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Post by dodger on Aug 15, 2013 17:58:21 GMT
What change? Child rights advocates lament ailing health of Filipino children -
The rate of prevalence of underweight children, with ages zero to five years old, remained unchanged at 20.2 percent in 2005 and 2011. The rate of prevalence of stunted growth increased from 33.1 percent in 2005 to 33.6 percent in 2011. The number of wasting children, also with ages zero to five, increased from 5.8 percent in 2005 to 7.3 percent in 2011 - See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/08/15/what-change-child-rights-advocates-lament-ailing-health-of-filipino-children/#sthash.Z99H7Ftu.dpuf
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From the same magazine this news:
The giant ‘Bounty Basket’ filled with fruits such as pineapple, durian and banana signify Davao’s agriculture bounty during the opening ceremonies of the 2013 Kadayawan Festival Friday at People’s Park. Mayor Duterte has greenlight the festival after tight security measures are put in place.- See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/08/13/davao-city-starts-kadayawan-fest/#sthash.naZYnUYy.dpuf
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Post by dodger on Aug 15, 2013 19:00:20 GMT
Children - Unicef report
WORKERS, JUN 2013 ISSUE
A week after publishing its new league table of child well-being, Unicef held a workshop at the House of Lords to debate the issues arising from the report and give its recommendations ”to those who can do something about them”.
In the report Britain came 16th out of the world’s 29 richest countries – worse than most European countries, including Ireland, Slovenia, France and Germany. This is a move up the table since the first Unicef overview in 2007, but the improvement is not consistent across all areas.
Unicef warned that cuts to local government services are “having a profound negative effect on young people”. It expected young people’s conditions to worsen following the government’s £300 million cut in services for young people.
At the workshop, other research was presented which added to the evidence that Britain’s children and young people were heading for further downgrading. Dave Gordon, a professor and expert on child poverty at the University of Bristol, provided an update on children's material well-being based on Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK, an independent survey measuring the change in the nature and extent of poverty and social exclusion over the past ten years.
Gordon said the financial insecurity of nearly half of the British population is already having negative effects on children, and these are likely to get worse.
www.workers.org.uk/news/news_0613/children.html
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Post by dodger on Aug 15, 2013 21:11:21 GMT
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Post by dodger on Aug 23, 2013 17:08:24 GMT
The Children’s Society/NUT/ ATL joint press release
14 December 2012.
Alarming new evidence of hunger in schools raises urgent call for free school meals
Nearly half of UK teachers are seeing hungry children coming into school, a new report from The Children’s Society, released today (14 December) reveals.
‘Food for Thought: A survey on teacher’s views on school meals’ reveals alarming evidence of child poverty and hunger in UK schools. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of teachers reported seeing children coming to school with no lunch and no means to pay for one.
And two thirds (66%) of the teachers we spoke to stated that staff provide pupils with food or money if they come into school hungry.
The Children’s Society’s report comes just a few days after the government announced its plans for implementing Universal Credit. The introduction of a new welfare system provides decision-makers with a unique opportunity to make sure all children in poverty get a free school meal.
Every day, more than half of the 2.2 million school children living in poverty in England miss out on a free school meal. 700,000 of these children are not even entitled to one - often because their parents work, regardless of how little they earn. A further 500,000 are not taking up their free school meals because they face barriers, such as stigma, teasing and bullying.
‘Food for Thought’ also reveals that 98% of teachers believe that all children living in poverty, including those in working families, should receive a free school meal.
Matthew Reed, Chief Executive of The Children’s Society, said: “This report sets out shocking evidence of just how much hardship teachers up and down the country are witnessing in classrooms day in, day out. Something is going badly wrong when teachers themselves are having to feed children.
"Every child in poverty should be given a free school meal. Free school meals are key to moving children out of poverty and vital to helping them flourish."
Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said: “Our teachers see hunger in their classrooms every day. Free school meals often are the only chance children in poverty get to have a balanced, nutritional meal. They should be available to all children in need.”
Hank Roberts, President of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), said: “It is deeply worrying that our teachers are seeing pupils arriving at school unable to pay for their lunch and are too often going without. The Children’s Society’s report clearly shows the importance of free school meals in tackling child poverty, and we support the recommendation that all children living in poverty should be entitled to free school meals.”
The Children’s Society’s report also highlights teachers’ views of the importance of a healthy lunch on students’ ability to learn.
It also emphasises the importance of a cashless system for helping to end the stigma sometimes associated with free school meals.
Further notes:
2.2 million school children in the UK are living in poverty.
Six in 10 children living in poverty are in low-income working familie.
The Children’s Society worked with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) to survey 570 teachers across the UK about their views on food in schools, concerning free school meals, the levels of hunger in schools and the quality of food in school. We also undertook a nationally representative poll of teachers and spoke directly to young people who are entitled to free school meals.
Only children whose parents are out of work, or whose parent (single) works less than 16-hours a week or both parents work less than 24-hours a week are entitled to free school meals. The Children’s Society’s Fair and Square campaign calls for all children living in poverty to receive a free school meal.
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Post by dodger on Aug 29, 2013 17:56:39 GMT
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Post by dodger on Sept 13, 2013 8:34:46 GMT
Eavesdropping during an MRT ride
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
I thought it would be just another day.
I took the MRT on my way to cover the interfaith rally calling for the abolition of the pork barrel. I sat down next to a woman who was seemingly too engrossed with her conversation with another woman, who, at first glance, appeared to be her friend.
The other woman made her son sit between them. They continued to talk, their voice low enough so only the three of them could hear it.
But it was the kid that took my attention.
He was wearing eyeglasses and a mask. In his hands, he held a big can, a makeshift coin bank. His photo was taped to a can, along with some details. The boy’s name is Robinson and it seems that he has leukemia.
It made me curious. I eavesdropped.
I know, i know. Eavesdropping is bad. I was taught not to do that since I was a kid. But it was just hard not to hear them — their voices were becoming more and more distinct. Maybe because I was already purposely trying to listen to their conversation? It was hard to tell. But one thing was clear: the two women were not friends. They did not know each other until that day.
Robinson’s mother was trying to remember the kind of the medicine her son is taking. She kept describing it but it was not helping in any way the woman next to me, who, on the other hand, appeared to be a nurse working in Saudi Arabia but is here in Manila for a short vacation.
The list of Robinson’s medicines, his mother said, was submitted to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. She is hoping they can get the medicines in time for his chemotherapy on Monday, Sept. 16. She said it in a very hopeful tone, like it was their only chance of securing the medicines.
The nurse then said that if only Robinson’s mother could remember his medicine, she would gladly send them. She tried to recall but to no avail. Had she known the two of them would meet, Robinson’s mother said she would have made a copy of her son’s medicine. She sounded very sad and regretful, though she never committed a single mistake.
Probably feeling so sorry that she could not help, the nurse dropped several coins to Robinson’s coin bank. It broke my heart.
If only public funds are placed where it should be spent, Robinson does not probably need to carry a coin bank everywhere he goes. If only the government is funding public health care instead of pocketing the people’s hard-earned taxes (Hello, pork barrel scam!), then Robinson’s mother would not need to feel guilty for not bringing a list of her son’s medicine.
The coins and the few bills that I and other passengers soon dropped at his coin bank was far too small for the kind of social service Robinson should get from the government. Our donation was far too small compared to the millions of missing pork barrel funds, which, I guess, is safely stored in the pockets of very few people.
I was tempted to ask Robinson’s mother if I could take a picture of them. I wanted a face for this blog. But I did not. I realized that Robinson is not alone. Somewhere out there, probably in the next train car, someone too is asking for financial assistance.
There is no need to take a photo of Robinson, his mother or the kind nurse sitting next to me. They bear the same faces, the same struggles being confronted by every Filipino, deprived of free and accessible social basic services. (http://bulatlat.com) - See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/09/12/eavesdropping-during-an-mrt-ride/#sthash.zrL0VylW.dpuf
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Post by dodger on Sept 17, 2013 5:41:15 GMT
SAN AGUSTIN, ROMBLON—I chanced upon a group of kids gathered on the shore during low tide. At first I thought they were picking shells but as I walked closer I saw that they were gathering some stones.
I noticed the smallest among them, a little girl who looked like she was eight. I sat on a rock next to her and asked what she was doing. She was shy at first but she warmed up to me after I introduced myself.
Her name is Jocelyn Moral, she is 12 years old. I asked her what she was doing with the stones. She said her cousins sell the stones to homebuilders in town. She usually fills a big repurposed can of biscuit in one day, which is equivalent to ten pesos ($0.25)
Jocelyn is the second of seven kids. Her mother works as a laundrywoman and her father cuts coco lumber for a living. When not gathering gravel, Jocelyn helps take care of her younger siblings.
Jocelyn is in 4th grade in school. “I should be in sixth grade, “she told me. “I stopped school twice because we have no money.”
I asked her what she wanted to be when she grows up, she looks at me as if unsure what I was asking. “Do you want to be a teacher, a doctor?” I prodded.
She shrugged, “I don’t even know if I can enroll next school year or even get into high school. Life is just too hard,” she said.
“But do you want to?” I asked.
She nodded, then said, “I do know what I want to do when I grow up.”
I nodded encouragingly. “I want to be able to help my family,” she said.
I sat quietly beside her, unsure of what to say next. A few minutes later, she said she had to go home as it was getting dark. Her grandmother will be waiting for her at the foot of the hills so they can start their long walk home.
She picked up a plastic noodle cup she kept beside her all the time. I noticed that it was full of shells.
“How pretty, do you play with them or are you going to sell them too?“ I asked.
She looked at me and chuckled. She picked the biggest shell and showed it to me. “This is dinner,” she said.Text and photos by POM CAHILOG-VILLANUEVA (http://bulatlat.com) - See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/04/04/gravel-picker-romblon/#sthash.fq4isi7O.dpufGravel picker, Romblon
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Post by dodger on Oct 1, 2013 18:51:47 GMT
KITE replicas of the Philippine Eagle and mythical phoenix Kite Flying, both an art and science--in the flying and fabrication. Bonding time too. Competition also. Below Manobo children find solace in flying plastic shopping bags on long cane. High up in the hills of Compostela Valley, Mindanao. Whatever the depth of your pocket or materials at hand--the thrills are the same.
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Post by dodger on Nov 4, 2013 11:44:23 GMT
A rag child’s flickering dreamThe real disaster in our country is neither the flood-inducing typhoons that sink our cities under murky waters nor the earthquakes that crumble our homes. In the end, the real disaster here is the poverty that ruins lives.
By LUIS ADRIAN A. HIDALGO Bulatlat.comMANILA — Twelve-year-old Jona Marie Placer would wake up as early as 5:30 in the morning to prepare for the long day ahead of her. After dressing up and having coffee for breakfast by 6:00 a.m., she would head to school together with her mother, hoping that they would arrive just in time before the school’s gate closes at 7:00 a.m.
Not anymore.
It has been almost two months now since Jona last attended her classes. She has decided to drop out of school to help her mother earn a living. But still, she has continued to wake up early in the morning every day—not to go to school, but to go to their neighbor’s home just a few steps away from theirs to start her work early.
Poverty has pushed her to work at an early age. It has deprived her of many opportunities, but most of all, it has deprived her of her childhood. Jona dreams of becoming a teacher someday but poverty has replaced the book in her hands with a sewing machine. Education is a crucial step for Jona in realizing her dream, but before she can make that step, she has to earn enough money first by making cheap rags with their neighbor’s sewing machine.
While children her age are in school with a pencil in their hand, writing their answers for the class exercise on their notebook, Jona is in front of a sewing machine, carefully setting a spool of thread to where it should belong. For every page of a book a student finishes reading, Jona would have produced twice as much rags, or even more, as she continues to diligently sew together small, round pieces of cloth of different colors until she finally gets tired. By then, her mother will take her place and continue where she left off.
But despite her situation, Jona’s resolve has not changed. In fact, she looks forward to finally going back to school next year. “Gusto ko pa ring pumasok kahit na wala pa rin kaming pang-aral (I still want to study even if we don’t have enough money to send me to school),” Jona said. “Gusto ko po mag-teacher para makapag-turo sa mga hindi nakapag-aral (I want to become a teacher so that I can teach those who weren’t able to go to school).”
Jona’s family is just one of the countless more who fell victim to our country’s most conspicuous problem—poverty. According to the latest data released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), published on August 23 this year, the percentage of Filipinos living below the poverty line has remained almost unchanged in the past six years, with an estimate of 27.9 percent of poverty incidence among the population during the first semester of 2012 despite the 6.6 percent economic growth rate that the country was able to achieve on the same year. But then again, the results are problematic because the NSCB’s poverty threshold is very low, hence, the low poverty incidence reported. Definitely, many more Filipinos are living below the poverty line.
Jona dreams of becoming a teacher. (Photo by Luis Adrian Hidalgo / Bulatlat.com)
Consequently, people as young as five years old are forced into labor, according to the preliminary results of the 2011 Survey on Children (SOC) by the National Statistics Office published July 2012. The number of working children from ages five to seventeen was estimated at 5.5 million, which means one in every ten children is already working in the National Capital Region alone, with the ratio varying in the different parts of the country, according to the survey’s results.
From a broader view, child labor is merely one of the many other consequences of poverty. One other repercussion is the inability of many people below the poverty line to avail of proper housing—a repercussion which Jona’s family, along with the other 5,000 families living Sitio San Roque along Agham Road, are victims as well. Things are bound to go worse as the impending Central Business District, a joint project by the Quezon City government and Ayala Land, leaves the residents with no other choice but to relocate. In an effort to persuade the residents to leave the area, the local government has been offering relocation to Barangay San Jose del Monte, Bulacan and in Kasiglahan Village in Montalban, Rizal, along with ?5,000 cash assistance for each family, as provided by Ayala.
Many residents have already relocated but others refused to leave. According to Carlito Badion of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (KADAMAY), many refuse to relocate because the relocation sites are far worse than the present location of many informal settlers, prompting some relocatees to return to their previous homes, like what Teodora Malazarde, a returning resident of Sitio San Roque, did. According to her, life in Montalban was much harder without any livelihood to get by with, not to mention the occasional flooding brought about by torrential rains. About a year after relocating, she and her family decided to return to San Roque, even though they had to live within a cramped space outside a friend’s house. It is better that way, she explains, because at least in San Roque, they have access to work to earn a living.
Jona’s family is faced with the same predicament that many of the residents of Sitio San Roque are dealing with. But things were different several years ago, according to Jona’s mother, Melinda Placer, 47.
In 1990, the area of Sitio San Roque barely had any houses. Aling Melinda recalls how there were more tall grasses than the people and houses, occasionally making their area an ideal spot for the disposing of salvage victims. Yet, the community was in peace. But within the span of two decades, many had changed. Their population increased. Many were jobless. Crimes became rampant. Things grew even worse after their area became a target for demolition over the past years. Since then, the residents have lived with a sword hanging over their heads, knowing that someday, they might have no other choice but to leave and start anew somewhere else.
Constant threats of demolition have pushed the residents to band together to protect what little they have and to protect their basic right to housing. The Urban Development Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) should have upheld this basic right of the urban poor, but time and again, UDHA has failed to provide for the underprivileged, despite it being its primary objective—“to uplift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban areas and in resettlement areas by making available to them decent housing at affordable cost, basic services and employment opportunities (Section 2a).” And contrary to the notion propagated by the mainstream media, underprivileged citizens like the residents of Sitio San Roque are neither choosy nor hard headed. They are such because they stand up to protect and assert their rights. They resist because they have everything to lose.
Such are the complications that impede Jona from fully realizing her dream of becoming a teacher. Jona’s got a long way to go before she finally gets to fulfill her dream. In order to get back on track, she has to be able to return to school; but that won’t be so easy.
For almost eight years now, Aling Melinda has been the only one earning for the family after her husband’s untimely death. Sending Jona to school would mean providing at least ?100 daily; even that is barely enough for her daughter to get by through the day as nearly half of the amount would have been spent on transportation alone, not to mention her meal allowance and other expenses at school. Just thinking of how she would come up with such an amount every day is enough for her to fall into silence. But during such times, Jona, being the perceptive child that she is, would always have the right words to say to cheer up her mother.
There was one time, however, when Aling Melinda was puzzled by Jona’s words. Once, Jona told her: “Ma, sa susunod na pasukan mag-aaral talaga akong mabuti para hindi na tayo kawawa (Ma, next school year I’ll study hard so that we’ll no longer be poor).” Surprised, Aling Melinda asked Jona for an explanation, to which Jona responded innocently: “Ganito pala ang maging mahirap (So this is how it is to be poor).” In the end, poverty still is their biggest enemy.
To hear someone so young and innocent say that she understands what to be poor is like, one must wonder where things have gone wrong in our country. Has life become too rough here that even people as young as Jona are able to arrive at such a realization? But more importantly, what can we do to address their problem?
In the context of disasters, there is an abundance of studies and laws that address problems brought about by calamities that affect our country. However, we are yet to see a concrete solution that will address the plight of our underprivileged fellow Filipinos. Perhaps we have become too fixated on the things with which we have no control over that we have failed to realize that what really needs our attention have always been in plain sight.
We cannot do anything to avoid disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes as both are naturally occurring—something that we have no control over. But poverty can be addressed. It can be resolved. We have the capability to end it, no matter how difficult the task. We only need to channel our attention and best efforts toward the things that need it the most.
The real disaster in our country is neither the flood-inducing typhoons that sink our cities under murky waters nor the earthquakes that crumble our homes. In the end, the real disaster here is the poverty that ruins lives. (http://bulatlat.com) - See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/10/31/a-rag-childs-flickering-dream/#sthash.0tAtN5g2.dpuf
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Post by dodger on Nov 24, 2013 7:29:48 GMT
‘Sweetie’ project highlights need for effective measures vs. child pornography
 “In a very short period, over 20,000 predators from around the world approached the virtual 10- year-old asking for webcam sex performances.” – Terre des Homes
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com MANILA – Child’s rights organizations in the Philippines lauded Terre des Homes (TDH), an international child rights organization, for gaining a headway in the battle against the serious problem of child pornography by creating “Sweetie”, a computer-generated image (CGI) patterned after a 10-year old Filipina girl, and being able to track down over a thousand child predators from more than 65 countries.
Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns said TDH’s initiative is a positive step in the battle against the sexual exploitation of children.
Hans Guyt, director of campaigns at TDH in the Netherlands, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle, a German online newspaper, they visited the Philippines a year and a half ago for their project against child prostitution. They found out that children are being made to work inside internet shops. Guyt said these children are being forced by their parents.
“We noticed that a lot of child prostitutes had just disappeared from view. They are now working from Internet cafes and that’s how we first got interested in this particular subject. We also found out that more children are actually exposed to this new phenomenon,” Guyt was quoted saying in the report.
The TDH’s previous visit in the Philippines prompted the idea of creating “Sweetie.” With Sweetie, TDH said, online child predators could be easily tracked down.
“With an innovative technology the virtual character Sweetie was created to be controlled by Terre des Hommes researchers. From a remote building in Amsterdam the researchers operated in public chat rooms. In a very short period, over 20,000 predators from around the world approached the virtual 10- year-old asking for webcam sex performances. While the adults interacted with the virtual girl, the researchers gathered information about them through social media to uncover their identities.”
According to the TDH’s data, United States topped the list of countries where child predators were identified with 254, followed by Britain with 110 and India with 103. The TDH has handed the video footage of the child predators to police authorities.
Prostitution due to poverty
Salinlahi said Sweetie had shed light on one of the horrifying realities in Philippine society. “But the battle is far from over,” Kharlo Manano acting secretary general of Salinlahi said.
Manano said Sweetie showed that child pornography is very much real and continues to proliferate because the Philippine government is continuing to fail in addressing its root cause: poverty.
“Children who come from impoverished backgrounds are faced with everyday struggles to survive. They are forced to find sources of income through any means. This vulnerability is being used and abused by sexual exploiters who run cybersex dens and employ these children to perform sexual acts in exchange for a small amount of money,” Manano said.
Manano cited a joint inquiry by Transparency International, United Nations and US Department of State, which revealed that 300,000 to 400,000 Filipina women fell victim to human trafficking. Sixty to 100,000 of them are children. Data also showed 80 percent of women victims of human trafficking are below 18 years old. The study identified poverty as the main vulnerability afflicting women and children.
He also cited the Trafficking in Persons Report 2013 of the US Department of State where the Philippines retained its Tier 2 status, which means that the government has failed to fully comply with the minimum standards set by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
“Sweetie is real,” Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Luz Ilagan said. She said the TDH documentation on the prevalence of pedophilia through Sweetie is something that should be taken seriously.
“It is clearly a reflection of how a growing number of young girls from the Philippines are falling prey to cyber prostitution and pedophile syndicates. Adding to Sweetie’s credibility as a subject in this project is the reality of poverty in the Philippines that forces women and girls to cyber prostitution,” said Ilagan.
More child victims amid laws protecting children
With the TDH campaign and the data that it had culled, the GWP filed a resolution to look into the prevalence of pedophilia, and the use of Filipino children for cyber prostitution.
On Nov. 11, Ilagan with Rep Emmi De Jesus filed House Resolution 453 which Directs the Committees on the Welfare of Children and Women and Gender Equality to conduct an inquiry on the virtual “Sweetie” and the glaring inability of the Philippine government to stop pedophilia and child pornography.
The resolution cited a provision in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which states that “It shall be the duty of the State to defend the right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to their development.”
The resolution cited the increasing victimization of children even with the passage of the Anti-Child Pornography Law and the prevalence of cyber prostitution targeting children in the Central Visayas, Ilocos, Zamboanga and the National Capital Region. The resolution read, “The continued and increasing victimization of children via cyber pornography in the light of the passage of the Anti-Child Pornography Law four years ago, raises questions on its implementation.”
“The National Statistics Coordination Board claims that ‘most of the sexually-exploited children are victims of cyber pornography, at an alarming rate of 33.8 percent in 2009 and 31.5 percent in 2010.’”
The Gabriela solons urged the Interpol as well as local law enforcement agencies to further undertake operations to track down and impose sanctions on individuals that the TDH project managed to identify.
“We hope that an investigation into the prevalence of pedophilia and cyber prostitution involving children and young girls in the Philippines would result in not just the enactment of laws for their protection, but concrete measures to address poverty,” De Jesus said. She added that the government should accept the reality that extreme poverty forces many women and children to prostitution and exposes them to violence so that the government could come up with appropriate and effective responses.
Meanwhile, Salinlahi said they would hold simultaneous protest actions on November 20, in time for the 23rd anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to condemn the government’s inaction in protecting children.
“We urge the public, especially child rights advocates to turn our outrage into action by pushing the State to ultimately fulfill its responsibility to protect children from any form of abuse and exploitation,” Manano said. (http://bulatlat.com)
- See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/11/13/sweetie-project-highlights-need-for-effective-measures-vs-child-pornography/#sthash.Xg6il6Dx.dpuf
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Post by dodger on Dec 5, 2013 14:09:49 GMT
DECEMBER 4, 2013 Children speak out against militarization
 Through arts and play, the children were able to see that
they have a voice to speak out their concerns.
By JOAN GARCIA Bulatlat.com ILOCOS SUR – Around 100 children, aged 8-16 years old, called on the Philippine Army to leave their communities at Sta. Lucia and Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. During the two-day Peace Camp held on November 30 to December 1, the children participants expressed their fear and anger at the encampment of the military near their homes.
JM*, 12 years old, said their livelihood has been disrupted since the military came, as his parents are afraid to go to the mountains for fear of being mistaken as members of the New People’s Army.
According to Zoilo Baladad, Outreach Program Coordinator of Children’s Rehabilitation Center Ilocos, the military started to encamp in the communities during the start of President Benigno Aquino III’s administration. The 81st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army has been staying at the mountain side of the communities because they claim that the people in the area are supporters of the NPA. Even socio-economic projects by non-government organizations are being tagged as having come from the NPA. The potable water system built by the Timpuyog Ti Umili Ti Karayan Buaya (People’s Organization at Buaya River) was tagged by the military as a project of the armed group.
Among the human rights violations recorded in the area are the encampment in the barangay hall and attempted arrest of a resident on grounds that he is a suspected member of the NPA.
Through arts and play, the children were able to see that they have a voice to speak out their concerns. JM said he realized that even if they are still young, they have a role to play and that is to actively fight for their rights.
The children also said that they will help their parents in fighting against militarization. (http://bulatlat.com) - See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/12/04/children-speak-out-against-militarization/#sthash.iYcVDZvz.dpuf |
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Post by dodger on Dec 17, 2013 19:23:50 GMT
DECEMBER 17, 2013 Comval revolutionary govt indicts PH troops implicated in boy’s murder
By Davao Today DAVAO CITY – A “special investigating body” of the “Compostela Valley People’s Democratic Government” has recommended “an order for the immediate arrest and commencement of the trial” of 23 respondents composed of army, police and government civilian personnel implicated in the “murder” of Roque Antivo.
Roque Antivo was killed in a strafing incident which allegedly involved military men of the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion last April 3 in a road near their farm in Sitio Kidaraan, Barangay Anitapan, Mabini, Compostela Valley. The military has maintained that Antivo was killed due to an encounter between the AFP and the New People’s Army.
JUSTICE FOR ROQUE. Children and rights advocates join the funeral march Wednesday for eight-year-old Roque Antivo who was allegedly killed in a strafing incident by members of the 71st IB. Mourners stopped outside the Mabini Police Station as they demand for justice for Roque and all other children who were victims of the military including Sunshine Jabinez and Grecil Buya. (davaotoday.com photo by John Rizle L. Saligumba)
Two survivors of the incident pointed to the military as responsible for the shooting while Antivo’s father positively identified a certain Lieutenant Llorca as the commanding officer of the group who led the strafing against his sons and brother in law.
The 11-page “indictment,” signed last December 10 during the International Human Rights Day was signed by an “investigating body” composed of Members Osang Quijano and Mario Renante and Head Julius Senajon.
It laid down 12 “facts and circumstances” to “support” the charges against the respondents for “planning, aiding, abetting and conspiring in the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious violations of Human rights and international humanitarian law in the murder of Roque Antivo and frustrated murders of Jefrey Hernan and Earl Jhun Antivo.”
At the height of the furor in April caused by Antivo’s killing, Compostela Provincial Police Directo Camilo Pancratius Cascolan said the identified military officers were “restricted to barracks.” The police office later recommended that cases be filed against the unit but did not progress.
In the indictment paper, the investigating body said they found “probable cause” to charge with “murder” and “frustrated murder” 2Lt. Felipe D. Llorca, Jr., the commander officer of a unit under the Army’s 71st Infantry Battalion and 12 soldiers under his command.
Llorca’s higher-ups in the Battalion level Lt. Col. Jerry T. Borja of the 71st Infantry Battalaion, his Brigade Commander Col. Angelito de Leon of the 1001st Brigade, the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command Commanding General Maj. Gen. Ricardo Rainier G. Cruz, III and 10th Infantry Division Civil Military Operations officer Major Jake Obligado were also implicated for “acts of bribery and for influencing the victim’s family to deny justice and erase culpability of the responsible Army unit.
The “investigating body singled out” Obligado as he “was said to have offered scholarship and small amount to the Antivos to prevent them from filing charges against the Army” to which Ms. Evelyn Antivo, Roque’s mother, “refused.”
Police officers and members of the crime laboratory of the Mabini police were “charged” for “having committed the cover-up in the crimes by “presenting, giving credence and by upholding the clearly tampered evidence at the crime scene and for deliberately showing two sets of bullets to insinuate that two armed groups were involved in an armed encounter.”
Meanwhile, Provincial Prosecutor Graciano Arafol, Jr. based in Nabunturan was also cited in the indictment for having dismissed the case filed by the victim’s family. The investigating body criticized Arafol for “relying heavily on the respondents’ unsubstantiated and self-serving alibis of a phantom encounter between the responsible AFP unit and the NPA.”
Other respondents in the document includes Pres. Benigno Aquino III, Defense Chief Voltaire Gazmin, AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Emmanuel T. Bautista for their role in the formulation and implementation of Oplan Bayanihan, “which involves military campaigns of suppression, including the brutal killing of adults and children through bombings, strafing, among others.”
Del Mundo said that children who are already “exploited on account of poverty and oppression” are “deliberate targets of AFP operations in hapless communities that are suspected to be under the control or are supportive of the revolutionary movement.”
The indictment document also cited ”historical agrravating circumstances” implicating the 71st IB and its officers for its involvement in the harassment of a teacher, mauling of a civilian, and killing of a girl in 2011.
In indicting the respondents, the investigating body recommended that appropriate penalties will be meted out to the respondents after due trial. Reposted by (http://bulatlat.com)
- See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2013/12/17/comval-revolutionary-govt-indicts-ph-troops-implicated-in-boys-murder/#sthash.Np1icNPY.dpuf |
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Post by dodger on Jan 7, 2014 5:01:48 GMT
 Daughter saw activist father shot to death
By EARL O. CONDEZA Davao Today MACO, Compostela Valley – Jay-jay, 12, saw a man pulling a gun against her father Marcelo Monterona last January 3. Her instinct was to throw a stone against her dad’s attacker, but as fear overwhelmed her, she scampered to get home.
It was an emotional Jayjay who talked to Davao Today at the wake of Monterona. Her mother, Teresita, remembered seeing Marcelo driving off their multicab jeepney after fixing it.
“Then we heard an explosion. At first, we thought it was merely a firecracker but the explosions were actually shots, several shots. We went out to check and we saw his bloody body,” Teresita, in tears, told Davao Today.
Colleagues at Hugpong sa mga Mag uuma sa Walog Kompostela (Humawak), a farmers organization, believed the military singled out Monterona for his role in the anti-mining and human rights campaign in the area.
Humawak spokesperson Renante Mantos said Monterona was killed by members of the 71st Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army, the same Army unit to whom human rights advocates tagged as the unit responsible for killing Tinga, a 57-year old Mansaka tribal leader in Barangay Malamodao, in an operation last Dec 6.
Mantos said that Monterona called for the pull-out of 71st IB following Tinga’s death.
Monterona was also part of the negotiating panel of Indug Kautawan (People Uprise), a Pablo-survivors group which fought the indemnification of P3.6 million and 300 sacks of rice by the APEX Mining.
“Monterona was a good person. He did not have enemies in the community who could have the motive for killing him,”Mantos added.
Junjun one of Monterona’s children, called on the local government and the police to act, conduct speedy probe and arrest the perpetrators.
Mantos slammed the local police for ignoring the incident and not acting immediately. (Davaotoday.com)
- See more at: bulatlat.com/main/2014/01/07/daughter-saw-activist-father-shot-to-death/#sthash.YfxtHaPj.dpuf ......................................................................
Here the wheel of justice grinds, exceeding slow. However it grinds finely. The People's Revolutionary Government is many faceted, already it is the first port of call. Whether for a stolen Carabao, a land dispute, or indeed a murder. Few doubt that the killers are being coddled by the military--whether hired goons or their own operatives. The attempts to obtain justice from the state here are a forgone conclusion. A ritual. As the revolution advances the visibility of the PRG becomes more apparent. Justice delayed is justice denied. A blood debt has been incurred and will be repaid. This has often a salutary effect far and wide. Local thugs, corrupt police, mining companies, military intel operatives, in a word, have to face new realities. They no longer have a monopoly on power or naked force. They never did--just of late we have been acquainted with that truth. This must be constantly reinforced. Such are the resources here , human and material, gold platinum, timber, rich soil for eco fuels, fruit, that greed overcomes many fears. The days when folk could be just killed or suffer abuse, with impunity, are drawing to a close. |
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