ALERT!
Denounce the series of harassment against elderly fisherfolk leader Ka Romy Antazo.
Antazo, 80 years old, is former Secretary Gene
PAMALAKAYA on Facebook:
ALERT!
Denounce the series of harassment against elderly fisherfolk leader Ka Romy Antazo.
Antazo, 80 years old, is former Secretary General of PAMALAKAYA and now a retired fisherman in Laguna de Bay.
During his active years in PAMALAKAYA, he was at the forefront of the fisherfolk’s campaign for the conservation of Laguna de Bay against profit-driven and destructive projects, including coastal conversion, reclamation, and proliferation of corporate-owned fish pens.
The veteran fisherfolk leader has been repeatedly approached by state agents and offered him livelihood support and assistance in exchange for his “cooperation”.
It has been presumed that the said “cooperation” equates that Antazo will be presented by the authorities as a “rebel returnee” to turn against and establish the red-tagging of progressive and mass-based organizations.
[...]
We are extremely alarmed over these incidents, as these could subject Antazo to further and worse kinds of attacks because of his firm stand against the authorities’ demands.
Moreover, the consistent effort to coerce Antazo to cooperate with the authorities is part of the Marcos Jr. administration’s tactics in counterinsurgency campaign, which blatantly violates the rights of civilians to freedom of expression and association.
We call on the human rights and environmental defenders, fisherfolk advocates, and champions of democracy, to denounce the government’s anti-democratic schemes that put our leaders and members at risk of exploitation and injustice.
if you guys are posting about halalan 2022 please be careful cause they could start red-tagging! (rumor lang po but just in case<3)
red-tagging definition:
Red-tagging in the Philippines refers to the malicious blacklisting of individuals or organizations critical or not fully supportive of the actions of a sitting government administration in the country.
mga articles tungkol sa red-tagging po:
Deadly 'Red-Tagging' Campaign Ramps Up in Philippines
Red-tagging in the Philippines
Some cops still red-tagging on social media despite PNP chief’s warning – Zarate
if these articles are not entirely true, please tell me! i'll delete them from this post right away.
Manila’s pivot to Beijing during the previous administration yielded more than a dozen infrastructure deals, but most of them remain mired i
Located 62km north-east of the capital Manila, Daraitan village in Rizal province is home to about 5,700 residents, a majority of whom are members of the Dumagat-Remontado indigenous people who consider vast hectares of the mountain range as part of their ancestral domain.
But the village may soon disappear under the same waters that give it life, once the Philippine government finishes building the Kaliwa Dam – one of 16 flagship infrastructure projects of former president Rodrigo Duterte that is being funded by China.
The new dam is expected to provide Metro Manila with an additional 600 million litres of water daily once it is finished by end-2026. Officials said building the 60m-high reservoir is even more necessary now that the country is starting to feel the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon.
But it was only in 2021 under Mr Duterte that construction finally broke ground, three years after Manila and Beijing signed the 12 billion peso (S$288 million) loan agreement.
Of the 119 on the list [of flagship projects of the "Build, Build, Build” infrastructure programme], Mr Duterte turned to China to finance 16 big-ticket projects in a bid to cement his legacy by the time his presidency ended in 2022. He embraced Beijing during his term and even downplayed Manila’s claims in the disputed South China Sea in favour of securing loans and grants from China.
Analysts have criticised Mr Duterte’s infrastructure programme as ambitious. Perennial domestic issues like local politics, right-of-way acquisition problems, lack of technology and red tape in bureaucracy led to severe delays in the projects.
The same issues hound the China-funded projects – which come under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build infrastructure in developing nations – with the problems made more severe by Beijing’s high interest rates in its loan agreements and local backlash due to displacement of residents or potential environmental damage.
Critics say the BRI has been detrimental in the long run to some recipient countries, especially those that have been unable to repay their loans, like Sri Lanka and Zambia.
The Duterte government’s failure to take advantage of its BRI loans was a “missed opportunity” for the Philippines, said infrastructure governance specialist Jerik Cruz, a graduate research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The four completed China-funded projects under Mr Duterte were controversial too. But they came to fruition because they had the support of local politicians allied with Mr Duterte and therefore increased his political capital, said Dr Camba.
Tribal leaders said they were not properly consulted regarding the project that threatens their traditional way of life. Environmentalists from the Stop Kaliwa Dam Network also say the project would destroy 126 species of flora and fauna in the Sierra Madre.
The Philippines’ Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act states that the government must first secure a tribe’s free, prior and informed consent before building on its ancestral lands.
But Ms Clara Dullas, one of the leaders of the Dumagat-Remontado in Rizal, alleged that the Duterte government had either misinformed or pressured other tribe members into giving their consent.
She could not bear to hold grudges, though, noting that the Dumagat-Remontado organisations that eventually agreed to the Kaliwa Dam were each given 80 million pesos, or $1.9 million, in “disturbance” fees.
“The Kaliwa Dam is the reason why our tribe is divided now. There is a crack in our relationships even if we all come from the same family,” said Ms Dullas. “I can’t blame the others because we lack money. I believe there was bribery involved.”
The government requires them to present identification documents, and only those given passes may enter. Mr Dizon said this is to ensure that no unidentified personnel enter the area [close to the construction zone].
“We feel like we are foreigners in our own home because the Chinese and the people in our own government are now preventing us from entering the lands where we grew up,” said tribe leader Renato Ibanez, 48.
Mr Ibanez also accuses the Philippine authorities of harassing tribe members who are vocal against Kaliwa Dam. Some of them have been accused of working with communist rebels, a charge the tribe vehemently denies.
Unlike his predecessor, Mr Marcos is more aggressive in defending Manila’s overlapping claims with Beijing in the South China Sea, but still fosters economic ties with it.
Geopolitical tensions between the two nations and Mr Marcos’ stance towards Beijing are going to dictate the fate of the pending China-funded projects the President inherited from Mr Duterte, said Mr Cruz.
Tribe members said they would be more amenable if Mr Marcos would revisit Japan’s proposed Kaliwa Intake Weir project that Mr Duterte had set aside.
“We like Japan’s proposal. It would not destroy our forests. It would not affect residents here. The Philippines would not be buried in debt,” said Ms Dullas.
This was among the alternatives the Dumagat-Remontados offered during their nine-day march in February 2023, when some 300 members walked 150km from Quezon and Rizal all the way to Manila to protest against the Kaliwa Dam.
But they failed to secure an audience with Mr Marcos. They remain wary of the President’s position on the Kaliwa Dam and other controversial China-funded deals.
“As much as we want to fully pin our hopes on him, we don’t. We’ve learnt from past efforts to trick us, make us believe a project is about to end, only for it to be resurrected again years later,” said Ms Dullas.
'RING BELLS FOR FREEDOM': In observance of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, community journalists, church workers, and human rights activists ring bells to call for the release of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, lay worker Marielle Domequil, and activist Alexander Abinguna from unjust detention.
They were arrested on February 7, 2020 in Tacloban City, along with two others. They are collectively known as the 'Tacloban 5'.
On November 11, Cumpio will testify before the Tacloban regional trial court. She will defend herself from the trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and financing terrorism against her.
The NUPL Cebu Chapter expresses its strongest condemnation over the killings of Hannah Jay Cesista and four other individuals, namely Domingo Compoc, Perlito Historia, Marlon Omosura, and Alberto Sancho in Bilar, Bohol, collectively known as Bilar 5.
An Iskolar ng Bayan, Hannah earned her Political Science degree from the UP Cebu. As a college student, she joined various organizations aligned with her principles and beliefs - Youth For Christ UP Cebu Chapter, Cebu Students for Justice and Peace, & Kabataan Partylist UP Cebu.
She then enrolled in the University of San Carlos (USC) to pursue a law degree. During her law school days, Hannah volunteered at NUPL Cebu and was instrumental in forming the law students’ arm of the Cebu Chapter.
NUPL Cebu members can attest to Hannah’s unwavering dedication and active involvement in the chapter’s activities in providing legal services to marginalized communities.
She was always the first person to volunteer when lawyers needed assistance in the countless legal work of the organization. She joined community visits for paralegal trainings & discussions on human rights despite the demands of law school. Hannah also passed the 2022 Bar Exams.
Numerous reports have circulated concerning an alleged “encounter” between the New People’s Army (NPA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) at Sitio Matin-ao 2, Barangay Campagao, Bilar, Bohol last February 23, 2024, Friday.
Contrary to law enforcement’s claims, initial reports received by NUPL Cebu show significant discrepancies and expose their possible commission of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations.
Several accounts support that no encounter has transpired. Instead, the five individuals were ordered to vacate the house where they were staying. The four men were forced to strip off their shirts. Along with Cesista, they were forced to roll in the mud.
The witnesses narrated that they were pleading with state forces to stop their inhumane acts but to no avail.
Killing Hannah and her companions is one of the many state-sanctioned efforts to harm activists, human rights workers, and dissenters- as part of their futile attempt to conceal the harsh realities of poverty and inequality in this country.
NUPL Cebu expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of Hannah. We call on the Philippine government to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation and to hold accountable the perpetrators responsible for the deaths of Bilar 5. Hustisya alang sa Bilar 5!
Long live Hannah Cesista! Long live Domingo Compoc! Long live Parlito Historia! Long live Marlon Omosura! Long live Alberto Sancho! Resume Peace Talks!
Araullo is not only awarded a total of P2.080 million in damages, his civil case is the first application of the Supreme Court’s earlier dec
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 306 ordered SMNI hosts Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz to pay [GMA 7 journalist Atom Araullo] P2.080 million in damages and lawyers’ fees to compensate for “the red-tagging and its effects on his personal life and on his career as a journalist,” Judge Dolly-Rose Bolante Prado said in her decision dated December 12, and released to media Friday, December 13.
The case is a game changer because it is the first known application of a Supreme Court (SC) decision publicized only last May that finally defined red-tagging as a threat to one’s constitutional right to life, liberty and security.
The QC court also explicitly said that red-tagging is “inherently malicious.” Malice is an element of criminal libel, but Article 33 of the Civil Code allows a separate and distinct civil action for defamation.
In determining whether red-tagging was malicious, the judge said that “an act that threatens fundamental rights inherently carries malice.”
“Even if the plaintiff is a public figure, there is no need for him to prove actual malice. The burden of proof falls on the defendants, who are the accusers, not on the plaintiff, the one being accused. The plaintiff, a victim of red-tagging, should not be burdened with the duty of proving malice,” said the court.
Badoy, a former communications undersecretary during the Duterte administration and ex-spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, has a history of accusing individuals, including opposition figures, of links to the communist movement. She now co-hosts the SMNI show Laban Kasama Ng Bayan with Celiz.
Philstar: 1,500-strong private school league joins NTF-ELCAC as private partner
The Coordinating Council for Private Educational Association (COCOPEA) joined the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
[NTF-ELCAC Executive Director of the NTF-ELCAC Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr.] said that COCOPEA represented 1,500 private schools from across the country. He said that it would broaden their base of information awareness and “terror grooming” of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army/National Democratic Front (CPP/NPA/NDF).
Asked about possible concerns of red-tagging, Office of the Solicitor General Atty. James Clifford Santos said that red-tagging was not real.
“The statement of the court on red-tagging is a mere obiter dictum that is not binding on succeeding cases,” he said.
