In a resolution adopted by 390 delegates, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters condemned, in the strongest terms possible, the culture of impunity in the Philippines.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The 10th General Assembly of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters AMARC in La Plata, Argentina unanimously adopted a resolution, Nov. 13, calling on all its members to participate in the Global Day of Action on the Ampatuan Massacre on November 23, 2010.
On Nov. 23, 2009, 57 persons, including the wife and relatives of Toto Mangudadatu, the political rival of the Ampatuan clan, were killed allegedly by the private army of the Ampatuan clan in Ampatuan town, Maguindanao. Thirty-one journalists were among the dead and one of them remains missing.
AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels. AMARC has an international secretariat in Montreal. It has regional sections in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, North America and Asia Pacific and offices in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Brussels, and Kathmandu.
The Assembly has 390 voting delegates from 110 countries, according to Raymund Villanueva, director for radio of Kodao Productions, main host of Sali Na Bayan! program over DZUP 1602 and sponsor of the said resolution.
In the resolution, AMARC condemned, in the strongest terms possible, the culture of impunity in the Philippines, particularly the unabated killing of journalists, including community media practitioners and advocates.
In an interview, Villanueva said, community radio broadcasters committed to write news stories, editorials, messages of solidarity for the commemoration of the Ampatuan massacre.
Villanueva said a “Call to Action” webpage would be setup to encourage 5,000 members of AMARC worldwide to participate in the Global Day of Action spearheaded by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) .
The IFJ is the world’s largest organization of journalists. AMARC has bilateral relations with IFJ. In the Philippines, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) serves as IFJ’s local affiliate.
AMARC also called on the Philippine government to end the culture of impunity and work for justice for all victims of human rights violations in the country;
Villanueva said AMARC members would also send petitions to Philippine government agencies calling for a swift and fair trial of the criminal cases related to the Ampatuan Massacre and protection of witnesses from further intimidation and violence.
The Philippine delegation is composed of Kodao Productions, Radio Sagada, Rainbow Rights Project and Isis International. (Bulatlat.com)
One year has passed since the brutal killing of men and women in the media as well as those innocent people by the Ampatuans in Maguindanao, yet until now justice is not yet served. Witnesses have surfaced , but others were also killed…others are threatened…just like the male judge who is supposedly to hear the case. We thank the female judge who accepted the challenge, but we just hope that she is impartial in her judgment once the verdict would be proclaimed soon not later. One thing that I could not understand here in our country ( perhaps in other parts of the globe too) are the lawyers (although not all of them are bad lawyers). Why I say this? It is because, there are lawyers who know from the start that their clients are guilty beyond reasonable doubt, still they want them to come out as innocent…as winners. Could these lawyers sleep soundly at night at the expense of those murdered like those murdered by the Ampatuans? It made me laugh when others called some lawyers as "liars." Well, I am not generalizing because there are also good lawyers out there who are doing their job religiously. We join the whole world in condemning such horrible act by the Ampatuans!
In the same manner, we would also like to show our strong condemnation to those liable for the murder of a world renowned botanist, Dr. Alfred Co and company. These innocent people were unjustly killed while doing research in Kananga, Leyte. We hope and pray that justice will prevail as regards their killing.
My apologies for being off-topic. Let us progressive Pinoys extend our solidarity and condolences also to family, friends, and colleagues of Chalmers Johnson, who died November 20, 2010. Four of Chalmers latest books present a compelling analysis of America's last days as an imperial power. His life is a wonderful testimony of the power of truth in our lives—in his younger days, he was a CIA analyst specializing in Asian political and economic affairs. Confronted with the brutal facts of American hegemony, more specifically with the failure of the U.S. to pursue the peace dividend of the Soviet collapse in 1989-91 and the senseless rape of a 12-year old girl by U.S. marines in 1995 in Okinawa, he devoted his later life to exposing the absurdity of America's search for new enemies to prolong its crumbling empire. Chalmers Johnson, 79 years old, R.I.P.