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By RONALYN V. OLEA
“After a year and a half in office, President Aquino should be delivering on his promise to end impunity for rights abuses.” – Human Rights Watch
“I think that the Philippine government knows what to do [but] we don’t see the will to stop the culture of impunity.” – Amnesty International
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We are watching very closely. The present administration must demonstrate that the Philippines has turned the page and a new chapter where freedom and justice prevail has begun.” – Beaconsfield United Church of Canada
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
"Residents are being forced to relocate where jobs, electricity and water are scarce. Demolitions and forced evictions automatically translate to workers having to leave their sources of income and children would have to stop from going to school." Gabriela Women's Party Rep. Luz Ilagan
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“If he is not guilty, why does he hide? He has to have the courage to face the truth.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño
Public urged to help hunt down Palparan(Photos courtesy of Karapatan)
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“We call on the Filipino people to help us prosecute Palparan for the crimes he did to our children and to other victims of enforced disappearances.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño, mother of missing UP student Karen.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“He [Palparan] should be imprisoned immediately, along with GMA, Abalos, all of them who are shameless. They all should spend Christmas in jail.” – Mrs. Concepcion Empeño
By RONALYN V. OLEA
In a resolution released Dec. 15, a Department of Justice (DOJ) panel found probable cause to file charges against retired Major General Jovito Palparan and his men for the abduction of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, and farmer Manuel Merino.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
In the 17 years that the Philippines has been a member of the World Trade Organization, from being a net importer of rice, it became a net exporter as production fell considerably and land grabbing became rampant. Now, even vegetables are being heavily imported and soon imported fish products would flood the country, all in the name of the WTO.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Already there are 356 political detainees in the country, with 78 of them having been arrested on the orders of the Aquino administration’s armed and judicial forces. Almost half or 35 of them are women. Also 153 women have already fallen victim to extrajudicial killings since 2001, with six of them killed under the watch of the Benigno Aquino III administration.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“No amount of political manipulation or attempt to project himself as a protagonist in the quest for justice against Arroyo could dispel the truth that he (President Aquino) continues the latter's legacy of state terror through Oplan Bayanihan.” – Roneo Clamor, secretary general of Karapatan
By RAYMUND B. VILLANUEVA
The Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) was a landmark agreement unique in the history of civil wars worldwide. But 13 years hence, its implementation has barely passed through the first stage and the peace talks continue to flounder.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“I would tell them [soldiers] ‘We are not armed. This is not a war. This is just a rally.’ They would say, ‘Legal and underground, you’re the same. You are all NPA [New People’s Army],’” said human rights worker Ma. Josephine Dy
Sidebar: Military turns wrath on farmers, activists in Eastern Visayas
By RONALYN V. OLEA and ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) has documented one case of a child’s death due to indiscriminate firing, 12 cases of frustrated killings, eight cases of illegal arrest and detention, five cases of torture, one case of abduction and numerous cases of attacks on schools.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
“The Aquino government must immediately respond to their just demands if he truly adheres to justice.” – Fe Salino, Selda-Southern Mindanao
Sidebar: While Arroyo gets special treatment, sick political prisoners barely survive
Sidebar: Political prisoners stage different forms of protest
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