This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VII, No. 5, March 4-10, 2007
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 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
© 2007 Bulatlat
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Correspondent for Europe
Bulatlat