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Year: 2018

Massacre of Farmers

(Guest Editorial written by Bishop Broderick Pabillo) ; CBCP News

WHEREVER there is massive poverty there is injustice. People are made poor! Their rights are stepped upon and they are even oppressed! This reality has again come to the fore with the massacre of the farmers in Hacienda Nene, Purok Fire Tree, Barangay Bulanon in Sagay City of Negros Occidental last October 20. Nine farmers, three of whom were women and two minors, were gunned down in their makeshift camp after they had taken their dinner around 9:30 pm by unknown assailants. After this brutal killing gasoline was poured over their bodies and they were set on fire.

Massacre of farmers is not new. We still remember the Escalante massacre in 1985, the Hacienda Luisita Massacre in 2002, and the KidapawanMassacre in 2016. Under Duterte’s watch in the last two years, 45 farmers have already been killed in Negros.

The reason for all these killings? Land! The farmers are denied their right to the land. Our Constitution of 1987 clearly stipulates that land reform is to be implemented to bring about social justice in the countryside. This mandate has been haphazardly executed because of the vested interests of our politicians who mostly come from the landed elite. Instead, the farmers who fight for their right to the land are tagged as “rebels” by the authorities. Hence many of them are mercilessly abused and even killed. The Sagay Massacre is the most recent incident.

Many farmers’ groups resort to “Bungkalan” because the implementation of the constitutional mandate of Land Reform is very lame and slow. Not a few blame the farmers for forcible entry, but how many would blame the government and the landowners for non-implementation of the Basic Law of the land? But even if the bungkalan is “illegal,” would this be enough reason to kill them mercilessly?

Some officials in the government is “softening” this brutality by tagging the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) to which the farmers belong as leftist. Do they mean that “leftists” are fair game, that they can just be killed?

The government seems not to be able to put their acts together. While some officials claim that the NFSW is leftist, other officials in the same administration, without any evidence at all, already tag the NPA as the perpetrators. This is already a sign that the killers will not be brought in. Can they bring in the NPA?

Now some, to ride on the anger of the public, assert that the “full wrath of the law” be fall on the killers? Are they really serious, or is this just plain bravado? Will the perpetrators, and more so, the brains, be ever brought to justice? Has the government the political will and the capability to bring justice for the farmers? Basing on the records of the Escalante massacre, the Hacienda Luisita massacre, the Kidapawan massacre, and the so many killings of farmer leaders, I strong doubt. None of the masterminds of these dastardly deeds have been brought to justice. The strong suspicion is that those involved are among the land owners, the military and/or the politicians.

But justice to the farmers is not just to get the killers of the Sagay massacre. It is to address the root of these killing. Give land to the farmers! Implement the constitutional mandate of land reform! Nothing short of this will bring peace in our troubled countryside.

Has this administration the political will to do this? Will it be a better government than the previous ones, or will it be of the same kind—elitist, corrupt and against the people?

The Truth About the “Fake Encounter” in Escalante

The AFP’s 303rd Brigade Continues to Threaten Survivors of the Sagay Massacre and Members of Progressive Organizations

NFSW-North Negros Statement

Reference: Aldren Aloquina, November 17, 2018

The Armed Forces of the Philippines 303rd Brigade and the 79th Infantry Battalion are not satisfied with the massacre of ordinary farmers in Sagay, farmers who were brutally killed just because they wanted a piece of land to till for food. Until now, justice is elusive and it is clear that the initial investigations only twist the events. The survivors and relatives of the victims are now the suspects in the massacre.

Even survivors of the massacre who suffered severe trauma and are now trying to rebuild their lives and livelihood are continously being surveilled and threatened. The army desperately tries to “establish their links” to the New People’s Army (NPA). For their lies to be believable, and to justify their operations as “legitimate,” the soldiers fired indiscriminately at bamboo trees in Sitio Puting Bato, Barangay Washington, Escalante City, so they can say that there was indeed an “encounter.”

It is obvious that the military desperately wants to make it appear that the Sagay survivors are connected to the NPA. Even the office of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in Sagay City is under surveillance, pictures are taken by suspected state intelligence agents. Aside from this, the leaders of NFSW, KARAPATAN and the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA) and other progressive organizations who are helping in the Sagay 9 case were tailed and surveilled, they received death threats thru text messages, and suspicious persons aboard motorcycles are always posted near or infront of their homes.

Even the legal counsel of Sagay 9 survivors, Atty. Ben Ramos, NUPL Secretary General, was brutally murdered. The killers want to threaten all human rights defenders and advocates and lump them with the CPP-NPA to justify the killings.

Today fresh human rights violations transpired in Sitio Puting Bato, Barangay Washington, Escalante City where the “Bulanon family,” a family of Sagay 9 survivors chose to live with their relatives. But the military tailed the “Bulanon family” and threatened them anew. Early in the morning of November 16, the military barged into house where the “Bulanon family” was staying and forcibly took photos of their companions in the home. The personal belongings, sack of rice and provisions of the “Bulanon family” were confiscated by the military.

Not content with the threats, the military made it appear that an encounter ensued so that they could claim that the “Bulanon family” and other massacre survivors are close to the NPA. Today a picture of their sack of rice and provisions was displayed along with weapons that the military supposedly “recovered” from the fake encounter — an M16 rifle, bullets and two short arms.

The “Bulanon family” already suffered severe trauma but the military shows no mercy. Their own son was killed in the massacre. The military still calls them “fake grandparents” of the 14-year old witness even if authorieties are aware that it is only natural for the “Bulanon family” to claim the child because they were the ones who cared for him since he was small, when the minor’s biological father abandoned him and his mother. The police want the father to take custody even if the child no longer knows his father. The police and military continues to claim in public interviews that the child was “kidnapped” by lawyers and human rights workers of KARAPATAN, even after the mother and child have told the public in a press conference that they voluntarily sought the help of the group and they were NOT KIDNAPPED.

When will they let the massacre survivors have their peace? What is the military trying to do, intimidate and force the survivors to attest that the NPA was behind the massacre? Now that they refuse to follow the military’s story line, does this warrant the continuous threats against them?

All these violations they carry out with impunity to supress the peasant movement for genuine land reform. Even President Duterte has ordered the military to shoot at peasants who occupy lands for food cultivation. It is obvious that the US-Duterte regime favors the big landlords and have no concern for the lives of peasants who feed the nation.

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Facts Not Fake News

About The So-Called “Encounter” In Sitio Puting Bato, Brgy. Washington, Escalante City, Negros Occidental

PRESS STATEMENT November 17, 2018
Reference: Rey Alburo
Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (NNAHRA)

I. “Abu Sayyaff or ISIS Landed in Coastal Areas of North Negros” is a story that came from the mouths of soldiers deployed in Sitio Puting Bato, Brgy. Washington, Escalante City, Negros Occidental. Early morning of November 16, the soldiers who occupied the residential areas did not wear any nameplates so the residents became wary and asked about their presence. It was the soldiers from the 62nd IB and 79th IB who told the residents that “naa Abu Sayyaff diri,” (They are after the Abu Sayyaff). This story immediately spread in the community.
Why Scare the People with This False Information?

II. The Encounter is Fake. The news of an ENCOUNTER in Sitio Puting Bato, Brgy. Washington, Escalante City was first reported by local radio stations like Hapi Radio Sagay, Bombo Radyo Bacolod and Aksyon Radyo Bacolod before noon of November 16. The reports said that the military engaged 10 elements of the CPP-NPA in a “running gun battle.”

Residents of Puting Bato attest that soldiers already swarmed the whole area by as early as 5:00 am. The so-called encounter happened only around 10:00 am, according to the AFP. Classes in the nearby elementary school was already ongoing at that time. Before the so-called “encounter,” teachers and students were ordered by soldiers to stay down, indicating that soldiers were already planning on firing their weapons.

The residents, who did not dare go out because of the “Abu Sayyaff scare,” said that they could not see who the soldiers were firing at. But while some soldiers appeared to be maneuvering and shooting, many other soldiers were just relaxed and even cooking rice very near the so-called “encounter site.” The shots came from only one direction and was more like indiscriminate firing or strafing. This caused panic and fear among many residents because the military fired in the populated area, and shots were flying near the elementary school.

III. Militarization is Real and the AFP Confirms This. The military poured several armed units into the area as confirmed by Col. Benedict Arevalo of the AFP’s 303rd Brigade. The units he mentioned were the 79th Infantry Battalion, 6th Special Action Force Battalion, Joint Intelligence Task Group and CAFGU/SCAA.

Checkpoints were held to control the movement of the population. All transportation was on hold. Relatives of residents were not allowed to immediately check on their family. Media coverage was also constricted. These facts were also confirmed and reported by field reporters of local radio stations.

IV. FAKE NEWS: Suspects in the Sagay Massacre were in puting bato.
THE TRUTH: A family of survivors of the sagay massacre are trying to rebuild their lives with their relatives in the puting bato but the military continues to threaten and harass them. The family is repeatedly maligned by the police and military as “fake grandparents” of the 14-year old witness but the truth is that they are survivors of the massacre and their own son was one of those killed.

For several instances since his deployment last month, Col. Benedict Arevalo of the 303rd Brigade of the AFP has repeatedly publicly maligned and red-tagged human rights organization KARAPATAN-Negros and now, the Northern Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates or NNAHRA as “nagpapanggap na advocates” (pretending to be advocates) and “ginagamit lang ng CPP-NPA” (only used by the CPP-NPA). Just as Col. Lozanies before him, who red-tagged the bungkalan and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), we condemn Arevalo for his dangerous statements against legitimate peasant organizations and human rights advocates.

Let us not wait for another massacre to happen here in Escalante City. Remember that the 1985 Welgang Bayan was a brave action against dictatorship and tyranny. All the tyrants will fall and the truth shall prevail.

The people of Negros will never allow the sacrifices of our martyrs to go to waste!

RESIST CRACKDOWN!
FIGHT TYRANNY!
STOP KILLING FARMERS!

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura
Federation of Agricultural Workers | Philippines

Group opposes bill dividing Palawan into 3 provinces

‘The division of Palawan is not the appropriate answer to the existing weak governance, corruption, and natural resource use issues in the province,’ says the Save Palawan Movement

Keith Anthony S. Fabro
Published 10:49 AM, November 07, 2018
Updated 10:49 AM, November 07, 2018

3 PALAWAN PROVINCES? The image shows lawmakers’ proposed division of Palawan into 3 provinces

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines – A civic group wants to block the passage of a proposed bill dividing Palawan into 3 provinces, which is up for second reading at the Senate next week.

Campaigner Cynthia Del Rosario of the Save Palawan Movement claimed that the “railroaded” House Bill 8055, which the House of Representatives approved in August, reached the Senate “without undergoing prior public consultation.”

“Such consultation will show that there was no true clamor from the people; rather, it was a plan conceived by a handful of local politicians,” Del Rosario told Rappler on Tuesday, November 6.

She was referring to Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez, the provincial board members, and the 3 Palawan congressmen who have pushed for the proposal.

In supporting the proposed measure, Alvarez had said that dividing Palawan into 3 provinces would speed up the delivery of basic services to residents and further boost the provincial economy.

Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, endorsed the bill.

He announced this in a Facebook post that drew mixed reactions, mostly negative ones from Palawan residents who claimed they were “blindsided” by the speedy progress of the proposed measure in Congress.

Angara had also stressed in his post that the proposal was “not motivated by partisan political concerns, nor a gerrymandering exercise,” but was fitting since Palawan is the biggest province in the Philippines in terms of area.

‘One Palawan’ campaign

In a bid to delay or even stop the bill’s approval, the Save Palawan Movement recently launched the “One Palawan” campaign, gathering signatures against the proposed measure.

“The division of Palawan is not the appropriate answer to the existing weak governance, corruption, and natural resource use issues in the province,” Del Rosario said.
She pointed out that the taxpayers would bear the cost of creating these provinces.

“The huge costs entailed in creating provinces, as well as holding a plebiscite, will be shouldered by taxpayers’ money. This is unnecessary because the Palaweños did not ask for the division in the first place,” Del Rosario added.

Del Rosario, a Puerto Princesa resident, also questioned a provision in the bill stripping city residents of their right to vote in a plebiscite that would give them the chance to accept or reject the proposal.

“Puerto Princesans were not consulted nor included in a scheduled plebiscite on the bill. They will wake up one day without a province and they did not know how it happened,” she added.

While declared a highly urbanized city, the campaigner said vote-rich Puerto Princesa is still defined as “a political unit that will be ‘directly affected’” by the effects of division.

The definition, Del Rosario mentioned, is stated in the “law (1987 Constitution and the Local Government Code) and jurisprudence (Supreme Court decision on Umali v. Comelec case, among others).” Based on this, she said, “the city residents should be included in the plebiscite.” Continue reading

Pastoral Letter of the Diocese of Infanta

No to Kaliwa Dam, Yes to Alternative Sources of Water

“In the heart of this world, the Lord of life, who loves us so much, is always present. He does not abandon us, he does not leave us alone, for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly (He) impels us to find new ways forward. Praise be to him!” (Laudato Si, 245)

Our country has been blessed by God with an abundance of natural resources especially water, but for many factors, we are now faced with the concrete reality of managing our water especially for the next generation.

After listening to the strong opposition to the construction of the New Centennial Water Source Kaliwa Dam Project, we too express our opposition to the said project and strongly recommend to look for alternative sources to the Kaliwa Dam for the following reasons:

  1. It will inundate the ancestral domain of the Dumagat-Remontados, uprooting them from the Sierra Madre where their ancestors lived for centuries enjoying a symbiotic relationship with the earth like the children to their mother. Undeniably, until now the indigenous people have not given an FPIC (Free Prior and Informed Consent) to the Kaliwa dam project as required by R.A. 8371.
  2. Kaliwa dam to be constructed over the Infanta Fault (It) will be a “sword hanging over the head” of 100,000 people living downstream the Kaliwa River. Etched in their memory is the 2004 flash flood that left 1,000 killed and over million worth of properties destroyed.
  3. Climate change and its ill-effects are the ‘new normal’ that could no longer be ignored yet we do not know of any study made on climate and the Kaliwa dam. The ambivalent nature of climate change can cause random and sudden flooding. Japan with its highly advanced technology was devastated by the earthquake in 2011. The catastrophic collapse of the dam in Laos last July 25, 2018 has a message to all of us.
  4. Global warming was 0.8 degree centigrade when Yolanda struck us with 315 kph winds. This year we have reached 1 degree centigrade. How much rainfall can this dam hold when another Yolanda comes in Quezon? About the landslides?
  5. NEDA has kept the data on Kaliwa dam secret with the word “confidential” despite the much publicized Freedom of Information E.O. No. 2, series of 2016.
  6. This project which is connected with the Laiban dam has been in the pipeline for 30 years, yet until now it does not even have the necessary Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) as mandated by R.A. 7586. 

In 2000 the World Commission on Dams (WCM) mandated by the World Bank and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) reported that while “dams have made an important and significant contribution to human development, and benefits derived from them have been considerable… in too many cases an unacceptable and often unnecessary price has been paid to secure those benefits, especially in social and environmental terms, by people displaced, by communities downstream, by taxpayers and by the natural environment.”

Angat and IPO dams supply Metro Manila with 4,000 MLD of water but a big percentage of this is lost due to leaks. With the P18 Billion budget for constructing Kaliwa Dam, there can be alternative sources of water, many of which are being advocated now:

  1. Launch a massive education campaign to convince the 13 million Metro Manila residents to learn “water management”. This would reduce water consumption significantly. This could be bad news for business but best for the environment.
  2. Harvest rain water which flood us perennially and implement the pertinent provision of the National Building Code of the Philippines (RA 1096).
  3. Fast track the recovery of the NRW (non-revenue water) through fixing leaks;
  4. Rehabilitate the Pasig-Laguna River Basin which would cost only P13 Billion (estimated by Dr. Esteban Godilano, an environmental scientist).
  5. Adopt the Singapore New Water technology which treats wastewater to become potable.
  6. And most importantly, protect and expand our dwindling forests that serves as our largest watershed and these would refill our underground aquifers which are now over extracted. 

All of us – government and the people – have to work together to resolve our water issues. Hence as pastors of the faithful we

  1. Support a transparent dialogue with MWSS and NEDA and the stakeholders of the Kaliwa dam making available all the pertinent documents;
  2. Support the initiative in Congress and Senate to make an inquiry into the Kaliwa Dam; and
  3. Encourage all to “rethink how to use water” in terms of the demand-side and consumption and protect our environment.

World Commission on Dams sees that “the future for water and energy resources development lies with participatory decision-making, using a rights-and-risks approach that will raise the importance of the social and environmental dimensions of dams to a level once reserved for the economic dimension.”

Pope Francis warns that: “Caring for the ecosystems demands farsightedness, since no one looking for quick and easy profit is truly interested in their preservation.” (Laudato Si #36)

For the Clergy of the Diocese of Infanta: 
Sgd.: +Bishop Bernardino Cortez, D.D.
With the support of the bishops in the Philippines and the Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines. 

An Urgent Letter to President Duterte

Who is Being Manipulated by His Advisers to Sign the Contract for the Kaliwa Dam Project with Chinese President Xi Jinping on November 11,2018

Dear Mr. President:
If you really care for our country, you will NOT SIGN the Agreement FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KALIWA DAM for the following COMPELLING reasons:

  1.    IT WILL PLACE 100,000 LIVES IN DANGER.

While Manila is now preparing for the Big One earthquake of the Marikina West Valley Fault, the proposed 60-meter Kaliwa Dam will be constructed within a zone of two active tectonics represented by the Philippine Fault Zone and the Valley Fault System. Particularly the Kaliwa Dam site is located only 7-8km distant from the Philippine Fault Zone (Infanta Fault). In case an active fault passes nearby the proposed dam site, two major problems can occur and will greatly affect in the design of the proposed structures, namely: 1.) seismicity caused by the earthquakes occurring in active fault zone; and 2.) deformation in dam-foundation caused by the movement of active faults. Most of the proposed dam sites would be subject to high peak acceleration and are exposed to generally high degree of seismicity. Along the Philippine Fault where many large-scale earthquakes were recorded in the past and the relative movement of 6 cm was observed in the period of 1991 to 1993. Therefore, it can be said that the Philippine Fault Zone has a potential to cause very high seismic activity, as what have been recorded in the July 18, 1880 earthquake where the old churches of Infanta, Mauban (both in Quezon province) and Manila Cathedral were devastated.(Page 3-11 of the The 2003 results of JICA study “The Study on Water Resources Development for Metro Manila in the Republic of the Philippines”). ”Even with its best technology, Japan was caught flat-footed with its 2011 earthquake”.

2.   IT VIOLATES THE LAW.

To sign the bilateral loan agreement thru ODA for the Kaliwa Dam Project would essentially violate R.A. 8371 and R.A. 7586. Up until now there is no Free, Prior and Informed Consent ever given by the Dumagat-Remontados for this construction as required by R. A. 8371. Neither has there been an Environmental Compliance Certificate as required by R.A. 7586 and yet your advisers have scheduled the signing on November 11, 2018.

3.   IT IS A DEBT TRAP.

By refusing to be transparent on the Kaliwa Dam by NEDA, despite your Freedom of Information (E.O.# 2), your advisers have effectively prevented a solidly based scientific study of the Dam. For all their rhetorics your advisers are paving the way to a debt trap. They are simply duplicating Sri Lanka’s Hambantota airport and seaport experience during the dictatorship of Mahinda Rajapaksa. Both airport and seaport became liabilities so much so that Sri Lanka had to lease the seaport for 99 years. Malaysia’s newly elected Mahatir has cancelled projects with China to avoid being trapped.

4.   IT IGNORES THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE.

The collapse of the dams in Vietnam and in Mayanmar a few months ago, the Itogon tragedy, the landslide in Naga, Cebu City and the most current incident in Natonin town, Mountain Province are enough signs that the impact of climate change can no longer be ignored. These should teach the Philippines to listen to the recommendation of the World Commission on Dams not to build big dams anymore.

5.   THE PHILIPPINES IS FLOODED WITH RAIN WATER. PROMOTE THE FORESTS, NOT DAM PROJECTS.

The proposed NCWS – Kaliwa Dam Project will inundate 291 has. of forest from the total 9,800 has. in Infanta Kaliwa Watershed, including the sacred site of Dumagat-Remontado in the areas of Tinipak in Brgry. Daraitan, Tanay, Rizal. Kaliwa Dam also plans to get 600 MLD (Million Liters per Day) of water in the Kaliwa river thru embarkment dam of 60 meters high, transported via conveyance tunnel with 4 meters in diameter to Tanay & Antipolo Water Treatment Plants. This will greatly affect irrigation system that sustainably supports Infanta rice granary and it will dry up aquifers supplying ground-water source for Infanta Quezon Water District (IQWD) servicing its populace.

Construction of Big Dams are not the only answer to the impending water crisis in Metro Manila, there are many other sustainable options. Why not fund the protection and rehabilitation of our degraded watersheds and existing dams, and not the construction of another big dams – it is good news for the environment and can save us from global warming, but bad news for the investors who only want profits at the expense of massive deforestation and community dislocations. The government can also mandate rain water collection modules and water conservation measures, especially for the households and big subdivisions / condominiums, as well as companies, industries, factories and hotel operators within the Metro Manila, instead of spending billions for dams without the assurance of success.

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Statement of the 7th Ecumenical Church Leaders’ Summit on Peace

November 7-9, 2018, Cebu City

We, church leaders from various denominations and diverse Christian traditions from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, gathered to reflect and discern our ways forward to attain peace based on justice in our country.

We gathered driven by our faith in God and in our belief that peace is possible. Our coming together is deliberate because of the status of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations. President Duterte cancelled the fifth round of formal talks last June 2018, formally terminated the peace talks and subsequently declared the Communist Party of the Philippines – New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) as a “terror organization”.

The situation has turned for the worse. Several peace consultants of the NDFP were arrested, and just yesterday, Mr. Vicente Ladlad was also arrested. There were also significant increases in armed encounters between the Philippine military and the New People’s Army (NPA) and alarming reports of an increase in violations of human rights and international humanitarian law that have mostly affected civilians. During our Summit, we learned of the killing of Atty. Ben Ramos, a well-known human rights lawyer in Negros Occidental and just two weeks after the killing of the Sagay 9. We are very much concerned and alarmed by these reports because of our conviction that respect for human rights and human dignity is a basic condition of peace.

There was a bright prospect when the formal peace talks resumed in earnest in 2016 after four years of impasse. Through the third party facilitation of the Royal Norwegian Government, four successful rounds of formal talks were held in 2016 and 2017.

We are thus saddened that the cancellation of the formal peace talks has aborted the signing of an interim peace agreement consisting of a general amnesty for NDFP-listed political prisoners, agrarian reform and rural development as well as national industrialization and economic development agreements and a coordinated unilateral ceasefire. These would have addressed the root causes of the armed conflict – the long-standing issues of poverty, landlessness and inequality in the country.
We affirm our belief that peace is possible through principled dialogue. The talks are still the most viable option to attain a just and enduring peace in the country. A survey by Pulse Asia this year found 74% of Filipinos are aware of the GRP-NDFP peace talks. Of those who are aware, nearly 80% believe that peace talks can end the hostilities between the warring forces.

On this 7th Ecumenical Church Leaders’ Summit on Peace, we continue to call on the GRP and the NDFP to:

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Justice for Atty. Ben Ramos!

NFSW-North Negros Statement

Reference: Aldren Aloquina, November 7, 2018

The leaders and members of the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in North Negros condemn the killing of people’s lawyer, Atty. Ben Ramos. The sugar workers of North Negros mourn the passing of a truly dependable friend and comrade. Amid our bereavement, and despite these vicious attacks against our ranks, the peasants of Negros are ever determined to continue the struggle for social justice.

The relatives and survivors of the Sagay massacre and other Negros peasants who have become victims of the brutal repression carried out by the local government and the US-Duterte regime, have lost a fierce defender of their rights. As Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’s Lawyers (NUPL) in Negros Island, Atty. Ramos was a close ally of peasants and farm workers oppressed by anti-people laws, policies and programs.

Farmers run to Atty. Ramos to help them face the countless charges fabricated by landlords and the state. They could call him anytime whenever they need to consult him on rights cases, legal remedies, trainings and legal clinics, and other concerns that require his expertise. We had Atty. Ramos by our side in our call to implement genuine land reform; he was with farm workers, peasants and the people long-deprived of owning the land they till.

The death of Atty. Ramos will bring forth more allies and defenders of the peasants. His was a profound death, a death so heavy, it is deeply grieved by the farmers and the people. Unlike the lives of those who serve only their selfish interests, such as those behind the fatal shooting of Atty. Ramos, the massacre of Sagay 9, and the deaths of other peasants who became victims of extra-judicial killings (EJK). The lives of the culprits are worthless to the people; their deaths are light as a feather.

Under the US-Duterte regime, the killings have become normal fare in the news, and Negros is not spared. The killing of Atty. Ramos is now included in the long list of EJKs in the country. The struggling masses and their supporters have become easy targets of state agents, their various armed groups and hired guns. The perpetrators are allowed to run free and evade responsibility with impunity.

If this government can neither respond to nor defend the interests of the peasants and the people, where would those oppressed by the state itself run to for help? If this government cannot dispense justice, whom must the people turn to?

Along with the people calling for justice for the Sagay 9 massacre, we also call for justice for Atty. Ben Ramos and all victims of EJK. The people of Negros shall continue the struggle for justice!

Justice for Atty. Ben Ramos! 
Justice for Sagay 9!
Justice for all victims of EJK and the fascist US-Duterteregime!
Sugar workers, peasants and the people, unite!
Makibaka! ‘Wag Matakot!

Invitation to Philippine Social Media Summit 2018

Greetings of Peace in Christ!

Pope Francis, in his prayer video, called the internet “a gift from God” that “have brought with it a lengthening of horizons and a widening for so many people.” The Pope reminds us Catholics of the responsibility that comes with this gift, and that such blessing should be used “towards inclusiveness which respects others for their differences.”

With the influx of information easily available on the internet and social media, it is highly essential to properly inform, train, and equip online missionaries in terms of handling technological advancements; giving emphasis on the authenticity of the content, sources, and intentions, making them effective advocates of God’s truth.

YouthPinoy, in collaboration with Areopagus Communication, Inc. and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Media Office will be holding the 7th Catholic Social Media Summit (CSMS) and Catholic Social Media Awards 2018 (CSMA).

This year’s CSMS and CSMA Awards Night will be held at Siena College, Quezon City on November 17, 2018. The Summit will start at 8 o’clock in the morning and the awards night at 7 o’clock in the evening.

  1. The Summit for this year is themed #Activate and is inspired by the scriptural passage from James 2:22 “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works.” This will empower attending online missionaries on activating themselves as they discover strategies on delivering truth in social media, wherever they are.

This year’s Catholic Social Media Summit is also the start of a 3-year campaign called ACT (Activate – 2018, Connect – 2019, Transform-2020) that will be fully operational on 2021 as we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines.

We are requesting you to send your Media Team (Social Media & Communicators) from your Parish, Diocese, organization, or group to attend this year’s summit – we can reserve seven (7) slots or more for your team/group. We look forward to a partnership with you in this Online Mission of Evangelization.

Here are the registration details for your reference.

Catholic Social Media Summit version 7

Regular Rate: 1,200 php per head
Walk-in Rate: 1,500 php per head (With food, without summit kits)
Promo: Early Bird Registration (August 15 – September 8): P999
Group of 10: 1,000 per head

Registration is inclusive of food, snacks, summit kits, and a free ticket to the CSMA Awards Night (dinner excluded).

Registration opens August 15, 2018. Kindly visit catholicsocialmediasummit.com for more information.

  1. The CSMA Awards Night will recognize The Best Communicator of Catholic Content throughout various Social Media Platforms in the Modern Age. Now on its fourth year, this initiative aims to be the leading go-to for netizens seeking the best Catholic resources online.

We are positive that some of the pages, website, programs, or accounts you or your Parish, Diocese, organization, or group manage could be a potential finalist in this year’s Catholic Social Media Awards. Nominations will start on September 1, 2018.

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A tale of three missionaries

They were different people and times but all went to the Philippines and faced the same challenges, issues and obstacles

Sister Patricia Fox, Father Michel de Gigord and Father Brian Gore. (Photos by Melo Acuna and Jire Carreon)

UCANews | Melo Acuna, Manila, Philippines
November 8, 2018

They went to different places in the Philippines and during different periods in the country’s history, but they encountered very similar situations and challenges.

In the news recently was the departure of Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox who was declared an undesirable alien by the government for joining the cause of poor farmers and workers.

The nun had made the Philippines her home for 27 years. She said she has fond memories of the people, especially those on the periphery, the people living on the edge.

She said she got involved in projects geared to bring livelihoods to farmers and help them in their advocacy for rights to their lands, livelihoods, peace, justice and security.

“All these are universal human rights which the church sees as integral,” she said.

For her efforts, the government did not renew her missionary visa and forced her to leave the country by not extending her temporary papers.

Getting in jail for the poor

In 1969, another Australian missionary also went to the Philippines.
Columban Father Brian Gore, who was then only 25 years old, arrived in the country with no idea what was waiting for him.

It was before former dictator Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law across the archipelago.

Little did the young priest know that what awaited him were poor farm workers in sugar plantations of Negros Occidental province where he later became chaplain of the Federation of Free Farmers.

“I’d been told they had no money to buy medicine,” Father Gore recalled. They even considered themselves as the property of the landowners.

He went on to organize Basic Christian Communities, which were later accused by the Philippine military of being “fronts” for communist guerrillas.

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