Response of Tiamzon and Austria to Rina Jimenez-David’s column on “Dogs and Cats”

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

April 2, 2014

In her April 1 column “Dogs and Cats”, Ms. Rina Jimenez-David has given a smirking take on our arrest. She has chosen to skim through the froth of the official version, or rather official versions of the arrest and related issues and in doing so, she has joined in muddling some real questions.

First, the issue of trumped-up illegal possession of the firearms and explosives on the basis of planted evidence. This in fact was the context in which the “captured” pups and cats first gained particular attention. The AFP and PNP spokespersons then conjured the issue of supposedly pampered pets precisely to swamp this material issue—a ploy Ms. Jimenez-David only too eagerly backs and further still, stretches to greater muddle and scorn in her own nifty way.

The new, false and fabricated charge filed almost two days after the arrest was an obvious afterthought to cover previous fatal flaws in the manner of the arrest and to indefinitely detain the seven arrested persons without sufficient cause. Our lawyers raised questions to challenge the highly irregular and belated inquest proceedings for the trumped-up charge. But the DOJ prosecution panel acted as a virtual tag team with the PNP prosecution team to certify the filing of formal charges and order the detention of the accused.

Though a far too common practice, the filing of baseless charges based on planted evidence is a gross violation of basic human and democratic rights. It breeds widespread cynicism among the victims, perpetrators and the common tao about the “rule of law” and the human rights posturing of the State. The certification by the DOJ prosecution panel only goes to show that the leading purveyors of this sordid practice are not the common soldiers and policemen but those at the very top of the political, military, police and judicial authorities.

In this regard, it is well to keep in mind what ex-SC chief justice Artemio Panganiban said in his March 30 column—with Due Respect: “Filing baseless charges, whether for money or malice, is not unethical. It is brazenly criminal.”

Second, the issue of implementing JASIG and other signed agreements between the GRP and NDFP. This concerns the basic principle of negotiating in good faith and respecting the mutually agreed upon framework of peace talks as established by The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 as well as implementing the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) signed in 1998.

The peace process has been deliberately stalled by the previous Arroyo and the current Aquino regimes because they both mistakenly believed that a short-cut military solution was achievable for them. They both adhered to the path of all-out militarization and military offensives to destroy the revolutionary forces or compel them to surrender or pacification, outright or under the guise of an indefinite ceasefire. The first was banking on US military assistance and intervention in line with the US “global war on terror” and unleashed Oplan Bantay Laya with Palparan as its poster boy. The latter continued with the Bantay Laya formula albeit with a new Bayanihan name, thinking that its Aquino mystique “daang matuwid” face and the incessant media and poll survey drumbeats could reduce the revolutionary forces into sitting ducks for military decimation and complete inconsequence.

Thus, both the Arroyo and Aquino regimes had done their darnest to cast away the The Hague framework of non-surrender, mutually acceptable universal principles and standards that require addressing the roots of the civil war and with end in view of forging agreements on basic social, economic and political reforms. All the huff and puff about communist trickery, recalcitrance, unreasonableness, and now, spoilery are squid tactics to camouflage and excuse the anomalous and arbitrary suspension of the JASIG and the freezing of the peace talks to make way for all-out military offensives and all-out shame campaign in the media.

And so with Ms. Jimenez-David seemingly at a loss as to how to set the peace process on the right foot, we would humbly suggest for a start to lay down first the true and real score about what has stalled it during the last 13 years or so.

Benito E. Tiamzon

NDFP National Consultant

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Wilma Austria-Tiamzon

NDFP National Consultant

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Rights group demands release of ailing political prisoner on humanitarian grounds

PRESS STATEMENT

23 August 2013

The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), an organization of former political prisoners today demanded the release of Alison Alcantara, 52, a political prisoner who is confined at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital for almost a week now.

According to Dr. Edelina dela Paz, vice-chairperson of Health Action for Human Rights, an organization of health professionals, health workers and students rendering medical services to victims of human rights violations, who visited Alcantara yesterday at the New Bilibid Prison Hospital, Alcantara is suffering from uncontrolled diabetes with complications of hypertension and infected wound in the left foot.

“Alcantara was among the three political prisoners in Cebu who were released in 2004 when the GRP agreed to release 32 political prisoners as part of confidence-building measures during the 3^rd round of peace talks with NDFP in Oslo, Norway. Alison was formerly detained at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in 1996 to face trial for “murder, double frustrated murder and illegal possession of firearms all criminal charges to hide the political nature of Alison’s case. He was re-arrested on 5 November 2010 on the same trumped up charges,” said Jigs Clamor, SELDA national coordinator.

Alcantara is one of the more than 50 ailing political prisoners in the country languishing in prison at present. Under the Aquino regime, there are more than 400 political prisoners all over the country. Of these, 326 were arrested and detained during the Oplan Bantay Laya of the former Gloria Arroyo regime. In the three years of the Aquino regime, on the other hand, 293 were arrested and detained under the counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan.

“We demand the Noynoy Aquino government to direct the immediate release of all political prisoners especially those who are sick. There is no other best prescription to get rid of their illnesses but to release them immediately on humanitarian grounds. For as long as they remain in jails, their illnesses would only worsen given the rudimentary and harsh prison conditions,” Clamor concluded. ###

“We are testimony to injustice, impunity under Aquino” – victims and families

NEWS RELEASE

No more denial: SONA 2012 should reflect continuing human rights violations

“We are testimony to injustice, impunity under Aquino” – victims and families

Families of political prisoners, victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, and other human rights violations will march together with various groups and sectors participating in the SONA protests nationwide tomorrow.

“How dare Malacañang simply say that human rights violations have dwindled from the previous administration? We are the living proof to the continuing injustice, impunity under Pres. Aquino,” said Ernan Baldomero, vice-chairperson of Hustisya (Victims United for Justice).

Ernan is the son of Fernando Baldomero, the first victim of extrajudicial killing under the Aquino government. His father’s case was mentioned by Pres. Aquino’s SONA in 2010 as one of the cases where suspects have already been identified. However, after two years, the arrest warrant for the suspect has not been served. The case was archived at the Aklan Regional Trial Court due to lack of progress.

Baldomero presented his father’s case at the United Nations Human Rights Council in May to create pressure on the government to speed up the resolution on his father’s case. “Victims and their families have done everything, yet all the Aquino government did was to form task forces and issue statements to say they are doing everything,” Ernan declared.

Worse, according to Ernan, more fell victim to extrajudicial killings. According to Karapatan, there are now 99 victims of extrajudicial killings under Aquino’s term.

“It is highly irresponsible to accuse the victims and their families of merely blaming the government when in fact, we have the right and we have the proof to do so. Tell us, to whom shall we address these issues if not with the executive branch in charge of the justice system, and the president who is commander in chief of the armed forces?” Ernan asked.

Erlinda Cadapan, mother of missing UP student Sherlyn Cadapan, agreed that have they not filed a case against retired major general Jovito Palparan, and the other fugitives guilty of human rights violations, nothing would have happened.

“Now, Palparan remains a fugitive. A people’s manhunt was launched to arrest Palparan. Instead of pointing the finger back at us, why don’t the people in Malacañang prove that the military is not coddling him?” Cadapan stated.

Families of political prisoners, meanwhile, joined the protest as their kin held the last day of their hunger strike on the day of the SONA.

“Because they jailed our loved ones, we are the ones to fill in their places here,” said Ahmad Hamja, son of Muhamadiyah Hamja, one of the Moro political prisoners who were arrested during the term of Arroyo. Hamja remains a political prisoner to this day, based on trumped up charges of kidnapping.

The weeklong fasting was raised into a full blown hunger strike this week, to call for freedom for the 385 political prisoners in the country. Malacañang has denied the existence of political prisoners.

“The Aquino government is denying their existence because they made them look like common criminals,” said Hamja.

According to Hustisya, the Aquino government should stop making ridiculous statements that insult the victims.

“Aquino should admit in his SONA tomorrow that they have done nothing to achieve justice. All we want to hear is that they will arrest and punish the perpetrators, stop the killings and junk Oplan Bayanihan,” Ernan declared.

Oplan Bayanihan is the so-called “counter-insurgency” program of the Aquino government that, for victims of human rights violations, is no different from Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya.  ###

Reference:
Ernan Baldomero, Hustisya vice-chairperson, 0917-3286953
Cristina Guevarra, Hustisya secretary general, 0949-1772928

Karapatan chides Noynoy Aquino to stop acting like there are no political prisoners

PRESS STATEMENT

July 17, 2012 

 

On the second day of fasting

Karapatan chides Noynoy Aquino to stop acting like there are no political prisoners

A week before Pres. Noynoy Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), political prisoners from Luzon to Mindanao are conducting a one-week fast  to push the call for the release of all political prisoners.

“It has been two years since we started to campaign and lobby for the release of political prisoners who are in various jails, but President Noynoy Aquino not only ignored our call but also arrested and detained 107 more farmers, indigenous peoples, leaders of organizations and activists, as well as suspected rebels. As of June 30, 2012, there are now 385 political prisoners,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez, chairperson of both Karapatan and SELDA.

Karapatan said that Noynoy Aquino cannot just shrug off his shoulders, declare that he is different from the past GMA regime and blame it for all the ills besetting his “matuwid na daan” administration. He cannot go on pretending that there are no political prisoners in the country because “he is already responsible for detaining 107 activists based mostly on fabricated charges in the same way as Gloria did through the brutal Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL).”

According to Hilao-Enriquez, “Noynoy Aquino has his own brutal campaign against a people who organize themselves, assert and defend their rights to live decently. But like the GMA regime, Aquino has implemented his own campaign of suppression through Oplan Bayanihan which is actually just a continuation of the bloody OBL of the US-Arroyo regime.”

“This brutal campaign has resulted to 99 victims of extrajudicial executions, 10 victims of enforced disappearances, thousands displaced in communities classified by the military as rebel areas. All these happened during Noynoy’s two years, a picture no different from the GMA administration. It is no wonder that human rights violations, like the presence of political prisoners, continue to stalk our land,“ added Hilao-Enriquez.

Karapatan asserts that it would do well for Noynoy Aquino to take stock of his watch and not squander the remaining four years of his presidency.  Hilao-Enriquez said that, “he can still be the president who made good on his human rights commitments to the Filipino people. He can start this by releasing all political prisoners in the country through a presidential proclamation granting general, unconditional and omnibus amnesty to all political prisoners; or he may accede to the offer of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) to “Release on Recognizance” the NDF peace consultants. The government should also immediately release the elderly, the women and those who are sick.”

Karapatan also enjoins all civil libertarians and freedom-loving Filipinos to echo the call for the release of political prisoners. “There may be no declared martial law but the same repression against the people and impunity prevail.  This must not be allowed to continue,” concluded Hilao-Enriquez.

Political prisoners in 10 detention facilities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are on their second day of fasting. ###

Reference:    Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Spokesperson, 0917-5003879
              Angge Santos, Media Liaison, 0918-9790580

Ayuno hanggang SONA ni PNoy, ikinasa ng mga bilanggong pulitikal

by Macky Macaspac

Ikinasa ng mga bilanggong pulitikal ang isang pambansang koordinadong pag-aayuno bilang protesta sa nalalapit na ikatlong State of the Nation Address (SONA) ni Pangulong Aquino.

Nagsimula kahapon, Hulyo 16, hanggang araw ng SONA, lumahok sa pag-aayuno ang mga bilanggong pulitikal sa Camp Crame Detention Center, Calbayog Sub-Provincial Jail, Compostela Valley Provincial Jail, Central Command, Lahug, Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Panay, Cebu, Calbayog, Davao City at sa iba pang bilangguan sa buong bansa.

Sinabayan naman ng mga dating bilanggong pulitikal na miyembro ng Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), mga kaanak ng mga biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao at mga nagtataguyod ng karapatan ang pag-aayuno o fasting. Bilang pakikiisa, nagpiket sila sa harapan ng Department of Justice (DOJ) at sa harapan ng Kampo Crame kung saan nakabilanggo ang ilang konsultant ng National Democratic Front (NDF).

Muling nanawagan ang grupong Selda para sa general,unconditonal at omnibus amnesty sa lahat ng mga bilanggong pulitikal. Nagsagawa din ang grupo ng solidarity fasting para sa mga bilanggong pulitkal sa iba’t ibang panig ng bansa na nagsasagawa ng isang linggong pag-aayuno hanggang State of the Nation Address ni Pangulong Aquino.

Panawagan ng mga grupo na palayain ang lahat ng mga bilanggong pulitikal. Ayon sa Selda, may kabuuang bilang na 385 ang mga bilanggong pulitikal. Umabot sa 107 ang ilegal na inaresto at ikinulong sa loob lamang ng dalawang taong panunungkulan ni Aquino.

“Ipinagpatuloy lamang ni PNoy (Aquino) ang taktika ng Oplan Bantay Laya ni (dating Pang.) Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, sa kanyang Oplan Bayanihan,” ani Angie Ipong, pangkalahatang kalihim ng Selda.  Patuloy umano ang pagsampa ng gawa-gawang mga kaso laban sa mga aktibista para supilin ang mga kritiko ng gobyerno.

Lumahok din sa pambansang pag-aayuno ang mga bilanggong konsultant ng NDF na sina Renante Gamara, Eduardo Serrano at Eduardo Sarmiento. Sa kanilang pahayag, sinabi nila na pinagkakaitan sila ng karapatan matapos nilang ibulgar ang pagmamaltrato sa mga kapwa bilanggong mga Muslim.

Kinondena rin nila ang pagmamaltrato sa iba pang mga konsultant tulad ni Tirso Alcantara na nakakulong sa Fort Bonifacio at si Ramon Patriarca, na nilipat sa isang kampo ng militar matapos mag-organisa siya ng protesta para manawagan taasan ang alawans ng mga bilanggo sa Cebu Provincial Jail.

Si Randall Echanis, ikatlong nominado ng Anakpawis Party-list at dating bilanggong pulitikal sa piket sa harapan ng Department of Justice.

Hinikayat ni Ipong si Pangulong Aquino na palayain na ang mga bilanggong pulitikal sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng general, unconditional at omnibus amnesty.

“Wala kaming makitang dahilan kung ano ang hinihintay ng gobyerno. Malinaw naman na lahat ng mga bilanggong pulitikal, laluna ang mga maysakit, matatanda, mga matatagal na sa bilangguan at iyong mga mayroong joint agreement on safety and immunity (Jasig) ay napalaya na dapat noon pa,” aniya.

Dismayado rin ang grupo sa pagsasawalang-bahala sa kanila ni Aquino, na anak ng dating bilanggong pulitikal, samantalang ang mga nagdaang administrasyon ay nagawang magpalaya.

Dapat umanong magkaroon ng “political will” ang pangulo para mabigyan ng amnestiya ang mga bilanggong pulitikal.