COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 14, 2009) – Philippine soldiers killed a Muslim girl and injured two others during a raid on a suspected terrorist hideout in Maguindanao province in Mindanao, human rights advocates said.
The Liga ng Kabataang Moro said troops opened fire on a house in Sultan Kudarat town and killing the eleven-year girl. Two other house occupants were wounded in the weekend assault.
“The (military) operation did not follow standard search operation procedure, military entered the house without even knocking the door and began firing that led to death of a young girl and wounded others. We condemned this on the highest term,” said Michael Dumamba, the group’s secretariat.
The SALINLAHI Alliance for Children's Concerns, an umbrella organization of child-focused organizations in the Philippines, also condemned the killing and called on the Commission on Human Rights and Congress to investigate the girl’s death.
It said the soldiers were members of the Task Force Tugis of Army’s 6th Infantry Division.
“The raid conducted by Task Force Tugis showed incompetence and is obviously inconsistent with proper rules of engagement. Such act is utterly condemnable as it is a clear violation of the child’s basic right to life,” said Sophia Garduce, a spokeswoman for the SALINLAHI.
Militant groups and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front also blamed the military for many human rights violations in Mindanao.
Colonel Jonathan Ponce, a regional army spokesman, said the girl was killed in a shootout between soldiers and gunmen and that authorities were investigating the incident.
“There is an investigation and we cannot say who killed the girl unless the probe in completed by the police,” Ponce said.
He said three suspected bombers were arrested during the raid and troops recovered an improvised explosive assembled from a 60mm mortar. Ponce did not say whether the trio was members of the MILF or other rebel groups.
Ponce has put the blame of every single bombing in Mindanao to the MILF, which is fighting for self-determination in the volatile, but mineral-rich region. (Mindanao Examiner)
Showing posts with label Liga Ng Kabataang Moro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liga Ng Kabataang Moro. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Moro Youth, Campus Journalist Leagues Slam Statutory Right of Reply Bill
COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 27, 2009) - Moro youth and student writer groups in Cotabato City in Mindanao have strongly criticized Friday the passage of Right of Reply bill in Congress.
The Liga ng Kabataang Moro and College Editors Guild of the Philippines- Cotabato City chapter made their standpoint after the Senate, by a vote of 21-0, approved the passage of the bill.
The CEGP chapter here expressed their disappointment – believing the said bill would only devastate the essence of freedom of expression in any form - articles or interviews, speech or debate in TV or radio programs.
The Right of Reply Bill would mandate media companies to provide equal space or airtime to anyone who is subject of their critical reports to reply or react as form of the latter’s freedom of expression, thus, the right to reply; be it in television, radio or publications.
The guild believes the bill, which requires or mandates publications like magazines, tabloids, broadsheets and news letter to publish replies in the same space; either front page or inside story, encroaches on the right of the editorial board to determine the content of publications according to the relevance of the issues.
"This will hamper both campus press and the mainstream media in determining what to air or publish. The bill would restrict the media from tackling sensitive issues and prevents the publication of valid criticisms against public figures, organization, company, etc. Even commercialized media would keep away from sensitive subjects knowing they will be obliged later on to provide equal space or air-time to the reply of the respondent. This will completely annihilate freedom of expression, it’s ultra-democracy", Michelle Tirol, CEGP chapter’s spokesperson, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
According to Liga ng Kabataang Moro (LKM) spokesperson Marbawi Edza, the bill will deflate the right of editors and publishers to determine the content of the publications. The group is also apprehensive about its negative implications to the web postings, writings and publications of political views and standpoints and statements of Moro people.
"We respect and advocate freedom of expression in all levels and so the right to reply but the statutory right to reply is another thing. We and the campus press stand with the journalists and publishers in appealing to Congress for the withdrawal of the said bill." Edza concluded.
Various media groups have also opposed the mandatory, legislated, compulsory, court-enforceable Right of Reply on the ground that prior compulsion violates a publication's editorial independence and is thus unconstitutional. Instead it supports a Voluntary Right of Reply through Press Council.
The Liga ng Kabataang Moro and College Editors Guild of the Philippines- Cotabato City chapter made their standpoint after the Senate, by a vote of 21-0, approved the passage of the bill.
The CEGP chapter here expressed their disappointment – believing the said bill would only devastate the essence of freedom of expression in any form - articles or interviews, speech or debate in TV or radio programs.
The Right of Reply Bill would mandate media companies to provide equal space or airtime to anyone who is subject of their critical reports to reply or react as form of the latter’s freedom of expression, thus, the right to reply; be it in television, radio or publications.
The guild believes the bill, which requires or mandates publications like magazines, tabloids, broadsheets and news letter to publish replies in the same space; either front page or inside story, encroaches on the right of the editorial board to determine the content of publications according to the relevance of the issues.
"This will hamper both campus press and the mainstream media in determining what to air or publish. The bill would restrict the media from tackling sensitive issues and prevents the publication of valid criticisms against public figures, organization, company, etc. Even commercialized media would keep away from sensitive subjects knowing they will be obliged later on to provide equal space or air-time to the reply of the respondent. This will completely annihilate freedom of expression, it’s ultra-democracy", Michelle Tirol, CEGP chapter’s spokesperson, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
According to Liga ng Kabataang Moro (LKM) spokesperson Marbawi Edza, the bill will deflate the right of editors and publishers to determine the content of the publications. The group is also apprehensive about its negative implications to the web postings, writings and publications of political views and standpoints and statements of Moro people.
"We respect and advocate freedom of expression in all levels and so the right to reply but the statutory right to reply is another thing. We and the campus press stand with the journalists and publishers in appealing to Congress for the withdrawal of the said bill." Edza concluded.
Various media groups have also opposed the mandatory, legislated, compulsory, court-enforceable Right of Reply on the ground that prior compulsion violates a publication's editorial independence and is thus unconstitutional. Instead it supports a Voluntary Right of Reply through Press Council.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Security Forces Break Up Anti-Arroyo Rally In Zamboanga, Elsewhere In Mindanao Successful
Photos released to the Mindanao Examiner by the Suara Bangasamoro and Liga ng Kabataang Moro show its members before they were dispersed by government soldiers and policemen and City Hall personnel in Zamboanga City on Monday, July 28, 2008. ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 28, 2008) – Soldiers and policemen broke up Monday an anti-Arroyo rally in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga, which coincided with President Gloria Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address, organizers said.
Amira Lidasan, of the human rights group called Suara Bangasamoro, said policemen dispersed dozens of students and political activists who were holding a rally to protest the high prices of basic commodities and the poverty situation of the country under Arroyo’s seven-year rule.
“We are just expressing our sentiments, but apparently there is no freedom of expression and speech in Zamboanga City. City Hall ordered the police to break up the rally,” Lidasan told reporters.
Police said the rally had no permit and students were obstructing traffic near the Western Mindanao State University. Lidasan said the local government previously rejected their application to hold peaceful rallies in Zamboanga.
“How can we have a permit when City Hall is not granting us such permission? We were threatened with arrest by soldiers and policemen. They threatened to seize our vehicles if we do not disperse or stop our rally,” Lidasan said.
She said Elmer Apolinario, a senior City Hall official, led the dispersal of the rally.
Prior to the dispersal, Apolinario told a local radio station DXRZ Radyo Agong that the rally had no permission and ordered security forces to disperse the protesters.
Lidasan said they had been holding rallies in Zamboanga City every time Arroyo delivers her State of the Nation Address and it was the first time local authorities stopped them.
One protester, Abdel Abdulkarim, said only anti-Muslim or anti-ARMM protests or pro-government rallies are allowed in Zamboanga. “This is unfair. We have our rights too,” he said.
Abdulkarim was referring to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Local officials in the past had opposed any conference of the ARMM in Zamboanga City and would tell organizers to bring their meeting elsewhere, like in Cotabato City or areas covered by the autonomous region.
The ARMM is composed of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao provinces. Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi which are near Zamboanga City have contributed largely to the bulk of the local economy.
Most of the elected officials in Zamboanga City were former members of the opposition party Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, but have allied themselves with Arroyo’s own Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino party after a merger last year.
Militant groups led by Bayan and other farmers’ organizations also held simultaneous protest rallies in key cities in Mindanao.
“President Arroyo should think twice before letting out promises that are already nailed even before she even finishes her SONA. Since 2001, she has promised cheap rice, prosperous farmers, and rice self-sufficiency. Now we dare her to look at the landless farmers eating root crops, bananas or nothing at all.”
“Look at the paupers in the street as they are made to beg for two kilos of rice which has tripled in cost,” said Tony Salubre, acting spokesperson of the Farmers Association of Davao City.
Pedro Arnado, deputy chairman of the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao, said more than 4,000 protesters held a rally in North Cotabato province to protest Arroyo’s failure to improve the country’s poverty situation.
“Under GMA, this country has gone through the worst economic and political tragedy that this nation has never experienced before. The immorality, corruption, militarism and puppetry that have become the central policy of this regime, has made us the sick man of Asia that we are today,” Arnado said.
The Kawagib Moro Human Rights group also assailed Arroyo’s pro-poor program and her failure to stop the rising cost of fuel and rice in the country.
“Arroyo’s so-called pro-poor programs such as ‘Ramdam ang Kaunlaran’ and ‘Katas ng VAT’ as well as the mushrooming of foreign capitalists in the country, will again be the frontage of her rhetoric in the pretext of helping the Bangsamoro and Filipino people.”
“But the truth continues to hunt the poor people. In a survey of Social Weather Station, 50% of the 88.9 million Filipinos are ‘self-rated poor’ and 14.9 million experiences hunger everyday while prices of oil and basic commodities continue to skyrocket. Cases of human rights violations are also continuing while the Bangsamoro people’s right to self-determination is not recognized,” it said.
Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said Arroyo has such a long record of lying that no one expects her to describe the real state of the nation and indicate the solutions to the problems that have grown terribly worse under her regime.
“Look at the paupers in the street as they are made to beg for two kilos of rice which has tripled in cost,” said Tony Salubre, acting spokesperson of the Farmers Association of Davao City.
Pedro Arnado, deputy chairman of the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas in Southern Mindanao, said more than 4,000 protesters held a rally in North Cotabato province to protest Arroyo’s failure to improve the country’s poverty situation.
“Under GMA, this country has gone through the worst economic and political tragedy that this nation has never experienced before. The immorality, corruption, militarism and puppetry that have become the central policy of this regime, has made us the sick man of Asia that we are today,” Arnado said.
The Kawagib Moro Human Rights group also assailed Arroyo’s pro-poor program and her failure to stop the rising cost of fuel and rice in the country.
“Arroyo’s so-called pro-poor programs such as ‘Ramdam ang Kaunlaran’ and ‘Katas ng VAT’ as well as the mushrooming of foreign capitalists in the country, will again be the frontage of her rhetoric in the pretext of helping the Bangsamoro and Filipino people.”
“But the truth continues to hunt the poor people. In a survey of Social Weather Station, 50% of the 88.9 million Filipinos are ‘self-rated poor’ and 14.9 million experiences hunger everyday while prices of oil and basic commodities continue to skyrocket. Cases of human rights violations are also continuing while the Bangsamoro people’s right to self-determination is not recognized,” it said.
Jose Maria Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said Arroyo has such a long record of lying that no one expects her to describe the real state of the nation and indicate the solutions to the problems that have grown terribly worse under her regime.
“She is ever more determined to lie in a vain attempt to evade responsibility for the extremely aggravated suffering of the Filipino people. But reality cries far louder and clearer than her lies. These add insult to injury. And the outraged people become ever more resolute and relentless in their struggle.”
“Arroyo is poised to claim that she has nothing to do with the crisis of the domestic ruling system and that this is simply the result of external factors that would soon blow away. She is likely to repeat her lie that the economy continues to grow and that she has already laid the basis for the Philippines to become a "first world country" in the next twenty years, even as she has not undertaken any program of national industrialization and land reform,” he said in a statement released on Monday.
The New People’s Army, CPP’s military wing, have been fighting the democratic government the past four decades for the establishment of a Maoist state in the Philippines.
It broke off peace talks with the Arroyo government in 2004 after rebel leaders accused Manila of reneging on previous agreements, among them the release of all political prisoners and to put a stop on the extra-judicial killings of political activists in the Philippines.
Arroyo, accused by opposition politicians of cheating and electoral fraud in 2004 Presidential elections and whose administration has been involved in many corruption scandals, is extremely unpopular in the Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Militarisasyon Sa Basilan, Sulu Binatikos!
BASILAN (Mindanao Examiner / 14 Aug) – Binatikos ngayon ng militanteng Liga ng Kabataang Moro ang umano’y militarisasyon sa lalawigan ng Basilan at Sulu na kung saan ay libo-libong mga sundalo ang ipinadala ng pamahalaan.
Mahigit sa isang libong pamilyang Muslim na rin ang nagsilikas sa kanilang mga lugar sa takot na madamay sa isasagawang opensiba ng militar kontra sa Abu Sayyaf na sinasabing nasa likod ng pagpaslang sa 26 na sundalo sa Sulu nitong buwan lamang at 14 naman sa Basilan nuong nakalipas na buwan.
Ang dalawang lalawigan rin ang umano’y naging sentro ng pandaraya nuong nakaraang halalan na kung saan ay nagwagi ang mga kandidato ng pamahalaan sa Senado.
“Di kailanman mapagtatakpan ng Administrasyong Arroyo ang ginawa nitong pagmanipula sa nakaraang eleksyon upang maipanalo ng Team Unity at mga kaalyado ng Malakanyang ang eleksyon,” ani Marlon Baning, tagapagsalita ng Liga ng Kabataang Moro sa Zamboanga, Sulu, Basilan at Tawi-Tawi.
“Ang pandaraya at panlilinlang ay kakambal na ng bawat rehimen upang papanalunin ang mga kasabwat nitong mga papet na mambabatas at pulitiko at ito ay malinaw na sa administrasyon ni GMA. Dahil dito'y nakakayang pagtakpan ng administrasyon ang totoong suliranin ng sambayanan at tuluyang iligaw ang kaisipan ng masang Pilipino,“ dagdag pa nito.
Sa Basilan ay tinutugis ng mga awtoridad ang mga miyembro ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front na siyang itinuturo sa pagpatay sa 14 na Marines nuong July 10.
Sinampahan ng kasong murder ng pulisya ang halos 130 katao na halos ay pawang mga rebelodeng MILF at Abu Sayyaf. Ngunit nangangamba ang Commission on Human Rights na marami sa mga sinampahan ng kaso ay inosente.
“Ang mga suliranin ng mamamayang Pilipino lalo na ang basic services, ang siyang pangunahing naaapektuhan dahil sa pagbabawas ng budget sa mga ito at ang kaukulang karagdagan dito ay napupunta sa military at upang kalimutan ng mamamayan ang isyu tungkol sa Mapanupil at di makataong batas na Human Security Act.”
“Sa bawat krisis na kinaharap ng Rehimeng Arroyo, hindi niya isinaalang-alang ang kapakanan ng mamamayan at dagdag pa rito ang panunupil sa karapatang-pantao ng marami sa 130 na kasama sa arrest warrants,” ani pa ni Baning.
Sinabi ni Baning na lubhang naaapektuhan ang mga mamamayan sa Basilan sa napipintong pagbabalik ng militar sa lalawigan.
Itinanggi naman ng militar ang akusasyon ng Liga ng Kabataang Moro at sinabing ang opensiba ay nakatuon sa mga terorista tulad ng Abu Sayyaf at maging ang isyu ng pandaraya sa nakaraang halalan ay mariing pinasinungalingan rin ng mga awtoridad. (Mindanao Examiner)
Mahigit sa isang libong pamilyang Muslim na rin ang nagsilikas sa kanilang mga lugar sa takot na madamay sa isasagawang opensiba ng militar kontra sa Abu Sayyaf na sinasabing nasa likod ng pagpaslang sa 26 na sundalo sa Sulu nitong buwan lamang at 14 naman sa Basilan nuong nakalipas na buwan.
Ang dalawang lalawigan rin ang umano’y naging sentro ng pandaraya nuong nakaraang halalan na kung saan ay nagwagi ang mga kandidato ng pamahalaan sa Senado.
“Di kailanman mapagtatakpan ng Administrasyong Arroyo ang ginawa nitong pagmanipula sa nakaraang eleksyon upang maipanalo ng Team Unity at mga kaalyado ng Malakanyang ang eleksyon,” ani Marlon Baning, tagapagsalita ng Liga ng Kabataang Moro sa Zamboanga, Sulu, Basilan at Tawi-Tawi.
“Ang pandaraya at panlilinlang ay kakambal na ng bawat rehimen upang papanalunin ang mga kasabwat nitong mga papet na mambabatas at pulitiko at ito ay malinaw na sa administrasyon ni GMA. Dahil dito'y nakakayang pagtakpan ng administrasyon ang totoong suliranin ng sambayanan at tuluyang iligaw ang kaisipan ng masang Pilipino,“ dagdag pa nito.
Sa Basilan ay tinutugis ng mga awtoridad ang mga miyembro ng Moro Islamic Liberation Front na siyang itinuturo sa pagpatay sa 14 na Marines nuong July 10.
Sinampahan ng kasong murder ng pulisya ang halos 130 katao na halos ay pawang mga rebelodeng MILF at Abu Sayyaf. Ngunit nangangamba ang Commission on Human Rights na marami sa mga sinampahan ng kaso ay inosente.
“Ang mga suliranin ng mamamayang Pilipino lalo na ang basic services, ang siyang pangunahing naaapektuhan dahil sa pagbabawas ng budget sa mga ito at ang kaukulang karagdagan dito ay napupunta sa military at upang kalimutan ng mamamayan ang isyu tungkol sa Mapanupil at di makataong batas na Human Security Act.”
“Sa bawat krisis na kinaharap ng Rehimeng Arroyo, hindi niya isinaalang-alang ang kapakanan ng mamamayan at dagdag pa rito ang panunupil sa karapatang-pantao ng marami sa 130 na kasama sa arrest warrants,” ani pa ni Baning.
Sinabi ni Baning na lubhang naaapektuhan ang mga mamamayan sa Basilan sa napipintong pagbabalik ng militar sa lalawigan.
Itinanggi naman ng militar ang akusasyon ng Liga ng Kabataang Moro at sinabing ang opensiba ay nakatuon sa mga terorista tulad ng Abu Sayyaf at maging ang isyu ng pandaraya sa nakaraang halalan ay mariing pinasinungalingan rin ng mga awtoridad. (Mindanao Examiner)
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