Category: News

Peace advocates denounce the brutal of slay of Randy Malayao and continued detention of Rey Claro Casambre, Vic Ladlad and five others involved in peace negotiations.

Under past administrations, the President of the Philippines has always projected him or herself as one who respects and adheres to human rights and international humanitarian law, even if state forces had been documented as violators of human rights.

President Rodrigo Duterte has been loud and proud on his disregard for human rights.  On December 22, 2018, in a speech to AFP soldiers in Compostela Valley, Mindanao, where Duterte told the soldiers not only to go after rebels, but after their so-called legal fronts and infrastructures, he expressed his rogue criminality this way, “Destroy them. Do not believe in human rights. I assume full responsibility.”

We note two glaring results of Duterte’s despicable call for the violation of human rights exacted on Filipinos working for peace.

At 2:30am, January 30, 2019, Randy Malayo, NDFP consultant for Political and Constitutional Reforms, was shot dead by assassins when the bus he was riding waited at a bus stop in Nueva Viscaya.  The killing was brutal, heinous, and without justification: a human rights violations in its purest form, Randy Malayao was by all appearances assassinated by State forces.

Meanwhile at 1pm of the same afternoon, Rey Claro Casambre and his wife Cora were facing a preliminary investigation on the State’s case of illegal possession of firearms and explosives levied against them, using evidence planted at the time of their arrest on December 7, 2018.  Mr. Casambre, Executive Director of the Philippines Peace Center has been detained since this date, due to another ludicrous and utterly false charge of murder and attempted murder. Regarding this charge for an incident alleged to have happened in September 2018 in Davao Oriental, Casambre’s lawyers submitted his counter affidavit stating that he was a speaker along with Secretary Bello at the Committee on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity in the House of Representatives in Batasan, Quezon City, only hours before the alleged incident. Charging Rey and Cora with illegal possession using planted evidence and keeping Rey under detention using such glaring untruths is a travesty of justice.  

As peace advocates, we say to President Duterte that he has become a sloppy and sick warmonger.  We hold him accountable for these attacks against peace advocates.  As he stokes the fires of war and seeks to satiate his bloodlust, he is only bringing the country further from peace.  Whipping soldiers and death squads towards a frenzied spilling of the blood and attacks against those involved in peace talks makes building peace even more difficult.  Detaining known peace advocates and seeking to make them a bogey for his surge towards fascist tyranny or nationwide martial law exposes both desperation and an unchecked thirst for power.

There is no easy road to peace.  For every human rights violation, more will rise in opposition.  The Armed Forces of the Philippines has claimed that they would defeat the New People’s Army many times, over decades.  A road to peace can be found in addressing the roots of the armed conflict and building a more just Philippines.   This is a better choice altogether.

Duterte –who once spoke of addressing “historic injustices”— now calls for destroying dissent.  We are greatly concerned for how far he and his minions will go in attacking those who have actually dared to move in public forums, dialogues, and discussions as advocates of the peace talks.  As he has chosen easy targets—the ones who traveled the halls of Congress, spoke with foreign diplomats, and talked in Churches, schools, and other civil society organizations around the county, we sound the alarm that Duterte is ruining prospects for the resumption of peace negotiations that he has unilaterally terminated.  We sound the alarm that if left unchecked he will continue to spill the blood of civil libertarians, human rights defenders and peace advocates. 

He will punish and kill the very people who have been building bridges for peace and dialogue.  In the end, the entire country will suffer the consequence, because his depraved bloodshed will not bring victory. His trumped-up charges and illegal detentions will deepen the divide with the discontented and disenfranchised, thus, further destroying the fabric of civil liberties and the rule of law, and sharpening craven corruption, criminality, and militarism within state forces.

We do hold accountable the disparate and self-absorbed fool who keeps inciting troops and death squads to destroy the nation he feigns to love. May he–like the Apostle Paul–be blinded and converted in a most fantastic miracle of modern day. If not, may God show mercy on this land!

Rt. Rev. Joel Porlares, IFI
Convenor, Pilgrims for Peace
1 February 2019

We, Catholic Bishops gathered in our Plenary Assembly in Manila, received today the sad news from Fr. Romeo S. Saniel, OMI, Apostolic Administrator of Jolo, of the bombing of the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cathedral in Jolo during the Sunday Mass.

We condole with the families of the several soldiers and civilians who were killed by the explosions. We also express our sympathies with those who were wounded and extend our solidarity with the rest of the church-goers inside the Cathedral and the rest of the church community in the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo.

At the same time, we condemn this act of terrorism that has taken place only a few days after the plebiscite on the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

As we begin a new phase in the peace process with the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARRM), we ask our Christian brethren to join hands with all peace-loving Muslim and Indigenous People communities in the advocacy against violent extremism.

May all our religions of peace guide us in our quest for a brighter future for the peoples of Mindanao.

From the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

+ Romulo G. Valles
Archbishop of Davao
President, CBCP
January 27, 2019

Reminds the Lord and His Mission Are Not ‘Temporary,’ Nor ‘Passing Fads,’ But ‘Our Life’

Zenit | Deborah Castellano Lubov
January 27, 2019 19:44

Pope Francis has urged young people in Panama to make God their treasure, and reminded them that they are not ‘the future,’ but ‘the now,’ the present.

He did so at the closing Mass of the XXXIV World Youth Day (WYD) in Panama, during his final day of his Apostolic Visit to the country to celebrate World Youth Day 2019, Jan. 22-27, 2019, where it was announced that Lisbon, Portugal, will host the next WYD in 2022.

He reminded them that following God, who infinitely loves them, gives life its meaning and enables young people to reach the dreams to which they aspire.

Full Text of the Homily

“The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them: ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Lk 4:20-21). With these words, the Gospel presents the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. It started in the synagogue that saw him grow up; he was in the midst of neighbours and people he knew, and perhaps even some of his childhood “catechists” who had taught him the Law. It was an important moment in the life of the Master: the child who was educated and grew up in that community, stood up and took the floor to proclaim and put into action God’s dream. A word previously proclaimed only as a future promise, but now, on the lips of Jesus alone, could be spoken in the present tense, as it became a reality: “Today it has been fulfilled”.

Jesus reveals the now of God, who comes to meet us and call us to take part in his now of “proclaiming good news to the poor… bringing liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, setting at liberty those who are oppressed, announcing the year of the Lord’s favour” (Lk 4:18-19). This is the now of God. It becomes present with Jesus: it has a face, it is flesh. It is a merciful love that does not wait for ideal or perfect situations to show itself, nor does it accept excuses for its appearance. It is God’s time, that makes every situation and place both right and proper. In Jesus, the promised future begins and becomes life. When? Now. Yet not everyone who was listening felt invited or called. Not all the residents of Nazareth were prepared to believe in someone they knew and had seen grow up, and who was now inviting them to realize a long-awaited dream. Not only that, but “they said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’” (Lk 4:22).

The same thing can also happen with us. We do not always believe that God can be that concrete and commonplace, that close and real, and much less that he can become so present and work through somebody like a neighbour, a friend, a relative. We do not always believe that the Lord can invite us to work and soil our hands with him in his Kingdom in that simple and blunt a way. It is hard to accept that “God’s love can become concrete and can almost be experienced in history with all its painful and glorious vicissitudes” (BENEDICT XVI, General Audience, 28 September 2005).

Often we too behave like the neighbours in Nazareth: we prefer a distant God: nice, good, generous but far-off, a God who does not inconvenience us. Because a close and everyday God, a friend and brother, demands that we be concerned with our surroundings, everyday affairs and above all fraternity. God chose not to reveal himself as an angel or in some spectacular way, but to give us a face that is fraternal and friendly, concrete and familiar. God is real because love is real; God is concrete because love is concrete. Indeed, this “concrete manifestation of love is one of the essential elements in the life of Christians” (BENEDICT XVI, Homily, 1 March 2006).

We can also run the same risks as the neighbours at Nazareth, when within our communities the Gospel seeks to be lived concretely. We begin to say: But these young people, aren’t they the children of Mary, Joseph, aren’t they the brothers and sisters of so and so? Are these not the youngsters we saw grow up? That one over there, wasn’t he the one who kept breaking windows with his ball? What was born as prophecy and proclamation of the kingdom of God gets domesticated and impoverished. Attempts to domesticate the word of God occur daily.

You too, dear young people, can experience this whenever you think that your mission, your vocation, even your life itself, is a promise far off in the future, having nothing to do with the present.

Oppostion forces legislators to try and set minimum age of responsibility at 12, not nine

UCAN
Joe Torres, Manila  Philippines
January 24, 2019

Philippine lawmakers have been forced to make a compromise in their attempt to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility amid fierce opposition from child rights advocacy groups and the Catholic Church .

The Lower House of Congress originally proposed to lower the age to nine years old, but reset the minimum age at 12 as a compromise after many legislators expressed “reservations.”

Lawmakers approved a bill to set criminal responsibility starting at 12 years old during its second reading on Jan. 23.

The controversial measure is now only one step away from being passed in the Lower House.

“That is the [new] consensus,” said Representative Doy Leachon, chairman of the House Committee on Justice that drafted the bill.

He said panel members on reflection thought “nine years old was too young.”

Position Statement of the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas on the proposed House Bill No. 8858

 “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”  (Matthew 18:6)

The House of Representatives under the Speakership of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is now rushing for the approval of the act amending and expanding the RA 9344 “The Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006” which will LOWER DOWN THE MINIMUM AGE OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF CHILDREN FROM 15 YEARS OLD TO 12 YEARS OLD.

The proposed bill was introduced with the following objectives:

➢          To protect minors from being exploited by syndicates and unscrupulous persons that use minors to escape liability for crimes and other illegal activities.
➢          To provide adequate intervention and diversion measures for children in conflict with the law.
➢          To increase the penalties for the exploitation of children for the commission of crimes.

Granting that these objectives are reasonable and most ideal in the current situation, the MAIN ISSUE remains: Will lowering down the age of criminal responsibility address the causes why children commit crimes?

The Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas firmly believes, together with other organizations concerned with the welfare of children, that the root causes are:

1.         Poverty and lack of access to opportunities and government services 2.         Poor Parenting and Supervision
3.         Peer Pressure
4.         Prevalence of and unabating criminality resulting to unhealthy social environment

A secondary objection and question which remains to be answered with certainty is:

“Can the Bahay Pag-asa and the Agricultural Camps and Training Facility to be established, maintained, supervised and controlled by DSWD in PARTNERSHIP the BUCOR (Bureau of Corrections) and TESDA, provide and deliver its mandate “to design and implement the rehabilitation and intervention programs in these specialized facilities in order to prepare the residents therein for successful reintegration into their families and communities upon discharge and release?”

Pending conclusive proof of the viability and success of these programs in these very expensive “SPECIALIZED FACILITIES”, of which our government has no model to show, we simply cannot abandon the future of these “children in conflict with the law” to chance. Each life is invaluable. Bawat isang buhay at kinabukasan ay mahalaga.

Lastly, a very dangerous section (Section 43-A) was inserted which in effect will prevent any appeal or reconsideration or correction in the judgements given to these young offenders, to wit:

SEC 43-A. PENALTY FOR VIOLATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF RECORDS- ANY PERSON WHO HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF DIVULGING, WILFULLY OR THROUGH GROSS INEXCUSABLE NEGLIGENCE, THE RECORDS OR ANY INFORMATION RELATION TO THE PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH THE LAW, SHALL SUFFER THE PENALTIES IMPOSED IN TITLE VII, CHAPTER 3 OF THIS ACT.”

Simply put, once a child has been arrested, the court, within 72 hours, has to make a decision for the petition for an involuntary commitment to these specialized facilities. The initial period of the placement of the child shall not be less than one year. After that 72 hours, no person can have access to the records or any information in relation to the proceedings. Therefore, No DSWD, NGO or Charitable Institution can help these children because NO ONE WILL GIVE OUT ANY RECORD OR INFORMATION UNDER THE PAIN OF STIFF PENALTIES.

We also propose the following to our Legislators:

1.         Give priority to the effective implementation of   RA 9344.
2.         Increase the penalties against the exploiters of children.

With all the foregoing, the SANGGUNIANG LAIKO NG PILIPINAS calls upon our citizenry to OPPOSE AND MAKE A STAND AGAINST THIS HOUSE BILL 8858.

For the LAIKO Board of Directors,

MA. JULIETA F. WASAN, Ph.D.
President
January 24, 2019

Church leaders from various Christian churches call for faithful to unite in One Voice at open-air gathering in Rajah Sulayman Park

Different Christian traditions, sects, and denominations will join in a prophetic chorus to proclaim the God’s calling to choose LIFE (Deuteronomy 30:15-29), to defend the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:9), and to declare the favourable year of the Lord for justice and freedom.

“As much as ever, our FAITH is both tested and strengthened, as we engage mission and ministry to work for truth, justice and peace in our NATION, which continues to face a crisis of truth, intensive poverty, violations of human rights and widespread killings,” said Bishop Broderick Pabillo, DD of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on the Laity

“The Christian imperative to defend human dignity and promote the respect of God-given LIFE unites us in ONE VOICE so that our people will know God’s intention for justice to roll down like a never-ending stream (Amos 5:24), so that peace may be known throughout the land,” said Ms. Minnie Ann Calub of the Ntional Council of Churches in the Philippines.

“As we work for Christian unity in the Philippines, we summon the Christian faithful to bring their prayers and concerns to a public gathering. We seek to focus on the truth that will unite us and our common hope the Christ’s peace may prevail in our communities and nation,” said Bishop Ciriaco Francisco of the United Methodist Church.

Monday, January 21, 2019

As our fellow Filipinos in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) region go through the Bangsamoro Organic Law Plebiscite, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) encourages all eligible voters in the region, to exercise their right to vote. This is a defining moment in our country, as the outcome of the Plebiscite will determine the fate of the region and the country as well. We believe that this democratic process must be nothing less than an enabling mechanism for the people in the region to bring a more peaceful and prosperous change. 

 In support of this democratic process, NAMFREL, together with its provincial chapter chairpersons and hundreds of volunteers will monitor and observe the preparation and conduct of the Bangsamoro Plebiscite.

 NAMFREL calls on all authorities; the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and its deputized agencies the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other stakeholders; to continue to ensure that the Plebiscite can take place in a secure and fair environment.  We express our deep concern at recent reports that in some ARMM areas the use of electoral fraud, force, threats and intimidation is being employed to curtail the voters right to vote or influence it. We condemn these nefarious acts.

 NAMFREL extends its support to the COMELEC in their role to deliver a plebiscite that truly reflects the will of the people and ensure its credibility. We stand by the people in the Bangsamoro areas, as they vote and decide on their future.  The people in the ARMM deserve a free, fair, and peaceful plebiscite.  We hope that the result of the Plebiscite would be a step towards self-determination so lasting peace, development and prosperity will reign in the region.

‘Nakita natin as young as 10 years old, these are being used as drug runners,’ says Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde

Rambo Talabong
Published 8:38 PM, January 21, 2019
Updated 9:36 PM, January 21, 2019

MANILA, Philippines – Figures from the Philippine National Police (PNP) released on Monday, January 21, showed that from January 2017 to December 2018, the police have caught over 1,300 children aged 17 years and below for their alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

In 2017, police captured – or “rescued,” as law enforcers prefer to say – and turned over to rehabilitation agencies 481 minors who allegedly violated the Dangerous Drugs Act or Republic Act No. 9165 (RA 9165). Police caught almost double that figure or 857 minors in 2018.

This means that in a span of two years, a total of 1,338 minors were caught for their alleged involvement in illegal drugs. This is equivalent to around 13 apprehensions of minors a week.

RA 9165 penalizes acts such as using, carrying, selling, manufacturing, and importing illegal drugs, as well as managing a drug laboratory or farm.

Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice Law of 2006 sets the minimum age of criminal liability at 15 years old – meaning those between 15 to 18 years old may be detained in youth centers and be put through rehabilitation programs. Those under 15 years old are exempted from criminal liability and undergo intervention.

Minors being ‘used’: During his press briefing on Monday, PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde noted that most of the minors who commit violations of RA 9165 are just being “used” by adults.

“Nakita natin as young as 10 years old, these are being used as drug runners. Ito ang pinaka-runners. Natututo din ang matatanda kasi alam nila itong mga bata ay ‘di makukulong,” Albayalde said.
(We saw children as young as 10 years old being used as drug runners. They are the runners themselves. The adults have learned to use them because children cannot be jailed.)

Albayalde said this is why the police are “inclined” to support a law lowering the age of criminal liability. On Monday, the House committee on justice approved a bill that seeks to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 years old to 9 years old.

As early as October 2018, the PNP already expressed its support for similar proposals made in the Senate. – with a report from Camille Elemia/Rappler.com

The Philippine Apostolic Congress on Mercy (PACOM) will be held at the FILOIL FLYING V Center “San Juan Arena” from January 24-26, 2019.

PACOM is part of the worldwide congresses that promote the devotion to the Divine Mercy. It emanates from the World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM), and from it comes the Asian Apostolic Congress on Mercy (AACOM).

The theme for this year’s celebration is Divine Mercy, in Communion with the Young.

For inquiries please call (02) 6976132 or 09052038531 or email at pacom2019.sec@gmail.com.

PROGRAM DETAILS

DAY ONE – 24TH JANUARY 2019
  7:00 AM       9:00 AM         REGISTRATION
  9:00 AM       10:00 AM       OPENING CEREMONIES
  10:00 AM     10:15 AM       BREAK
  10:15 AM     12:15 PM       OPENING MASS
TALK 1 – “DIVINE MERCY FOR YOU(TH)”
  12:15 PM     1:15 PM         LUNCH
  1:15 PM       1:30 PM         INTERMISSION
AFTERNOON WORSHIP (YOUTH FOR CHRIST)
  1:30 PM       2:45 PM         TALK 2 – “IMG (I AM GOD)” (Selfie Syndrome and the Image of Mercy)
  2:45 PM       3:30 PM         HOUR OF MERCY
BENEDICTION
  3:30 PM       3:45 PM         BREAK
  3:45 PM       5:00 PM         TALK 2 OPEN FORUM Q&A
CLOSING

DAY TWO– 25TH JANUARY 2019
  TIME START            TIME END      TOPIC ACTIVITIES
  7:30 AM       8:00 AM         ASSEMBLY
  8:00 AM       9:00 AM         HOLY MASS
  9:00 AM       10:00 AM       TALK 3 – “N-CHANCES: From No to Nfinity” (Healing Broken Relationships Through the Divine Mercy)
  10:00 AM     10:30 AM       TALK 3 OPEN FORUM Q&A
  10:30 AM     10:45 AM       BREAK
  10:45 AM     11:45 AM       TALK 4 – “IMMORTAL COMBAT” (Divine Mercy and the Battle for Souls)
  11:45 AM     12:15 PM       TALK 4 OPEN FORUM Q&A
  12:15 PM     1:15 PM         LUNCH

INTERMISSION
  1:15 PM       1:30 PM         AFTERNOON WORSHIP
  1:30 PM       2:30 PM         TALK 5 – “HEART RESPONSE/ LDR (LOVE DESPITE REGRET)” (Love and Responsibility, The Divine Mercy Way)
  2:30 PM       3:30 PM         HOUR OF MERCY (TESTIMONIALS)
  3:30 PM       3:45 PM         BREAK
  3:45 PM       5:00 PM         TALK 5 OPEN FORUM Q&A

DAY THREE – 26TH JANUARY 2019
  TIME START            TIME END      TOPIC ACTIVITIES
  7:30 AM       8:00 AM         ASSEMBLY
OPENING WORSHIP
  8:00 AM       9:30 AM         TALK 6 – “AWA’T KALINGA” : PANEL DISCUSSION on ADDICTION, DEPRESSION AND JUVENILE DELIQUENCY
  9:30 AM       9:45 AM         BREAK
  9:45 AM       12:15 PM       TALK 7 – L.O.L. : LIVING OUT LOUD! (PART 2) – Spiritual Works of Mercy
  12:15 PM     1:15 PM         LUNCH
  1:15 PM       2:30 PM         GROUP DISCUSSIONS
  2:30 PM       3:30 PM         HOUR OF MERCY
  3:30 PM       5:00 PM         CLOSING MASS
COMMISSIONING
TALK 8 – “Y2G (YES TO GOD)/ BTW (BACK TO WORK)” (SPREADING THE DIVINE MERCY TO THE YOUTH OF TODAY)