Human Rights – Page 10 – ellen tordesillas

Missing

Published by Ellen on February 20, 2012

The fact that retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan has not been arrested two months after the Malolos Regional Trial Court issued a warrant of arrest for him for the 2006 disappearance of UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno and farmer Manuel Merino should have made us realize that there are forces in the government who have remained unenlightened despite President Aquino’s much-vaunted reform agenda.

There’s also the disappointing lack of action by the Aquino administration on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance which has been signed by 92 countries , 31 of which have ratified the Convention.

The Aquino government also never replied to the annual requests by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances for official invitation to visit the country.

Life after Sendong

Published by Ellen on December 31, 2011

By Erwin Mascariñas

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – After the shock and the tears, people here and in Iligan City are starting to pick up the pieces and rebuild their lives two weeks after tropical storm Sendong ravaged their homes and their land.

Lack of sufficient water supply, electricity and other basic necessities, did not stop the survivors of Sendong from moving on.

“We lost our house, clothes, everything. It’s s hard but we have no choice but to move on,”said Jocena Kanood who lost her home in Isla de Oro.

Time for reckoning for Palparan

Published by Ellen on December 22, 2011

I remember that speech to be most obscene.

In her sixth State-of-the-Nation address on July 24, 2006, Gloria Arroyo, amidst cries of parents of University of the Philippines Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño and relatives of Manuel Merino, a farmer, Gloria Arroyo lavished praises on one of the most feared and hated generals – then Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan, commander of the 7th Infantry Division in central Luzon, where many of the extra-judicial killings happened.

Arroyo said: “Sa ganitong mga proyekto, palalakasin natin ang ekonomiya ng mga barangay at lalawigan. And we will end the long oppression of barangays by rebel terrorists who kill without qualms, even their own. Sa mga lalawigang sakop ng 7th Division, nakikibaka sa kalaban si Jovito Palparan. Hindi siya aatras hanggang makawala sa gabi ng kilabot ang mga pamayanan at maka-ahon sa bukang-liwayway ng hustisya at kalayaan.”

Isang Minutong Katahimikan

Published by Ellen on December 9, 2011

Dec. 10 has been declared Human Rights Day to remind mankind that as stated in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “ All…

Freeze order on Ampatuan assets expires

Published by Ellen on December 2, 2011

Joint statement of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists Inc. and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on the Expiry of the Freeze Order on the Assets of the Ampatuans
2 December 2011

Today, December 2, 2011, the six-month freeze order the Court of Appeals issued – on petition of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) – on the 597 bank accounts, 142 firearms, 132 motor vehicles, and 113 houses and lots in the names of 27 members of the Ampatuan clan and their associates expired.

We have also learned that it was only yesterday, December 1, when the AMLC filed through the Office of the Solicitor General, a petition for civil forfeiture with a prayer for a new freeze order with the Manila regional trial court. As of the close of office hours, we have not received confirmation from the OSG, the AMLC, or the trial court if the freeze order, or provisional asset protection order (PAPO), had been issued.

We view with great alarm the unwarranted delay and apparent lack of attention and negligence that the AMLC and the OSG had accorded this case.

Pang-apat na taon ng Mla Pen rebelyun: malaya na sina Trillanes at Lim, si Arroyo, nakakulong

Published by Ellen on November 27, 2011

a few minutes before end of seige — This was taken inside Rizal room, a few minutes before authorities started tear gassing the hotel.

Sa Martes,Nob. 29, ay pang-apat na taon makalipas ang tinatawag natin na “Manila Peninsula siege.”

Kinumusta ko sa aming abogado na si Romel Bagares ng Roque, Butuyan law office kung ano na ang nangyari sa aming isinampang kaso laban sa mga pulis at military na nanghuli sa amin (ang iba sa amin ay pinusasan) na inapela naming sa Court of Appeals. (Kinampihan kasi ni Makati RTC Judge Reynaldo Laigo ang mga pulis at military kahit na sinabi ng Commission on Human Rights na ang paghuli sa amin a”constitutes arbitrary arrest/detention in violation of human rights standards.”)

Related links:
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/12/14/media-concerns-in-nov-29-incident/
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/12/02/bibeth/
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/11/30/hours-media-grit-in-the-manila-pen/
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/12/14/maria-ressasposition-paper-on-media-at-the-pen/
http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2007/12/14/nhks-chairmaine-deogracias-on-manila-pen-incident/

Sinabi ni Romel, nandun pa rin sa CA ang aming kaso, natututulog.

Sana hindi na mag-apela ang mga kamag-anak ni Pnoy sa Hacienda Luisita

Published by Ellen on November 27, 2011

Children of Hacienda Luisita — Photo by Homer Teodoro

Ang desisyun ng Korte Suprema na ibalik ng mga may-ari ng Hacienda Luisita ang halos 5,000 na ektaryang taniman ng tubo sa Tarlac sa mga magsasaka sa 6,296 na magsasaka ay pagkakataon ni Pangulong Aquino na ituwid ang pagkakamali ng kanyang pamilya, kasama na ang kanyang inang si pangulong Cory Aquino.

Ang Hacienda Luisita ay pagmamay-ari ng pamilyang Cojuangco. Nasabi na ni Pangulong Aquino noon na maliit lang ang kanyang parte sa Hacienda at hindi siya ang nagde-dedisyun kungdi ang mga kapatid ng kanyang ina.

Update: Just compensation for HLI may reach P5 billion

The farmers, however, said the valuation should only be P50,000 per hectare provided under the 1989 stock distribution plan.

Hacienda Luisita farmers jubilant over SC ruling

Published by Ellen on November 26, 2011

By Homer Teodoro
Central Luzon TV and VERA Files

Red flag over Hacienda Luisita — Red flag is victory for farmers in Hacienda Luisita

HACIENDA LUISITA, TARLAC CITY–Farmers of Hacienda Luisita were jubilant when they heard from their leaders in Metro Manila Thursday morning that the Supreme Court has junked the Stock Distribution Option and ordered the Hacienda Luisita, Incorporated to distribute the more than 6,000 hectares of land to the more than 5,000 farmers of the sugarcane plantation that belongs to the family of President Aquino.

They beat drums made of recycled tin cans making sounds of joy. One even climbed the tractor and declared on top of his voice that they won against the Cojuangcos.

Feliz Nacpil, Jr. a.k.a. “Ka Dec”, chairman of Alyansang Manggagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA), said since Tuesday they waiting for the High Court’s decision. He said they were prepared go to Manila in case the decision and rally in front of the SC if the decision was not favorable to them.

Revisiting the almost forgotten

Published by Ellen on September 29, 2011

VERA Files first photobook,”Silenced: Extrajudicial killings and torture in the Philippines,” is an example of the power of images and words combined.

Launched yesterday, the book is a collection of images of human rights victims as sensitively captured by the talented Mario Ignacio IV.

“The two young daughters of a women’s rights advocate try to live normal lives even as they attend the trial of their mother’s murder in Tagbilaran City almost every month. A Lumad family in Davao continues to bereave the death of their patriarch while seeking ways to hold on to their ancestral land. A wife in North Cotabato wrestles with the fact that her husband is a bus bombing suspect and a victim of torture,” Mario describes three of the 14 images in the book.

Sacked ‘torture’ cop now teaches criminology

Published by Ellen on July 18, 2011

By Mylah Reyes Roque
VERA Files

The Manila policeman dismissed from the service after he was caught on video allegedly torturing a theft suspect at a Tondo police station is now teaching—in a college for would-be policemen.

Police Inspector Joselito Binayug is a part-time instructor at the privately run Philippine College of Criminology-Manila Law College (PCCR-MLC), where he has been teaching Crime Detection Investigation since June.

The Philippine National Police dismissed Binayug from the service on Jan. 14, 2011 after Task Force Asuncion, which was formed to investigate allegations of torture at the Asuncion police station, confirmed that he was the policeman in the video. The footage showed a naked man lying on the floor of the police station, and was leaked to a TV station and the Internet in August.

Category: Human Rights