The First Session on the Philippines of the Permanent People’s Tribunal

When the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines opens in the Hague, The Netherlands March 21-25 this year to hear the indictment against the “U.S.-backed Arroyo regime for human rights violations, economic plunder and transgression of the Filipino people's sovereignty,” it shall have been almost 27 years since the First Session of the PPT on the Philippines was held at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

By D. L. Mondelo
Correspondent for Europe
Bulatlat

When the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines opens in the Hague, The Netherlands March 21-25 this year to hear the indictment against the “U.S.-backed Arroyo regime for human rights violations, economic plunder and transgression of the Filipino people's sovereignty,” it shall have been almost 27 years since the First Session of the PPT on the Philippines was held from October 30 to November 3, 1980 at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.

At that time, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), an alliance of revolutionary underground organizations which was at the forefront of the resistance against the U.S.-supported Marcos dictatorship, together with the similarly-outlawed Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) filed the appeal to the PPT on behalf of the Filipino and Moro peoples.

In the upcoming PPT Second Session hearing in The Hague, the NDFP will speak as an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court).  The complainants, this time around, are the relatives of the victims and people’s organizations whose ranks have been the main targets of political assassinations by Arroyo’s military.

The convening of the PPT second session on the Philippines indicates the gravity of the “war crimes” cited in the indictment against the Arroyo regime.  It is also a reflection of the frustration and hopelessness of the survivors and relatives of victims of human rights violations in the local justice system, prompting them to bring their pleas to an international people’s court.

Like the first PPT session on the Philippines, the second PPT will be presided over by distinguished jurors. PPT jurors include academics, scientists, legal experts, respected parliamentarians, environmentalists, progressive theologians, writers and philosophers. During the first session, Prof. George Wald, former professor of Biology at Harvard University and Nobel Peace Prize Winner for Physiology or Medicine in 1967, served as president of the jury and president of the first session on the Philippines.

The names of the jurors for the second PPT will be made public days before the hearings, and, according to the PPT second session secretariat, three jurors in the first session on the Philippines will once again sit in the second session.

The PPT’s first session on the Philippines

The idea of appealing to the PPT to indict the Marcos regime, as NDFP sources relate, began in 1979. During that year, a breakthrough was made when for the first time solidarity groups for the Philippines in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Britain and Italy came together upon the encouragement of the NDFP. Appealing to the PPT was one important decision arrived at. Other decisions included, among others, establishing stronger coordination and cooperation on solidarity actions against the Marcos dictatorship. As this was to be the first big political project coordinated by solidarity groups in Europe on the Philippines, everyone enthusiastically lent their all-out support.

They also strongly supported the proposal of the MNLF to include the struggle for self-determination of the Moro People in the appeal to the PPT.

After the PPT accepted the appeal of the NDFP and MNLF, it appointed two joint committees to prepare for the PPT: the Filipino People’s Committee (Komite ng Sambayanang Pilipino, KSP) and the Moro People’s Committee. Each committee was composed of three-PPT appointed members and three members appointed by the NDFP and MNLF.

According to the documentary book “Philippines: Repression and Resistance”, more than 3,000 pages of personal testimonies, basic reports, political positions and other documents were put together.  The book stated that the PPT session was “the most comprehensive presentation so far of the case of resistance in the Philippines at the international level.”

The PPT received thousands of letters of support, statements of condemnation of the U.S.-Marcos dictatorship, and calls for international recognition of the NDFP and MNLF.

Witnesses for the NDFP included a worker, peasant, student, writer and former government employee, a member of a national minority and a woman-member of the New People’s Army.  All witnesses belonged to underground member-organizations of the NDFP. The plaintiffs were represented by Luis Jalandoni for the NDFP, a member of the New People’s Army, and Abdurasad Asani and Hatimil Hassan for the MNLF.

The NDFP witnesses traveled to Europe on genuine passports with fake names. At that time, there was yet no visa requirement for Filipinos entering Europe. After the damning verdict of the PPT and the increased political activity of the solidarity groups, the Marcos regime initiated in 1982 a request to European governments to impose visa requirements on Filipinos traveling to Europe. While some European governments complied with the request also because of their fear of undocumented Filipinos arriving in Europe in search of work, Germany was initially reluctant because it was encouraging Filipino nurses to join its labor force. 

A religious congregation in the Netherlands sympathetic to the NDFP provided accommodations to the NDFP witnesses.  The solidarity activists provided strict security for the witnesses all throughout their stay in Belgium and the Netherlands. As part of security measures, the NDFP witnesses were not allowed to mingle with the guests. However, they did not cover their faces when they presented their testimonies. A no-photo policy was enforced to keep the identities of the witnesses secret so that they could return safely to the Philippines.

Despite these thorough procedures and preparations, the PPT first session had its trouble spots, too. An anti-NDF group attempted to sabotage the PPT first session by circulating papers attacking the NDFP and the PPT, alleging that the hearings were “lutong-macau” (a Filipino colloquial term meaning pre-judged). They also threatened to do physical harm to one of the solidarity activists seeking to create an “international incident” and thereby disrupt the PPT. Timely intervention prevented their malicious plan from being carried out.  

The verdict

 The verdict of the PPT was received with great joy. It was considered a “historic breakthrough”.

Excerpts from the verdict of the first PPT read:

“The Tribunal finds Ferdinand Marcos guilty of grave and numerous economic and political crimes against his own people and against the Bangsa Moro People and declares him unfit to govern, and subject to severe punishment for his past wrongs, including economic plunder and failure to protect the sovereignty of his country from neo-colonial interventions;”

“The Tribunal calls upon world public opinion, progressive governments, organizations and individuals, to lend their support to the struggle of the Filipino and Bangsa Moro peoples to achieve national self-determination, liberation from the Marcos regime and the neo-colonial system of repression.”

The verdict of the first PPT lent “belligerency status” to the NDFP and the MNLF that would “enable the two liberation fronts to legally receive assistance from established governments and other international bodies.” Indeed, after the PPT verdict, a Dutch political party the pacifist PSP (that would later form together with the PPR party and the Communist Party of the Netherlands the Green Left Party which until today has seats in the Dutch Parliament), would be the first to open official relations with the NDFP. It was followed by PASOK, the ruling party in Greece during that period. PASOK even offered facilities to house the NDFP international information office. Until today, the NDFP enjoys recognition and respect by several liberation and progressive movements and political parties.  

The first PPT sent notices to the Philippine and U.S. governments informing them of the charges and asking them to send representatives or documents to state their defense. Only the Philippine government in February 1981, three months after the PPT session, reacted with a 10-page reply to the PPT verdict. It was signed by former Marcos’ solicitor general Estelito Mendoza.

Postscript:

During a visit to the Philippines in 1998, Louie Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma, members of the NDFP negotiating panel, were pleasantly surprised to meet once more the worker-witness for the first PPT, after 18 years. He remains active in revolutionary work. One or two of the witnesses, have chosen to lead “normal lives”. Abdurasad Asani of the MNLF died a few years later. Luis Jalandoni became chief international representative and head of the NDFP peace panel. Prof. George Wald died in 1997. PPT jurors, despite the passing of years, continue to uphold the indomitable spirit of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples, also known as the Algiers Declaration. The PPT is again set to convene a second session on the Philippines after 27 years. Bulatlat

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