The Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organizations, and groups of human rights lawyers agree that the Melo Commission merely duplicates the functions of the CHR. They also believe that the Melo commission’s probe will amount to nothing as it lacks prosecutory powers. Proof of this is that eight more…
Category: Human Rights
Remembering Ka Fort
It was around 8 p.m. when we reached Manila and was shocked to receive a text message informing us that Ka Fort, union president of Nestle Philippines, was killed. Just hours earlier, we had lunch with Ka Fort when we visited the picket line of Nestle workers. That was a year ago. But up to…
Claver Ambushers’ Faces Sketched as Outrage Mounts vs Killings
Various sectors in the Cordillera continue to join the nationwide outcry against the series of political killings, for which they hold government security forces responsible. By Northern Dispatch Posted by Bulatlat.com BAGUIO CITY – Police released on Wednesday cartographic sketches of two men who witnesses say served as triggerman and lookout respectively in the July…
13th militant leader killed in Negros: NFSW Organizer Shot Dead by Ski-masked Assassins
By Karl G. Ombion Bulatlat.com BACOLOD City – In an isolated highway of Hacienda Emma, Barangay (village) Manapla town, more than 50 kms north of this city, two motorcycle-riding men in ski masks blocked and shot Sanito Bargamento at around 3:15 p.m. Friday. Bargamento, a member of National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), was driving…
Palparan’s Legacy in CL: Lives Disrupted, Reign of Fear
Even if controversial Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan is set to retire on September 11, residents of Central Luzon are still gripped in fear. They said that Palparan has failed in what he has set out to do and that the full extent of the damage he has done may only be known after all the…
Philippines’ Compliance with UN Reporting Tasks Poor, Says AI
It does not look good. This was how the Southeast Asia Team of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Amnesty International (AI) assessed the Philippines’ record on reporting obligations to United Nations (UN) treaty bodies. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com It does not look good. This was how the Southeast Asia Team of the…
The Melo Probe: Gloria’s Latest Fraud?
With the Melo Commission just a phony, the President exonerating the AFP from any involvement in the extra-judicial killings and the CHR in limbo with regards its own investigation, whom will the families of the victims of political murders turn to for justice? By Bobby Tuazon Bulatlat.com Being toothless and seemingly beholden to the President,…
Leyte Mass Graves a Fake – Satur
The Armed Forces of the Philippines claimed to have dug up another mass grave of victims of the Communist Party of the Philippines anti-infiltration campaign in Leyte province. But Bayan Muna party-list Satur Ocampo and Committee DEFEND said the AFP had in the past “faked” other mass graves, and is doing it now to conceal…
Ex-PMA cadet on additional ‘counter-insurgency’ fund: ‘It Might only be Used for Political Killings’
“The budget for counter-insurgency should not be increased, because we are not sure whether the money would indeed be used for counter-insurgency. It might only be used for political killings.” Striking words these – from a young man who had braced himself for a military officer’s career all his life. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com…
Solon’s Prolonged Detention Assailed in 2-Day Vigil, Rally
Marking the sixth month of Rep. Crispin Beltran’s illegal detention, the Free Ka Bel Movement (FKBM) together with Anakpawis Party List led a two-day vigil and protest rally of labor unions, progressive organizations and Beltran’s supporters demanding the legislator’s immediate release. BY MAUREEN HERMITANIO Bulatlat.com Hundreds of supporters of Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) Rep. Crispin Beltran…
Who’s Who in HRV Areas
With the sheer number of killings and abductions and the relative concentration of the occurrences of these heinous crimes in certain areas, it would have not been difficult for the government to know where and whom to investigate. That is, if the Arroyo government is even half that serious in wanting to solve these killings…