Category: News

Stop the Killings in Negros

August 9, 2019

Dear Friends and Compatriots,

Peace be with you!

In line with the various initiatives to help put a stop to the surge in killings in Negros Island, we would like to solicit your signature for the attached urgent appeal titled “Stop the Killings in Negros.”

We hope to gather the broadest range of concerned citizens to sign on to the appeal which we will to send to all parties and individuals who can act to stop to the carnage.

Your help will be very much appreciated especially by the people of Negros who have suffered enough.

Hoping for your positive response, we remain,

Respectfully yours,

Stop the Killings in Negros
An urgent appeal

A bloodbath is now happening in Negros.

In less than a week, from July 23-July 28, 15 civilians were killed by unidentified vigilantes in Negros Oriental following the July 18 ambush of four policemen by the New People’s Army (NPA).

Prior to this, last March 30, 14 civilians were killed in coordinated operations by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Canlaon City and the towns of Manjuyod and Sta. Catalina.

Human rights groups have reported at least 87 killings of unarmed civilians in Negros since the government intensified its campaign against suspected rebels and their alleged front organizations in 2017.

This cannot go on. The killings must stop.

In solidarity with the people of Negros, we urgently call for the following:

• An impartial and independent investigation on the facts, circumstance and underlying causes of the surge in killings so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice. Such an investigation cannot be simply left to the PNP and AFP who have been implicated in the killings;

• For Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to stop inciting the PNP, AFP and even firefighters to kill more in retaliation for alleged rebel atrocities, leading to even more indiscriminate killings and exacerbating the spiral of violence;

• For the government and the CPP-NPA-NDFP to resume the peace talks so that a stand down can be negotiated leading to a de-escalation of armed conflict and reduction of the climate of fear enveloping the province. The talks should address the roots of the armed conflict without resorting to all- out war and its ensuing human rights violations.

Your Eminence/Beatitude/Grace/Excellency/Rev. Fathers/ Rev. Sisters/Rev. Brothers

Greetings from OHD/CCD !

In a word, it is not only the cause of migrants that is at stake; it is not just about them, but about all of us, and about the present and future of the human family. Migrants, especially those who are most vulnerable, help us to read the “signs of the times”. Through them, the Lord is calling us to conversion, to be set free from exclusivity, indifference and the throw-away culture. Through them, the Lord invites us to embrace fully our Christian life and to contribute, each according to his or her Proper Vocation, to the building up of a world that is more and more in accord with God’s plan: Excerpts from the MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS, FOR THE 105th WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES 2019 [29 September 2019]

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2019 (WDMR) will be celebrated on Sunday 29th September and the theme is ‘It’s Not Just About Migrants; It Is About All of Us’.

Given below is list of resource materials attached here with, Please feel free to use and circulate it to all your networks, communities and individuals who can use it further for celebrating the day.

1. Resource material by M& R (Migrants & Refugees) Section of the Vatican.
2. Posters and short video (high resolution & for Social Networking sites like Facebook, whatsapp) by FABC-OHD/CCD,
3. A tentative plan of action suggesting possible activities and programs that can be undertaken to celebrate the WDMR 2019.

May God bless our work and efforts in reaching out to our Migrant Brothers and Sisters and May Mary our Mother guide us constantly.

Fr. Joseph Gonsalves
Executive Secretary
OHD Office of Human Development/
CCD: Climate Change Desk of FABC: Federation of Asian Bishops Conference
St Pius College, Aarey Rd,
Mumbai-400 063
Maharashtra, India

Movement Against Tyranny

08 August 2019

Dear friends in the Movement Against Tyranny:

On July 11, 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council 41st Session in Geneva passed the Iceland-initiated Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Philippines. This was truly welcome news, as the Resolution urges the Philippine government to take measures to prevent extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, carry out investigations, and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Now, we have a lot of work to do.

The Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (Ecuvoice) through the Philippine UPR Watch and in cooperation with Karapatan, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers(NUPL) and Rise Up for Life and for Rights invites you to a public forum:

A Walk-Through of the Iceland-initiated Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Philippines
9am-noon, Friday, Aug 16, 2019
College of Mass Communication Auditorium, UP Diliman, Quezon City

August 7, 2019

Dear Editor:

Last July, we listened to this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). We, the Missionary Benedictine Sisters of the Manila Priory and the Academic Community of St. Scholastica’s College declare our great concern about the things happening in our society that are not mentioned in the SONA.

We are concerned at the continuous killings in relation to the Drug war which recently took the life of an innocent child.

We are concerned about the harassments, arrests, detention and killing of people suspected (not convicted) of being communist supporters.

We are concerned about the sedition cases filed against the most credible of the critics of this administration including the Vice President, Bishops, Priests and a Christian Brother on the testimony of the most non-credible person who goes from one side to the other without principle or shame.

We are concerned about the plight of our fisherfolk who had been attacked and who are in danger of losing their livelihood because of the President’s incredible subservience to China. We are especially scandalized at his referring to our Philippine Constitution as “toilet paper”.

We are dismayed at the continuous persecution of the LUMADS whose 55 schools have been suspended without investigation and due process.

We are dismayed at the consolidation of power, which erases the autonomy of the three branches of the government, taking away the guarantee of checks and balances. This has been recently manifested when the Speaker of the House was virtually appointed by the President even if there was a questionable election process that happened. This smacks of an undeclared dictatorship.

We do not understand how the President can sign the anti-sexual harassment law, the provisions of which he has repeatedly violated in the past and actually repeatedly violated again in his SONA speech.

We foresee with trepidation the passing of questionable laws such as the death penalty, the lowering of the age of criminality of children, the expansion of the Anti-Terrorism Act which will make all dissent terrorist acts.

AND MANY MORE . . .

We are in favor of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights conducting investigations of the many violations of human rights presented to them.

We join the efforts and struggles of Filipinos who love their country and continue to voice out their protest against all these threats to our democratic society in spite of danger to their lives and freedom.

An Appeal and an Invitation

Our brothers Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop Teodoro Bacani, Jr. and Bishop Honesto Ongtioco are now facing difficult days ahead. The processes related to the charges of the crime of sedition have now started to move. They are now asked to submit their counter affidavits. We ask ourselves as brother bishops, what can we do for them? In my previous statement about their situation, I said, “I am very saddened by this news and am greatly disturbed by this development. I know these bishops quite well. I had worked closely with two of them: I functioned as the vice president of Abp. Villegas when he was heading the CBCP, and Bp. David is currently my vice president in the CBCP. That they are accused of sedition and other criminal complaints is for me beyond belief.” 

I also said that I will “…pray for my brother bishops; this will be a very distressing situation for them, to say the least. I pray that they may remain calm and confident that in the end, they will be found innocent. I make this prayer to the Lord, with the Blessed Mother as our intercessor.”

We entrust them to the Lord and to our Blessed Mother.

Thus, today, my invitation and my appeal to all of you, brother archbishops and bishops in the whole country – Let us be in solidarity with them in prayer. Let us invite our priests, our religious, our people to join us in this solidarity in prayer.

On 6 August 2019, the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, let us remember them in our Masses. Let us pray for them, include them in our reflection and homilies, in the prayers of the faithful. Let us pray for them, our brother bishops, and beg the Lord to let them feel that they are indeed his beloved disciples. May they feel also that they are beloved to us, their brother bishops.

On 15 August 2019, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us include them in the prayers in our Masses. Let us entrust them to the maternal protection of the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus, and who is our Mother too.

Let us not forget to include in our prayers, during the abovementioned special days, the people in government who are involved in the processes regarding the cases filed against these bishops. We pray to the Lord for them, with the intercession of the Blessed Mother, that a deep sense of fairness, justice and truth will guide them.

Dear Friends and Partners,

This coming August 8 will mark the 6th year since the historic Golden Rice uprooting by more than 400 farmers in the Bicol region in the Philippines. The action signified the intense protest of farmers and consumers against the genetically modified rice. Golden Rice, like other genetically modified crops, can greatly affect our health, environment and our local food systems that is vital to our culture and identity.

However, Golden Rice is again being field tested in the Philippines and Bangladesh. If the regulatory hurdles are cleared, Golden Rice might already make its way to commercialization and distribution in the local markets.

The Stop Golden Rice Network (SGN) would like to ask for your help and solidarity in calling the halt of the field trials and eventual commercialization of Golden Rice in the Philippines and Bangladesh. We would like to ask you as friends and allies to please sign on the letter addressed to the proponents from the Philippines and Bangladesh and show them the overwhelming global resistance against Golden Rice. Please send the letters online (attached are the relevant agencies and their contact details) on or before August 8 or submit them in person through the Philippine and Bangladesh embassies and consul offices in your respective countries. Of course you can document the activity and share online using our hashtags #StopGoldenRice #DefendOurRice #FightForOurRights.

Please let us know if you have signed on and feel free to circulate the letter and the call to action to your partners and networks!

Thank you and more power!

Warm regards,
Eloise Delos Reyes
Information Officer

DR. PARTHA S BISWAS
Golden Rice Project Leader
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI)
Joyebpur, Gazipur-1701, Bangladesh
Email: psbiswasbrri@yahoo.com

DR. REYNANTE ORDONIO
Healthier Rice Project Leader
Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, 3119 Nueva Ecija
Email: rlordonio@philrice.gov.ph

Dear Dr. Biswas and Dr. Ordonio,

We are writing to call on your good office to immediately halt the ongoing Golden Rice field trials and its eventual commercialization to the Philippines and Bangladesh.

We support the concerns of our fellow farmers and consumers in these countries, particularly with the safety and long-term impacts of the genetically modified rice. We understand that until now, no credible and independent studies have been made to establish the safety of the Golden Rice to the peoples’ health and the environment. On the contrary, studies have shown that Golden Rice can affect rice productivity which will have a far-reaching impact to rice diversity and rice security [1].

We believe that Golden Rice is inherently flawed and an unnecessary technology that will possibly cause more harm than solution to malnutrition. The latest study from India confirms that not only is the beta-carotene content in the Golden Rice negligible, but in fact, degrades so fast that farmers need to “vacuum-pack” the unmilled rice just to extend the beta-carotene shelf-life [2].  Even the US Dept. of Agriculture has deemed that the beta-carotene in Golden is not high enough to warrant a label as a nutritional product.

We do recognize however, that there is a need to address hunger and malnutrition in Asia and around the world. The solution is not Golden Rice, nor other biofortified food crops, but through 1) promoting diversified food production and diet to include the myriad sources of beta-carotene and 2) supporting the traditional and small farmers who remain the main producers and protectors of these diverse source of food. There are existing successful cases of reducing malnutrition incidences through traditional farming and food systems that further shows that Golden Rice is pointless [3]. 

We appeal that you consider the long-term effects of Golden Rice to the present and future of our women and children, our environment and rice biodiversity, our small-scale farmers and our consumers. The welfare and interest of these sectors should be respected and ensured.

Yours sincerely,
(Name, Organization)

References:
1. Bollinedi, H., Prabhu, K. V., Singh, N. K., Mishra, S., Khurana, J. P., & Singh, A. K. (2017). Molecular and Functional Characterization of GR2-R1 Event Based Backcross Derived Lines of Golden Rice in the Genetic Background of a Mega Rice Variety Swarna. PloS one, 12(1), e0169600.
2. Bollineni, Haritha & Dhakane-Lad, Jyoti & Krishnan, S & Bhowmick, Prolay & Vinod Prabhu, Kumble & Singh, Nagendra & Singh, Ashok. (2019). Kinetics of β-carotene degradation under different storage conditions in transgenic Golden Rice® lines. Food Chemistry. 278. 773-779. 10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.11.121.
3. Food Sovereignty Alliance India and Catholic Health Association of India, “Exploring the potential of diversified traditional food systems to contribute to a healthy diet”, 2018, https://foodsovereigntyalliance.files.wordpress. com/2018/12/Report-1.pdf

Stop Golden Rice! Network
MASIPAG, Convenor
2611 Carbern Village
Los Baños, Laguna
Phillippines
Tel/Fax(+63-49) 536-5549

July 31, 2019

To: All Laiko Members: National Lay Organizations and Arch/Diocesan Councils of the Laity
Dear Brothers and Sisters:

The peace and love of the Lord!

Our beloved bishops during their July 2019 Plenary Assembly appeal to us thought their Pastoral Letter: “AN URGENT CALL FOR ECOLOGICAL CONVERSION, HOPE IN THE FACE OF CLIMATE EMERGENCY” to discern the issues and actively care for the earth in personal, communitarian and institutional levels. The voices of faith must be an indispensable part of our continuing efforts at framing the agenda for collaborative ethical action.”

In response to this, we are pleased to invite you once again to a Lay Caucus on Saturday, 10 August 2019, 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. at the LAIKO Office Conference Rm. 2nd flr., Laiko Bldg, 372 Cabildo St., Intramuros, Manila. We have invited resource speakers who will update us on certain initiatives and hopefully guide us in our effort to save and protect our common home.

We encourage everyone to please come. A P100.00 solidarity fee will be collected to cover the cost of snacks & other incidental expenses. Kindly confirm your participation by calling the LAIKO Secretariat at tel. nos. 527- 5388, 251-9657, 0977-1794938 or 0908-2496512.

Thank you, we are looking forward to your usual positive response and active involvement.

Sincerely in the service of the Lord,