailed by political sideshows," she explained. "We aim to stay this course and prove to ourselves and to the world that the Philippines has arrived…"
The President said that the painful steps her government took like the tough economic and fiscal reforms she initiated, are finally paying off.
She emphasized that for the first time in a long time, the Philippines is doing what every household should be doing – moving towards a balanced budget and not borrowing.
"We have forged new partnerships that have created five million more jobs. We have strengthened military and security alliances with the rest of the world, cracking down on terrorists that have made our barangays and our nation more peaceful, more stable," she said.
The Chief Executive then thanked the House of Representatives for ratifying the anti-terror bill which she described as a potent weapon and armor in the fight against terror.
Reforming the economy, according to the President, is not an easy task. "It is not easy to raise revenues by raising taxes and making people angry. It is not easy to crack down on tax cheats but necessary if we are to invest in education and health care. It is not easy to balance the budget but necessary to modernize the nation and lift up the poor," she explained.
In the next three and a half years, the President said her administration will invest a trillion pesos to build the infrastructure that will support the economy and attract further investments.
It will focus, she said, on her national agenda of more jobs, stable prices and peace and order. It will also push for a green Philippines agenda "to improve the environment and beautify our communities."
"We’re working hard to create an environment conducive to businesses and economic growth," she pointed out.
President Arroyo then outlined five comprehensive strategies for competitiveness, namely:
* Make food plentiful and affordable.* Reduce cost of electricity.* Modernize infrastructure at the least cost.* Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.* Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.
The President said there is still much to be done "if we are to work for a just modern and prosperous nation."
"We challenge the business community therefore to take a bigger stake in the country’s development," she said. "This partnership with the government should focus on the exchange of new ideas to propel the economy forward. It should be about fighting for a stronger nation," she added.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The Dignity Of The Rural Poor, A Gospel Concern
Dear People of God in the Philippines,
In response to the Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is love), we declared 2006 the Year of Social Concerns (CBCP Pastoral Exhortation, May 11, 2006).
For the God who is love bids us to be love too. In our Pastoral Exhortation naming 2006 the Year of Social Concerns, we expressed the hope that we would be able to educate ourselves more intensively in what the social teaching of the Church is all about. For that teaching in the end comes to only one thing: love of neighbor because of God's love for us.
The over-riding social concern of the Church of the Philippines has been all these years centered on the inequitable distribution of the nation's wealth and the endemic social injustices that underpin that evil.
Our Situation
The greater number of our poor are in the rural areas. The poor abound in our cities too, and we must be as concerned for them as for our rural poor. But if the urban poor are growing in numbers, it is largely because of rural folk crowding into our cities to escape the debilitating poverty of the countryside. It seems obvious then that to attend to the first problem (rural poverty) would be to help lessen the second (urban poverty).
The one big effort of the government at alleviating rural poverty has been its on-going land reform program, the CARP (the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program). The law instituting it was passed years ago but its full implementation is still far off in the future, if ever.
The law was defective in the first place, emasculated in the very beginning in a landlord dominated Congress, further watered down in its implementation. At this stage, a year before the scheduled end of the program, there is much that has not yet been done and the general situation of our farmers is still as bleak as ever.
The lack of vigor and determination shown by the government in its poor implementation of the law mirrors the still over-powering opposition of the landed classes, the traditional political and economic elite of our country.
What this means simply is that selfish class interests outweigh concern for the common good, the main target of the Church's social teaching. And that selfish unconcern in turn translates into sheer neglect of the poor, an utter disregard of the dignity of a whole class merely because of their bad economic plight.
This disregard is horrendously displayed in the recent extra-judicial killings, perpetrated by groups from both the right and the left, of farmers whose only "crime" is their continuing struggle for agrarian reform or their inability to pay the "revolutionary tax" demanded of them by the NPA.
As a religious people---and it doesn't matter whether we are Christians, Muslims or adherents of other religions---we must vehemently condemn the continuing murder of such rural folk.
We condemn too, just as vehemently, the un-abated killing of unarmed men and women on the mere charge or suspicion that they support or belong to leftist political groups.
Our Response
Condemning evil is not enough. As we must have learned from our consideration of the Church's social teaching this past year, we must try bringing an end to evils that harm people and their good.
As always, our first reaction to national problems is to call on government to do what it is supposed to do. We do so here. We ask that the CARP, defective as it is, be finally completed next year as it has been targeted. And if it is not sufficiently implemented by then, the program should be further extended and funded more seriously and generously. But we asked that the law itself must be reviewed and improved.
The government and the military's response to the shameful "extra-judicial" killings of unarmed crusaders for justice and equality is most unsatisfactory, their protestations of concern not too convincing. The greater and more effective performance of their duties as guardians and protectors of our peace---this too we must demand as strongly as we can.
Putting the burden of action on people whose responsibility it is to act, however, is not enough. We must ask ourselves: What do we do as individuals, as families, as communities?
What must we do? The responsibility to act is just as much ours as those who have the official responsibility. For years now we have been pushing the development of BECs or BEC-type Church communities and organizations.
And we do so because such communities are, or should be, fully participative communities. Problems, national or local, big or small, weighty or light and the problem of the rural poor we are speaking of here now is probably our weightiest, all must be looked at and become community concerns for the solving of which their participation is needed.
Involving themselves in meeting those problems, they must do so according to the social teaching of the Church which always looks to the achieving of the common good. This demands continuing discernment from all of us, both as individuals and as communities. The answers will be varied, but, we trust, all issuing from genuine Christian charity.
On our part, and in view of what we are asking you to do, we make a very specific proposal.
A Rural Congress
The year 2007 is the fortieth anniversary of the National Rural Congress of 1967. It was at this Congress that the participants, most of them diocesan and parish social action workers, came to the crucial conclusion that the Church must go to the barrios.
The reason was the heavy realization that the rural parts of the country were the most neglected by both the government's development programs and the Church's pastoral care.
To commemorate that crucial event in our life as a Church---and to make us meet in true Gospel fidelity our present social concerns---we propose that we revive the memory of that Congress by holding one again this year.
But this time our farmers must do that speaking by themselves, the discerning, the proposing of their own ideas, the planning of how we must as a people come together to work for the common good of the country and of ourselves.
Doing so, they will be effectively asserting the dignity that for so long has been denied them. And the rest of us, participating with them in their reflections and deliberations, we will be honoring their inborn dignity as children of the same Father in Heaven.
Possibly a small thing. But in the larger picture of the country's many ills, we see that it is in not honoring the dignity of the least of our brothers and sisters among the poor that we contribute not a little to the injustices and inequalities that have become deeply ingrained in our national life.
And today the murders and killings, the corruption and thieving, the crimes that are being committed daily with impunity against our poor, these we see too are all rooted in the practical denial of the basic human dignity and rights of our very poor. Christ himself acknowledged and honored their dignity, identified himself with it: "If you did it for one of my least brothers or sisters, you did it for me" (Mt. 25, 40). Because he did, so must we.
Today we see only too clearly the need for the reform not only of our national institutions but of our very moral fiber as a people. We start meeting that need by acknowledging the God-given dignity of the least of Christ's and our-brothers and sisters.
And not only in word but in act. That in itself is reform. The Lord who loves the poor be with us in this, our common task.
For the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines,
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D. Archbishop of Jaro President, CBCP
In response to the Pope Benedict XVI's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is love), we declared 2006 the Year of Social Concerns (CBCP Pastoral Exhortation, May 11, 2006).
For the God who is love bids us to be love too. In our Pastoral Exhortation naming 2006 the Year of Social Concerns, we expressed the hope that we would be able to educate ourselves more intensively in what the social teaching of the Church is all about. For that teaching in the end comes to only one thing: love of neighbor because of God's love for us.
The over-riding social concern of the Church of the Philippines has been all these years centered on the inequitable distribution of the nation's wealth and the endemic social injustices that underpin that evil.
We would like in this statement to focus our attention on the greatest victim of our unjust economic order, the rural poor, and the diminishment of their dignity as people and as citizens.
We cannot put it too strongly, but this diminishment is a negation of Christian love---and hence of the God who is love. (Cf. Jubilee of the Agricultural World Address of John Paul II, Nov. 11, 2000l also, Land and Agrarian Reform, Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Economy, no. 54, CBCP, 1998).
Our Situation
The greater number of our poor are in the rural areas. The poor abound in our cities too, and we must be as concerned for them as for our rural poor. But if the urban poor are growing in numbers, it is largely because of rural folk crowding into our cities to escape the debilitating poverty of the countryside. It seems obvious then that to attend to the first problem (rural poverty) would be to help lessen the second (urban poverty).
The one big effort of the government at alleviating rural poverty has been its on-going land reform program, the CARP (the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program). The law instituting it was passed years ago but its full implementation is still far off in the future, if ever.
The law was defective in the first place, emasculated in the very beginning in a landlord dominated Congress, further watered down in its implementation. At this stage, a year before the scheduled end of the program, there is much that has not yet been done and the general situation of our farmers is still as bleak as ever.
The lack of vigor and determination shown by the government in its poor implementation of the law mirrors the still over-powering opposition of the landed classes, the traditional political and economic elite of our country.
What this means simply is that selfish class interests outweigh concern for the common good, the main target of the Church's social teaching. And that selfish unconcern in turn translates into sheer neglect of the poor, an utter disregard of the dignity of a whole class merely because of their bad economic plight.
This disregard is horrendously displayed in the recent extra-judicial killings, perpetrated by groups from both the right and the left, of farmers whose only "crime" is their continuing struggle for agrarian reform or their inability to pay the "revolutionary tax" demanded of them by the NPA.
As a religious people---and it doesn't matter whether we are Christians, Muslims or adherents of other religions---we must vehemently condemn the continuing murder of such rural folk.
We condemn too, just as vehemently, the un-abated killing of unarmed men and women on the mere charge or suspicion that they support or belong to leftist political groups.
Our Response
Condemning evil is not enough. As we must have learned from our consideration of the Church's social teaching this past year, we must try bringing an end to evils that harm people and their good.
As always, our first reaction to national problems is to call on government to do what it is supposed to do. We do so here. We ask that the CARP, defective as it is, be finally completed next year as it has been targeted. And if it is not sufficiently implemented by then, the program should be further extended and funded more seriously and generously. But we asked that the law itself must be reviewed and improved.
The government and the military's response to the shameful "extra-judicial" killings of unarmed crusaders for justice and equality is most unsatisfactory, their protestations of concern not too convincing. The greater and more effective performance of their duties as guardians and protectors of our peace---this too we must demand as strongly as we can.
Putting the burden of action on people whose responsibility it is to act, however, is not enough. We must ask ourselves: What do we do as individuals, as families, as communities?
What must we do? The responsibility to act is just as much ours as those who have the official responsibility. For years now we have been pushing the development of BECs or BEC-type Church communities and organizations.
And we do so because such communities are, or should be, fully participative communities. Problems, national or local, big or small, weighty or light and the problem of the rural poor we are speaking of here now is probably our weightiest, all must be looked at and become community concerns for the solving of which their participation is needed.
Involving themselves in meeting those problems, they must do so according to the social teaching of the Church which always looks to the achieving of the common good. This demands continuing discernment from all of us, both as individuals and as communities. The answers will be varied, but, we trust, all issuing from genuine Christian charity.
On our part, and in view of what we are asking you to do, we make a very specific proposal.
A Rural Congress
The year 2007 is the fortieth anniversary of the National Rural Congress of 1967. It was at this Congress that the participants, most of them diocesan and parish social action workers, came to the crucial conclusion that the Church must go to the barrios.
The reason was the heavy realization that the rural parts of the country were the most neglected by both the government's development programs and the Church's pastoral care.
To commemorate that crucial event in our life as a Church---and to make us meet in true Gospel fidelity our present social concerns---we propose that we revive the memory of that Congress by holding one again this year.
But this time our farmers must do that speaking by themselves, the discerning, the proposing of their own ideas, the planning of how we must as a people come together to work for the common good of the country and of ourselves.
Doing so, they will be effectively asserting the dignity that for so long has been denied them. And the rest of us, participating with them in their reflections and deliberations, we will be honoring their inborn dignity as children of the same Father in Heaven.
Possibly a small thing. But in the larger picture of the country's many ills, we see that it is in not honoring the dignity of the least of our brothers and sisters among the poor that we contribute not a little to the injustices and inequalities that have become deeply ingrained in our national life.
And today the murders and killings, the corruption and thieving, the crimes that are being committed daily with impunity against our poor, these we see too are all rooted in the practical denial of the basic human dignity and rights of our very poor. Christ himself acknowledged and honored their dignity, identified himself with it: "If you did it for one of my least brothers or sisters, you did it for me" (Mt. 25, 40). Because he did, so must we.
Today we see only too clearly the need for the reform not only of our national institutions but of our very moral fiber as a people. We start meeting that need by acknowledging the God-given dignity of the least of Christ's and our-brothers and sisters.
And not only in word but in act. That in itself is reform. The Lord who loves the poor be with us in this, our common task.
For the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines,
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, D.D. Archbishop of Jaro President, CBCP
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
United Methodist High Court To Meet In Philippines By Neill Caldwell
The highest court of The United Methodist Church has a relatively short docket of 10 items - including reconsidering its complex decision on General Conference representation for the African nation of Cote d'Ivoire - but its meeting place may be the most significant aspect of this spring's session.
The Judicial Council will convene April 25-28 in Manila, Philippines, in the body's first meeting in history outside the United States.
As The United Methodist Church grows globally, various church bodies have held more meetings overseas. In recent months, for example, both its Council of Bishops and its Commission on Communications have met in Africa.
The upcoming Judicial Council meeting location stems from the 2000 election to the court of Rodolfo C. Beltran, an attorney from Cabanatuan City, Philippines. The first person from outside the United States to serve on the council, Beltran invited his colleagues to meet in the Philippines.
Two items on the spring docket come from the Philippine Central Conference. The first asks about clergy membership in an annual conference as it relates to the Central Conferences, which lie outside the United States. The second concerns the authority of a bishop when serving as a member of the board of a university.
On another international question, the Judicial Council will revisit its fall 2006 decision regarding the number of delegates that the Methodist Church of Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) can send to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body. Meeting in Cincinnati, the council let stand the 2004 General Conference vote to give Cote D'Ivoire just two delegates to the 2008 General Conference, set for April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The representation deviates from the formula for representation outlined in the 2004 Book of Discipline which, if followed, would entitle the new African conference to as many as 70 delegates, making it the largest delegation at General Conference. If the General Conference sticks to its ceiling of 1,000 delegates, the size of other delegations would have to be reduced.
That issue remains in the air, however. In Cincinnati, a majority of four of the seven Judicial Council members present voted to hold the General Conference action unconstitutional.
However, Paragraph 2608 of the Book of Discipline requires a minimum of six votes to "declare any act of the General Conference unconstitutional."
In a dissenting opinion, the four council members - Beltran, Dennis Blackwell, Keith Boyette and Jim Holsinger - stated that the 2004 vote "denies a fully functioning annual conference duly created by the actions of the 2004 General Conference and the West Africa Central Conference its proportionate representation amongst the delegates to the 2008 General Conference. The General Conference, and now this Judicial Council, has acted in a way which substantially disenfranchises what statistically is the largest annual conference in The United Methodist Church."
One item left over from the council's fall meeting is a request from the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race regarding the merger of the National United Methodist Native American Center with the Native American Comprehensive Plan. The commission seeks to reverse that move, which was recommended by the United Methodist Council on Finance and Administration. Its appeal is supported by the board of the Native American Comprehensive Plan.
Also on the spring docket, the council is asked to:
* Review a bishop's decision of law on the constitutionality of the plan of organization for the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference; * Respond to a request from the Minnesota Annual Conference to define the term "urban center" in Paragraph 2548.7 of the Book of Discipline; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference on the authority of a district superintendent to require a pastor to take a leave of absence; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the New York Annual Conference concerning action of the clergy executive session on a pastor on administrative location; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference on the suspension of a pastor; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Detroit Annual Conference concerning a bishop's power to insist that a full-time pastor live in a parsonage.
The Book of Discipline requires all bishops' decisions of law to be reviewed by the Judicial Council.
*Caldwell is editor of the Virginia United Methodist Advocate magazine and covers the Judicial Council for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
The Judicial Council will convene April 25-28 in Manila, Philippines, in the body's first meeting in history outside the United States.
As The United Methodist Church grows globally, various church bodies have held more meetings overseas. In recent months, for example, both its Council of Bishops and its Commission on Communications have met in Africa.
The upcoming Judicial Council meeting location stems from the 2000 election to the court of Rodolfo C. Beltran, an attorney from Cabanatuan City, Philippines. The first person from outside the United States to serve on the council, Beltran invited his colleagues to meet in the Philippines.
Two items on the spring docket come from the Philippine Central Conference. The first asks about clergy membership in an annual conference as it relates to the Central Conferences, which lie outside the United States. The second concerns the authority of a bishop when serving as a member of the board of a university.
On another international question, the Judicial Council will revisit its fall 2006 decision regarding the number of delegates that the Methodist Church of Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) can send to the 2008 General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body. Meeting in Cincinnati, the council let stand the 2004 General Conference vote to give Cote D'Ivoire just two delegates to the 2008 General Conference, set for April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.
The representation deviates from the formula for representation outlined in the 2004 Book of Discipline which, if followed, would entitle the new African conference to as many as 70 delegates, making it the largest delegation at General Conference. If the General Conference sticks to its ceiling of 1,000 delegates, the size of other delegations would have to be reduced.
That issue remains in the air, however. In Cincinnati, a majority of four of the seven Judicial Council members present voted to hold the General Conference action unconstitutional.
However, Paragraph 2608 of the Book of Discipline requires a minimum of six votes to "declare any act of the General Conference unconstitutional."
In a dissenting opinion, the four council members - Beltran, Dennis Blackwell, Keith Boyette and Jim Holsinger - stated that the 2004 vote "denies a fully functioning annual conference duly created by the actions of the 2004 General Conference and the West Africa Central Conference its proportionate representation amongst the delegates to the 2008 General Conference. The General Conference, and now this Judicial Council, has acted in a way which substantially disenfranchises what statistically is the largest annual conference in The United Methodist Church."
One item left over from the council's fall meeting is a request from the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race regarding the merger of the National United Methodist Native American Center with the Native American Comprehensive Plan. The commission seeks to reverse that move, which was recommended by the United Methodist Council on Finance and Administration. Its appeal is supported by the board of the Native American Comprehensive Plan.
Also on the spring docket, the council is asked to:
* Review a bishop's decision of law on the constitutionality of the plan of organization for the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference; * Respond to a request from the Minnesota Annual Conference to define the term "urban center" in Paragraph 2548.7 of the Book of Discipline; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference on the authority of a district superintendent to require a pastor to take a leave of absence; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the New York Annual Conference concerning action of the clergy executive session on a pastor on administrative location; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Rocky Mountain Annual Conference on the suspension of a pastor; * Review a bishop's decision of law in the Detroit Annual Conference concerning a bishop's power to insist that a full-time pastor live in a parsonage.
The Book of Discipline requires all bishops' decisions of law to be reviewed by the Judicial Council.
*Caldwell is editor of the Virginia United Methodist Advocate magazine and covers the Judicial Council for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Linda Green, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Lawyer for Philippine journalists in suit against president’s husband receives death threats
The lawyer handling the class action suit of Philippine journalists against Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was threatened on the phone on 3 January 2007, according to the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), a Southeast Asian Press Alliance founding member.
Harry Roque received a phone call at about 10.00 a.m. (local time) from someone calling himself “Jun Santos”, who warned Roque to stop “lawyering for destabilizers.” The caller professed to be a supporter of the President Arroyo and a member of KAMPI, the political party she founded.
Roque later received three text messages threatening to kill him and his family. One offered a P5 million (approx. US$102,600) bounty on the lawyer’s head.
The first text message, which came at about 1.00 p.m., said, “Atty. Roque, RIP (Rest in Peace), we from the Hukbong Bayan (Army of the Country) are continually watching you and your moves of betrayal to the nation. We are again warning you to shut your fishy mouth.”
A second message followed, which again threatened Roque and his family. “Dura lex, sed lex. Our law may be harsh but it is still our law. Not all the time you are lucky. Your end is near and your family.”
The third and last message said, “To all interested persons: we are giving away P5 million/$105,000 as a reward for the capture of Harry Roque, dead or alive. Atty. Roque is a lawyer of terrorist communist group in the Phils. A destabilizer, insurgent, an anti-American. Caution: he is armed & dangerous. Any info on his whereabouts, pls call or text 09152546579.”
The number turned out to be that of a mobile phone owned by the Public Affairs department of the Philippine Army, who denied involvement with or knowledge of the death threats against Roque.
“My strong suspicion is that it is Malacañang (the Presidential office) behind these death threats,” Roque said in an interview with the “Daily Tribune” newspaper.
Roque is also part of the legal team for a rape survivor identified only as “Nicole”, who was raped by US Marine Daniel Smith on 1 November 2005. Sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment by a Philippine court, Smith has been transferred to the custody of the US Embassy in Manila by the Arroyo government. “Nicole” is protesting the transfer.
BACKGROUND The journalists filing the class action suit against the president’s husband are among the 45 reporters, columnists, editors and publishers he is suing for libel. Joining the class action suit, which is filed on behalf of the press, are other journalists and media organisations Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism and “The Daily Tribune”. The class suit is asking for P15 million (approx. US$305,630) in damages for the inconveniences Arroyo’s libel suits have allegedly caused as well as their chilling effect on press freedom. (SEAPA)
Harry Roque received a phone call at about 10.00 a.m. (local time) from someone calling himself “Jun Santos”, who warned Roque to stop “lawyering for destabilizers.” The caller professed to be a supporter of the President Arroyo and a member of KAMPI, the political party she founded.
Roque later received three text messages threatening to kill him and his family. One offered a P5 million (approx. US$102,600) bounty on the lawyer’s head.
The first text message, which came at about 1.00 p.m., said, “Atty. Roque, RIP (Rest in Peace), we from the Hukbong Bayan (Army of the Country) are continually watching you and your moves of betrayal to the nation. We are again warning you to shut your fishy mouth.”
A second message followed, which again threatened Roque and his family. “Dura lex, sed lex. Our law may be harsh but it is still our law. Not all the time you are lucky. Your end is near and your family.”
The third and last message said, “To all interested persons: we are giving away P5 million/$105,000 as a reward for the capture of Harry Roque, dead or alive. Atty. Roque is a lawyer of terrorist communist group in the Phils. A destabilizer, insurgent, an anti-American. Caution: he is armed & dangerous. Any info on his whereabouts, pls call or text 09152546579.”
The number turned out to be that of a mobile phone owned by the Public Affairs department of the Philippine Army, who denied involvement with or knowledge of the death threats against Roque.
“My strong suspicion is that it is Malacañang (the Presidential office) behind these death threats,” Roque said in an interview with the “Daily Tribune” newspaper.
Roque is also part of the legal team for a rape survivor identified only as “Nicole”, who was raped by US Marine Daniel Smith on 1 November 2005. Sentenced to 40 years’ imprisonment by a Philippine court, Smith has been transferred to the custody of the US Embassy in Manila by the Arroyo government. “Nicole” is protesting the transfer.
BACKGROUND
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
GMA Defends Transfer Of Convicted Marine To US Custody
MANILA - President Gloria Arroyo said convicted rapist Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith was transferred to the custody of the US embassy to avert the further erosion of the country’s strategic relations with the US over the non-compliance by the Philippine government of its treaty obligation under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
The President said Smith’s transfer to the custody of US authorities "will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law."
Convicted by the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for raping a 23-year old Filipino and sentenced to life imprisonment, Smith has appealed his conviction.
President Arroyo said she is prepared to meet all legal challenges to the government action on the Smith case, and "we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld."
“This difficult decision was made and taken with only the best interest of the Philippines in mind. I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said in a statement.
“I wish to appeal for understanding from the people that this action will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law.”
“The government had to take this action in order to forestall the further deterioration in our strategic relationship with the United States, which was being rapidly eroded by our non-compliance with the Visiting Forces Agreement,” she said.
She said this difficult decision was made and taken with only the best of the Philippines in mind.
“The Executive Branch is prepared to face legal challenges to this decision and we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld.”
“I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said.
The President said Smith’s transfer to the custody of US authorities "will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law."
Convicted by the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) for raping a 23-year old Filipino and sentenced to life imprisonment, Smith has appealed his conviction.
President Arroyo said she is prepared to meet all legal challenges to the government action on the Smith case, and "we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld."
“This difficult decision was made and taken with only the best interest of the Philippines in mind. I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said in a statement.
“I wish to appeal for understanding from the people that this action will not affect the substantive issues at bar, nor impede justice and the rule of law.”
“The government had to take this action in order to forestall the further deterioration in our strategic relationship with the United States, which was being rapidly eroded by our non-compliance with the Visiting Forces Agreement,” she said.
She said this difficult decision was made and taken with only the best of the Philippines in mind.
“The Executive Branch is prepared to face legal challenges to this decision and we are confident that its legitimacy and wisdom will be upheld.”
“I therefore ask all Filipinos to stand by it and to stand behind our alliance with the United States to fight terror and poverty,” the President said.
Monday, December 11, 2006
NDF Condemns Attempts To Change RP Charter
DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 11 Dec) - The National Democratic Front (NDF) in Southern Mindanao on Monday condemned attempts by lawmakers allied with President Gloria Arroyo to change the Philippine Constitution despite a widespread public opposition.
Lawmakers were pushing for a Constituent Assembly to tamper with the Charter that would prolong their stay in power, opposition politicians said.Church leaders, civil and militant groups have threatened to stage a mass action to protest the move by Congress to change the Constitution.
Arroyo’s allies said there is a need to amend the Constitution and shift to Parliamentary government, but politicians opposed to this fear that the move will prolong the President into power beyond her term in 2010.
“The NDF commends the broad masses of our people, the Church and evangelical groups, and opposition lawmakers in vigilantly exposing and opposing the devious Charter Change (Cha-cha) scheme of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime,” said Rubi del Mundo, the NDF spokesman, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
Changing the Philippine Charter will only perpetuate Arroyo to power, he said.The NDF is the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which is fighting the government for the establishment of a Maoist state in the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
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