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By RONALYN V. OLEA
Karapatan has documented 40 victims of extrajudicial killings since Aquino took office at a rate of one victim of extrajudicial killing per week. The group, together with other human rights advocates, will call the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Council on this issue.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
The children of political activists and human rights workers who fallen victim to extrajudicial killings are orphaned, their young lives marred and damaged by the experience of losing their parents to state violence. As for the child victims of extrajudicial killings themselves, their brutal killing at the hands of the military prove the extent of the AFP’s impunity—not even the most innocent are spared.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Out of the 9,539 original complainants in a class action suit filed against the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, only 7,526 victims would receive compensation. "Are they telling us that we are not genuine victims? Where is justice for us?" said martial-law victim Carlos Bolito, 60, after learning he was not included in the list of claimants.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Esmeraldo Bardon, one of the four detained activists, told Bulatlat.com that his incarceration made him more resolute in fighting for the interest of farmers and the Filipino people. “Although we were detained, our principles remain firm. Instead of being cowed in fear, the farmers vigorously campaigned for our release.”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
John Quiniones Sosito, former police senior superintendent and acting director of the Leyte Provincial Police Office, said there were no other adversarial forces during the supposed crossfire incident that killed Leonard Co, Sofronio Cortez, and Julius Borromeo.
Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (Selda), the group that represents thousands of the victims in their efforts to hold the Marcoses accountable for their crimes, led a protest march today in front of the offices of Rodrigo Domingo, the Filipino lawyer who has been collaborating with court-appointed lawyer Robert Swift in the class suit.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
"He has issued statements on matters like floods, the rising number of carnapping cases, environmental concerns, but he has yet to make a single comment on Leonard’s murder. Leonard has done much for the Philippines, but he was killed by soldiers. Why is President Aquino not saying anything?” said Bobby Austria, Co’s brother in-law.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
“My happiness is not complete because two of the Morong 43 are still in jail and hundreds more political detainees are still suffering,” Edwin Dematera told Bulatlat shortly after he was released.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
To the military, Acosta is a terrorist as defined in the Aquino government’s military campaign Oplan Bayanihan. But to many friends and colleagues from the University of the Philippines, he is nothing of the sort. He is a poet, songwriter, and activist.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
"Why do they keep on insisting that my husband Edwin is the Edwin Bustamante in the charge sheets? My husband is not a criminal,” Lyn Dematera said, in reaction to the continuing detention of her husband, one of the Morong 43.
As part of its campaign against impunity, a group of human-rights lawyers held a photo contest titled “Shoot!” with the theme “Capturing the Struggle for Justice of Human Rights Victims.”
By CHERYLL FIEL
To prevent rebels from gaining ground in Toril, the Philippine Army established a military detachment in a village and sent out more soldiers. The soldiers are called “Peace and Development Teams.” But residents find the soldiers’ conduct rather unbecoming of the new tag by which they are now called.
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
During the first public hearings into the deaths of Leonard Co and company conducted by the Commission on Human Rights, soldiers admitted that fired their weapons at the direction of the three victims but at the same time denied having killed them.
Human-rights group Karapatan conferred a plaque of appreciation to former United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Philip Alston on Jan. 20 in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
As a journalist who has been covering the Morong 43 from the day of their arrest, I know that the five, like the rest of the 43 health workers, are victims of torture and ill-treatment.
Farmers belonging to the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Alyansa ng Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), Danggayan dagiti Mannalon ti Cagayan Valley and Tanggol Magsasaka held a protest action, January 20, in front of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City against the Aquino government’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
“The DOJ panel totally ignored the testimony of the witnesses that attest to the culpability of the military on the death of the Kananga 3”, said Dr. Giovanni Tapang, chairperson of AGHAM and convenor of the Justice for Leonard Co Movement.
Romeo Luneta was only 19 when he joined Kabataang Makabayan (KM or Patriotic Youth). He was a student at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture in Los Banos, Laguna, when he was arrested in October 1972.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Survivors of martial law call on President Benigno S. Aquino III to certify as urgent the compensation bill for victims of human-rights violations during the Marcos dictatorship. To this day, not a single centavo has been given as reparation to the victims or their families.
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