NZ Ambassador Gets Assurance: Dennis Maga Will Not Be Arrested In Philippines

QUEZON CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) The Philippine government has assured New Zealand that authorities will not arrest a local political activist who led a huge protests there during a state visit of the Filipino leader.

Dennis Maga, of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno and spokesman for the Free Ka Bel Movement in the Philippines, is facing possible arrest after staging anti-Arroyo protests this week.

“The Prime Minister is aware of Mr Maga's claims that he believes he is likely to be arrested on his return to the Philippines,” a spokesperson for New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark told Scoop on Friday.

Canberra said it has been given assurance by its Philippines counterpart that Maga will not be arrested on his return home later this week.

New Zealand's Ambassador to the Philippines sought clarification from senior Philippines' officials and was told there are no charges pending against Maga and no warrant has been issued for his arrest," the Prime Minister's spokesperson said.

Scoop understands a request was issued Friday from the Council of Trade Unions to the Prime Minister Helen Clark's office asking that diplomatic channels be used to seek assertions or clarification from its Philippines counterpart - that Maga does not face arrest.

That clarification has now been given.

However, Philippines trade unionist and human rights activist Maga has applied to remain in New Zealand for another month while he and his supporters seek assurances he will not face arrest nor death on his return home.

Maga had planned to return to the Philippines on Sunday.

For the next month, Maga will be a guest of both the National Distribution Union and Unite Union where he will continue to visit work sites, union meetings, and gatherings to educate New Zealanders about human rights abuses in the Philippines.

Maga also received expressions of solidarity from unions in Australia. He traveled to New Zealand especially to raise awareness of human rights abuses in the Philippines.

He said Arroyo ought not take part in the InterFaith Dialogue as she is partly responsible for human rights abuses.

Speaking to Scoop Media, Maga said: “I called my family because it was my sons 1st birthday. Then my father came on the line and told me that it is not safe to return.”

Maga was told by his father that a family member working for the ministry of immigration had told them that there are orders for Maga's arrest when he arrives back in the country.

His father also told Maga that their house had been under surveillance by the police.

Maga spent last week touring New Zealand, speaking on political repression in the Philippines, and then travelled to Waitangi to protest with human rights groups about the involvement of Arroyo in the dialogues.

The Interfaith dialogues are aimed at increasing understanding between different faiths in order to reduce religious “radicalization” and terrorism.

Maga said the union movement in the Philippines had tried to find out what his status is from the Philippines government and the Bureau of Immigration. But Philippines officials refuse to deny or confirm plans for his arrest.

Arroyo, while attending the InterFaith Dialogue Forum in Waitangi, was asked to explain her position on political killings. In reply, she said her government has been trying to stop the violence.

“We share the values of human rights and democracy same as New Zealand,”Arroyo said. “We are in a fight to turn around our history of political violence andretribution. We are slowly breaking down the cycle of violence.”

Recent reports by both the United Nations and Amnesty International havedocumented killings in the Philippines including the murders of political activists, journalists and politicians. Both reports attribute many of the killings to the Philippine military.

The United Nations report released earlier this year showed how people responsible for the killings acted with “virtual impunity” and many of the deaths were “convincingly attributed” to the Philippines military.

A researcher for the Amnesty International report Tim Parritt found that many of the senior military officials were openly talking about “neutralizing” left-wing groups.

"No-one deserves to die for their political affiliation,” Parritt said.

Contemplating his return home, Maga explained there are two things that could happen: one will see him arrested and charged with rebellion. Or two: he could be taken away and killed. (With reports from Selwyn Manning and Joseph Barratt, www.scoop.co.nz)

Filipino Activist Risks Life, Liberty To Air Protest vs. Human Rights Abuses

Dennis Maga protested on Monday in a steel cage outside Parliament in Wellington. (Photo by Mark Mitchell)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 30 May) – The militant trade union, Kilusang Mayo Uno, on Wednesday said local authorities are to arrest a Filipino political activist who led an anti-Arroyo protest in New Zealand during a state visit by the Philippine leader.

It said it uncovered a plot by the Philippine government to arrest Dennis Maga, spokesman for the “Free Ka Bel Movement” and a senior KMU member.

Maga’s protest during President Gloria Arroyo’s state visit in New Zealand drew international media attention after he was joined by hundreds of unionists in denouncing the spate of political killings in the Philippines and the continued detention of a militant lawmaker Crispin Beltran, also known as Ka Bel.

In Wellington on Monday, Maga stood in a cage outside The Beehive as Arroyo and Prime Minister Helen Clark held a media conference.

Maga said his country needed to stop human rights abuses and free Beltran who has been in prison for more than a year on what his supporters said were spurious coups plotting charges.

“Arroyo is known for her vindictiveness and we will not be surprised if she personally instructed the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) to arrest Dennis Maga once he gets into the country,” Elmer Labog, KMU national chairman, said in a statement sent to the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

Labog said they were informed by BID sources that an arrest order has been issued for Maga once he arrives home Sunday.

“Dennis even e-mailed us and verified the information from his own sources inside the BID. He said in his email that they would create trumped-up charges and arrest him.”

“The case of Maga will serve as a litmus test on whether Arroyo’s word to New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark on respect for human rights will hold water. Any harassment on Maga will erase Arroyo’s ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’ strategy when it comes to human rights,” Labog said.

Labog group also appealed to Clark to issue a statement against the possible arrest of Maga.

“Many of our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement in New Zealand have expressed concern on Maga’s safety and have made commitments to pressure their own government to uphold human rights," he said.

The National Distribution Union on Wednesday also said that supermarket distribution workers in New Zealand have walked out in support of Maga after learning news of his possible arrest in Manila.

It said Maga was calling his one-year old son, Elijah, to say happy birthday when he learnt that his house was under surveillance by police and that he faces arrest on his return.

Maga was invited by the NDU and Unite Union to talk to workers about the repression and killings of trade unionists, journalists and church leaders by the Filipino military and police.

Two-hundred previously locked out NDU Progressive distribution workers gave Maga a standing ovation and walked out to mount a spontaneous show of solidarity on the same spot where they held their pickets last year.

NDU site delegate Daniel Patea said that Filipino workers and unions had supported the locked out workers.

“Filipino workers helped us when we struggled during our lockout last year and so giving support to Dennis who faces arrest and even assassination is the least we could do.”

“President Arroyo has told Helen Clark, your government and the interfaith dialogue that she is addressing human rights violations in our country,” Maga said. “But here I am, facing arrest for simply exposing the continuing abuses by our military and police.”

The NDU and the Council of Trade Unions said they would ask the Prime Minister to get assurances from Arroyo that Maga will not be arrested.

Maga told reporters in New Zealand that he feared he would be assassinated or arrested for his stand. He said human rights abuse was continuing in the Philippines.

"I am really worried for my family's safety because they might invent a charge against my father and my wife and my family just to pressure me to return to the Philippines," he said.

The Filipino leader ended her three-day state visit in New Zealand and Presidential Assistant Heherson Alvarez said Arroyo is bringing home at least $1.22 billion in investments.

From this amount, the biggest beneficiary is the environment sector with $1 billion going to a reforestation project, $150 million in a gold mining deal, $40 million for the local wood processing industry, and $30 million for the export of Philippine tropical fruits to New Zealand.

Alvarez said the $1 billion reforestation project which Arroyo announced during the meeting with the Filipino community in Auckland would be financed by CK Tan of Shannolane, based in New Zealand.

The reforestation project in Prosperidad town in Agusan del Sur province in Mindanao is scheduled to start as early as October this year.

After the New Zealand visit, Arroyo headed for Australia, the first Philippine President to visit the country in over ten years. Australia is a major ally and strong economic partner of the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)