Human Rights

A Mother’s Plea, a City’s Madness

By Carlos H. Conde

Clarita AliaClarita Alia lost three of her children to the Davao Death Squad. Her youngest is fighting for his life.

The voice on the other end was trembling. ?Sir, I really need your help.? The voice ? soft, slightly stuttering, but harrowingly sad ? was one of the most heart-rending I?ve ever heard. ?My son has been stabbed,? the woman said, weeping now. ?We?re now at the DMC (Davao Medical Center) and we have no money for medicine, for food. Please have mercy on us.?

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‘2006 Worst Year for Human Rights in Davao Regions’

The Southern Mindanao office of the human-rights group Karapatan released today “The 2006 Human Rights Situation of Southern Mindanao.” The report detailed abuses, mainly by state security forces in the region, against civilians, activists, peasants and workers. This year, it said, “is the worst for human rights since the toppling of the Marcos fascist dictatorship in 1986.”

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The Ritual at Tudaya Falls

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Click on the image to view Cheryll D. Fiel’s pictures of the ritual.

A giant power company plans to build a hydroelectric plant in Tudaya, a village in Davao del Sur. Proponents of the project said the plant would “not only offer solution to the power crisis in the offing, but at the same time provide livelihood opportunities and other benefits to the communities.” The Lumads in the area, however, are up in arms, claiming that the plant would desecrate Tudaya Falls, which is their worship ground, and destroy their way of life. They also accuse Hedcor, the power company, of misleading members of the tribe. They expressed their opposition to the project by holding a sacred ritual last week. Davao Today?s Cheryll D. Fiel was there.

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