Human Rights

Abduction of Joe Burgos? son another facet of climate of impunity in Philippines ? Bayan Muna

MANILA — Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casi?o today renewed the militant partylist group?s call for the immediate surfacing of Jonas Joseph Burgos.

?The abduction of Jay-Jay ups the ante on enforced disappearances. Unlike previous cases under the current administration, he was taken in a mall in Quezon City in the middle of the day in front of many people. Only the Gloria?s security forces have the means and the motive to get Jay-jay,? Rep. Casi?o said.
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UCCP: Killings in Philippines have continued unabated and with a vengeance

May 03, 2007

PRESS STATEMENT

In March this year, a multi-sectoral delegation of human rights advocates traveled to Canada, the United States, and Switzerland to raise in the international arena the issue of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and other forms of political repression in the Philippines. Named the Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines, the team presented ?Let The Stones Cry Out: An Ecumenical Report on Human Rights in the Philippines and Call To Action? to ecumenical bodies, churches, legislators, and the United Nations Human Rights Council. A highlight of the trip was a hearing conducted by the US Senate Committee on Human Rights headed by Senator Barbara Boxer. For a considerable length of time, the media spotlight was focused on the Philippines following that trip. We had hoped that such an international exposure of the issue would move the Philippine President to bring to an end the sorry state of human rights in the country.

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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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