Military

Digos Peasant Leader Laid to Rest

Renato “Ka Atong” Pacaide, who was shot dead on March 2 by suspected military agents in Digos City, was laid to rest on Friday. Before the burial in Digos City, his family, friends and colleagues paid tribute to the slain peasant leader through testimonies, songs and prayer. They then marched around the city denouncing the continuing killings of political activists and the government’s campaign against leftist groups. Click here for more pictures. (Photos courtesy of Karapatan-Southern Mindanao)

Read Davao Today’s story on Pacaide.

(more…)

Continue ReadingDigos Peasant Leader Laid to Rest

US Bewails ‘Climate of Impunity’ in Philippines

The US State Department released today its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2006, which looks at the human-rights situation in countries around the world. The report, prepared by the department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, was released in Washington DC today by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The report has this to say about the Philippines: “During the year there were a number of arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings apparently by elements of the security services and of political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors. Many of these killings went unsolved and unpunished, contributing to a climate of impunity, despite intensified government efforts during the year to investigate and prosecute these cases.”

It blamed state security forces and insurgents, mainly the New People’s Army, for these attacks.

(more…)

Continue ReadingUS Bewails ‘Climate of Impunity’ in Philippines

A Davao Punk?s Adventure Gone Horribly Wrong


Punk’d. Anderson Alonzo says he saw soldiers electrocuting one of his friends. (davaotoday.com photo by Jeffrey Tupas)

A Davao City resident recalls the arrest and ensuing torture he and 10 other punks suffered in the hands of the police and military in Mountain Province. “We thought we were going to be ‘salvaged?,? Anderson Alonzo recalled. ?Everyone was scared. All I could think about was, whatever happens, we wanted our bodies to be taken back home.”

(more…)

Continue ReadingA Davao Punk?s Adventure Gone Horribly Wrong

The Melo Commission Report

After intense public pressure, the Arroyo administration released on Thursday the report of the Melo Commission, which was created to investigate the killings of political activists and journalists in the Philippines. In a nutshell, the report assigns accountability to state security forces for these atrocities.

Davao Today, which sourced the document from the Office of the Press Secretary, is publishing the report in full, but divided it by section and subsection for easy reading and navigation.

(more…)

Continue ReadingThe Melo Commission Report