The First Session on the Philippines of the Permanent People’s Tribunal
When the Permanent
People’s Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines opens in the
Hague, The Netherlands March 21-25 this year to hear the indictment
against the “U.S.-backed Arroyo regime for
human rights violations, economic plunder and transgression of the
Filipino people's sovereignty,” it shall have been almost 27 years since
the First Session of the PPT on the Philippines was held at the University
of Antwerp in Belgium.
By D. L. Mondelo
Correspondent for Europe
Bulatlat
When the Permanent
People’s Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines opens in the
Hague, The Netherlands March 21-25 this year to hear the indictment
against the “U.S.-backed Arroyo regime for
human rights violations, economic plunder and transgression of the
Filipino people's sovereignty,” it shall have been almost 27 years since
the First Session of the PPT on the Philippines was held from October 30
to November 3, 1980 at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
At that
time, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), an alliance
of revolutionary underground organizations which was at the forefront of
the resistance against the U.S.-supported Marcos dictatorship, together
with the similarly-outlawed Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) filed
the appeal to the PPT on behalf of the Filipino and Moro peoples.
In the
upcoming PPT Second Session hearing in The Hague, the NDFP will speak as
an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court). The complainants, this
time around, are the relatives of the victims and people’s organizations
whose ranks have been the main targets of political assassinations by
Arroyo’s military.
The convening of the
PPT second session on the Philippines indicates the gravity of the “war
crimes” cited in the indictment against the Arroyo regime. It is also a
reflection of the frustration and hopelessness of the survivors and
relatives of victims of human rights violations in the local justice
system, prompting them to bring their pleas to an international people’s
court.
Like
the first PPT session on the Philippines, the second PPT will be presided
over by distinguished jurors. PPT jurors include academics, scientists,
legal experts, respected parliamentarians, environmentalists, progressive
theologians, writers and philosophers. During the first session, Prof.
George Wald, former professor of Biology at Harvard University and Nobel
Peace Prize Winner for Physiology or Medicine in 1967, served as president
of the jury and president of the first session on the Philippines.
The
names of the jurors for the second PPT will be made public days before the
hearings, and, according to the PPT second session secretariat, three
jurors in the first session on the Philippines will once again sit in the
second session.
The
PPT’s first session on the Philippines
The
idea of appealing to the PPT to indict the Marcos regime, as NDFP sources
relate, began in 1979. During that year, a breakthrough was made when for
the first time solidarity groups for the Philippines in the Netherlands,
Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Britain and Italy came together upon the
encouragement of the NDFP. Appealing to the PPT was one important decision
arrived at. Other decisions included, among others, establishing stronger
coordination and cooperation on solidarity actions against the Marcos
dictatorship. As this was to be the first big political project
coordinated by solidarity groups in Europe on the Philippines, everyone
enthusiastically lent their all-out support.
They
also strongly supported the proposal of the MNLF to include the struggle
for self-determination of the Moro People in the appeal to the PPT.
After
the PPT accepted the appeal of the NDFP and MNLF, it appointed two joint
committees to prepare for the PPT: the Filipino People’s Committee (Komite
ng Sambayanang Pilipino, KSP) and the Moro People’s Committee. Each
committee was composed of three-PPT appointed members and three members
appointed by the NDFP and MNLF.
According to the documentary book “Philippines: Repression and
Resistance”, more than 3,000 pages of personal testimonies, basic reports,
political positions and other documents were put together. The book
stated that the PPT session was “the most comprehensive presentation so
far of the case of resistance in the Philippines at the international
level.”
The PPT
received thousands of letters of support, statements of condemnation of
the U.S.-Marcos dictatorship, and calls for international recognition of
the NDFP and MNLF.
Witnesses for the NDFP included a worker, peasant, student, writer and
former government employee, a member of a national minority and a
woman-member of the New People’s Army. All witnesses belonged to
underground member-organizations of the NDFP. The plaintiffs were
represented by Luis Jalandoni for the NDFP, a member of the New People’s
Army, and Abdurasad Asani and Hatimil Hassan for the MNLF.
The
NDFP witnesses traveled to Europe on genuine passports with fake names. At
that time, there was yet no visa requirement for Filipinos entering
Europe. After the damning verdict of the PPT and the increased political
activity of the solidarity groups, the Marcos regime initiated in 1982 a
request to European governments to impose visa requirements on Filipinos
traveling to Europe. While some European governments complied with the
request also because of their fear of undocumented Filipinos arriving in
Europe in search of work, Germany was initially reluctant because it was
encouraging Filipino nurses to join its labor force.
A
religious congregation in the Netherlands sympathetic to the NDFP provided
accommodations to the NDFP witnesses. The solidarity activists provided
strict security for the witnesses all throughout their stay in Belgium and
the Netherlands. As part of security measures, the NDFP witnesses were not
allowed to mingle with the guests. However, they did not cover their faces
when they presented their testimonies. A no-photo policy was enforced to
keep the identities of the witnesses secret so that they could return
safely to the Philippines.
Despite
these thorough procedures and preparations, the PPT first session had its
trouble spots, too. An anti-NDF group attempted to sabotage the PPT first
session by circulating papers attacking the NDFP and the PPT, alleging
that the hearings were “lutong-macau” (a Filipino colloquial term
meaning pre-judged). They also threatened to do physical harm to one of
the solidarity activists seeking to create an “international incident” and
thereby disrupt the PPT. Timely intervention prevented their malicious
plan from being carried out.
The
verdict
The
verdict of the PPT was received with great joy. It was considered a
“historic breakthrough”.
Excerpts from the verdict of the first PPT read:
“The Tribunal finds
Ferdinand Marcos guilty of grave and numerous economic and political
crimes against his own people and against the Bangsa Moro People and
declares him unfit to govern, and subject to severe punishment for his
past wrongs, including economic plunder and failure to protect the
sovereignty of his country from neo-colonial interventions;”
“The Tribunal calls upon
world public opinion, progressive governments, organizations and
individuals, to lend their support to the struggle of the Filipino and
Bangsa Moro peoples to achieve national self-determination, liberation
from the Marcos regime and the neo-colonial system of repression.”
The
verdict of the first PPT lent “belligerency status” to the NDFP and the
MNLF that would “enable the two liberation fronts to legally receive
assistance from established governments and other international bodies.”
Indeed, after the PPT verdict, a Dutch political party the pacifist PSP
(that would later form together with the PPR party and the Communist Party
of the Netherlands the Green Left Party which until today has seats in the
Dutch Parliament), would be the first to open official relations with the
NDFP. It was followed by PASOK, the ruling party in Greece during that
period. PASOK even offered facilities to house the NDFP international
information office. Until today, the NDFP enjoys recognition and respect
by several liberation and progressive movements and political parties.
The
first PPT sent notices to the Philippine and U.S. governments informing
them of the charges and asking them to send representatives or documents
to state their defense. Only the Philippine government in February 1981,
three months after the PPT session, reacted with a 10-page reply to the
PPT verdict. It was signed by former Marcos’ solicitor general Estelito
Mendoza.
Postscript:
During
a visit to the Philippines in 1998, Louie Jalandoni and Coni Ledesma,
members of the NDFP negotiating panel, were pleasantly surprised to meet
once more the worker-witness for the first PPT, after 18 years. He remains
active in revolutionary work. One or two of the witnesses, have chosen to
lead “normal lives”. Abdurasad Asani of the MNLF died a few years later.
Luis Jalandoni became chief international representative and head of the
NDFP peace panel. Prof. George Wald died in 1997. PPT jurors, despite the
passing of years, continue to uphold the indomitable spirit of the
Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples, also known as the Algiers
Declaration. The PPT is again set to convene a second session on the
Philippines after 27 years. Bulatlat
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