US-based and Fil-am delegates who participated in a recent International Solidarity Mission deplored the rights abuses they saw in several areas in Mindanao.
Davao City was dropped from the list of cities in the Philippines to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Meeting in 2015.
During the day, they shared food and waited amid the sweltering heat outside the gym. At night, they slept on cartons or on the cold floor. They waited for three nights and four days, only to be told they were waitlisted for the next claims board registration.
Filipino-American delegates to the recent International Solidarity Mission in Mindanao were “dismayed” with Philippine government over what they observed as “its negligence to attend to the basic social services of its people”.
Temperatures run feverish high on Wednesday August 6 in Nabunturan town, Compostela Valley following a Department of Energy order to close the office of the beleaguered Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative- Cooperative Development Authority (Daneco-CDA) office.
“In every area, it’s almost like this. Let’s say it’s a little difficult and we are trying our best to improve it,” said Gascon who also saw “long queues, long lines” in their trips to Baguio, Legazpi and other provinces in Luzon and in Cotabato, Butuan and Cagayan de Oro.
Karadyawan said “the military are using our communities as shields, they are occupying our churches and schools, accusing and forcing some of us to surrender including some of our young children being forced by them to be their guides on their pursuit against NPAs [New People’s Army]”.
A Metro Manila-based media watchdog said that Department of Justice was not only “remiss of its duties” to bring justice to the families of the Ampatuan massacre victims but, also failed to handle well the case.
“Ung peace talks na sinusuportahan ko, ay ung socio-economic na peace. Hindi lang ung walang bakbakan. Kasi ung bakbakan naman is just a product of socio economic malfunctioning (The peace talk that I am supporting is the socio economic kind of peace. Not only the absence of conflict because conflict is just a product of socio economic malfunctioning.),” Gargar said in a press conference last Monday.
A delegation of North America-Philippines Solidarity Affair (NAPSA) said the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the United States of America and the Philippines “protects and defends US strategic interests and hegemony throughout the world by establishing control over strategic straits around the world.”
