A group of human rights lawyers in the Philippines said that the “overwhelming support” that the International Criminal Court received from approximately 1,530 individual victims and 1,050 families who fell victims of the government’s “war on drugs” may lead to a formal investigation.
“Certainly, no evidence was presented showing that Anakbayan is the recruiting arm of or somehow connected to the CPP-NPA.”
“The pattern of the police’s use of search warrants, planting evidence and effecting the arbitrary arrests and detention of individuals like Pastor Dan Balucio is a glaring form of weaponization of the judiciary against activists and dissenters.”
The recent operations in Rodriguez are the latest in a series of intensified crackdown operations under the Duterte administration. In Rodriguez, Kasiglahan Village has been the target of intensified police and military surveillance following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Why will they run again in the next elections? They should have been finding solutions to our problems right now instead of focusing on the next elections."
“Rather than listen to all the valid criticisms, DND continues to brush aside the damning evidence against them by escaping institutional accountability.”
Under the Duterte administration, Karapatan has noted a pattern of using search warrants issued by executive judges in Quezon City and Manila regional trial courts to conduct police and military raids on homes and offices of the progressive leaders and activists which led to the killings or if not, end up arrested after supposed “evidence” were gathered by the authorities.
Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said that in implementing counterinsurgency policies, state forces have made no distinction between legitimate dissent and armed struggles, and wrongly equated such to terrorism.
“We will not just cry, sit down and do nothing. We are victims who have learned to fight for justice not only for ourselves but for the other families as well.”
Karapatan-Caraga said that Julieta Gomez and Niezel Velasco are both engaged humanitarian work over the years. In fact, the group said that “officers and personnel of some of government agencies in the region know them personally as they have coordinated activities particularly with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and local government units in the Surigao and Agusan provinces and several municipalities.”
The recent granting of numerous motions to quash cases that were enabled by questionable warrants proves that errors have been made.
"The State itself is directly involved in planning, implementing and sanctioning widespread human rights violations.”
The groups are firm that the filing of charges against them and their members are pure harassment as these charges were later dismissed by the courts.
State agents have killed and arrested several JASIG-protected peace process participants, especially after formal NDFP-GRP peace negotiations were cancelled by GRP President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017.
“It is absurd that the Mandaluyong court saw the inconsistencies and defects of the narratives and evidence provided by the police in arresting Esparago and Salem; but the same set of facts were ignored by QC and Manila courts.”
“They told me we wouldn’t be released unless we admit to being rebels.” -- Lumad teacher
“Simply put, the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP) had no solid, intelligent basis before launching massive operations in a rural sitio in Nasugbu, Batangas in April 2020."
In their 26-page complaint, Canlas's children Jennelle and Joseph narrated how their father was denied immediate access to emergency medical care despite their repeated pleas.
On the day KMP leader Joseph Canlas was buried, two elderly, ailing peasant activists were arrested.
Karapatan called the ATC a 'copy-paste' of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that ‘incites violence’ now legitimized by the Anti-Terror Law.
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