Arroyo said she has ordered an all out military offensive not only against the Abu Sayyaf, but also against the Communist New People’s Army (NPA) so that the government can finally “return Mindanao to its people,” she said.
Anakpawis is calling for justice for the victims of the Philbest bombing in General Santos City that killed an 11-year…
Members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) take to the streets of Davao the morning after the blast in Congress, urging vigilance among the people. They call on people to act and demand an investigation into the incident that killed three, wounded several others, including lawmakers. InPeace, the peace advocacy group, said in a statement that the bombing was a smokescreen for something more sinister. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)
Representative Luzviminda Ilagan survived the blast that rocked the House of Representatives shortly after the session adjourned Tuesday night. Ilagan was reportedly bleeding due to shrapnel injuries when brought to Malvar hospital. She was declared in stable condition a few hours later. Ilagan was hurt in her right thigh and legs; and part of her hair also got burned.
The Philippines’s anti-terrorism law could be misused by the military, the groups said, adding that there would be constant disruptions in the lives of children because of the HSA. “Even in places where there is no actual fighting, classrooms are oftentimes transformed into evacuation centers, disrupting school classes. Children bear the trauma when their parents are illegally arrested and detained, or, in worst cases, killed.”
Abu Sayyaf
in Basilan:
A deadly
redux
Human Rights Watch: Since January 2000, radical armed Islamist groups in the Philippines have carried out over 40 major bombings against civilians and civilian property, mostly in the south of the country. They have killed civilians indiscriminately — Christians and Muslims, men and women, parents and children — and left behind orphans, widows, and widowers. Hundreds of other victims have suffered severe wounds, burns, and lost limbs. In all, the bombings and other attacks have caused over 1,700 casualties in the last seven years, more than the number of people killed and injured in bombing attacks during the same period in neighboring Indonesia (including the 2002 Bali bombings), and considerably more than the number of those killed and injured in bombings in Morocco, Spain, Turkey, or Britain.
Below are Davao Today’s pictures taken during the protest rally against the State of the Nation Address by President Gloria…
Activists led by Bayan and its allied groups have been mounting protest actions against the Human Security Act, the Philippines’s anti-terrorism law that is set to take effect tomorrow, July 15. Critics said the law is the most repressive piece of legislation ever crafted by the Philippine congress. (Photo by Arkibong Bayan, www.arkibongbayan.org)
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan together with progressive peoples’ organizations, civil libertarians and human rights group disputes the definition of terrorism in the HSA, saying it is prone to abuse by the authorities since it is too vague and broad. Who defines such terms as “widespread”, “extraordinary”, “panic”, “populace”, “unlawful” and so on? Even legitimate dissent can be interpreted as terrorism since under the HSA the definition is not limited to the Abu Sayyaf Group, Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda.
