Human Rights

Philippines: Human Rights Violations and the Urgency of Solidarity and Action

The following is a Statement of the General Board of Church and Society of

The United Methodist Church adopted April 28, 2007

?Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public square, and righteousness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled. The Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene??(Isaiah 59: 14-16 NRSV)
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Kin of Pantukan Farmer Killed by Soldiers File Murder Raps

DAVAO CITY ? The family of slain farmer Acuiles C. Tungal in Pantukan, Compostela Valley filed murder complaints on Wendnesay against elements of the 25th Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Cesar Ideo before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) XI.

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Probe of New Bataan Checkpoint Shooting Underway

Two independent teams have looking into the shooting incident on April 25, 2007, in New Bataan, Compostela Valley Province, that resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of three others.

In a meeting called by Mayor Lorenzo L. Balbin, Jr., Compostela Valley Police Provincial Director P/Supt Nestor Quinsay has given the assurance that there would be no whitewash in the investigation. He said the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) have been tasked by the PNP to conduct thorough investigation.

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Philippines: Beltran Demands Freedom to Vote

MANILA — Anakpawis Representative and political detainee Crispin Beltran today said that even as the Supreme Court has yet to grant his petition for bail, he is already preparing to file a motion to be allowed to leave his detention room at the Philippine Heart Center on May 14 election day so he may be able to cast his vote for his party-list Anakpawis and the candidates it is supporting and endorsing for the senatorial and local elections. Beltran said that he hopes that his political and constitutional right to vote will not be denied him given that he has already been illegally arrested and unjustly detained for the last 14 months.

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