GMA'S STRONG REPUBLIC:

A GOVERNMENT OF LAWLESSNESS & VIOLENCE

 

 

I.                   Introduction

 

The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines presents this midyear report on the Philippine human rights situation as documented by its field personnel. It covers the period from January 1 to June 30, 2003. Consistent with its expanded mandate, the report records civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights violations.

 

This report presents the major events that have had an impact on human rights, the number and scope of the violations and gives general trends based on the data culled from the TFDP regional reports. It also presents case highlights that we consider to be gross violations of human rights.

 

II.                Events that had an Impact on the State of Human Rights

 

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (PGMA) rose to power in the aftermath of a second EDSA uprising that forced Joseph Estrada to leave Malacanang, the presidential seat of power. Tainted by charges of corruption and facing an impeachment proceeding in Congress, Estrada left the presidency when people power converged once more at EDSA and the military withdrew its support for him.

 

Thus, two years ago Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed the mantle of leadership and in her inaugural address promised four core beliefs that would guide her administration:

 

1. We must be bold in our national ambitions, so that our challenge must be that within this decade, we will win the fight against poverty.

2. We must improve moral standards in government and society, in order to provide a strong foundation for good governance.

3. We must change the character of our politics, in order to create fertile ground for true reforms. Our politics of personality and patronage must give way to a new politics of party programs and process of dialogue with the people.

4. Finally, I believe in leadership by example. We should promote solid traits such as work ethic and a dignified lifestyle, matching action to rhetoric performing, rather than grandstanding.[1]

 

Of late, these core beliefs have been transformed into war rhetoric – a war against poverty, a war against so-called "terrorists", and a war against traditional politics, a war against drugs and a moral revolution. Sadly, victims of these wars waged by government in varied fronts are people and their human rights. More than two years after EDSA DOS, it is time to take stock of the situation and assess the state's obligation to respect, protect and fulfill human rights for its poor and downtrodden people.

 

PGMA's War against Poverty

 

The first of my core beliefs pertains to the elimination of poverty. This is our unfinished business from the past. It dates back to the creation of our republic, whose seeds were sown in the revolution launched in 1896 by the plebeian Andres Bonifacio. It was an unfinished revolution. For to this day, poverty remains our national problem. We need to complete what Andres Bonifacio began. The ultimate solution to poverty has both a political and an economic aspect.[2]

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Inaugural Address

 

Poverty remains the fertile ground for wars and revolutions. The Philippines is no exception. Poverty incidence remains at 39.4% of the population or roughly 32 million Filipinos. Unemployment is pegged at 12.2% and underemployment at 15.6%.[3] The Philippine Human Development Report identifies the bottom ten provinces as Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Basilan, Ifugao, Maguindanao, Lanao Del Sur, Agusan Del Sur, Samar, Lanao Del Norte and Sarangani.[4]  Eight of these provinces are in the island of Mindanao, one in Luzon and one in the Visayas. All are hotbeds of armed conflict.

 

The war to alleviate and eventually eliminate poverty has hardly made a dent in the lives of the people. Their right to food, housing and development remains unrealized with only eleven months left of the PGMA presidency.

 

There are around 18 million urban poor nationwide, with more than 4 million residing in Metro Manila. In Metro Davao, there are 286, 942 squatters; in Metro Cebu, 95,397. There are 276 slum areas in Metro Manila alone, with 223,947 squatter families, mostly concentrated in Manila and Quezon City. The term "urban poor" is used in the Philippines to refer to the broad population base of city residents who live in marginalized circumstances, as evidenced by substandard habitation, income and employment, social status and an absence of opportunities for social advancement. The term is generally applied but not limited to city-squatters and slum-dwellers that comprise the vast majority of the urban poor. [5]

 

Government development projects have resulted to demolitions and forced evictions. Distant relocation sites and lack of livelihood opportunities in such sites eventually lead to the urban poor returning to shantytowns in the metropolis.

 

Three to four million children are forced to work to augment the family income and 100,000 children are forced to go into the sex trade.[6] 30.6% of children from 0-5 years old are underweight while 31.4% are stunted. At the 6-10 years old bracket, 32.9% are underweight and 41.1% are stunted.[7]

 

The growth in GDP and GNP has not trickled down to the poor and a just and equitable distribution of the nation's wealth remains a dream. The war against poverty has been transformed to a war against the poor. The objective is not to uplift the urban poor's lot but to eliminate their homes and faces from the esteros, railways and vacant lots and force them to journey to distant and far away places where government support services are absent or minimal.  The war against poverty is more of rhetoric than a promise fulfilled.

 

PGMA's War in Mindanao

 

PGMA resumed the unfinished war of Estrada against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in February of this year. In the guise of pursuing criminals, an offensive was launched in the Buliok complex where Hashim Salamat, MILF chairman had taken refuge after the war of 2000.

 

This new war was launched despite on-going peace talks with the MILF and agreements on a ceasefire were tenuously in place.

 

As a result, 400,000 human beings have been displaced; their lives and livelihood in shatters and their children forced to abandon their education. To date, 203,214 have yet to return to their homes and farms.[8]   

 

The refugee death toll has risen to 215, with 43 infants and children below 10 years old who had died of easily treatable diseases like measles, pneumonia, diarrhea and dehydration.[9]

 

In response to the offensive of the AFP, the MILF Bangsa Islamic Armed Forces staged counterattacks, staging ambuscades and toppling of transmission towers. This counteroffensive culminated in the daring raid and siege of Siocon and Maigo towns.

 

Two bombings rocked Davao City – first, at the Davao International Airport and second, at the Davao Sasa Wharf. Thirty eight died and at least 200 hundred were wounded in the attacks. In its aftermath, PGMA declared a state of lawless violence. Last May 10, another bomb rocked Koronadal that killed 10 persons and wounded at least 40.

 

Government was quick to blame the MILF for these terrorist attacks. Arrest orders have been issued against the top leaders of the MILF including members of its negotiating panel.

 

Well-meaning peace advocates have called on both parties to declare a ceasefire in the wake of a MILF unilateral suspension of military action (SOMA). The government has responded that the MILF should first clearly declare and renounce its alleged links to terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah.  And the MILF immediately renounced any links with the two groups. The government demand for Hashim Salamat to head the MILF peace panel, even as the arrest warrant has not been recalled, drew a similar demand for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to head the GRP peace panel.

 

 

The war instigated by government itself to assert its territorial integrity and military supremacy has led to a spiral of violence. Rather than keep the peace, it has led to more bloodshed and further instability.

 

 PGMA's War against the CPP-NPA-NDF

 

In the wake of the terrorist branding of the CPP-NPA-NDF and the freezing of the accounts and privileges of its chief political consultant, Jose Maria Sison, the formal peace negotiations between the NDF and GRP have been suspended. But even as talks remain suspended, the off and on peace process had been able to forge the Comprehensive Agreement on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

 

The Communist Party of the Philippines now boasts of a NPA strength equivalent to 27 battalions of full-time Red fighters spread across 128 guerilla fronts that cover 8000 barrios and significant portions of some 700 to 800 municipalities and cities in more than 90 percent of the provinces nationwide.[10]

 

Its raids and ambuscades have increased in recent days in what is perceived to be a nationally-coordinated tactical offensive meant to exploit the weaknesses and vulnerable points of the AFP as it is concentrated in Mindanao. It has also stepped up its revolutionary tax collection with burning of buses and equipment as warning to businessmen who refuse to pay up.

 

Government now insists on a link between the drug trade and the NDF. This was floated in the media after back channel talks opened the possibility of a resumption of the stalled peace negotiations. This creates the impression that government or sections of it are deliberately sabotaging any progress in the peace negotiations. The hawks in government exemplified by Secretary of National Defense, Angelo Reyes, think that a military solution to the festering insurgency and the separatist rebellion in the south will lead to a stable political, economic and social environment. The New Peoples Army has launched a series of tactical offensives since the middle of June and it continues up to today.

 

Both parties talk peace while fighting and in this situation, it is the innocent civilians who are victimized.

 

PGMA's War against Terrorists

 

The war rhetoric of PGMA has reached fever-pitch echoing the warmongering of President George Bush. Both nations waged wars based on lies and deceptions. PGMA gave her all-out support to the war in Iraq based on the lie that it had weapons of mass destruction. A lie was also used by PGMA to justify military action in Mindanao.  Despite no clear link between the MILF and Al Qaeda, the Armed Forces of the Philippines broke the truce and attacked MILF positions.

 

Last year, despite no evidence of links with international terrorists groups, the CPP-NPA-NDF was branded as a terrorist organization. Today, the MILF and other legal organizations are threatened with the terrorist tag.

 

PGMA has certified as urgent the passage of an Anti-Terrorism Bill now pending in both houses of Congress.

 

The war against terrorism has resulted to outright violations of human rights and shortcuts in due process. Muslim communities have been raided in its name. Muslim leaders and ordinary Muslim citizens have been tagged as terrorists. The war against terrorism has led to further bias against and discrimination of Muslims.

 

The problem with the war against terrorists is fundamental – there is no universal definition of terrorism or of a terrorist. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives". [11]

 

By this definition, the war against Iraq can be considered a terrorist act. By this definition PGMA's war in Mindanao can be considered a terrorist act. By this definition, farmers' forcibly occupying land awarded to them through Certificates of Land Transfer (CLT) can be considered terrorists.

 

PGMA has also chosen to enter into bilateral agreement with the United States granting immunity from prosecution of not only US personnel but of defense contractors as well. The United States even had the audacity to issue an ultimatum to other countries to comply with their request or face sanctions. This is a clear defiance of the International Criminal Court established to try cases of crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and crimes of aggression.

 

PGMA's War against Drug Syndicates

 

In a much-publicized media launching, the PGMA government announced its war against the growing menace of drug addiction and the drug syndicates and their coddlers whoever they may be. It has coined the term narcopolitics to underscore the alleged link between the drug syndicates and our political life. It has even hinted that the drug cartels are protected by a "national figure".

 

Lately, echoing the United States view that drugs fund revolutionary groups, it has accused the CPP-NPA-NDF and the MILF of engaging in the illegal drug trade.

 

As an effective political offensive in anticipation of the 2004 elections, it puts PGMA in a moral high ground as far as the drug menace is concerned. Popular perception ranks the drug menace as one of the major problems of society today. It can also be wielded to undercut the political ambitions of certain politicians allegedly involved in the drug trade.

For the MILF and NDF, this new war of government and its attempt to link them to drugs serves to pull down the righteousness of their cause and puts them at par with kidnappers and other criminal syndicates.

 

Since January of this year, the so-called Davao Death Squad has killed 58 drug dealers in extra-judicial executions in Davao City alone. [12]

 

In Metro Manila, dismembered bodies of alleged drug pushers with cardboard messages of "drug pusher, huwag tularan" (drug pusher, don't imitate) have been found.

 

There has even been an attempt to revive the spray painting campaign of former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim where alleged houses of drug pushers would be marked.

 

III. Effects on HUMAN RIGHTS

 

1.      The GMA administration had eschewed diplomacy and consensus in favor of unilateralism and militarism on the flimsiest excuse and in exchange of military aid

 

  • By joining the coalition of the willing, the government has ‘willed’ all the Iraqi, US and British fatalities and casualties of the attack on Iraq.
  • The government is entrenching impunity worldwide by entering into bilateral agreements with the US regarding non-surrender of US personnel to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
  • The non-action of the government on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC is a step back from international efforts for human rights protection. It is a path towards barbarism.
  • The continued attempts to bring US troops to Mindanao is against the Constitution and an insult to the Moro people which had suffered tremendously during its anti-colonial struggle against US troops.
  • The peoples of the Philippines have no need of US military equipments and aid.

 

2.      The application of the war against terrorism on the domestic front has led to more insecurity, depravity and violence.

 

  • The offensive against the MILF took the form of another war, displacing 400,000 people, $1.4M in government assistance to refugees[13], with refugee death toll reaching 215.[14]
  • The government has trampled its own earlier peace initiatives. It has sabotaged the peace talks with the MILF with the war offensive and the campaign to tag it as a terrorist organization, and had placed ridiculous demands for the resumption of peace talks.
  • The government failed to protect the people and civilian installations from retaliatory attacks of rebel and other armed groups. MILF attacks on civilians have been documented and NPA victims Romulo Kintanar, former NPA chief, and Florante Ocmen, Akbayan party list municipal section head, have been reported by the media.
  • Muslims have been discriminated upon; abductions, attacks on mosques, raids, torture, salvagings, disappearances, and harassments have been documented. Muslim diplomats have even been deported.

 

3.      The erosion of the rule of law has led to shortcuts and acts of lawlessness from the government itself.

 

  • Human rights activists Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy were abducted and killed while on a fact-finding mission of human rights violations by the 204th IB in Mindoro Oriental. DOJ inquiry found a 204th IB sergeant as primary suspect in the killing.
  • Warrantless arrests and torture of detainees have been documented.
  • Spray painting of houses of suspected pushers is being revived and killings of the Davao Death Squad continues unabated, with killings of suspected drug pushers being perpetrated just a few meters from police precincts.
  • Demolitions of shanties and forced evictions have been documented as well as violent sidewalk clearing operations.

 

 

IV. Statistical Findings on Human Rights Violations:

 

§         From the period of January 1 to June 30, 2003 there were 101 cases of human rights violations with 12,434 victims, committed by the government against its citizens.

 

§         Majority of the human rights violations occurred in Mindanao with 47 cases. West-Central Mindanao, where the MILF-AFP war is still ongoing, had the biggest share of human rights violation cases at 27 equivalent to 26% of the total number of cases. North-South Mindanao followed it with 18 cases equivalent to 18%. 

 

§         Demolition accounted for the biggest number of victims with 8,289 with the National Capital Region with 4 cases involving 8,070. This was followed by evacuation with 2,034 victims concentrated in West-Central Mindanao. Third, was harassment with 1,148 victims also in Mindanao. Fourth, was destruction of property with 690 victims again in Mindanao.

 

§         Salvaging or extra-judicial execution had 6 incidents. These cases occurred in areas where there was intense militarization due to the internal armed conflict.

 

§         The Philippine Army topped the list of human rights violators with 40 cases. It was followed by the Philippine National Police with 27 cases.

 

§         The number of political prisoners is now 214 spread out in 57 detention centers nationwide. 195 of the political prisoners/political detainees are charged with common crimes and only 19 are charged with rebellion.

 

§         There are 9 women, 7 elderly and 5 minors who are in detention as political prisoners.

 

§         Eight cases of torture were recorded for the period. Forms of torture employed included verbal threats, being struck with an armalite rifle, mauling, head covered with cellophane to suffocate the individual, placing of bullets between the fingers, water cure and strangulation.

 

 

DISTRIBUTION OF CASES AND VICTIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS PER REGION

January-June, 2003

 

CASES OF HRVs

NO. OF CASES OF HRVs

NO. OF VICTIMS

CASES AND VICTIMS PER REGION

NCR

SL

NL

CEVIS

WVIS

NSM

WCM

C

V

C

V

C

V

C

V

C

V

C

V

C

V

Arrest and Detention

53

207

10

51

2

7

10

23

7

51

 

 

11

40

13

35

Harassment

10

1,148

1

100

2

21

2

12

2

401

 

 

3

614

 

 

Violent Dispersal of Protest

1

5

 

 

 

 

1

5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disappearance

5

16

1

2

1

1

 

 

 

 

 

 

2

11

1

2

Demolition

9

8,289

4

8,070

1

29

 

 

4

190

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Frustrated Killing

1