Category: News

From July 6 to 8, 2018, 6,000 youth delegates from around the world will converge and meet at the World Trade Center in Pasay City for the 11th Edition of the Genfest. The Genfest is being organized by the Youth for a United World, the youth members of the Focolare Movement. Since its inception in Italy in 1973, the Genfest has become an avenue for young people to show that a united world is possible. Genfest 2018 will be the first to be held in Asia and outside Europe.

With the theme Beyond All Borders, Genfest 2018 aims to allow young people to experience crossing cultures and traditions, find best practices, tools, and projects that would help them achieve sustainable change and realize that everyone is a member of one human family. The Genfest will begin with an Opening Program on July 6 and will be followed by a Cultural Night in the evening.

The Workshops and Forums at Genfest 2018: A Youth-Led Innovation

An innovation being introduced in the 11th edition of the Genfest is the WORKSHOPS AND FORUMS SEGMENT. On Day 2 of the Genfest on July 7, more than a hundred simultaneous workshops and forums on a wide variety of topics including politics, the media, economics, culture, sports, ecology and others will be held in De La Salle University and other venues. The topics for each workshop and forum were handpicked by the youth from the Philippines and other countries in a series of consultations on topics of interest they wished to learn and discuss. Subject Matter Experts were invited to lead the workshops and forums, which will have between 16 to 500 participants and will run from 9:00 am to 11:30 am on July 7. The main objective of the workshops and forums is to empower young people to think beyond themselves, to overcome borders, and to do acts of kindness and love when they go back to their communities.

Key insights and resolutions from the workshops and forums will be synthesized and presented to all the participants of the Genfest on Day 3 (July 8).

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July 3, 2018

Dear Friends,

Peace be with you!

In preparation for the President’s third State of the Nation Address, the Movement Against Tyranny would like to invite you to a forum titled “State of the Nation, State of Tyranny” this July 7, 2018, from 9:30am to 12nn at the Maryhill School of Theology, 64 14th St. cor. Gilmore Ave., New Manila, Q.C.

This will be a good opportunity for us to take stock of the national situation as well as identify the pressing issues that we need to respond to as the Duterte administration enters its third year.

We will have the following speakers for our forum:

Charter Change and Federalism
Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno (to be confirmed)

Amendments to the Human Security Act and Other Threats to Peace
Party List Rep. Antonio Tinio

Duterte’s China Deal
Atty. Florin Hilbay

The Economy for Real
Prof. Noel Leyco

We are expecting an audience of around 400 comprised of personalities and members of various organizations under the MAT network, including the media. Please feel free to invite your own network of friends and organizations.

For inquiries and confirmations, please contact Ms. Gel Marcelino at 09475891578 or at email stoptyrannyph@gmail.com.

Thank you very much.

In behalf of the Convenors,

Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB

Proposed open-cast pit in the Philippines would have resulted in environmental plunder, says bishop

Tribal people and environmental activists stage a protest outside the provincial capital of the southern Philippine province of South Cotabato to press for a stop to coal mining and other destructive projects in the region. (Photo by Bong Sarmiento)

Bong Sarmiento, South Cotabato, Philippines
July 2, 2018

Church leaders in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao have welcomed a decision by the South Cotabato provincial government to reject a proposed coal mine in the area.

It ruled on June 25 to reject the development of a 2,000-hectare coal mine in the village of Ned in the town of Lake Sebu.

Local officials said the mine went against the province’s Environment Code that bars open-pit mining.

Catholic missionary nun Susan Bolanio, executive director of the Hesed Foundation Inc. of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation, lauded the decision as “a victory for the environment.”

“The spirit of God works through time,” said the nun, adding that the decision “will unburden our already overburdened Mother Earth.”

She said the decision would inspire local people to work toward “sustainable development and environmental protection.”

Bishop Emeritus Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel said the coal project would have brought about “serious man-induced dangers such as deforestation and siltation.”

“It would have been environmental plunder if mining had been allowed,” said the prelate.

Strong opposition from Catholic Church leaders and pro-environment groups also prompted a foreign partner of a local mining company to back out from the project.

The proposed mine site was supposed to be inside a watershed forest reserve near the ancestral lands of the T’boli and Manobo tribes.

In December, eight tribesmen opposed to the mining project were killed during what was supposed to be a military anti-insurgency operation in the area.

The military claimed that the tribesmen were members or supporters of communist rebels. Human right groups blasted the military report, describing the incident as a massacre.

The coalfield that straddles the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat is believed to contain 211 million metric tons of deposits.

Photo credit: Philstar

Statement of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) is saddened by the latest development in the peace process. Prof. Jose Ma. Sison, Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in a statement during a forum of peace advocates, said the NDFP should rather wait for the next administration to engage in formal peace talks than to continue the negotiations with President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration. This comes at the heels of the postponement of the scheduled fifth round formal talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP on June 28-30. The government said that it would like to conduct consultations before returning to the negotiating table and later announced that it wants the talks to be held in the country.

Prof. Sison was frustrated over the repeated cancellations of formal talks and the many promises that the President had broken, including the amnesty and release of all political prisoners. He also stated that the NDFP would rather join other forces in ousting President Duterte. The latter downplayed the statement of Prof. Sison and said the war would continue. Prof. Sison later clarified that only the National Council of the NDFP can make the decision to suspend, cancel or terminate the peace negotiations and he can only give an advice to the said Council.

We pray that the exchange of verbal tirades between both parties would not result to a possible termination of the peace negotiations. Such termination would surely lead to the escalation of violence especially in the country side. The “stand down” ceasefire agreement and the interim peace agreement could have lessened the casualties in the armed conflict. Incidents like the bloody “misencounter” in Samar between the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) could have been prevented. The AFP and PNP forces were reportedly responding to sightings of members of the New People’s Army in the area.

The PEPP continues to hope for the signing of an interim peace agreement that was supposed to be part of the agenda for the GRP-NDFP fifth round of formal talks. The agreement was expected to result to a coordinated unilateral ceasefire, general amnesty for NDFP-listed political prisoners, and agrarian reform and rural development as well as national industrialization and economic development agreements. Moreover, there are other agreements made in the previous rounds of talks that could have been historical building blocks for a just and enduring peace.

As church leaders inspired by the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, we still believe in the power of principled dialogue. We implore both parties to seek peace and pursue it (1 Peter 3:11) and open the doors to dialogue. We also appeal to the Royal Norwegian Government to continue helping the Filipino people in convincing the government and the NDFP to resume the formal peace talks. We call on the Filipino people to continue praying and working for peace in our land. The GRP-NDFP peace negotiations is not for the two parties alone but for all of us and future generations – “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

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MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Justice (DOJ) has nullified the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) Visa Forfeiture Order on the Missionary Visa of Australian nun Sister Patricia Fox.

In a ten-page order granting the Motion for Reconsideration to the Department of Justice filed by Fox’s counsel, Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra stated that the April 23 and May 17 Orders by the BI forfeiting Fox’s visa is declared “null and void for having been issued without legal basis”.

The Order stated that Visa Forfeiture is not in BI’s Omnibus Rules of Procedure 2015, and orders for the proper disposition of the case.

“We received the resolution on Sister Fox’s Motion for Reconsideration, and we submit to the directive from the DOJ on the disposition of her case,” said BI Spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval.

Sandoval bared that the Visa Forfeiture would have downgraded Sister Fox’s visa from a Missionary Visa to a Temporary Visitor’s Visa, and would require her to leave the country within thirty days. The DOJ, noted, however, that Visa Cancellation procedure would have the same effect and is the one written in BI’s Omnibus Rules.

“The DOJ saw that the proceedings initiated by the Bureau may fall under visa cancellation, and not visa forfeiture,” said Sandoval. “Cases of visa cancellation, according to Section 5 of the BI Omnibus Rules, may also be based on allegations of deportable offenses,” she added, referring to reports of Fox’s involvement in partisan political activities.

Sandoval mentioned that BI will be reinstating Fox’s visa and reactivating her ACR I-Card, and she is free to remain in the country and continue her missionary work pending the result of the deportation charge and/or visa cancellation case against her.

Fox is subject of a separate deportation charge for her alleged involvement in political activities.

Photo credit: CBCPNews

Fr. Shay Cullen
29 June 2018

The defenders of the rights of the people, those who stand for justice, tolerance, equality, human dignity and freedom of speech are the conscience of the nation. In the Philippines, more social activists are being killed than ever before. Pastor Lovelito Quiñones of the King’s Glory Ministry was shot and killed by police near his home in Mansalay Town, Mindoro Occidental last 3 December 2017.

The police said he was a communist guerrilla and died in a firefight with them. But his family said he was a man of God and the police planted a weapon near his body. Pastor Lovelito was active in social justice causes. The police don’t need evidence of a crime to shoot dead suspects and thousands have been killed in the past two years alone. A shroud of fear and death has been laid on the Filipino people.

In April this year, Father Mark Ventura, a priest in Gattaran Town in Northern Luzon, was shot dead after celebrating mass. The assassin escaped on a motorcycle. Father Marcelito Paez was shot dead by killers too. Unknown vigilantes have killed thousands of young people and many more were killed during police operations around the Philippines but mostly in Metro Manila.

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Greetings of Peace and God’s blessings!

While you greet us with poisonous arrows, we still greet you with peace because our God is a God of Peace. Our God is not a stupid God. He is our Father and any insult directed at him is an arrow directed at us because He is our Father. Evidently, we worship different gods, a difference that is irreconcilable. But there is only one God!

While we lament your foul words unfit for a president of a nation, we hail our God as a forgiving God, forgiving our weakness and sinfulness as human beings. He calls us to the highest perfection yet compassionately accepting our puny efforts and mistakes. Yes, we admit that in the Catholic Church, we have many sinful members and sinful priests, even sinful popes. God in his mercy has kept us united in his fold.

Your god, according to you is a perfect god and you claim to be his perfect human being. One of the irreconcilable differences is that our God does not rejoice in murders, especially in extrajudicial killings with special choice of targeting the poor and helpless.

We believe in the dignity of everyman redeemed by God and that we are all one family. We do not murder sinners; we believe in his capacity to reform. Only God can give life and only He can take back life. Our God cannot be your god because you rejoice in killing and have promised to defend the murderers with your all-powerful presidential pardon.

Your men have killed at least 38 people everyday in the past 2 years, and you think with that you can solve the problem of our country. But what is our problem? The problem we see is poverty. The poor have nothing to eat and prices of basic goods are rising. You spend our money in arms and befriend China who is eating up our natural resources. Truly the God we worship and the god you worship are irreconcilable.

WE DO NOT WISH YOU ILL, Mr. President. We pray for you and for a common understanding of how we can help our country.

JULIETA F. WASAN, Ph.D.
President
Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas

“What achievements are they talking about? Are they from another planet”?

This was the response of Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros to a Malacanang statement denying that President Rodrigo Duterte is distracting the public’s attention from pressing issues and asserting that he is succeeding in delivering on his promises to the electorate.

Malacanang issued the statement after Hontiveros accused Duterte of engaging in diversionary tactics with his latest controversial statements.

“List of broken promises”

“What accomplishments are Malacanang talking about? Saang planeta ba sila naroroon? All the people see is a long list of broken electoral promises. First, President Duterte failed to end crime and illegal drug trafficking in his first six months in office. Second, he has failed to put a stop to labor contractualization. Third, he has broken his promise to farmers to distribute the Coco levy fund. Fourth, he has failed to implement an independent foreign policy, succumbing to China. Fifth, the President has failed to ensure affordable food for Filipinos, unable to protect the people from TRAIN, the rising inflation rate and the unmitigated price of gasoline. The list goes on and on,” Hontiveros said.

“Duterte lost the war”

“President Duterte declared war on many fronts. A war against illegal drugs. A war against labor contractualization. A war against foreign domination. A war against poverty. The President has lost all the wars he has waged. He not only lost, he has cowered in the trenches and waved the white flag of surrender,” Hontiveros stressed.

Hontiveros maintained that the Duterte administration is engaged in diversionary tactics because it has no concrete policy responses to the country’s important political and economic issues.

“It’s all smoke and mirrors. It’s state-sponsored obfuscation. It’s no coincidence that President Duterte has issued provocative statements leading to the second anniversary of our historic victory in the United Nations arbitration tribunal against China and his State of the Nation Address (SONA), both happening this July. There is a clear attempt to divert public attention away from burning issues such as China’s encroachment on our territory and the government’s overall dismal performance,” Hontiveros pointed out.

The opposition Senator enumerated some of the issues that the Duterte administration is trying to deflect:

1. The thousands dead as a result of its bloody drug war, as validated recently by well-known academics and researchers from the country’s top universities.
2. The government’s nontransparent and erratic foreign policy, China’s violation of our territorial integrity and the foreign affairs department’s implausible 50-100 “diplomatic actions” against Beijing.
3. The gross incompetence and corruption plaguing the current administration.
4. The rising inflation rate, the weakening of the Peso and the general slowing down of the economy.
5. The deep, negative impacts of TRAIN on many Filipinos.

“Face the issues, end the gibberish”

“Kung tunay na may tapang at malasakit si Pangulong Duterte, harapin niya nang tapat ang mga isyu ng mamamayan. Huwag siyang magtago sa mga walang kapaki-pakinabang at nakakainsultong pahayag para ilihis ang atensyon ng publiko at pagtakpan ang kanyang mga pagkukulang at kapalpakan. President Duterte’s political antics have failed to amuse and have only dismayed. It’s time for President Duterte to cease his gibberish and face the issues,” Hontiveros ended. #

Photo credit: Bianet

BALAY Rehabilitation Center Statement on the Occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

June 26, 2018

Today, Balay marks the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture with deep sadness and anger. We join those who mourn and denounce the death of Genesis Argoncillo, 22, and call on authorities to hold accountable those who allowed his death to happen.

Policemen arrested Argoncillo, also known as “Tisoy”, on June 15 because he was not wearing a shirt when he stepped out of his home to get a cellphone load at a nearby sari-sari store. Four days later he was rushed to hospital but was declared dead on arrival. He bore marks of senseless beating. Authorities initially explained that his injuries were self-inflicted, claiming that he was “mentally disturbed” and was uncontrollable, making a scene inside the cell. His death certificate indicates that he died of multiple blunt force trauma in the neck, head, chest, and upper extremities. He also bore bruises on his shoulders and hips.

Tisoy’s death in custody is neither the first nor the last. Three suspected drug users died apparently due to illness aggravated by head and exhaustion, from February to April 2018 in Pasay Police Station. Housed in the same building by the police investigation and detective management section, the 22.8-square-meter jail is originally meant for only 40 people but holds 143, according to the section chief.[1] Between May and June 2018, five persons detained in police lock up jails in Quezon City and in Manila died either due to head stroke or illnesses made worse by overcrowding and lack of health and sanitation facilities. [2]

How can such incidents happen in a place where police officers are supposed to look after the safety and security of persons under their custody? How can they claim to be protectors of the people when the people feel fear rather than security when under the grip of their power? How can we rejoice at their proclaimed triumph over criminality when ordinary citizens, whose only fault is to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, are shoved into jail because someone very powerful ordered a crackdown on loiterers and alleged criminals.

The prohibition of torture in the Philippines is absolute in the same way that law enforcers are proscribed from using unlawful violence or for allowing acts of cruelty and ill treatment to pass in their presence. The Constitution mandates that no one shall be subjected to torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment. In fulfillment of its state policy and international obligation, the Philippine Government signed into law Republic Act No. 9745 also known as “An Act Penalizing Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Prescribing Penalties Therefore” or the Anti-Torture Law on November 10, 2009. Its implementing guidelines were approved in 2010.

Yet torture as an act of violence persists. From 2016-2017, Balay has documented 32 accounts of torture, 69% of the incidents took place in the course of the government’s drive against criminality and illegal drugs, with 41% of the cases recorded in the National Capital Region (NCR). Thirty-one percent of the cases happened in the context of the government’s campaign against insurgency and terrorism in Basilan and North Cotabato in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Males and boys account for 97% of all victims. Minors constitute 47% of all victims.

Balay has also monitored from various sources a total of 24 cases of torture in 2017, with 58% of the cases reported to be connected to the government’s war-on-drugs. Ninety-two percent of the victims are male, and mostly between the 25-50 age group. Most of the incidents happened in the NCR (63%). Police officers account for 69% of alleged perpetrators in the torture incidents.

The Commission on Human Rights has been investigating most of those torture reports. But factors that discouraged torture victims from filing a formal complaint include fear of reprisal (particularly for those who are in jail or in police lock up cell), lack of knowledge on justice-seeking procedures, inconvenience, costly and slow process of litigation, distrust in justice system.

The statement of President Duterte that the relatives of the those who died will never get justice as he will not allow a single policeman accused of breaking the rule of law to go to jail is a chilling reminder on how tragic it is to be poor and powerless in society today.

As we commemorate the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture which marks the adoption of the UN Convention against Torture on June 26, 1987, we ask for an end to violence, torture, and impunity. We urge government to engage in a meaningful dialogue with civil society and the public.

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Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

These recent days, the news have reported a good number of Catholic priests asking for permit from the Philippine National Police (PNP) that they be allowed to carry firearms.

I have already stated my mind on this issue some days ago through Radio Veritas, a Manila Archdiocese-run radio station, that I disagree with such manner of action – that a priest would carry firearms.

A priest is a person who is configured to Christ. In the teachings of the Church, a priest acts in the person of Christ. In the midst of the Church, in the midst of society, because of the grace of priestly ordination, we are supposed to see and feel in his presence the person of Christ. And, therefore, with this configuration of a priest to Christ, it is simply not appropriate, to say the least, for a priest to carry firearms to protect himself.

I am very much aware of the day-to-day dangers to our life these days, especially with the killing of three priests in recent months. Together with other reported killings, we are most disturbed and deeply saddened by the death of these priests. We have strongly condemned these killings. But still to me, it does not warrant at all that priests carry firearms. That is why, we give our trust and confidence to our PNP and other related peace and order personnel in the government. We pray for them and challenge them to do their very best in this very difficult and demanding task of protecting all of us, including priests.

Thus, as the Archbishop of Davao, though up to now no priest has asked me, I strongly discourage my priests, the clergy of Davao, to seek such permission from the PNP to carry firearms.

For priests in other arch/dioceses, this is a matter that you should talk and discuss with your bishops and among yourselves as priests – regarding the appropriateness and witness to our people if you carry firearms.

Brother priests, we should pray all the more for a deeper confidence and gratitude for the grace of ordination that we have received – that we are configured to Christ and act in His person every moment of our lives.

From the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, 23 June 2018

+ ROMULO G. VALLES, D.D.
Archbishop of Davao
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines

P.N. 009/2018
23 June 2018