Human Rights

By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he will not allow a �witch hunt� against political activists in the city even as he ordered a prompt investigation on the killing of a peasant leader here recently.

Scholars from the Philippine Science High School southern Mindanao campus (PSHS-SMC) Wayne Isaac T. Uy and Anne Marie L. Go…

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) envisions Davao City as a model in Asian region for the ‘salt iodization project’….

DAVAO CITY – Human rights group Karapatan-Southern Mindanao on Tuesday expressed its concern over the condition of the 32 families…

The Mindanao Science and Technology Centrum Foundation will be holding its summer youth science camp on May 22-25, 2008 at…

By MARILOU M. AGUIRRE | Davao Today

Davao city Mayor Rodrigo Duterte was furious over rumors that he is protecting Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the leader of the religious sect Jesus Christ: A Name Above Every Name, who has been dragged into the murder of tribal leader Dominador Diarog.

WE WANT JUSTICE! Militants and relatives of Celso Pojas, the slain secretary general of Farmers Association of Davao City-Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, hold a picket here on Friday, May 16. They demand justice for the peasant leader, who, according to the rights group Karapatan, is the first activist killed in Davao city and the 14th killed in the country this year alone. They condemn the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Arroyo government’s Oplan Bantay Laya (Freedom Watch) which they say, already claimed close to a thousand lives of progressive leaders and members since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo rose to power. Pojas was shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-riding men on Thursday morning, outside their office in Maa. He is the first victim of political killings, just three days after Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano replaced Gen. Hermogenes Esperon as the AFP Chief-of-staff.(davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

By CHERYLL D. FIEL | Davao Today

BREAKING NEWS | Celso Pojas was the secretary-general of the Farmers’ Association of Davao City and spokesman of the KMP in Southern Mindanao. He was the first militant leader assassinated in Davao city, according to Karapatan-Southern Mindanao.

Slain farmers’ leader Celso Pojas during the peasant month press conference in October last year. The words on his hat reads “Land, not bullet.” (davaotoday.com file photo by Barry Ohaylan)

By MARILOU M. AGUIRRE | Davao Today

After their release from NPA captivity where they were investigated for possible “crime against the people,” two soldiers now face another investigation by their superiors.

New People’s Army guerrillas during the release of the soldiers last week.

A CHILD’S PAIN. Four-year-old Mimi suffers from a gunshot wound after their house was strafed by unidentified armed men on April 29. Mimi is one of the ten children of slain tribal leader Domingo Diarog, who was killed April 29 when their house in sitio Kahusayan, barangay Manuel Guianga in Calinan was strafed by unidentified men. Datu Docris Daug, a tribal leader from barangay Daliaon Plantation, and lumads from the K’tala-Bagobo tribe are asking Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s help in their quest for justice for their slain leader. The military blamed the New People’s Army (NPA) for the attack. But in a statement, the NPA denied having a hand in the strafing incident. Instead, the NPA pointed the culprits to be “working closely with the 73rd Infantry Battalion/Task Force Davao of the AFP at the behest of Apollo Quiboloy.” Quiboloy is known as a close friend of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)