By Leila M. de Lima
At the heart of this conflict really isn’t the failure of the BJE to materialize, or the breakdown of the negotiations of the MOA-AD. It is not the rogue armies that the AFP must hunt. These are causes. The heart, the heart — bled profusely — of this conflict is the civilian.

Reporters Without Borders called today for more police to investigate the killings of five journalists in the Philippines this year, including the latest victim, former radio presenter Rolando Anjo Julia, in the central province of Camarines Sur.
“Until the motives for these crimes have been discovered and their authors punished, people will continue to doubt the [...]

Olympics Open on Bloody Anniversary
(New York, August 7, 2008) – Twenty years after the uprising in Burma, the military government continues to sharply restrict fundamental rights and violently suppress dissent, Human Rights Watch said today. The anniversary falls as the Olympic Games open in Beijing, while the Chinese government gives crucial support to Burma’s repressive [...]

The murder in broad daylight of Capiz broadcaster Martin Roxas on Thursday, August 7, mocks government’s claims that it has brought down the incidence of extrajudicial killings, particularly the murder of journalists.
Roxas, 32, is the fourth journalist murdered this year and the 59th since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in 2001.
The brazenness with which [...]

New York, August 7, 2008—Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed radio commentator Martin Roxas today in the second brutal shooting of a broadcaster in the Philippines this week, according to local and international news reports.
Two men shot Roxas in the back as he drove his motorcycle from DYVR station in Roxas City, on the country’s central Panay island, [...]

CMFR/PHILIPPINES – A radio broadcaster was killed on 7 August 2008 by a gunman riding pillion on a motorcycle in Roxas City, Capiz. Capiz is approximately 411 kms southeast of Manila.
Martin Roxas, program director of dyKR-Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) in Roxas, was shot in the nape. Roxas was himself on a motorcycle. He was pronounced [...]

In a statement, the NUPL says it “strongly criticizes the recent spate of decisions by the Court of Appeals dismissing amparo petitions which are indicative of a failure to comprehend the intent and nature of the new judicial remedy that initially brought a ray of hope for the victims, families and human rights defenders. These decisions unfortunately disregard the actual state of human rights in the Philippines today that has prompted the promulgation of the new remedy in the first place.”

Several years ago, I was able to get inside several highly secured jails for the first time. I was so shocked by what I saw I couldn’t sleep for nights after. The jail visits revealed children as young as ten were being held in detention with adults and many suffered degrading physical and sexual abuse, [...]

The warden of the Davao Penal Colony in Davao del Norte has not released radio broadcaster Alexander Adonis despite being paroled by the Department of Justice Board of Pardon and Paroles as early as December 2007 and the posting of a bail bond for another libel case. Adonis was jailed after one of the country’s most powerful politicians, Davao City congressman and now House Speaker Prospero Nograles, sued him for libel.

Victim Tortured, Interrogated to Confirm Military Accusations vs Detained UCCP Pastor Berlin Guerrero

Even as the family and co-workers of UCCP Pastor Berlin Guerrero continue to cry out for freedom and justice for Pastor Berlin, another UCCP worker, Pastor Rodel Canja suffered torture in the hands of military agents. For four days, armed men alternately [...]

Leila de Lima. (Photo by John Alliage Morales/Inquirer.net)

For somebody who barely warmed her seat, the actions and statements by Leila de Lima, the new chair of the Commission on Human Rights, are impressive, probably unprecedented. Let’s just hope that this is not ningas-cogon, that de Lima is motivated by a genuine concern for human rights and not by the need to prove her mettle.

The Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists invites you to a press briefing on the latest developments in the prosecution of the alleged masterminds in the murder of Marlene Esperat (Criminal Case No. CBU-82237 also known as People of the Philippines vs. Osmeña Montañer et al.).
The briefing will be held on Wednesday May 28, 2008 [...]

(Hong Kong, May 26, 2008) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
has launched today a campaign blog which documents cases involving
various forms of arbitrary deprivation of life in the Philippines.
The blog entitled ‘Slaughter of Innocents’ chronicles how
a class of people have been systematically murdered on an almost daily
basis. The blog may be accessed at:
http://noprotection.blog.humanrights.asia
Moon Jeong Ho, [...]

Between February 4 and May 14, 2008, the Asian Legal Resource Center has been alerted to 17 murders in General Santos City and it is believed that this is not an exhaustive list. Seven of those murdered, including a 16-year-old boy, have been accused by the police investigators of having criminal records, being former detainees or persons involved in committing motorcycle robberies. In several other cases, the victims are persons illegally working as motorcycle taxis, who were killed when criminals stole their motorcycles.

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines and the family of Mr.
and Mrs. Samuel and Flora Guerrero, parents of Pastor Berlin Guerrero,
will lead a Pilgrimage Walk for Freedom and Justice at 2:30 pm today
to dramatize the call for the immediate release of Pastor Berlin.
“When my husband Pastor Berlin was ripped from our family’s arms [...]

A military man as peace adviser? A hawk for the dovish tasks of peace negotiations? It shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Arroyo regime of ironies and mockery has done as badly and even worse. It’s a national security regime disguised as a democracy, a reign of assassins cloaked in legal cloth. It’s a regime of mockery in which an Hermogenes Esperon for peace adviser makes as much sense as a Raul Gonzalez for justice secretary.

By Fr. Shay Cullen
It’s good to know that there are idealistic and well-meaning military officers ready to oppose corruption and speak the truth. Some wrongly took up arms to oppose the government corruption last year and were conditionally pardoned recently by the President. Other military officers of conscience in the Armed Forces of the Philippines [...]

The military may have cut off his head and mangled his face and body. But Rey Cayago’s face and name could never be forgotten by his colleagues, his family, and the migrants and their families whom he had helped.
BY EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat
Vol. VIII, No. 15, May 18-24, 2008
There is a face to the growing number [...]

House Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur C. Ocampo today condemned the killing of an official of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas on Thursday in Davao City and blamed it on President Macapagal-Arroyo’s order to carry on counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya 2 that includes extra-judicial killings.
The KMP identified the victim as [...]