Year: 2020

Press Statement
Amnesty International Philippines

As a Senate committee  begins its inquiry  into the issue on 3 November 2020, Amnesty International calls on the Philippine government to end its vicious and at times deadly practice of red-tagging- the labeling of groups or individuals perceived to be critical of the government as “communists” or “terrorists”. Instead of maligning and endangering people for the lawful exercise of their freedom of expression, the government should seek to address legitimate criticism of its policies and practices. In the prevailing context where red-tagged individuals become the targets of harassment, threats and even killings, courts and pertinent  government agencies must take concrete steps to ensure the safety and protection  of these individuals.

On 21 October, Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. warned Filipino  celebrity  Liza Soberano in a Facebook post that she would “suffer  the same fate” as Josephine Anne Lapira, who was killed  in a clash in 2017 between government forces and alleged members of the communist New People’s Army. This followed Soberano’s expression of support for women’s rights organization and political party Gabriela, calling on influencers  to speak up about the rights of women and children.

Parlade also publicly announced that former and current Congressional representatives of progressive party-list  groups, including Gabriela, are under surveillance  for being “card-bearing members of the Communist  Party of the Philippines” (CPP), adding that the anti-terror  law is now “in  effect”. Parlade is the commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Southern Luzon Command and spokesperson of the government-created National Task Force to End Local Communist  Armed Conflict  (NTF-ELCAC).

The phenomenon of red-tagging has been happening for decades now but has intensified in the last few years under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, following the breakdown of peace talks between the government and the CPP in 2017. Duterte’s subsequent  Executive Order (EO) 70 provides for a “Whole-of-Nation approach in defeating the Local Communist Terrorist Groups” and led to the creation of the NTF-ELCAC. Observers point to this moment in time as the beginning of a renewed campaign of red-tagging, threats and harassment against human rights defenders, political activists,  lawyers, trade unionists and other targeted groups perceived to be affiliated with the progressive left.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights along with human rights organizations have called for the immediate  end to this approach, expressing concern that the government’s dangerously broad counter-insurgency  strategy has led to an increase in human rights violations against human rights defenders and political activists  across the country.

Amnesty International  remains deeply concerned by increasing cases of killings, as well as the arbitrary arrests and detention  of red-tagged individuals. Recent examples of killings include  the murder of activist and peace advocate Randall Echanis on 10 August 2020 and human rights defender  Zara Alvarez on 17 August 2020. Echanis and Alvarez were among the hundreds of individuals named in a “terrorist” list drawn up by the Department of Justice and submitted to a Philippine court. Other political activists and human rights defenders have been arrested and detained following  raids in their offices by security forces that allegedly involved fabrication  of evidence, such as the planting  of firearms and explosives. Those still  detained include  Reina Mae Nasino, a community  organizer for Kadamay, an advocacy group for the urban poor. During her detention  in October 2020, Nasino’s three-month-old baby died after being separated from her and the incident  sparked public outrage. Amnesty International  is concerned that killings, arrests and detention  of political activists and human rights defenders will continue  as long as indiscriminate red-tagging by the government persists.

Amnesty International  is also concerned that the recent approval of the alarming implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of  Republic  Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism  Act of 2020 provides the government further  unchecked powers to unduly target anyone who may be red-tagged under the legislation. The IRR, for example, gives power to an Anti-Terrorism Council- composed of presidential  appointees- to publish  the names of those it designates on its own as “terrorists”. This practice is in contravention  of international  standards on due process and the presumption of innocence, with the only right of appeal being to the Council itself.  It allows a pre-charge detention  period of a maximum  of 24 days, which greatly exceeds norms under international standards. The law remains in violation  of international  standards on human rights and counter­ terrorism with its vague and overbroad definitions of ‘terrorism’, highlighting the risk that it can be used to target government critics. In addition, it empowers security forces to conduct surveillance,  endangering individuals’ right to privacy.

Amnesty International  calls on the Philippine government to end the “red-tagging” of civil  society organizations and political activists  and cease violence and threats of violence against them. The government should ensure adequate protection  for those who have been red-tagged, and bring those responsible for threats and violence to justice in fair trials.  Philippine authorities  should also publicly instruct  their officials to end the harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and activists simply  for exercising their rights or carrying out human rights work.

Under international  law and standards, the Philippines has an obligation  to ensure the protection of the rights of all, including the rights to life, freedom of expression, and freedom of peaceful assembly, as guaranteed by the International  Covenant on Civil and Political  Rights (ICCPR) to which the Philippines is a state party. Ensuring that human rights defenders and civil  society activists  are able to undertake their professional activities free from harassment, threats, and harm is an essential component  of the promotion and protection  of human rights in the country.

Finally, the organization urges the government to ensure that the Anti-Terrorism  Act and its implementing rules and regulations are amended and brought in line with  international  standards on counter-terrorism, and not used to unduly target those that are red-tagged by the Duterte administration.

To our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to all people of good will:

A lot of people have sought clarification about the recent remarks Pope Francis had presumably made with regard to “civil unions”. Allow us to share some thoughts on the matter through the following reflection entitled, “Where Pope Francis is Coming From.”

The Pope speaks mainly as a shepherd who is willing to leave behind the ninety-nine (99) in search of the one lost sheep. Just because they stray doesn‟t mean they don‟t belong to the fold anymore. He is like a loving parent who just would not give up on any of his children. Just because they behave differently, or they live their lives in a manner that he does not approve of, does not mean they are not his children anymore.

This Pope has been consistent with the radicality of Jesus of Nazareth whom he calls the human face of the Merciful God. It is easier to save the good and the law-abiding; it is something else to choose to save even sinners and law-breakers with no other motive than the fact that they too are children of God and have been entrusted to his care.

In his own time, Jesus was misunderstood and judged by people because he associated with people of questionable reputation in Jewish society: the tax collectors, prostitutes, the lepers, the Roman soldiers, the rebels, the Samaritans, the people who were regarded as “sinners” in orthodox Jewish society.

What did he do? He did not avoid them. He also did not tell them that what they were doing was right. He did not openly approve of prostitution, or the use of violence to gain justice, or collaboration with the Roman government. He didn’t openly say he approved of the religion of the Samaritans or the politics of the Romans. He just treated them with the same kindness and compassion that he extended to any human being; and he was judged for it. He refused to judge the woman who had been caught in adultery without saying that what she did was right. He just did not think that condemning people or judging them was right thing to do in order to work for their conversion.

He didn’t bring them to conversion by judging them, but by loving them, caring for them, being compassionate to them. He was never of the opinion that people who did bad things were to be treated as bad people. He hated the sin but continued to love the sinner.

He also did not approve of the manner in which the guardians of morality and orthodoxy in his time conducted themselves. He did not think building the kingdom of God was a matter of teaching people proper doctrine and morals. He did it rather by emptying himself, by immersing himself fully in the human condition.

Nais lamang po namin ibahagi sa ICSI ang isang video mula sa Deutsche Welle (DW) tungkol sa kung paano nagawa ng ibang bansa (partikular sa India) na kontrolin ang pagkalat ng COVID-19 sa mga informal settlements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avc7jA00N18&feature=youtu.be. 

Bagamat hindi naman po natin nababalitaang malubha ang pagkalat ng COVID-19 sa mga siksikang pamayanan sa Pilipinas (o baka hindi lang ipinapaalam sa publiko), magandang suriin natin ang tugon ng pamahalaan sa COVID-19 at isa nga rito ang pagpapatupad ng Balik-Probinsya, Balik-Pag-asa (BP2) Program. May ilan din tayong naririnig na balita tungkol sa pag-evict ng mga pamilya sa gitna ng umiiral na community quarantine.
Speaking of Balik-Probinsya, ibinabahagi rin po namin sa inyo ang latest naming publication na Intersect Quick Facts (IQF) na naglalaman ng ilang datos na sana’y makatulong sa pag-unawa natin hindi lamang sa layunin ng BP2 kundi sa internal migration na nais tugunan (o i-reverse) ng programang ito ng administrasyon. Sana may mapulot po kayo sa mga ito.

PMPI Urban

Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas “Usapang Kaliwa Dam”
October 24, 2020
Save Sierra Madre Network’s Fr. Pete Montallana, OFM and Conrado Vargas together with Dumagat residents of Infanta speak on the consequences of the Kaliwa Dam project on climate change and the future of indigenous peoples of Sierra Madre.

“It is necessary to work with greater commitment at all levels to ensure that the right to health care is rendered effective… to establish a real distributive justice which, on the basis of objective needs, guarantees adequate care to all.”

– Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Message to participants in the 25th International Conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, November 15 2010

Charity is at the heart of Catholic Social Teachings. One cannot ignore the present, immediate needs of the impoverished in the hope of building a just society. Charity is intrinsically linked with justice, for to love others requires that one must first be just towards them. Consequently, the antithesis or negation of charity is injustice, social exclusion, and marginalization.

The proposed 2021 national budget does not guarantee adequate health care especially to the poorest of the poor and those severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research group IBON expressed concern over the burgeoning budget on infrastructure amid the worst health crisis and economic decline in the country’s history. IBON noted that the proposed budget prioritizes infrastructure, debt, and militarization over health and other social services, agriculture, and industry. This is evidenced by the colossal budget for infrastructure projects (Build, build, build programs) amounting to Php 1.1 trillion (taking up 24% of the total budget) compared with Php 212.3 billion for health, Php 454.1 billion for social protection, and Php 5.1 billion support for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The proposed budget likewise prioritizes debt-servicing and military expenditure amounting to a total of Php 740.6 billion over a minimal DOH budget of Php 131.7 billion or barely one-fifth of one percent (0.2%) of the total infrastructure spending.

IBON added that while the proposed Php 212.3-billion health budget is bigger than last year’s allocation, “allotment for facilities enhancement, epidemiological surveillance, for instance, were all reduced right when the country’s public health system sorely needs a boost.” Declines were also registered in the epidemiology and surveillance program, to P112.631 million from P115.501 million; and in the operations of national reference laboratories, down to P289.330 million from P326.330 million.

The proposed 2021 national budget is a glaring evidence that Philippine health recovery is not a priority for the Duterte administration as only a tiny fraction of the 2021 budget will be allocated for health.

A Catholic vision of health care promotes “[a] healthcare system… rooted in values that respect human dignity, protect human life, respect the principle of subsidiarity, and meet the needs of the poor and uninsured, especially the unborn children, pregnant women, immigrants, and other vulnerable populations.” (United States Conference of the Catholic Bishop, “Forming consciences for faithful citizenship”). The growing inequality in health care is due in part to the State’s abandonment of duty to protect and provide adequate health services. In a time where the county is hit by the worst health crisis and economic meltdown, the country needs to prioritize health and social assistance to the most vulnerable sectors of society. Amid economic hardships and massive unemployment, the poor needed not only charity but also justice.

Signed: