Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A call to end the woes of militarization, a call for just peace
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A call to end the woes of militarization, a call for just peace
for the Interfaith Peace and Mercy Mission Duyog sa Panaw October 21-24, 2009
Press Conference Statement
October 27, 2009
The Exodus for Justice and Peace and Karapatan Southern Mindanao along with partylist groups Anakpawis, Gabriela and Bayan Muna spearheaded a simultaneous Interfaith Peace and Mercy Mission (IPMM) dubbed as Duyog sa Panaw last October 21-25 in the farmer and lumad communities in Pantukan and Maragusan towns in Compostela Valley Province, Talaingod town in Davao del Norte, and Baganga and San Isidro towns in Davao Oriental.
It was a follow-up of sorts in the towns visited by the International Solidarity Mission last May to validate disquieting and persistent reports of forcible evacuations, harassments and other human rights violations perpetrated by the 10th Infantry Division of the Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The grave repercussions of the counter-insurgency operations implemented by the 10th ID- Eastmincom in the region are manifested in the testimonies of community leaders, school teachers, women and children.
In the period of July to October alone in seven barangays in five different towns across the region, a total of 4,048 individuals or 610 families were victimized by elements of the 28th IBPA in Mati and San Isidro, Davao Oriental; the 67th IBPA in Baganga, Davao Oriental, the 60th IBPA in Talaingod Davao Del Norte, the 28th and 25th IB in Pantukan, and the Workers for Industrial Peace and Economic Reform (WIPER) under the 66th Infantry Battalion Philippine Army in Maragusan, Compostela Valley Province.
In the IPMM, we learned of the following cases of human rights abuses:
1. Around 1,708 cases of forcible recruitment into the Barangay Defense System (BDS), Bagani or other paramilitary groups have been documented. This indicates the military policy of recruiting civilians, through sheer coercion, to military and paramilitary service, in wanton violation to civil and political rights. The forced recruitment has aggravated poverty and poor health conditions in the peasant villages which are already economically backward and neglected.
In Talaingod, Davao Del Norte for instance, massive military operations and the 60th IB’s intensive campaign to create Bagani forces have increased the prevalence of the outbreak of diarrhea in the area. As lumad communities try to evade the military’s BDS campaign, seven villages or 1,392 individuals have been displaced and forced to evacuate to farflung hinterlands resulting to increased health risks especially among the young, women and the elderly. Some 43 deaths were linked to untreated diarrhea and stalking hunger in the course of the evacuation.
2. Seven (7) cases of military encampment/use of public places have been documented. The military transformed civilian-populated areas like schools, barangay halls, and civilian homes into military camps and virtual combat zones threatening the lives and safety of 878 civilians.
Other consequent violations related to military encampment are the imposition of martial-law like policies such as food blockades and curfews like the case of the 17 out of 18 barangays in Baganga town. Similar cases have also been documented in the mining towns of San Isidro, Mati and Sanghay in Lupon, Davao Oriental.
3. Thirteen (13) cases of the violation on the rights and development of children continue to remind us that the most vulnerable victims of the military are children. Intermittent militarization and encampment in communities have caused detrimental effects on their psychological and emotional development.
Psychosocial therapy sessions conducted to some 200 children in Barangay Las Arenas and Barangay Napnapan revealed their physical and emotional trauma and fear. Some children expressed fears as to what the military would do next to their parents. Most of all, they regret missing school as is the usual case when military operations erupt and whenever their schools are used as military camps.
4. Two (2) cases of forcible servitude involving Lumad minors have been documented. Forcible servitude tramples on the dignity and morale of civilians and is an exploitation of their physical labor.
5. Three (3) pregnant women from Purok 11 to 12 of Brgy. Las Arenas, in Pantukan town are now recuperating from the trauma they have experienced after the militarization displaced them and their families.
Other rights violations documented by the IPMM include harassment, threat and intimidation, physical injuries, violation of domicile, undermining of civilian authority, and red tagging of leaders of legitimate peoples organizations.
Indeed, these are the same violations occurring in the spate of the military operations year on year. Only the figures differ, only the names of places would vary but the victims are always the same. Indeed, after the peace and solidarity missions, we are faced again with countless names of people, a big number of whom are women and children, who suffered from the cruelty of Oplan Bantay Laya 2.
Covering only a period of 4 months, these cases have shown the magnitude of military–led atrocities against the people. Like before, it has always been the civilians who bear the woes of militarization.
We note with deep regret that the Arroyo administration’s militarization policies under the guise of establishing peace has instead brought chaos and suffering for the people. The military is the chief instrument of injustice and continues to be the primary violator of the peoples’ rights.
We strongly express our condemnation against these social injustices, of the military policies that thwart the genuine peace building efforts of the church and other peace and human rights advocates. We deplore the morally bankrupt administration of Pres. Gloria Arroyo that tolerates and justifies such inhumanity.
We then commit ourselves to work for the following demands:
1. Immediately investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the crimes against the people. In particular we demand the prosecution of the responsible elements belonging to the 25th IBPA, 28th IBPA, 66th IBPA, and the 60th IBPA under the command leadership of the 10th Infantry Division of the Eastmincom;
2. Enforce the recommendations of UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that the Arroyo government should review military policies and the military’s own involvement in the perpetration of unjust and inhumane acts against the people;
3. Immediately stop the formation of the Barangay Defense System and the dismantling of the anti-lumad Bagani force and other paramilitary forces. In relation to this, we invoke the protection of civilians from being forced to take part in hostilities;
4. Review and stop the military’s hamletting of civilian communities as these endanger the lives and safety of the people and cause their forcible displacement and increase the death and health risks. Immediately pull-out military troops who are taking cover in civilian communities, particularly in the Talaingod, Pantukan, Baganga and Maragusan and other communities;
5. Immediately provide medical, relief and comprehensive rehabilitation to the victims of internal displacement.
As the martyred Bishop Oscar Romero once said, “When the church hears the cry of the oppressed it cannot but denounce the social structures that give rise to and perpetuate the misery from which the cry arises" (8/6/78)
Indeed, this challenge is true not only to the church but to all those who believe that justice cannot be compromised, to those who are committed to the quest for peace and respect of the human dignity.
Let then our cries of condemnation reverberate, the collective courage of victims, their families and the oppressed people become our inspiration as we fight for genuine peace and justice. Let our unity be an instrument for the attainment of just peace.
Signed by the conveners and members of the Interfaith Peace and Mercy Mission:
Dr. Jean Lindo
Pastor Vincent Ortiz, United Church of Christ in the Philippines
Urban Integrated Health Services, Inc.
KABIBA-Children's Rehabilitation Center
Kabataan Partylist
Bathaluman Crisis Center
Women Studies and Resource Center
Gabriela Women's Partylist
Bayan Muna Partylist
Belen Galleto, Anakpawis Partylist Municipal Coordinator
Pedro Arnado, Anakpawis Partylist regional coordinator
Franchie Buhayan, Anakpawis Partylist
Karapatan, Alliance for Human Rights
Promotion of Church People's Response
Pasaka, Confederation of Lumad Organizations
Katribu Partylist
Exodus for Justice and Peace conveners
Bishop Delfin Callao, Iglesia Filipina Independiente
Bishop Constante Claro, United Church of Christ
Sr. Elsa Compuesto, Sisters Association in Mindanao
Sr. Luz Mallo, Missionaries of the Assumption
Sr. Irene Caharian, Missionaries of the Assumption
Sr. Dolores Diaz, csc
Reverend Jurie Jaime, Promotion of Church People's Response
Father Jonathan Casimina, Southern Mindanao Regional Ecumenical Council
Pastor Amancio Benegian, UCCP
Sr. Irene Cabasagan, Religious of the Good Shepherd
Atty. Eduardo Estores, Union of People's Lawyers in Mindanao
---------------
For reference:
Sr. Elsa Compuesto
Exodus for Justice and Peace convener
0915-5539568
This post was written by: Exodus for Justice and Peace
Exodus for Justice and Peace is a clergy-led peace group. Follow EJP on Twitter
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