United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan urged the Philippine government to review cases of journalists facing charges in court, asking as well about the status of yet unsolved media killings in the country.
De Lima said that the arbitrary detention of their consultants is part of a string of “blatant violations” by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) it signed with the NDFP in 1995.
“As he is ill, he should be accorded the status of a hors de combat under the International Humanitarian Law and Comprehensive Agreement on Respect on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.”
“In fact, other criminal cases avr been previously filed against Alaiza and her family before and for being utterly false, none of which have resulted in any indictment,” it said.
“A disturbing pattern has emerged in the Philippines, where [professed] former members of designated ‘terrorist’ groups such as the (NPA), testify against individuals or organizations after their [surrender]. These testimonies often serve as the basis for charges.”
“It is in you that every story I’ve heard in my youth and every report I’ve learned at university about our fight for rights, justice and self-determination were true.”
Ariel Arbitrario, a participant in several formal rounds of peace negotiations between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines from 2016 to 2017 was killed with two others last September 11 in Barangay Baliuag, Peñabalanca, Cagayan, the CPP said.
“The 2025 elections will be an important platform to push the agenda of workers and the people forward. We will present the national democratic agenda real solutions to the crises besetting our people,” Jerome Adonis.
Khan noted the order replacing the recently concluded “United Nations Joint Programme on technical cooperation and capacity-building for the promotion and protection of Human Rights in the Philippines” (UNJP) downgrades the role of CSOs, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the UN instead of encouraging full participation.
“Despite his unjust detention and serious ailment, Rimando was in high spirits and remained militant and committed to the cause of the exploited and oppressed, especially the poor workers and peasants with whom he spent the last decades of his life.”
“There is no real harmony among the elements of the song itself, a mediocre production that makes one ask how much of taxpayers’ money was spent on it.”