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IMPACT
Quote in the Act
In the Americas, only one statethe United
Statesconsistently executes.
Amnesty International, reporting on death penalty where the United States
seem to comfortably settle with the group of China, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
that have carried out 93 percent of all executions worldwide last year.
It is perversity to say satellite launch technology
cannot be distinguished from a long-range missile
technology.
Spokesman, for North Koreas Foreign Ministry; reacting to the impending
United Nations sanction if North Korea will proceed with its satellite launch
between April 4 to 8which is perceived by the US, South Korea and Japan as
a disguise for testing long-range ballistic missile technologythat proves very
expensive for a country that cannot even feed its people.
The instant speculation is that YouTube is being
blocked because the Tibetan government in exile
released a particular video.
Xiao Qiang, adjunct professor of journalism at the University of California
and editor of China Digital Times; on the blocking of the video-sharing website
YouTube by the Chinese government.
At the rate things are going, were going to be a
failed state within a decade.
Salehuddin Hashim, secretary general of the Peoples Justice Party, the
largest opposition party in Malaysia; on what analysts call an increasing
dysfunctional political system where the government uses draconian laws to
prosecute legitimate opposition leaders.
But to be a hyphenated priest-politician is a big
anomaly in the Church and a dilemma, if not a
scandal for many lay people.
Oscar Cruz, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan; on his consistent call for
Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio to leave the priesthood once and for all if he is
to pursue his plan to run for the presidency in next years elections.
It is time for France to be true to its conscience.
Herve Morin, Defense Ministry of France; on the decision that the French
government is fnally paying compensation to victims of its nuclear weapons
tests after years of silence. From 1960 to 1996, France has carried over 200
nuclear tests in Algeria and French Polynesia with over 150,000 suffering from
illnesses linked to radiation.
Volume 43 Number 4
3
I
MPAC
T
April 2009 / Vol 43 No 4
EDITORIAL
Priest-politician: an anomaly in the hierarchy
and a dilemma for the laity ........................... 27
COVER STORY
A Human Rights Review ................................. 16
ARTICLES
Global Economic Crisis' Impact on Human
Rights .................................................................. 4
GDP: the silly number ........................................ 7
Recession Fuels the Spread of Sex Tourism .... 9
Philippines Human Rights Watch .................... 10
UN report reveals high HIV vulnerabilities of
Asian women migrants ................................. 14
Amnesty International urges gov't to act on
recent killings ............................................... 19
DEPARTMENTS
Quote in the Act ................................................. 2
News Features ................................................... 22
Statements .......................................................... 24
From the Blogs ................................................... 26
From the Inbox .................................................. 28
Book Reviews ..................................................... 29
Entertainment .................................................... 30
News Briefs ........................................................ 31
CONTENTS
I
t simply escapes regular imagination why the
United States of America, presumably the most
educated country the world over, is setting com-
fortably in the company of China, Saudi Arabia,
Afghanistan, Belarus, Vietnam, Iran, Sudan, Singa-
pore and Japan that kill their very own citizens by
judicial electrocutions, hangings, lethal injections,
firing squads and even stoning.
In the Americas, only one statethe United
Statesconsistently executes, said Amnesty In-
ternational about the US where death penalty is as
common and perfectly judicial as the covert opera-
tions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The
Americans who are good in rhetoric about democ-
racy and civility are scandalously the third among
the four countries in the world that carried 93% of
all judicial executions in 2008, coming next to China
and Saudi Arabia with Pakistan following.
Europe and Central Asia has become virtually a
death-penalty-free zone, according to Amnesty In-
ternational. Happily, the Philippines has joined the
group of the civilized by abolishing death penalty
of late.
But ironically enough, while judicial killings have
been shelved in the Philippines, the incidence of
extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances
are alarmingly on the rise with a frequency rate that
has equaled the times of Martial Law, according to
the Report on the National Consultative Summit on
Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances
convened by the Supreme Court in 2007.
On March 26, 2009, President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo ordered the Philippine National Police to
Stop the killing of journalists and, sincerely or
otherwisebut mostly otherwisevowed that
We must bring political killings to zero, including
assassinations of government officials and media
personalities. Everybody, of course, knows that
this was her firecracker reaction to the recent
move of a New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists that placed the Philippines on the list
of countries where media personnel are allegedly
being killed with impunity.
This was what happened when Arroyo organized
the Task Force Usig and the Melo Commission in
2006 that came about Shakespearean with full of
sound and fury signifying nothing. And, worse,
while this government has been heavily criticized
of impunity in the face of killings and human
rights violations, it has also been tagged as in a
state of denial by the UN Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial Executions Philip Alston.
To the families of victims of extrajudicial killings
and enforced disappearances, and to those who
are already listed in the so-called order of battle,
this issue is humbly but sincerely dedicatedwith
this thought: while Philippines is rated the most
corrupt nation in Asia, is it also the most murder-
ous? Read on.
IMPACT April 2009 4
ARTICLES
By Daniel Conejar
A
t the turn of the 21
st
century, the
present global economic crisis
is comparable to or worst than
the Great Depression of the 1930s. It
is the tipping point of the neo-liberal
economic model in the 1980s dubbed as
globalization, the abandonment of state
responsibility through trade liberaliza-
tion, privatization and deregulation. It
gives rise to the phenomenon of devel-
opment aggression: massive dislocation
of communities, destruction of environ-
ment, displacement and contractualiza-
tion of labor and urban demolitions,
afflicting great number of poor people
in the developing countries. The right
to information and due process has been
gravely abused to fake consent and
fast-track projects. As a consequence,
the rights of the people to food, means
of subsistence and housing have been
compromised. Entitlements have been
relinquished to the discretion of the
corporate powers, stifling legitimate
protest for benefits, security of tenure
and reforms in the work place.
Economists warn of years of hard
times and there is no immediate relief
in the near future. Once again there is
a growing concern on the economy and
sacrifices to the detriment of human
Global Economic Crisis
Impact on Human Rights
rights. In the Philippines, this crisis
will be extremely severe because it is
imposed upon an existing situationof
dependency, lack of sovereignty, crisis
of the real economy, and poverty of the
large majority of the population.
1
Dur-
ing a forum on February 10 at the Asian
Center of the University of the Philip-
pines in Diliman, Michel Chossudovsky,
director of the Centre for Research on
Globalization, argued that this crisis
is a result of financial manipulation.
It is the result of derivative exposure,
the use of very complex speculative
instruments which have the capacity of
moving markets up and down.
The bankrupt financial institutions
do not actually suffer from the crisis be-
cause the government cannot allow their
demise. Economic stimulus packages
have been concocted to bail them out of
quagmire. They are indispensable sector
In an honest and closer look, the entire economic fasco is
consumerism: a greed for yield and over-borrowing beyond ones
capacity to pay, in other words, spending and debt. The civil society
and the Church could play an important role on how to address
the crisis by example of prudent and frugal spending, expos of
false development paradigms and representation to enact laws and
policies truly responsive to the fulflment of the rights of the people.

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Volume 43 Number 4
5
Global Economic Crisis' Impact on Human Rights
Global Economic Crisis
Impact on Human Rights
of development in stirring economic
growth, generating taxes and churning
out employment. Even corporations,
not severely affected by the crisis, are
making profits by taking advantage of
the situation to rationalize the displace-
ment of workers, adjustment of work-
ing hours and reduction of their social
benefits. In turn, the government can
impose more taxes and stringent mea-
sures in the delivery of social services.
Government in developing countries
have no choice but to slash spending on
entitlements and worse transfer public
services to the private institutions as
foreign aids are curbed to focus on pro-
tectionism and nationalism. Certainly,
neither the government nor the finan-
cial institutionscomplementing each
othersuffer from the global crisis.
It is the poor masses who are already
immersed in poverty and can hardly lift
their voice to be heard in the economic
forums and discussions.
Repercussions on domestic market
The worsening global economic
crisis has repercussions in the domestic
economy. Joblessness has taken the
center stage of the domestic concerns.
Since last quarter of 2008, the Task
Force Detainees of the Philippines
(TFDP) has already monitored about
50,000 Filipino workers losing their
jobs in the semiconductor and manufac-
turing sectors in the export processing
zones wherein transnational corpora-
tions reduced production or ceased
operations while 30,000 or more are
expected to follow by the end of the
second quarter of 2009. The absence of
data in the agricultural sector and the
non-renewing of contracts in the big
retail stores and local government units
may reveal the worse unemployment
condition in the country. And the entry
of new graduates will further constrict
employment opportunities. In the past
weeks, overseas Filipino workers have
been laid off from work in Hong Kong,
Taiwan and Middle East. Apart from the
trainings on SMEs, they can only avail
little financial assistance from OWWA.
The government is more predisposed to
ensure that the OFWs are assisted first
because they have great contribution
in keeping the economy afloat rather
than making necessary programs for
the labor sector. The latter are only
offered summer jobs in lieu of loans
from SSS. The economic stimulus of
the government designed to cushion the
impact of unemployment in the country,
described by many as mere palliative
rather than strategic, is highly suspected
of mobilizing and diverting funds for
electoral gains intended primarily for
the delivery of basic social services.
- Some 35,000 workers of electron-
ics and automotive parts export compa-
nies at the Laguna Techno park have lost
their jobs as direct result of the global
financial crisis. This means a job loss
of 43.75 percent at the economic zone
since last year when the 94 companies
located there reported a workforce of
some 80,000. (inquirer.net, January 21,
2009 by Veronica Uy)
- Ford Motors Company has cut its
office staff in the Philippines by 15 per-
cent in a restructuring program. Some
29 employees, including six managers,
out of total of 200 office-based staff
accepted separation packages under
a redundancy program that took effect
November 30. (Lay-offtracker.blogspot.
com, December 8, 2008)
- Texas Instruments, one of the
worlds biggest semiconductor manu-
facturers, has laid off 400 workers from
its factory in the Northern Philippines
due to the global financial crisis. It
employs about 2,300 people in its
plant in the Baguio where it makes
semiconductorsconductive elements
used in electronic circuitsmostly for
phone maker Nokia. (Lay-offtracker.
blogspot.com, December 23, 2008)
- The management of Giardini del
Sole allowed only 100 (none of them a
union member) out of 400 workers to
return to work after the holiday break.
Around 300 workers held an impromptu
protest at the factory gate. After sev-
eral days of protest, an agreement was
reached between union and management
included in the agreement, no worker
will be terminated and only voluntary
resignations will be accepted. (parti-
dongmanggagawa2001.blogspot.com)
- Intel Corp., one of the biggest
foreign operations in the Philippines
has told employees that it will close
down its over 20-year-old testing and
assembly plan in Cavite. It has about
1,800 workers, down from about 3,000
in November. (layofftracker.blogspot.
com, January 21, 2009)
- Mitsumi Philippines Inc., the
countrys 10
th
-largest contract manu-

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IMPACT April 2009 6
facturer and exporter of computers,
computer peripheral equipment and
accessories dismissed 2,400 workers in
Bataan and 2,000 in Cebu. (Inquirer.net,
Jan.27, 2009-article by Veronica Uy)
- Japanese electronic maker NEC
Tokin announced Tuesday that it would
axe 9,450 worldwide due to the eco-
nomic crisis. The company currently
makes electronic materials and devices
with some 3,000 employees in Japan
and 16,000 in China, Thailand, the
Philippines and Vietnam. The electronic
component manufacturer said it would
shed about 450 domestic post and 9,000
jobs overseas. (www.abs.cbnnews.com,
January 27, 2009)
- The countrys embattled garments
industry is expecting 10,000 more work-
ers to lose their jobs in the months to
come. Boy Arpafo, vice chairman and
full-time officer of clothing textile and
footwear industry, said in an interview
that out of 150,000 workers there have
been 5,000 workers displaced since
October 2008. (www.businessmirror.
com.ph, February 2, 2009 by Sara
Fabunan)
- Accenture Philippines, a US-based
outsourcing firm has filed a notice of
retrenchment for about 500 workers at
its facilities in Manila.
- SUMIFRU, one of the companies
that deals on banana production believed
to be owned by a conglomerate of Japa-
nese and Filipino investors, announced
in 2009 the termination of 300 regular
employees. The displaced farm work-
ers will be turned over to a contracting
agency which will manage their con-
tractual employment. (interview with
Brgy. Chair Paul Barrete, Sr.)
Women, most affected by crisis
Women are the ones severely af-
fected by the crisis as home managers
and being the majority workers in facto-
ries and domiciles abroad. We explore
all means to keep both ends meet after
our husbands lost their job. We have
to demonstrate to our children that we
can overcome the hardship so that when
they become parents themselves, they
can look after our example, Haydee
Amigable of the urban poor in Barangay
Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City aired this pre-
dicament during a forum on women in
celebration of the womens month held
at the San Carlos University in Cebu
City. After she lost a husband, her son
was retrenched from work. Her small
lending business is losing due to non-
payment of loans from borrowers who
are also not earning as well. The rest of
the women in the forum could no less
agree with Haydee that they are facing
economic hardship more than before.
Many can hardly eat thrice a day, sus-
tain their kids to school and pay their
electricity and water bills. On top of
these, is the threat that their community
of urban poor along the seashore will
be displaced by the ongoing reclama-
tion venture of the city of Lapu-Lapu.
About 1,000 families will be affected
and there is no viable site identified for
their relocation. Disappointed over the
administration of Gloria Arroyo, one
said that the President should feel like
a woman to be able to find solutions
to the crisis.
Government should look after its
people
Apart from the temptation of crime,
the poor masses are trying hard to
maintain dignity. But what is human
dignityif one could only maintain
lifein the absence of sufficient food,
work and housing? The right to food
and means of subsistence and housing
form the foundation where other human
rights can be nurtured and developed.
Under the various international decla-
rations and covenants, the government
cannot renege its social responsibility
over these rights. It is urgently re-
quired and duty bound to enhance role
in ensuring these entitlements while
regulating corporations. Intervention
into the capitalist excesses and in-
adequacies is imperative as to inject
social responsibility and accountability
to the corporate powers which dictate
supply and demand, thereby driving eco-
Global Economic Crisis' Impact on Human Rights
Crisis, page 22

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Volume 43 Number 4
7
By John Robson
A
s the financial crisis
becomes a general
economic crisis it
seems that GDP is going
out the window. I certainly
hope so.
No, Im not some Lud-
dite hoping the economy
collapses and we all end up
in caves eating wholesome
grass and breathing brisk
fresh air. Im hoping well
stop using GDP and the
economy interchangeably
and stop now.
Perhaps I sound eccen-
tric. Sure, GDP isnt perfect,
but its a pretty good measure
of the economy and we need
one, right? Wrong. I dont
know if we even need a good
measure of the economy. But
if we dont have one, we
harm ourselves by thinking
GDP:
the silly number
It doesnt measure happiness, wealth or effciency.
The GDP really is a useless economic tool.
we do.
GDP is not the way to
measure economic activity.
Its a way, designed by cer-
tain people for certain pur-
poses a long time ago, and
those purposes were fatally
flawed. I dont want to get
so technical that I lose not
just readers but also my own
way. But what GDP mea-
sures, fairly accurately but
for Keynesian purposes and
in Keynesian ways, is how
hard we work commercially
to create wealth. It is, effec-
tively, a commercial labor
theory of value, and thus
worthless.
In an economy where
nothing much changes, it
would be reasonable to use
GDP as a proxy for how
were doing economically.
Whatever the failings of GDP,
they would remain constant
relative to the actual creation
of wealth so if GDP went up
total wealth probably would
too. But a defining charac-
teristic of modern economies
is that lots of things change
constantly. And when they
do, the defects of GDP be-
come overpowering. Which
is especially misleading at
precisely those times, like
the present, when we are
urgently trying to determine
how much things are chang-
ing and how.
Let me illustrate a few
really major holes in GDP.
These are not technical prob-
lems that can be patched
with yet more cleverness
but defects in the concept.
GDP actually measures what
Keynesians wanted to mea-
sure quite well. Its just that,
to quote John Rhys-Davies
character in Raiders of the
Lost Ark, theyre digging
in the wrong place.
Speaking of digging, if
I start growing my own to-
matoes it may be good for
my soul, my health and the
environment. But if it also
saves me money, if I increase
my spending on fertilizer,
pruning forks, gloves and so
on less than I cut my spend-
ing on commercial tomatoes,
GDP will drop. What is that
a measure of?
Environmentalists have
long complained that GDP
fails to account for environ-
mental damage. Most of them
got the technical problem
dead wrong; GDP only miss-
es the harm done by pollution
because property rights to air
and water are not assigned
so damaging them is free to
individuals. That we could
fix, to the horror of these
same environmentalists, by
privatizing them, so that I
could sue anyone dumping
sludge into the lake in front
of my cottage as readily as if
theyd put it on my lawn.
To see where the greens
almost tripped over a major
issue, take back my library
book. Please. Its overdue.
But I digress. If I read a book
from the library instead of
buying it, I dont spend the
purchase price, paper and
glue for an extra copy are
not bought by the publisher,
it is not shipped (or is sent
within Ottawa instead of
to it), bookstore employees
dont get paid and so on.
From the point of view of
GDP, its a dead loss and I
am an antisocial wretch. But
why? Ive reduced my envi-
ronmental footprint, saved
money, and helped strengthen
an important civil society
institution especially useful
to the poor. Yet GDP cannot
like a library book.
Because GDP measures
commercial effort, anything
ARTICLES

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IMPACT April 2009 8
GDP: the silly number
that increases efficiency reg-
isters as a loss. And again,
this is no mere correctible
technical defect. John May-
nard Keynes really believed
it would be good for the
economy if the government
buried old bank notes in
bottles and then people went
and dug them up. So does
GDP... provided, of course,
that buriers and diggers-up
are paid wages.
GDP can reconcile itself
to increased efficiency, with
a non-trivial delay, if I go out
and spend the money I save on
library books or home-grown
tomatoes. But as the Federal
Reserve Bank of Dallas noted
in its 1993 Annual Report,
By far, the largest omission
in measured GNP is leisure.
If increased efficiency lets
us spend more time with
the kids, help the needy, im-
prove our minds or cultivate
a hobby, its bad for the
economy. And if everything
gets easier, which is another
way of saying if theres tech-
nological progress, GDP
makes growth look slower
precisely because its faster.
Indeed, if manna were to rain
down from heaven for any
length of time, GDP would
fall drastically, prompting
calls for government stimulus
packages or perhaps a war
on manna.
GDP is either blind to
qualitative change or hostile
to it, clearly a major defect
in a modern economy. Which
is why I save for last the ex-
ample that the GDP of China
was larger than that of Britain
until the late 19th century.
Yet any fool (even one with
a PhD) can see that Britons
could muster far more wealth
in 1880, individually, for so-
cial purposes and in pursuit
of political ends. Britain was
colonizing China, not the
other way around.
The bewilderment or en-
mity that GDP exhibits toward
effciency is especially dan-
gerous in times of tumultuous
change. It produces bad mea-
surements and bad reasoning
that combine to generate bad
policy. We may well be living
through a massive liquidation
of unsound institutions and
bad habits. Yet an Ottawa Citi-
zen story early in March bore
the telling secondary headline
GDP snapshot shows we are
learning to save againnot
the prescription for restart-
ing the economy. The story
admitted that Canadians were
rational to spend less given
recent shocks to their net
worth. I would add that such
conduct is both prudent and
dignifed given the absurd
recent tendency of people to
live beyond their means in
societies wealthy beyond the
dreams of Bourbon kings.
Yet in the funhouse mirror of
GDP, it becomes an obstacle
to restarting the economy
which isnt even a machine
that could have stopped
anyway.
If you must have num-
bers, dont tinker with things
like the UN Human Devel-
opment Index. It measures
only life expectancy, time
spent in school and per capita
income. You wouldnt write
an obituary based on those
three measures, praising the
man who spent six decades
at graduate school over the
one who laid down his life
for a friend. So dont use it
to categorize a country.
You might be better off
using unemployment adjusted
for labor market participation,
or total profts. But you might
not. I said near the begin-
ning that we might not want
a number that measures the
economy. Milton Friedman
often described visiting Hong
Kong in 1963, praising Finan-
cial Secretary John Cowperth-
waites laissez-faire policies
and asking why he didnt
collect data to publicize their
success, and Cowperthwaite
replying that if he collected
numbers people could insist
that something be done about
them while now they could
only look out the window
and see that business was
booming.
In retirement, Cowperth-
waite advised poor countries to
abolish their offces of national
statistics. In that spirit, I liked the
impressionistic measure cited in
2004 by the CEO of Wal-Mart,
that so-called displaced mer-
chandise, that is, things people
put into their shopping baskets
then take back out and leave
elsewhere in the store, is a really
good indicator that consumers
are hurting. But whatever you
do, dont measure GDP and then
demand that the government do
something about it. Especially
not now.
No sir. Open the win-
dow, look around, and while
youre there, chuck GDP out
through it.
(John Robson is a writer
and broadcaster in Ottawa, Can-
ada. This article is printed with
permission by MercatorNet)

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Volume 43 Number 4
9
By Fr. Shay Cullen
T
he money moguls of Manhat-
tan and elsewhere had looted
their own banks and corpora-
tions, plunged millions into unem-
ployment and dire poverty, granted
themselves massive bonuses as
prizes for their monumental greed
and failures and apologized to no
one. The inevitable bank failures,
factory closures has brought about
a recession that has made life all the
harder for poor everywhere. It has
hit the downtrodden of the Philip-
pines and especially those surviving
on the scraps that fall from the rich
peoples' tables. It seems the rich are
keeping the scraps these days.
Jenny, Aniline and Merci (not
their real names), three young girls
14 and 15 years old living in the
stifling hovels of perpetual poverty
in Manila could not bear the cries
of hunger of their little brothers and
sisters and went to work in a sex
bar. There was nothing else, they
were semi-illiterate, had no jobs,
no hope, no help, no possessions
to sell, just their bodies. They were
sold to sex tourists every night and
earned a pittance.
This is perhaps the most per-
nicious of evil trades and acts of
depravity in the history of human-
kind. It is difficult to know which
causes the most human suffering;
the loss of life through the illegal
arms trade, drug trafficking or the
trafficking and enslavement of mil-
lions of people around the world?
We are still in an age of slavery,
although we might incorrectly think
that it ended long ago.
Outsourcing, globalization and
the current global recession makes
the trafficking of human beings
and exploitation and cheap labor
more widespreadthe use of child-
workers is now more prevalent
Recession Fuels
the Spread of Sex
Tourism
than it has ever been. The worst
kind is, of course, the use of chil-
dren as sex workers with most of
the customers coming from rich
tourist-sending countries in Europe
and North America. An estimated
1.2 million single male tourists
arrive in the Philippines annually,
a large percentage of them are sex
tourists.
While this is the Philippine ex-
perience, there are important lessons
for any country that opens its doors
to tourists, is tolerant of the sex Ma-
fia, allows its moral codes to be vio-
lated with i mpuni t y
a n d t h e
dignity of its people and the nation
to be tarnished by the exploitation
of its people for the gratification
and profit of others.
One million children are
brought into the sex trade every year
worldwide according to the United
Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
The International Labor Organi-
zation (ILO) states the figure as
closer to 1.8 million. This means it
is growing annually. Other sources
say a global estimate of 8 million is
more realistic as, of this, 80 to 90
percent are girls. They are victims
of criminal activity, recruited and
paid for in remote impoverished
villages. They are usually run-away
street children or victims of sexual
or physical abuse in the home and
are picked up on the city streets by
pimps and traffickers and sold to
sex bars and clubs.
Preda Foundation, in Olon-
gapo City has campaigned against
the enslavement of children and
women since its founding in 1974.
Presently, thousands of Western and
Asian sex tourists make South East
Asia and, in particular, the Philip-
pines, a prime destination to find
and abuse children.
Poverty is main cause of vul-
nerable semi-illiterate children. As
many as 80,000 to 100,000 Filipino
children are trafficked into the sex
industry yearly. There are 34 mil-
lion children in all in a population
of about 87 million. Out of every
100 children, 42 are impoverished,
that is 14 million hungry children
uneducated and easily exploited
like the three girls.
They earned only a few dollars
despite extensive abuse so they
helped themselves to small bonus
from a customer and were charged
with a serious crime by the angry
78 year-old sex tourist. They were
rescued by the Preda social workers
and charges were dropped when the
old man was told he would be facing
child abuse charges himself. Aniline
and Merci are both pregnant but
were saved from forced abortions
and say they will love their babies
despite not knowing the fathers. We
can all help by joining the campaign
to end the abuse.
ARTICLES
Volume 43 Number 4
I
IMPACT April 2009 10
ARTICLES
By Daniel Conejar
T
he year 2009 does not augur well
for the economy and the human
rights situation in the country. The
war to eradicate armed dissidents rages
on against the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF) and the New Peoples
Army (NPA). The impact of the global
economic downturn results to labor
displacement and constricts opportuni-
ties for employment at all levels. The
controversies brought by the maneuver
on Charter Change spawn a lot of specu-
lations on the uncertainty of the upcom-
ing elections and the prospect of more
violence. The government mechanisms
in place to address human rights issues
are struggling for cooperation from the
civil society which has long mistrusted
the government for its lack of sincerity
and commitment while the progressive
movement and the work for human rights
have remained fragmented. These events
pose more challenges in the advance-
ment of human rights.
The table below indicates that for
the period January to March 2009, the
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
Philippines Human
Rights Watch
(TFDP) has documented a total of 32
human rights violation cases with 1,858
victims. Most of the cases are arrest
and detention with torture but there are
more victims of displacement due to the
internal conficts in Mindanao. There are
fewer cases of extra-judicial execution
directly attributed to the handiwork of
the military against individuals with al-
leged political affliations but the rise of
civilian victims allegedly connected with
small-time drug pushing and petty crimes
is alarming in Davao City. This prompted
CHR Chair Leila de Lima to intervene.
She urged the local government to look
into EJE which reached 31 cases already
in January 2009. The pattern of salvaging
in Davao City has also been observed in
Metro Manila wherein there are already
10 salvaged victims reported. On the
other hand, 37 farmers were hurt and 15
others were arrested during a series of
protests demanding land ownership and
extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL). Throughout the
country there are other forms of protest
for the beneft of displaced workers and
stoppage of large-scale mining operations
in the ancestral domain of the indigenous
peoples which resulted to cases of ha-
rassment, disappearance and arrest and
detention.
Facing the Challenges for 2009
1. Human rights defenders as well
as humanitarian aid workers are either
caught in the crossfire, targeted for as-
sassination or kidnapping aside from
being negatively perceived in pubic as
abetting the acts of terrorism.
The intensified war on terrorism
of the government against the NPA
and the MILF has created a complex
environment whereby the difficulty in
identifying and responding to a human
rights violation has become an issue.
The acts of terrorism and rebellion are
blurred. So when a suspected terrorist
or an Abu Sayyaf member is subjected
to torture, detention and trial, only a few
come to his/her defenseeven by virtue
of the right to due processlest one
will be suspected of abetting the crime
of terrorism. Even if one comes to aid,
public perception is another matter.
On the other hand, human rights
defenders, peace and humanitarian
workers are being kidnapped in Jolo and
Volume 43 Number 4
11
Basilan and other places in Mindanao
by the alleged Abu Sayyaf group. The
string of kidnappings which started
with the three ICRC personnel in Jolo:
Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio
Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba
since January 15, provides a scenario
wherein nobody is spared from kidnap-
ping anymore where ransom can range
from payment for just the panigarilyo
of the kidnappers or board and lodging
of victims that reaches millions of pesos.
The kidnapping cases of teachers and
midwife, a Sri Lankan member of the
Non-Violence Peace Corps in Basilan,
businessman and his daughter in Cota-
bato and recently teachers in Sibugay
province demonstrate this.
The threat on the life of the human
right defenders is real. The United
Nations declaration on human rights
defenders (HRDs) does not guarantee
support and protection. Presently there
is no local protective mechanism in
place that will ensure this. They are
continuously subjected to threat and
intimidation whether they are at the
picket line or even at home or in the
performance of their profession and
livelihood. For its part, TFDP intends
to pilot-organize six HRDs groups
throughout the country to assist human
rights work and develop a network of
support and protection.
2. Human rights and peace orga-
nizations should put prime importance
on monitoring and documentation since
effective advocacy work depends largely
on the accuracy and reliability of the
information.
The year 2008 tallied the highest
number of human rights violations
due to the rampage after the failed
MOA-AD between the GRP and MILF
and the continuing counter-insurgency
operation against the NPA which coin-
cidently jibes with the lowest rating of
the Arroyo administration in its 8-year
of governance. The government is bent
on pursuing the MILF commanders who
are blamed for the rampage and fast-
tracking its operation for the demoli-
tion of the communist movement in the
country by 2010. This entails massive
militarization in any part of the country
where the insurgents are. Besides, the
prospect for the resumption of peace
talks between the two parties are swept
aside by the preoccupation on the 2010
national elections aside from the wari-
ness of the parties to renegotiate. If
Philippines Human Rights Watch
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A woman, one of many farmers who
protested at the Malacaang gate
demanding the extension of CARP
with reforms shows the cuts she
sustained during the violent dispersal
in two separate rallies last February
10 and 12.
IMPACT April 2009 12
the military operation fails on both, to
cover up excuses and legitimize further
operations, the policy of the government
will certainly change permanently to
regard the MILF and NPA as terrorists
or common criminals and thus relegated
to the police concerns.
The year 2009 is critical for HR
advocacy, especially on monitoring
and documentation work, as the mili-
tary counter-terrorism and counter-
insurgency actions escalate to meet
the deadline. Although there are a
lot of HR organizations which do the
work, reports on statistics and cases are
contrasting. There should be a venue
wherein all involved in the documenta-
tion work could compare notes on data
and information. A collated report on
human rights violations in the country
will dispel all doubts of reports as
propaganda materials to overthrow the
government unlike when there is none
where the latter could easily challenge
any report as biased or unconfirmed.
Moreover, documentation work should
also cover the increasing reported cases
on election-related violence or election-
related human rights violations and the
impact of global economic crisis that
resulted to cases of displacement.
The work should not be left alone in
the hands of the Commission on Human
Rights which is hampered with limited
resources and some restrictive policies.
The CHR has recently improved its
handling of cases by introducing its
Executive Information System (EIS), a
database management system designed
to record, secure, generate reports and
update human rights cases through a
centralized operation. But this does
not fill the gap in the lack of workers
and volunteers who are willing to do
monitoring and documentation work.
The CHR should further extend its arm
to war-prone areas and should be able to
immediately respond to reports. There is
a need to build local human rights moni-
tors and networks that could expedite
the relay of data and information from
the field to the processing centers.
Bangsamoro civil society are also
challenged to take on documentation
work to address the gap on HRVs com-
mitted against the Bangsamoro people
especially in the areas not safe to other
human rights workers due to the threat
of kidnappings. If properly documented,
many agree that there are more human
rights violations against the Bangsamoro
people compared to all other human
rights violation cases in the country.
Documentation work in a climate
of impunity is very important based on
TFDP experience during the martial law
years. The TFDP recorded some 10,000
cases of human rights violations that can
be accessed in its Museum of Courage
and Resistance. The preserved data had
been used to indict the Marcoses in a
Hawaiian court. This experience has
taught us a valuable lesson in securing
reports on human rights violation cases
for their possible usage in the future in
the context of an enabling political en-
vironment or until the victim has finally
found the courage to seek justice.
3. The work to curb impunity
must intensify especially against extra-
judicial executions and enforced disap-
pearances.
After the Alston report accusing
the Philippine government of acquies-
cence and inaction on the cases of extra
judicial executions (EJE) and enforced
disappearances (ED), the Melo Com-
mission and the SC-initiated National
Consultation delved on these cases.
The Supreme Court came up with two
landmark legal instruments: the writ
of amparo and writ of habeas data
as recourse in the prevention and pros-
ecution of perpetrators. However, these
instruments have also been used by the
military to penetrate the privacy of ones
abode, office or compound to search for
victims of enforced disappearance.
The administration formed the Task
Force Usig to investigate unexplained
killings of political activists and jour-
nalists. But most of the suspects it has
probed involved the cadres of Com-
munist Party of the Philippines. It also
created Task Force 211 against political
violence and extra-judicial executions
chaired by Justice Undersecretary Ri-
cardo Blancaflor. TF 211 so far has 37
cases on trial and 6 convictions involv-
ing the murder of media personalities.
But the phenomenon of EJE and ED
persists even with these remedies and
mechanisms in place. Most of the con-
victions only involved enlisted person-
nel in the military and never went be-
yond command responsibility. General
Jovito Palparan, Jr. held responsible for
the abduction of the Manalo brothers
Raymond and Reynaldo who escaped
after a year and a half of captivity, has
not been brought to justice. The Su-
preme Court granted their petition for
IMPACT April 2009 12
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An injured protester is carried by police following the violent dispersal of rallyists at Malacaang gate last February 12.
Volume 43 Number 4
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the writ of amparo but in spite of the
overwhelming evidence of torture, EJK
and ED against Palparan, not a single
prosecution arm of the government has
filed a case against him. According to
the Melo Commission there is certainly
evidence pointing the finger of suspicion
at... General Palparan as responsible for
an undetermined number of killings.
However, upon retirement, he was
offered a position in the government
despite his alleged links to death squads
and extrajudicial executions.
The number of cases of EJK and
EDs of political figures as reported by
various HR organizations is actually just
a tip of the iceberg if all related cases
have been documented. Civilians alleged
as drug traffickers and petty criminals
are added among the victims. In Davao
City alone TFDP documented [number
of] cases attributed to the Davao Death
Squad in 2007 and since January this
year there were about 33 unresolved
killings
1
already. In response, a dia-
logue was initiated by the Integrated Bar
of the Philippines (IBP) with the civil
society groups and concerned govern-
ment agencies to form an independent
body to conduct an investigation of the
cases, to maximize the witness protec-
tion program to encourage more wit-
nesses to come out and to strengthen the
forensic and investigative capability of
all law enforcement agencies stood out
among the recommendations. Assur-
ance of these is not enough, there must
be an atmosphere of trust between the
government agencies and the victims and
their relatives. The lack of witnesses and
the absence of evidence thus remains a
problem according to CHR-XI Director
Alberto Sipaco.
The CHR is also asked to investigate
summary executions in Metro Manila.
There were already 10 salvaged victims
reported in the cities of Las Pias, Ma-
nila and Quezon. Aside from marks of
strangulation on their necks, the victims
also bore stab and bullet wounds. Their
hands and feet were tied while strips of
packing tape were wrapped around their
face.
2
These victims have indications
on their bodies that they were tortured
before killed. What is sad to note is that
these killings are usually attributed to
gang wars or to vigilante groups.
EJEs before were attributed by the
military to legitimate encounters which
is strongly denied by the Left but now
liked to election-related violence. So
as the elections near, the cases of EJEs
may grow in number. And this type of
killing is often attributed to those who
want to stay in power than those who
want to be in power.
4. Civil society organization should
adopt the human rights framework in
their approaches to development and
dealing with the local government and for
the latter to face the same challenge.
We are often discouraged and daunt-
ed by the fact that most HR bills are
stalled in Congress and the lack of human
rights understanding among the military
and our government leaders and agen-
cies. The anti-torture bill, for example, is
still pending for enactment and possibly
again derailed by the upcoming elec-
tions. In spite of its prevalence, why is
it that torture fails to be considered as a
national human rights issue? Because it is
often overshadowed by election matters
during the height of its deliberation in
Congress, never a priority of the Arroyo
administration and there are no consis-
tent human rights advocates among the
legislators and enough support from
the local governments and community.
This is also true with other human rights
bills against discrimination, disappear-
ance and extra judicial executionsall
pending in Congress.
Corollary to the effort at the national
level which usually takes more time and
resources, the local governments may be
engaged in the promotion and protection
of human rights. TFDP in the past had
formed torture free zones. This is a
clue that in the absence of a national
law on certain human rights issues, a
local mechanism could be a substitute.
CSOs, in a particular locus of operation
be it at the regional and provincial level,
are challenged to come up with a lo-
cal human rights agenda to lobby for
mechanism and possible law enactment
at the provincial, municipal or even
barangay levels. The activation of the
Barangay Human Rights Action Centers
(BHRAC) and Human Rights commit-
tees as quasi-bodies and the formation
of Mulit-sectoral Quick Reaction Teams
(MSQRTs) are fertile grounds to discuss
engagement on particular human rights
to lobby. Thus, in the absence of a clear
policy of the national government on
the safety nets of the displaced workers,
food security and relief and rehabilitation
of victims of human rights violations
especially of massive displacement due
to internal conficts, the local govern-
ment should arrive at measures to ad-
dress these. In the absence of national
laws, there is already a mandate in the
Constitution and in the international
declarations and covenants of which our
government has signed.
(Daniel Conejar is the National
Program Coordinator of Research,
Documentation and Information Pro-
gram of the Task Force Detainees of
the Philippines)
Notes:
1

http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/index.
php?opt i on=com_cont ent &vi ew=ar t i cl
e&i d=463:seven-poi nts-reached-tu-curb-
killings&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=63
2 PDI, Cops to ask CHR..., Feb. 16, 2009, p.
A16,
Philippines Human Rights Watch
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Troopers of Manila Police District block farmers-protesters from holding a peaceful rally at Mendiola
Bridge last February 10.
I
IMPACT April 2009 14
ARTICLES
The plight of sexually-abused Filipinas in the Arab States
By Kris Bayos
F
or Rina, working as a do-
mestic helper in the Middle
East has indeed helped her
earn her familys living. But just
as migration brought her feet on
greener pastures, it has neverthe-
less led her entire life in drought
when she has acquired the infa-
mous human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) after being sexually
abused by her male employers.
According to the 34-year-old
overseas Filipino worker, whose
real name was withheld for re-
quested anonymity, she didnt
know who among her employ-
ers from Qatar and Dubai had
infected her. However, Rina
claimed that the memories she
has of the culprits are still vivid
despite her choice to delete them
into oblivion.
I would get sick but I was
never given any medicine. For
one whole year, I was only given
one day-off. One time, my em-
ployer told me to give him a mas-
sage [then I realized] he started
mashing my private parts, she
recounted before members of
UN REPORT REVEALS
HIGH HIV
VULNERABILITIES
OF ASIAN WOMEN
MIGRANTS
the media and representatives of
the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the De-
partment of Labor and Employ-
ment (DOLE) in a gathering in
Makati City.
Although she has success-
fully escaped back to the Philip-
pines in May 2000, Rina failed
to get away with her dark past
when, during her application for
deployment in Malaysia, she was
positively diagnosed as a car-
rier of HIV through a mandatory
blood test.
I cried and wished I was
dead. I was depressed for weeks.
I wasnt a sex worker and I never
had affairs with the other Filipinos
when I was abroad. I asked God
How could this happen to me?
she said.

Highly susceptible
Rina and other OFWs who
engage in sexual relationships
abroad due to homesickness are
among the subjects of the recent
UNDP study that reveals how
highly susceptible are Asian mi-
grant women in acquiring HIV
and consequently suffering from
Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS), given the
living conditions offered in their
host countries.
Titled HIV Vulnerabilities
of Migrant Women: From Asia
to the Arab States, the study
revealed that of the total number
of HIV cases recorded in the Phil-
ippines since 1984, OFWs make
up 34 percent (1,162) or about a
third of the total statistics.
According to the last break-
down of OFW data in the HIV
Registry, out of the 1,061 OFWs
who tested positive in December
2007, 33 percent (347) were
seafarers, 17 percent (179) were
domestic workers, nine percent
(97) were employees, eight per-
cent (81) were entertainers, and
six percent (65) were health
workers.
The registry added that sexual
transmission remained to be the
leading mode of transmission (94
percent) of HIV among OFWs.
Based on the UNDP study,
which utilized focus group discus-
sion as its mode of methodology,
women migrant workers in Asia
including Filipinas who work
Volume 43 Number 4
15
UN report reveals high HIV vulnerabilities of Asian women migrants
in the Arab states are common
targets of sexual violence.
Almost 600 interviews in
four Asian states and three in the
Arab states cited in the report also
showed the social, economic and
health toll that migration imposed
on emigrating women, commonly
from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
Pakistan and the Philippines.
Furthermore, it concluded
that more women are vulner-
able to HIV because of limited
preparedness and poor access to
information and services.

Replicated
Similar to the UNDPs study,
a separate research on Unveil-
ing HIV Vulnerabilities: Filipino
Women Migrant Workers in the
Arab States was conducted by
the Action for Health Initia-
tives (ACHIEVE), Inc. to deter-
mine the status of HIV-infected
overseas Filipino workers like
Rina.
According to ACHIEVE di-
rector Malu Marin, the study,
conducted in Bahrain, Dubai and
Lebanon, reveals that sexual in-
tercourse remains as the leading
means of HIV transmission.
The ACHIEVE study used a
series of focus group discussions,
wherein it was learned that at least
88 percent of the respondents
are aged 21 to 40, 47 percent are
married and 52 percent are un-
dergraduate or vocational degree
holders.
For her part, ACHIEVE of-
ficer Amara Quesada said the
lonesome living conditions of
OFWs make them engage in in-
timate relationships that usually
complicates to sexual activities.
Intensified awareness recom-
mended
It is for this reason that Re-
naud Meyer, the UNDP Country
Director in the Philippines,
urges the national government
to strengthen HIV awareness
and prevention programs dur-
ing pre-departure orientation
of OFWs.
UNDP believes that it is
high time that the phenomenon
of global labor migration and
HIV vulnerability be seen from
the larger perspective of devel-
opment in both origin and host
countries, Meyer said.
In particular, the UNDP called
on the Philippine Overseas Em-
ployment Administration (POEA)
and the Overseas Workers Wel-
fare Administration (OWWA)
to monitor the human rights of
OFWs and exert more vigilance in
regulating recruitment agencies to
ensure recruits of documentation
and protection.
The Department of Health
(DoH) is likewise urged to de-
velop and strictly monitor proper
HIV screening of departing and
returning OFWs. Meanwhile, the
Department of Labor and Em-
ployment (DOLE) is called on
to implement comprehensive re-
integration program for returning
HIV-infected OFWs.
As for now, Rina can avail
of the reintegration program of-
fered by DOLE. Other HIV-vic-
tims like her can also proceed
to the nearest branch of TESDA
(Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority) for skills
and livelihood training, said
DOLE Assistant Secretary Ma.
Teresa Soriano.
But when asked for DOLEs
pre-emptive measures to address
the alarming incidence of HIV
infection among OFWs, Soriano
failed to say something concrete.
Not enough
Apparently, DOLE and other
government agencies still fall
short of their duties in taking care
of the modern heroes that keep
the countrys economy afloat.
And this is nothing new as
the government remains indiffer-
ent over the problem, according
to Fr. Edwin Corros, the execu-
tive secretary of the Episcopal
Commission on Migrants and
Itinerant People (ECMI) of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines (CBCP).
In fact, Corros who had been
involved with the issues of HIV
and AIDS among overseas Fili-
pino workers since 2005, said
that OWWA provides very limited
assistance, and only to those who
would approach the agency.
But the social stigma that
goes with OFWS having HIV-
AIDS discourages them to seek
assistance from the agency, ac-
cording to Corros.
The National Reintegration
Center for OFWs which the gov-
ernment established in 2007 pro-
vides programs to help returning
migrants acquire entrepreneurial
skills to help them start a business
here. But Corros said no actual
programs have been provided for
OFWs with HIV.
I have heard from the OFW
returnees with HIV and AIDS
that they saw no actual program
reserved for them at the NRCO
Most programs being offered to
OFWs at NRCO are for entre-
preneurial activities and skill up
grade. Nothing on OFWS who
have contracted HIV and AIDs is
available, as observed not only by
OFWs living with HIV but even
by migrant NGOs, said Corros.
The reality of OFWs with
HIV-AIDs especially among
women migrants is just a part
of the larger social costs that the
country has to pay for employing
a policy of labor migration in de-
veloping the countrys economy.
Unfortunately, OFWs, despite
being hailed as modern heroes
by the gov-
ernment, are
not provided
s u f f i c i e n t
as s i s t ance
by the same
government
who cal l s
them as such
when they
come home
to settle in
t hei r own
country. I
IMPACT April 2009 16
COVER
STORY
A Human Rights Review
By Charles Avila
The Basis of Our Rights
I
n the Churchs Social Teaching
(CST) the human person exists
as a unique and unrepeatable be-
ing. Existing as an I, capable of
self-understanding, self-possession and
self-determination, the human person
is a subjective entity, a centre of con-
sciousness and freedom, whose unique
life experiences, comparable to those of
no one else, entail above all the require-
ment of simple respect on the part of
others. The roots of human rights are
to be found herein the dignity that
belongs to each human being.
Some rights are based on human-
made law or on the fundamental cov-
enant of a given society. Their violations
are thus termed illegal or unconsti-
tutional.
Human rights, however, may or may
not be found in law or the constitution
but they exist as essential to the nature
of a human being. They can be violated
but they can never be abrogated. Can
you forbid a bird to fly or a serpent to
crawl? In the same manner you cannot,
for instance, forbid humans to freely as-
A Human Rights
Review
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While the Philippines is rated
the most corrupt nation in
Asia, is it also the
most murderous?
Volume 43 Number 4
17
A Human Rights Review
semble because of the essentially social
nature of human nature. Thus the right
of free assembly is a human right.
The current worldwide movement
towards the identification and procla-
mation of human rights is a most sig-
nificant attempt to respond effectively
to the inescapable demands of human
dignity. John Paul II called the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, adopted
by the United Nations on 10 December
1948, a true milestone on the path of
humanity's moral progress.
The Philippines an early adherent
but
The Philippines was an early adher-
ent and supporter of the UN Declaration
which set out a list of over two dozen
specific human rights that countries
should respect and protect, inclusive
of security rights that protect people
against murder, massacre, torture, and
rape; due process rights that protect
against imprisonment without trial,
secret trials, and excessive punishments;
liberty rights that protect freedoms of
belief, expression, association, assem-
bly, and movement; political rights
that protect the liberty to participate in
politics through actions such as com-
municating, assembling, protesting,
voting, and serving in public office;
equality rights that guarantee equal
citizenship, equality before the law,
and nondiscrimination; and social (or
"welfare") rights that require provi-
sion of education to all children and
protections against severe poverty and
starvation.
All the constitutions of the vari-
ous Philippine Republics have been
notable for their explicit and lengthy
declarations of human rights protec-
tion. However, war situationswhether
with the Spaniards, the Americans, the
Japanese, or Filipinos with each other
(absent Peace Agreements with Moro
separatists or Communist rebels)have
occasioned systematic human rights
violations that many groups worldwide
find rather alarming.
Studies made by the late Congress-
man Bonifacio H. Gillego revealed
that systematic violations may have
started with the United States Agency
for International Developments Public
Safety Programs that trained the po-
lice and military of many Third World
countries, including ours, in the skills
and requirements of torture to protect
unpopular regimes from the dangers of
protest and revolutionary movements.
Not to be outdone, many of the latter
engaged in similar or worse methods
against the enemy and among their
own ranks.
But given the intensity and length of
time of the over-all Philippine practice
of human rights violation is it now so
bad that it has become part of the culture
of conflict in our land?

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IMPACT April 2009 18
The CHR speaks
Post-Edsa Philippines saw the es-
tablishment of an independent govern-
ment agency called the CHR or Com-
mission on Human Rightsan idea
later adopted by other countries of the
ASEAN region.
The CHR said they investigated
173 new complaints of killings in 2008;
67 of these cases were classified as
politically motivated. Personnel from
the Philippine National Police (PNP)
and the Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) were suspects by the CHR in a
number of the killings of leftist activ-
ists operating in rural areas.
A non-governmental organization
(NGO), Task Force Detainees of the
Philippines (TFDP), alleged the sum-
mary execution of four individuals by
government forces.
The PNP itself had its own investi-
gative Task Force Usig which recorded
146 cases of killings since 2001, six of
which occurred in 2008; 90 cases were
filed in court, with one conviction dur-
ing the year.
If all these numbers sounded so un-
believably few, at least one human rights
organization, Karapatan, claimed that
there have been more than 900 killings
since 2001, with both state actors and
nonstate actors as suspects. It recorded
69 victims of killings in 2008.
To show that they did not relish all
these reports of killings and disappear-
ances, the national police announced
that in 2008 it had expanded human
rights training among its own person-
nel and could now claim a network of
1,636 human rights desk officers at
the national, regional, provincial, and
municipal levels.
Not to be outdone, the Judiciary,
through the chief justice, pointed to
the writ of "amparo," as having pro-
vided citizens with court protection,
contributing, therefore, to a reduction
in killings.
Can we really believe all these
reports about implementing and enforc-
ing some reforms? Are there enough
funds for the CHR and the government
witness protection programs or are they
still complaining? As of this writing,
the CHR Chair was busy sourcing in-
ternational funds to support her work
at home.
The constitution prohibits torture,
and evidence obtained through its use is
inadmissible in court. However, police
and army were alleged to have routinely
abused and sometimes tortured suspects
and detainees. Even ordinary civilians
easily accept that excessive force and
torture remain an ingrained part of the
arrest and detention process. Common
forms of abuse during arrest and interro-
gation reportedly include electric shock,
cigarette burns, or suffocation. Arent
we light years away from a culture of
human rights observance?
There are CHR reports that prison
guards physically abused inmates; that
abuse by prison guards and other in-
mates was common, but prisoners, fear-
ing retaliation, refuse to lodge formal
complaints. Women in police custody
were particularly vulnerable to sexual
and physical assault by police and prison
officials. Many believe that suspected
Abu Sayyaf Group and New Peoples
Army members in captivity were par-
ticular targets for abuse.
Fl ashbackThe compl exi ty of
blame
Our penchant for the comparative
approach to self-knowledge knows no
limits. One dubious claim to shame we
came upon a couple of years back was
our murder rate: second only to Iraqs.
Far second, true enough, but shamefully
serious nonetheless. Today a DPWH
Undersecretary can be murdered in
broad daylight and it is dubious whether
popular outrage will easily follow or
whether a just handling of the murder
case would ever be possible.
A few years back, Amnesty Inter-
COVER
STORY

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Volume 43 Number 4
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national reported 51 political killings
(first half of 2006), compared to 66
killings in the whole of 2005. The PNPs
Task Force Usig that was looking into
the waves of unexplained killings but
faced difficulties for understandable
lack of victim cooperation had already
reported 122 party-list members killed
since 2001 and 74 journalists murdered
since 1986 (22 since year 2000).
Usig was superseded by Melo, the
independent fact-finding body headed
then by the former Supreme Court
Justice, now COMELEC Chairman.
Some highlights of the Usig transfer
report to Melo included the pattern of
increasing incidence in the killings of
leftist activists: 9 in 2001, 10 in 2002,
5 in 2003, a big jump to 20 in 2004, a
further rise to 32 in 2005 and by 2006
some 35 in all.
The report said that of these 111 kill-
ings the Communist New Peoples Army
(NPA) was responsible for at least 23, the
government military was a suspect in 6,
and 10 still under investigation pointed
again to the NPA as main suspects. One
Bayan Muna leader earlier reported to
have been killed by a policeman turned
out to have been slain by his own uncle.
Eight others, also reported earlier to
have been liquidated by the military,
were actually killed by the NPA as part
of the internal purge then to cleanse
their ranks of counterrevolutionaries
and spies. The AFP revealed the names
of the eight.
Other suspects included these types:
rogue military and rogue police, para-
military forces or auxiliaries of police,
relatives and friends of victims of
killings by rebel forces, reaffirmist
and rejectionist Marxist-Leninists
intensely at war with each other, ex-
treme rightist elements and destabilizing
politicians, landlords resisting agrarian
reforms, personal enemies of those sub-
jected to violence, and organized crime
syndicates including drug traffickers,
pirates and mercenaries (or guns for
hire). The Melo had quite a handful,
to be sure.
And who were the usual vic-
tims? There were those perceived as
members of groups engaged in armed
rebellion against the state, and low-
profile persons (not necessarily active
combatants) present in rebel formations
or encampments who got caught in
the cross fire (yes, Virginia, there is a
civil war in this archipelago, no cease
fire between insurgents and the State,
Amnesty International urges
govt to act on recent killings
By Noel Sales Barcelona
T
he international human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI)
has issued a statement, urging the Philippine government to take
immediate steps to end politically motivated killings or extrajudicial
killings (EJK) in the Philippines, after three people were killed in the past
three weeks.
On March 4, Rebelyn Pitao, the 21-year old substitute teacher in St.
Peter College in Toril, Davao City was brutally murdered, followed by anti-
mining environmentalist Eliezer Billanes on March 9.
Pitao was the daughter of Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, of
the communist New People's Army and believed to be tortured and raped
before she was murdered. Perpetrators are believed to be military men,
also same with the case of Billanes.
The government must institute safeguards to protect human rights de-
fenders and journalists, who are conducting legitimate activities. Amnesty
International has repeatedly called on the authorities to take further steps
to improve investigations and prosecutions of political killings. These should
include the use of independent forensic expertise and the creation of an
independent body to monitor investigations to ensure impartiality, read the
AI statement.
AI is also alarmed over murders and attempted murder on journalists,
especially critical ones.
On March 9, long time Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) reporter Nilo
Labares, was shot by two men, and still in critical condition.
Last month, Ernesto Ernie Rollin and his partner was shot by two ski
mask-wearing, motorcycle riding men while parking his motorcycle at a
gasoline station in Oroquieta City, in Misamis Occidental, Mindanao.
The AI said that it welcomes the public commitment made by National
Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte,
in investigating the murder of Pitao.
The organization will monitor the progress of this and other investiga-
tions, which must be prompt, effective, independent, and impartial. It is
only through such investigation that impunity for political killings will end,
reads AI statement.
At the height of the killings involving Leftist political leaders and journalists,
Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo established the Task Force Usig (TFU), a special
police body to investigate political killings. This came after the international
community's pressure on the government to act the on the killings.
Also established was the Melo Commission, which had released its
report in June 2007, stating that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has a
direct link on the series of killings, but took Mrs. Arroyo off the hook.
As of January 2008, the TFU had investigated 141 cases and filed 80
cases for criminal proceedings.
However, because the investigations are inadequate, few cases result
in convictions, the AI observed.
The TFU and the Melo Commission have had limited success in en-
suring justice for survivors and families of victims. Families often cite flaws
in the justice process, such as delayed investigations, inadequate crime
scene analysis leading to a lack of forensic evidence, and unwillingness to
interview suspected military and police personnel. To date, most of those
responsible for the killings of leftist political figures or activists have not
been brought to justice, the statement further read.
The witnesses in cases under investigation by the authorities are par-
ticularly vulnerable to intimidation and reprisals, and sometimes even death,
it added. Many have complained repeatedly about the failure of the police to
provide protection for them and their families, and said they have lost con-
fidence in the ability of the Department of Justice to provide protection.
Volume 43 Number 4
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A Human Rights Review
IMPACT April 2009 20
and a failed series of peace talks with
Muslim separatists). There were also
former members of rebel groups and
movements who have since repudiated
or left those groups and movements,
judges, informants and others involved
in government internal security opera-
tions, members of competitor political
formations, media practitioners who had
seriously offended groups or individuals
in relation to either political or personal
matters or both, miscellaneous personal
enemies and suspected criminals.
United front against Arroyo
The political opposition quite un-
derstandably and quite simplistically
blamed the government for these kill-
ings. The blanket character of the ac-
cusation could only give comfort to the
guiltyindividual persons or groups,
whoever they might be. After all, as the
Germans say, the devil is in the detail,
and any blanket accusation ultimately
indicts no one.
Reaffirmist Marxist-Leninists
(e.g. the groups Bayan Muna, Anak-
pawis, and Gabriela), themselves no
babes in the political woods, met with
more than modest success in getting
international groups and media to
criticize the Arroyo administration for
inadequate action on the issue. An es-
say in Time magazine one time brought
back the analogy of the darkest days
of the Marcos dictatorship and the
practice of red-labeling that sends a
wrong signal to the military. The
propaganda drive moved even major
American companies to write President
Arroyo to please protect the workers of
their local subcontractorsa plea that
must have irked the Napoleonic lady
no end.
Her government was saying that
communist rebels were behind many
unexplained killingsand these rebels
were outside the law. The government
was running after them and so, please
understand, said her National Security
Adviser: The government does not
appreciate any back seat driving as it
pursues these armed elements. One can-
not rejoice over being simultaneously
criticized for having no political will to
stop the killings, and for pursuing armed
rebels who are precisely prime suspects
in many of these killings.
He cited a document entitled Pa-
glilinis Bushfire which contained
orders from CPP to the NPA to cleanse
its ranks of suspected infiltrators. He
explained that the spate of killings of
militant leaders the government was
investigating bore the trademark of the
Sparrow unit of the Alex Boncayao
Brigade, the urban hit squad of the NPA.
Beyond paper documents, the adviser
pointed to the existence of mass graves
containing the remains of hundreds
of former rebels in Southern Leyte,
the Caraga region and Bukidnon who
were victimized by the NPAs Oplan
Ajos and Oplan Venereal Disease
operations directed at purging their
ranks of suspected government agents
and informants.
If this kind of talk sounds so out-
of-date today, one may have to listen to
no less than the internationally known
writer and self-confessed former com-
munist party member, Dr. Walden Bello
who cried in sorrow when he wrote that
the CPP is not the party of open-minded
revolutionaries that we were once part of
in the dark days of the Marcos dictator-
ship. Its leftwing fascism, Dr.Bello
emphasized, is now one of the basic
problems of the Filipino people.
Like Professor Joel Rocamora who
wrote a history book of assassinations
of leftists by leftists a few years back,
Dr. Bello sadly admitted to the real
existence of Operation Ahos and other
purges conducted by the party that re-
sulted in hundreds of deaths from the
1980s to the early ninetiesway after
Edsa I or, more accurately, following
the internal strife that resulted in their
non-participation in the successful ur-
ban insurrection of 1986.
Dr. Bello does not mince words,
calling the CPP and the NPA a mafia in
the service of megalomania, murder-
ous folk who have already had the dis-
tinction of being the first revolutionary
movement ever to massacre their own
cadres before coming to power.
One must not forget that the anti-
Sison CPP (the Rejectionists or RJ
vs. the pro-Sison CPP who are called
Re-affirmists or RA) took with
them not only the cadres of Metro
Manila and Rizal province, but also
the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB).
These are assassination squads who
in the late 1980s killed more than 200
police and military personnel in Metro
Manila and neighboring provinces in
non-combat situations, such as while
they were directing traffic, washing
their cars, eating in a restaurant, etc.
Like todays assassins, the ABB Spar-
rows then also worked in pairs, riding
on motorcycles.
It would not be reasonable to be
COVER
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A Human Rights Review

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Volume 43 Number 4
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blind to the probability that some of
the assassinations since 2003 were done
as revenge for the assassination of RJ
leaders Lagman, Kintanar and Tabara.
Most of the salvaged militants belonged
to organizations perceived to be loyal
to Sison: Bayan, Bayan Muna, KMU,
and Gabriela.
Thus, there is enough reason here to
state that government soldiers or police
should not be the only likely suspects
in unexplained killings.
The Cardinal remarks
Reasoning with whoever cared to
listen a couple of years back, on the oc-
casion of the consecration of the Bishop
of Bangued, the Cardinal Archbishop
of Manila asked that critics put the
killings issue in proper context, never
forgetting that charges of this kind had
for many years now been the mantra
of many rebels and oppositionists.
The very term extra-judicial killings
was coined by anti-government forces
in their propaganda campaign to infer
that government deliberately set up the
killings to silence administration critics.
The Cardinal, not naively, cautioned all
and sundry that, big as our problems are,
Filipino patriots should not easily call
on foreigners to investigate our own
shortcomings.
Taking off on a related parallel line,
former Jesuit Provincial Superior Father
Romeo Intengan said military officials
should address suspicions that a small
group of soldiers is behind the slaying
of members of groups belonging to the
extreme left by conducting a thorough
investigation. The Armed Forces should
take steps to unmask rogue soldiers who
could be behind some of the unexplained
killings of militants. He cited the Alston
and the Melo commission reports which
found that soldiers are involved in some
of the extra-judicial killings.
Political uses of the killed
One famously anonymous edito-
rial writer asked whether the US con-
gressional inquiry into killings in the
Philippines constituted interference in
Philippine political affairs, and gave an
unequivocal NO for an answer. He gave
two reasons. First, he said, the US has
always been interfering in our internal
affairs. Theres nothing new. Weve been
there before. Secondly, he argued, the
killings crisis is out of control. GMA
cant stop the killings. Maybe the US
government can?
Imagine, if you can, investigations
into killings in the Philippines being
conducted by a legislative committee
in Japan, or another one in Taiwan or
Korea and one more in neighboring
Malaysia or Indonesia. There would be
such a howl in this country as to cause a
war on these foreign lands interfering in
our internal affairsour killing affairs.
The inimitable Senator Miriam Santiago
at one time announced her intention
to investigate US killings in Iraq and
Afghanistanjust to underscore the
effrontery of a foreign government that
would treat ours like it were their vassal
state, forgetting that we have our own
Commission on Human Rights, and a
Constitution that is so predominantly
Human Rights oriented, and that we
even had a special Melo investiga-
tive commissionjust to show we
were at least worried that foreigners
were telling us not only that we had
become the most corrupt nation in
Asia but that we were also the most
murderous nation on earth. Are we
really all thatso murderous and so
corrupt?
Its okay, some seem to say, if its
the U.S.not any otherthat makes
a spectacle of us in their august halls,
for the U.S. has always been part of
us, still is, and may well be so for
a longer time hence. We may even
have to credit it for all the bad habits
we are being accused of lately. They
taught us well.
Who, after all, sent 126,468 sol-
diers to fight the nationalist Filipinos
in 2,811 battles, spent $500-million
to kill roughly 600,000 Filipinos
one-sixth the total population of Lu-
zon at that timeso that they could
be in a better position to uplift and
civilize and Christianize the Filipino
Catholics?
A Republican Congressman quite
proudly said after a visit here at that
time: Our soldiers took no prison-
ers, they kept no records; they simply
swept the country, and whenever and
wherever they could get hold of a Fili-
pino, they killed him. And the doc-
trine was not dubbed human rights
A Human Rights Review
Human Rights, page 23
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IMPACT April 2009 22
NEWS
FEATURES
nomic growth. Reliance on
the influx of investment from
transnational corporations as
an assumption to solve the
problem on unemployment
and plough capital into the
economy has been proven
a mistake. The problem on
unemployment and food se-
curity cannot be addressed by
this solution which only put
prime importance to market
demands and profit. The gov-
ernment should protect our
resources under the access
and control of the people to
spur local economy of self-
sufficiency not tied up on
the benefit of employment
Crisis, from page 6
and dictates of the global
market. Rather than pushing
the Filipinos to sell their land
and borrow money to acquire
a job in a foreign land and
become Bayani ng Bayan,
the government should rec-
ognize that the welfare of the
Filipinos abroad cannot be
well protected because most
of these foreign countries are
the ones directly hit by the
global crisis.
In an honest and closer
look, the entire economic fi-
asco is consumerism: a greed
for yield and over-borrowing
beyond ones capacity to pay,
in other words, spending and
debt. The civil society and the
Church could play an impor-
tant role on how to address the
crisis by example of prudent
and frugal spending, expose
of false development para-
digms and representation to
enact laws and policies truly
responsive to the fulfilment
of the rights of the people. But
the greater challenge is for
the government not to sit idle
and lacking the political will
to fulfil its obligation to the
entitlements of the displaced
workers. It should enact laws
that protect the welfare of the
workers and impose stricter
regulation on our resources
from foreign control and uti-
lization. We have the reason
to anticipate the increase of
human rights violations from
legitimate protest actions if
it fails to do so.
(Daniel Conejar is the
National Program Coordina-
tor of Research, Documenta-
tion and Information Pro-
gram of Task Force Detainees
of the Philippines.)
Note
1 h t t p : / / b u l a t l a t . c o m/
mai n/2009/02/16/worl d-cri si s-
serious-impact-on-the-philippines-
severe-economist/4/
Senate assures bishops of
CARP extension
MANILA, March 16, 2009The Catholic Churchs campaign
for genuine agrarian reform got a boost from the Senate after
a dialogue between some bishops and senators.
Bishops and farmer organizations met with senators
on Monday to lobby for an extension and reforms in the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), which
expired last year.
Senators assured the bishops of the immediate passage
of the bill seeking to extend CARPs life with appropriate
funding for another five years.
Senator Francis Pangilinan said the Senate guaranteed
that it will pass Senate Bill 2666, which includes a P147
billion allocation or about P30 billion a year. "We are also
pushing for the correct implementation of CARP. We want
reform on policies to speed up the implementation and an
oversight to monitor it," he told reporters.
"We don't want that after 5 years, they will be asking
for another extension," Pangilinan added.
The dialogue was held behind closed doors at the
Senate Presidents conference room.
The bishops present during the meeting were CBCP
Episcopal Commission on Social Action chairman and
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Bishops
Deogracias Iiguez of Kalookan, Jessie Mercado of
Paraaque, Emmanuel Trance of Catarman and retired
Novaliches Bishop Teodoro Bacani.
Aside from Pangilinan, other senators in attendance
were Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio Ho-
nasan, Rodolfo Biazon and Juan Miguel Zubiri.
The bishops had opposed the Joint Resolution 19
extending CARP only until June 2009 and with the key
component of compulsory acquisition mode of land dis-
tribution removed.
Church officials noted that about 1.2 million hectares
of private agricultural lands are still up for distribution.
(CBCPNews)
Death Penalty: China
first place in 2008,
1718 people killed
ROME, March 24, 2009China has won a sad first place
as the nation which carried out most executions in 2008.
Amnesty Internationals report into the death penalty has
revealed that last year the Beijing government killed a total
of 1,718 people, well over half of the 2,390 executions car-
ried out worldwide.
Ninety-three percent of all death sentences involve five
nations. Alongside China are Iran (346), Saudi Arabia (102),
the USA (37) and Pakistan (36).
The continent with the highest number of executions is
Asia with 1,838 death sentences handed down by 11 countries
which still legally use capital punishment: Pakistan (36),
Vietnam (19), Afghanistan (17), North Korea (15), Japan
(15), Indonesia (10) and Bangladesh (5). In 2008 Tokyo
registered the highest number of executions since 1975.
To be added to these numbers are the death sentences
still to be carried out, totaling 8,864. In China alone the
number of prisoners on death row is estimated to be at least
seven thousand, a number that Beijing shares along with
Islamabad. (AsiaNews/Agencies)
I
Volume 43 Number 4
23
NEWS
FEATURES
violations. It was called be-
nevolent assimilationlest
we forget, lest we forget.
What did senior State
Department official Eric G.
John say before the congres-
sional subcommittee investi-
gating our sinfulness against
the fifth commandment? As
you know, he said, the
United States has a long
and warm relationship with
the Philippines dating back
more than a hundred years.
The Philippines is a vibrant
democracy, and one of five
U.S. treaty allies in the Asia-
Pacific region. Our soldiers
fought heroically side-by-
side in World War Two and
are working side-by-side to-
day to combat international
terrorism. The U.S. is the
Philippines largest investor,
trading partner, and provider
of foreign assistance. Our
Human Rights, from page 21
relations are undergirded by
significant people-to-people
connections in the form of
the more than three million
Filipinos resident in the U.S.
and the more than 100,000
American citizens living in
the Philippines.
Then Mr. John said: Ex-
trajudicial killings, commit-
ted by the security forces,
the NPA, or others, were
common during the Marcos
dictatorshipOver the past
one to two years, however,
we have seen a troubling
increase in reports of ex-
trajudicial killings. We take
this problem seriously, and
are committed to helping our
Philippine allies in bringing
those responsible to justice.
Really, how?
His testimony was long
but most cleverly had a line
or two or even more to warm
the cockles of both leftist
and rightist heartsboth the
administration that heard him
say, We are encouraged that
President Arroyo has taken
several steps to address this
problem and her critics that
heard him say, President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
should do more to deal with
security forces involved in
political killings and she must
bear ultimate responsibil-
ity for her troops' actions.
Indeed, even killings easily
become grist for the politi-
cal mill. A former Chinese
Premier once said of a former
U.S. President that there were
only two things he hated
about the manhis face.
Be that as it may, one
should never hope to see
the end of trans-border con-
cerns over human rights vi-
olationsprecisely because
they are that, violations of
the rights of human beings
deriving not from their na-
tionalities or state systems
but from their very nature as
humans. Human rights know
no national boundaries. To
think otherwise is to welcome
back the non-human national
isolationisms that made pos-
sible the national atrocities
of Nazism, Stalinism, Pol-
potism and such.
For our part, if this review
has taught us anything it is
this: end the war situation
now. Abuses will not cease.
They may even increase until
we ink a peace pact soon with
both the MILF and the NDF.
The methods of non-violence
are not easy but they have been
shown in many other places to
be the most effective. Peace
should not only be our goal.
Peace is also the way.
Religious police accused of torture by
Saudi Society for Human Rights
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, March 24,
2009Torture, arbitrary arrests, viola-
tions of rights, abuse: the Saudi Society
for Human Rights has presented a long
and detailed list of accusations against
the religious police in its 100-page re-
port to the Shoura Council, the highest
advisory body in the kingdom.
The report essentially charges the
Commission for Promotion of Virtue and
Prevention of Vice, the official name of
what is ordinarily called the muttawa,
of "exercising excessive powers that are
actually not in its jurisdiction."
The report comes as the Commis-
sion finds itself the target of unprec-
edented criticisms on the part of the
media, and after King Abdullah in Feb-
ruary replaced its head, Shaikh Ebrahim
Al Gaith, with Shaikh Abdul Aziz Bin
Humaid. The men of the muttawa are
a de facto police force charged with
enforcing the rules on the separation of
sexes, dress, and respect for the duty to
pray. They also intervene in matters like
the elimination of "signs" for the feast
of Saint Valentine: for this holiday, they
ordered florists and shops in the capital
to remove any red-colored items.
Although the document from the
Society for Human Rights speaks of the
behavior of "men" of the muttawa who
have not followed their instructions, the
striking thing is the confirmation of the
accusations made against the religious
police in recent years.
"There were several complaints
about the torture and even custodial
deaths against the members of the
commission," the document reads.
Often these incidents ended up in the
newspapers, but "in such cases, the
commission officials have resorted to
blaming the media and playing down
the reports as exaggerated ones." "It has
been confirmed that there were several
cases in which the commission members
had taken custody of many individuals
and subjecting them to various sorts of
interrogation and torture. In some cases,
mobile phones of the detainees were
snatched by the commission members
and even denied permission to contact
with family members."
Finally, the report asks the new
president of the Commission to issue
precise guidelines and repair the dam-
age done. "The Presidency should issue
work card for the members to specify
their role and conduct periodical train-
ing courses to improve their efficiency
besides taking measures to repair dam-
age caused to the image of the commis-
sion." (AsiaNews/Agencies)
I
IMPACT April 2009 24
STATEMENTS
T
he diocese of Masbate Social
Action Foundation Inc. (DI-
MASAFI) considers it a duty
and responsibility to vigorously oppose
the open pit mining of Central Gold
Asia (CGA) in the town of Aroroy as a
sign of our faith and understanding that
we are stewards of Gods creation, and
are accountable to Him who has created
everything in our world to be good.
The town of Aroroy has been
exploited for its mineral ore since the
American occupation, yet what the min-
ing industry has left are very poor com-
munities surrounding the mined area and
a bitter experience of unpaid taxes and
unsettled workers compensation fees
after the last mining company, the At-
las Consolidated Mining Development
Corporation (ACMDC), abandoned the
mining activity.
The present mining company, the
Central Gold Asia, at the beginning of
its activity has painted a rosy picture
before the eight impacted communities
with promises of employment and social
development. After years of exploration,
it began to show its ugly face:
An open pit mining with wide
tracks of land being scraped while
mountains and hills are being flattened,
leaving the communities agape at the
unexpected sight;
A Statement of Concern
farmers being displaced with mea-
gre monetary compensation and relo-
cated in nearby cattle grazing land with
no possibility of farming activities;
the small scale miners with thou-
sands of dependents being driven out
of their place of work resulting in their
scampering everywhere to dig for their
survival;
rivers being closed with embank-
ment for the construction of the tailings
pond, and some rivers rerouted, with the
consequent drying up of rice fields and
fish ponds and water source of a nearby
Statement of Condemnation on the killing of
Eliezer Boy Billanes
community;
age-old trees being bulldozed with
plants and crops to the disappointment
of farmers who have tilled the land for
many years;
the source of drinking water that
serves the nearby community being cut
off;
the port of Barrera, a long-time
source of livelihood of the people resid-
ing along the coastlines, now being made
the catch basin of the mine toxic wastes
in case of overflow and the possible
contamination of the 21,000 hectares
of 68 fishponds in 9 barangays.
Representing the voice of the local
Church that seeks to defend the groaning
mother earth, the DIMASAFI wishes to
adhere to the Catholic Social Doctrine
that proclaims the need to respect the
integrity and cycles of nature because
natural resources are limited and some
are not renewable and that the re-
sponsibility for the environment, the
common heritage of mankind, extends
not only to the present needs but also
to those of the future.
Diocese of Masbate Social Action
Foundation, Inc. (DIMASAFI)
And the Social Action Parish Desk,
Aroroy, Masbate
March 14, 2009
T
he Diocese of Marbel
through the Justice and
Peace Desk of the So-
cial Action Center strongly
condemn the killing of Eliezer
Boy Billanes last March 9,
2009 in Koronadal City!
Boy Billanes was the Ex-
ecutive Director of Samahan
ng Magsasaka sa Timug Ku-
tabato (SAMATIKU), a mem-
ber of the board of trustees of
Coalition of Social Develop-
ment Organization of South
Cotabato, an active member
of the local government de-
velopment committees of
Koronadal and the province
of South Cotabato and an
active member of various
progressive organizations.
Of all his affiliations,
Boy Billanes is well known
for his stand against any
forms of development ag-
gressions especially the pres-
ence of the large-scale mining
company in Tampakan. He
has long been a formidable
partner of the Social Action
Center in its advocacies for
environment, human rights,
justice and peace.
Recently, the Military
has been conducting pulong-
pulong in the barangays of
Tampakan, tagging anti-min-
ing advocates, including the
church, as supporters or as
members of the New Peoples
Army (NPA). Boy Billanes
was one of the many person-
alities tagged as such and had
received numerous threats
before his assassination.
The diocese of Marbel does
not tolerate any form of repres-
sion especially through extraju-
dicial killings. The right to life is
a gift for everybody; no one has
the right to take it. The wheel of
justice is the proper venue for
resolution of any case.
We therefore call on the
proper authorities to conduct
a thorough and speedy in-
vestigation on the killing of
Boy Billanes and bring into
the bar of justice the ones
responsible.
We extend forth our sin-
cerest and deepest sympathy
to the family and friends of
Boy Billanes. We are willing
to extend any help we can to
achieve justice for Boy!
Done this 10th of March,
2009, Justice and Peace Desk
- Social Action Center, Dio-
cese of Marbel.
Sr. Pat Babiera, OND
JP desk Coordinator
Dinualdo D. Gutierrez, DD
Bishop of the Diocese of
Marbel

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Volume 43 Number 4
25
STATEMENTS
contained, no election protest was filed
PPCRV and NAMFREL now ardently ask . . .
Dear President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, please use the
vast power of your office to be the unwavering advocate of
the full automation of our electoral system for the forthcom-
ing 2010 National and Local Elections. We believe in your
promise that a new transformed electoral system will be
your legacy to the nation.
Dear Members of Congress, please use the force of your
authentic actual power to see to it that compliance of R.A.
9369 of fully automating the 2010 National and Local Elec-
tions is implemented untrammeled by strange conditions,
and not be perceived as using the power of the purse as a
tool to derail full implementation of the AES nationwide for
the 2010 polls. We believe that the trust the voting public
invested in you and your avowed pledge to serve the com-
mon good are still the primordial interest that govern your
service, your words, your motives, your works.
Dear Officers and Staff of COMELEC, please use the
actual force you hold as mandated by our Constitution to
stay the course for the implementation of R.A. 9369 mandat-
ing full automation of the 2010 National and Local Elec-
tions, and continue with courageous commitment to restore
credibility to Philippine elections, and consequently to the
Commission itself, by cleaning the voters list and providing
our electoral process with an untarnished Book of Regis-
tered Voters, prosecute with the full force of the law those
who undermine our election laws from within and without.
We believe in the new leadership of COMELEC and in the
current determination of the entire Commission to give the
Filipino people elections we can all be proud of.
Dear Filipino Citizens of the Republic of the Philippines,
let us come together, discern together, pray together and act
together, please act together in making the 2010 National and
Local Elections the framework for re-defining our identity
and re-invigorating our sense of nation.
PPCRV and NAMFREL continue our care of the elec-
tions with unabated enthusiasm and hope.
Please God, help us.
Ambassador Henrietta T. de Villa
National Chairperson
PPCRV and NAMFREL
1 March 2009, First Sunday of Lent

W
e, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Vot-
ing (PPCRV) and the National Citizens Movement
for Free Elections (NAMFREL) with a combined
service of 44 years have committed ourselves and hundreds
of thousands of our volunteers towards . . .
- Voters education aimed at the formation of conscience
of the Filipino electorate to vote responsibly and wisely
boto ko, dangal ko, ipagtatanggol ko
- Monitoring the conduct of elections so as to safeguard
the sanctity of the ballot and the integrity of the electoral
processisang tao, isang boto
- Good governance and responsible citizenship particu-
larly through the election of public officials with unsullied in-
tegrity, proven competence, non-negotiable independenceit
is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
PPCRV and NAMFREL believe that . . .
- Elections determine democracy.
- Elections measure the rule of the people, by the people
for the people.
- Elections define the political stability of a government,
and consequently, of the nation.
- Elections are a source of hope to impel our people to
come together, to pray together, to act together, especially
in times of crises as we did in 1986 that will prove to the
world and to ourselves that Filipinos are proactive movers
of freedom and democracy.
That is if elections were clean, honest, accurate, mean-
ingful, peacefulCHAMP. That is if elections were free
and fair. That is if elections were liberated from graft and
corruption.
At long last we have in our hands, as provided for in R.A.
9369, the means for CHAMP electionsthe full automation
of the election system (AES) for the 2010 National and Local
Elections. The AES was actually tested in the 2008 Regional
Elections in the Autonomous Region In Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM), the most election fraud-prone area in the Philip-
pines, and the result was good due to the following . . .
- The AES diminished dramatically the space for cheat-
ing because of limited human intervention in the process
of counting, canvassing, consolidation and transmission of
votes
- The AES radically cut short the period for election
results to be known by the public
- Violence related to elections was minimal, most im-
portantly no election related killing took place
- Nuisance pre-proclamation election protests were
An Open Letter to the President of
the Republic of the Philippines, to the
Members of Congress, to the Commission
on Elections, and to the Filipino People
IMPACT April 2009 26
FROM THE
BLOGS
Magna Carta of women
T
he hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.
This world famous and celebrated maxim says it
all. It aptly forwards and emphasizes the stand-
ing fact and living reality that fguratively so correctly and
rightfully bring to fore the intrinsic nature, essential signif-
cance plus constitutive relevance of one and every woman
in the world. For one thing, without woman or without that
cited hand, one would be at a big loss in even fnding or
actually having world rulers. In other words, behind every
truly great man in honesty and integrity, in business and
industry, politics included, is a really greater woman whom
men do not mess with, much less trample upon.
In the biblical sphere, it is narrated that man came
to reality frst, and woman but second. Let it be however
well noted that in the same biblical framework, the woman
precisely came because by himself, man was found inad-
equate, defcient if not completely lost, if not doomed from
the start. This is not to belittle man. It is merely placing
him in his right place, seeing him in his proper context.
Except for the very frst man in the biblical order, woe
to any man who has no mother, who does not know his
mother or who disowns his own mother for whatever
reason. A father of a child may be offcially Unknown.
The mother however is namedalways.
In the Christian world, the fact is that even the Savior
of the world was born of a woman who took care of Him
from her womb to His tomb. Having great attributes, given
many titles, invoked by many names, a woman she was
and a woman she remained to death. The truth is that even
the Church founded by her Son, took own the nature of
Mother Church. Reason: She nurtures people through
the Good News of Salvation proclaimed by her Founder,
and cares for them through the Sacraments instituted by
her same Founder. No wonder then that for the said Mother
Church, every woman has an intrinsic dignitywith its
ontological and inalienable human rights.
The Magna Carta of Women as proposed by the
Philippine Legislature is said to have good and welcomed
pronouncementsas well as dubious and questionable
provisions. More than anything else, the legislative agenda
is said to be categorically committed of doing away with
discrimination against women and instead specifcally
geared at promoting the equality of women and men. But
others say that the Bill particularly intends to re-defne
gender according to presumably modern realities.
This short and simple submission is not meant to
question the Magna Carta of Women in its central
content and substantive intentEXCEPT for its ardently
avowed and strongly professed legislative promotion
of the full EQUALITY OF WOMEN AND MENand
OTHERS as the case may bein intrinsic HUMAN
DIGNITY and pursuant HUMAN RIGHTS.
Question: Does the Magna Carta of Women cover
the Muslim women? Does the Bill legislate the equality
of Muslim men and women? Do the Legislators mean
to enforce the equality norm on the Muslim population
of the Philippines? JUST ASKING.
www.ovc.blogspot.com
Coveting and stealing
I
rrespective of race, color and greed, practically all people
in the big wide world know in conscience that it is wrong
even but to covet what is not theirs. And that it is worse
to actually steal what belongs to others. Not to steal, usurp
or appropriate in fact, and not to even but covet, crave or
hanker anything rightfully belonging to othersthese are
both rudimentary prohibitions written in the hearts of people.
This truth is such a strong mandate of human nature that
even the Good Book has them indelibly written down in
black and whitein terms of no less than two world renown
Commandments (Exodus 20:15,17).
In this deplorable and despondent countrythanks to the
glorious reign of the present administrationit is but proper
to take good note of the appalling and degrading phenomenon
that the Philippines is fast becoming another Macao in terms
of the dishonorable and shameless proliferation of gambling
all over the land. There are big and impressive casinos in key
places of the countrymore and bigger ones are already being
eyed without respect to either the communities concerned or
the elementary norms of the environment. Instead of promot-
ing industry and toil, parsimony and sagacity, the executive
branch in particular endorses blind luck, advocates whim
and chance through gambling.
This is not to mention the numerous surreptitious
branches of the Philippine Gambling Corporation in many
nooks and corners of this and that neighborhood. In addition,
there is also internet gamblingcourtesy of the local and
foreign gambling corporations. And there are furthermore
the well advertised Lotto and the practically omnipresent
STL. And there are in addition, the everlasting jueteng, the
deathless masiao and many other gambling forms in Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao. In other words, together with the
many demeaning flagships rightfully earned by the pres-
ent administration such as the already nauseating titles of
eminent corruption and the fast emerging infamy for the
proliferation of illegal drugs, there is still the already long
standing downright promotion of or acquiescence legal and
illegal gambling respectively.
That is why perhapsjust perhapsit might be some
kind of an eye opener or reminder for big time gamblers as
well as small fry bettors, about the above serious double
taboo: It is wrong, evil and vicious not only to steal but also
to even but covet the money of others. By the way, just for
clarity, it is a big futility to extend this particular reminder
to the reigning government that is long notorious precisely
in many and flagrant corrupt practices. It is wherefore al-
ready doubtful if those high government officials concerned
would still have a right conscience to distinguish between
right and wrong.
Let not only big time gamblers but also small fry bettors
clearly know the following: One, when they gamble or bet
categorically in order to winas no one does the same to
losethey are in effect coveting the money of everybody else
of their kind. Two, when they win, they are in fact stealing
the money of hundreds or even millions of the losers as they
eagerly get the money they have not worked, sweat nor toil
for. Three, and they are wherefore bound by the moral law of
restitutionsomething which haunts them to their death.
www.ovc.blogspot.com
Volume 43 Number 4
27
EDITORIAL
Priest-politician: an anomaly
in the hierarchy and a dilemma
for the laity
U
niversal Canon Law No. 273: Clerics have a
special obligation to show reverence and obe-
dience to the Supreme Pontiff and to their own
Ordinary.
Clerics necessarily include Deacons, Priests and
Bishops. Obligation is something personal or offcial
that must be done or avoided by the agent concerned.
Special is something distinct, specifc and cat-
egorical. Ordinary means that common, standard and
concrete ecclesiastical superior of the Cleric. How then
could a priest be a subordinate both of his ecclesiastical
superior and his political constituents or government
bosses at the same time?
Canon Law No.285, 3: Clerics are forbidden to
assume public offce whenever it means the exercise
of civil power.
Forbidden means the expressed ban, pronounced
prohibition or explicit restriction to be or do something.
Public offce has usual reference to properly secular
agenda or strictly temporal task conferred by the people
as a public trust. Civil power is identifed with govern-
ment secular authority or temporal rule. How thus could
a priest in, of and for the Church, and simultaneously
exercise civil power in the State?
Canon Law No. 287, 2: Clerics should not play an
active role in politics...
Politics is ordinarily identifed with the art of secu-
lar governance, the administration of public affairs, the
running of temporal concerns in favor of public welfare.
How therefore could a Priest be a politician at the same
time after no less than two separate offcial and categori-
cal Church prohibitions to be such?
When a Priest alleges he is on leavethis is a
duplicity, as there is no such thing in the Churchthe
insinuation of such a phrase is that the priest will be
anybody or anything as he pleases, until such time when
he fnds it convenient, helpful or secure to minister as
a priest again. A priest-politician is an ambivalence, a
dichotomy, a schizophrenia.
When a priest wants to be somebody or something
else other than an honest to goodness priest, let him secure
his dispensation from all his ordained clerical obligations,
defnitively and permanently. Then, he is free to be and
to do whatever he pleases. But to be a hyphenated priest-
politician is a big anomaly in the Church and a dilemma,
if not a scandal, for many lay people.
IMPACT April 2009 28
From the e-mail messages of lanbergado@cbcpworld.com
FROM THE
INBOX
Forgiving
O
ne day, a man with a
grieving heart, was
walking in the woods.
As he thought about his life,
he knew many things were not
right. He thought about those
who had lied about him back when he had
a job. His thoughts turned to those who had
stolen his things and cheated him.
His mind turned to the illness he had that
no one could cure. His very soul was flled
with anger, resentment and frustration.
Standing there, searching for answers he
could not fnd, knowing all else had failed
him, he knelt at the base of an old oak tree to
seek the one he knew would always be there.
And with tears in his eyes, he prayed:
"Lord, You have done wonderful things
for me in this life. You have told me to do
many things for you, and I happily obeyed.
Today, you have told me to forgive. I am
sad, Lord, because I cannot. I don't know
how. It is not fair Lord. I didn't deserve
these wrongs that were done against me
and I shouldn't have to forgive. As perfect
as your way is, Lord, this one thing I cannot do, for I don't
know how to forgive. My anger is so deep Lord, I fear I may
not hear you, but I pray that you teach me to do this one
thing I cannot do. Teach me to forgive."
As he knelt there in the quiet shade of that old oak
tree, he felt something fall onto his shoulder. He opened
his eyes. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw something
red on his shirt.
He could not turn to see what it was because where the oak
tree had been was a large square piece of wood in the ground.
He raised his head and saw two
feet held to the wood with a large
spike through them.
He raised his head more,
and tears came to his eyes as he
saw Jesus hanging on a cross. He
saw spikes in His hands, a gash in His side,
a torn and battered body, deep thorns sunk
into His head. Finally he saw the suffering
and pain on His precious face. As their eyes
met, the man's tears turned to sobbing, and
Jesus began to speak.
"Have you ever told a lie?" He asked?
The man answered, "Yes, Lord."
"Have you ever been given too much
change and kept it?"
The man answered, "Yes, Lord." And
the man sobbed more and more.
"Have you ever taken something from
work that wasn't yours?" Jesus asked?
And the man answered, "Yes, Lord."
"Have you ever sworn, using my Father's
name in vain?"
The man, crying now, answered, "Yes,
Lord."
As Jesus asked many more times, "Have you ever"?
The man's crying became uncontrollable, for he could only
answer, "Yes, Lord."
Then Jesus turned His head from one side to the other,
and the man felt something fall on his other shoulder. He
looked and saw that it was the blood of Jesus. When he looked
back up, his eyes met those of Jesus, and there was a look
of love the man had never seen or known before.
Jesus said, "I didn't deserve this either, but I forgive
you."
The Duck and the Devil
T
here was a little boy visiting his
grandparents in their farm. He
was given a slingshot to play with
in the woods. He practiced in the woods;
but he could never hit the target.
Getting a little discouraged, he
headed back for dinner. As he was
walking back he saw Grandma's pet
duck. Just out of impulse, he let the
slingshot fly, hit the duck square in
the head and killed it. He was shocked
and grieved! In a panic, he hid the
dead duck in the wood pile; only to
see his sister watching! Sally had seen
it all, but she said nothing.
The next day Grandma said, 'Sally,
let's wash the dishes' But Sally said,
'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted
to help in the kitchen.' Then she whis-
pered to him, 'Remember the duck?'
So Johnny did the dishes.
Later that day, Grandpa asked if
the children wanted to go fishing and
Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally
to help make supper.' Sally just smiled
and said, 'Well that's all right because
Johnny told me he wanted to help'. She
whispered again, 'Remember the duck?'
So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed
to help. After several days of Johnny
doing both his chores and Sally's; he
finally couldn't stand it any longer.
He came to Grandma and confessed
that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt
down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweet-
heart, I know. You see, I was standing at
the window and I saw the whole thing,
but because I love you, I forgave you. I
was just wondering how long you would
let Sally make a slave of you.'
Thought for the day and every
day thereafter?
Whatever is in your past, what-
ever you have done... And the devil
keeps throwing it up in your face
(lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad hab-
its, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)
...whatever it is...You need to know
that God was standing at the window
and He saw the whole thing.
He has seen your whole life. He
wants you to know that He loves you
and that you are forgiven. He's just
wondering how long you will let the
devil make a slave of you.
The great thing about God is that
when you ask for forgiveness; He not
only forgives you, but He forgets. It
is by God's grace and mercy that we
are saved.

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Volume 43 Number 4
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book
Reviews
Glimpses of
Grace
Homily-Meditations
Fr. Rufno C. Sescon, Jr.
Penned by a young cleric of
the Archdiocese of Manila,
this book of refections offers
readers a rare opportunity to
peek into the mind and heart
of the author. Most of the
insights in these pages are
homilies given on various
occasions. True to its title,
the reflections are brief
like a glimpsebut rich and
profound in value. Prayers
and scriptural references
are given in each refection
to further encourage readers
to deepen their contemplation and discover more glimpses of
grace. His refections, the author said, are simply glimpses
perhaps feeting, shallow, and incomplete but suffcient to
give light, joy, and energyfor hearts to get warm, for minds to
stir, and for hands and feet to move for God. Ordained priest
in 1998, Sescon is currently the Chancellor of the Archdiocese
of Manila. He helps out in the major and minor seminaries of
the archdiocese while serving as chaplain of Sto. Nio de Paz
Community at Greenbelt Chapel, Ayala Center, Makati City.
He is also the Executive Director and member of the Board of
Trustees of the Catholic Mass Media Awards. This book, his
frst, is published by St. Pauls.
Film, Faith and the Church
Peter Malone, MSC
In this latest book published by Communication Foundation
for Asia, internationally-known flm critic and missionary priest
Peter Malone tackles a subject so dear to his heart. Looking at
some flms with spiritual undertones, he explores and discusses
varied facets of spirituality, the Church, the clergy and religious
who work in the name of the Church, and how these are pro-
jected in some movies. He talks of integrity of commitment to
conscience in the movie Man for all Seasons; the pioneering
missionary activity of the Church in the Black Robe; and the
Church in transition in the contemporary flm, Doubt. Malone also
delves on other controversial topics such as abuse which has
rocked the Church in recent
times, atheism, superstition,
apocalyptic prophecies and
exorcism as portrayed on
flm. The author, who was a
flm reviewer and critic even
before he became a priest,
believes on the power of
cinema in storytelling and in
conveying Gods message
of salvation. Writer of many
other books and arti cl es
on theology, spirituality and
cinema, Malone served as
president of SIGNIS (The
World Catholic Association
for Communication) for many
years. He is a regular flm
reviewer for the SIGNIS Cin-
ema Desk and has been jury
member at international flm
festivals abroad.
Going by the Truth
Catholic Beliefs and Practices
Questions and Answers
Sr. Ines Atendido Tan, FMM
More than just a simple presentation of the basic doctrine
of the Catholic faith, this book offers satisfying answers to
questions often asked about Catholic beliefs and practices. A
good resource material for
Catechists and lay minis-
ters, the book is greatly en-
riched with references from
Scriptures, Traditions and
Church Magisterium. The
questions found in the book
are the common queries the
author and other Catholic
Fai th Defenders usual l y
encountered in the course
of their ministry. A member
of the Franciscan Mission-
aries of Mary, Tan taught in
the Archdiocese of Ozamiz
Bible Institute and was in-
charge of the Biblical and
Catechetical Formation in
Pope Paul VI Biblical Center
for Mindanao. This book,
published by St. Pauls, is
her second in a series.
Grow in Grace
and Govern in
Wisdom
Readings in Legal
Philosophy
Rene V. Sarmiento
An insightful collection of
Readings in Legal Philoso-
phy written by various au-
thors here and abroad, this
thi ck vol ume of sel ected
articles contain topics that
are very real and signifcant
to Filipinos, refecting as they
are the basic aspirations of
their hearts. Since the book
was conceptualized mainly for law students, it is understand-
able that the mixture of subjects found in the pages of the book
deal mostly on topics like people power, peace and confict
resolution, human rights, social justice, good governance, public
accountability and transparency, civil society, transformational
leadership, liberty and prosperity, patriotism, ethics and values.
But then, the foregoing topics should be a must-read as well
even for ordinary citizens, to those who want to make a differ-
ence in this country, those who seek a new model of justice that
refect the common dreams of the Filipino people and [to] those
who struggle to build an honorable, just and proud nation. The
author, who currently teaches Law subjects at the San Beda
College School of Law in Mendiola and Alabang, is presently
one of the Commissioners of the Commission on Elections.
IMPACT April 2009 30
ENTERTAINMENT
CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
FOR ENLIGHTENED
MOVIE APPRECIATION
Cast: Robin Padilla, Katrina Halili, Rhian Ramos, Sun-
shine Dizon, Hero Angeles, Mark Bautista, Glydel
Mercado, Iza Calzado, Simon Atkins
Director: Bjarne Wong
Producers: Jose Mari Abacan, Topel Lee
Screenwriter: Aloy Adlawan
Music: Carmina Cuya
Editor: Maria Ignacio
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Cinematography: J.A. Tadena
Distributor: GMA Films
Location: Baguio and Manila
Running Time: 80 min.
Technical Assessment:
Moral Assessment:
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
S
imula nang magising
mula sa pagka-coma-
tose ang dating sunda-
long si Romano (Robin Pa-
dilla), nakakakita na ito ng
mga kaluluwa ng patay. Kung
kayat pinili niyang magku-
long na lamang sa kanilang
bahay at hindi makisalamuha
sa labas. Ngunit mapipilitan
siyang samahan ang bulag na
kapatid na si Sabel (Rhian Ra-
mos) na lumuwas ng Maynila
upang ipagamot ang mga mata
nito sa pagmamagandang-
loob ni Louella (Sunshine
Dizon). Makikisabay sa ka-
nilang pagbaba galing Baguio
ang magtiyahing Eric (Hero
Angeles) at Lumen (Glydel
Mercado). Kasama rin nila
ang driver ni Louella na si
Baste (Eric Bautista). Sa ka-
nilang biyahe ay maisasakay
nila sa highway si Kristina
(Katrina Halili). Makakaidlip
sa biyahe si Baste at muntikan
silang maaaksidente. Mabuti
na lamang at nagising mula sa
isang masamang panaginip si
Romano at sila ay nakaligtas
sa dapat sanay malagim na
kamatayan. Ngunit makakaki-
ta si Romano ng mga multo
na pawang sinusundan silang
lahat. Malalaman niyang ang
mga ito palay ang mga kalu-
luwang sundo nilang lahat.
At dahil sila ay nakaligtas,
susundan sila ng kanilang
sundo at hindi titigil ang
mga ito hanggang hindi sila
lahat namamatay. Mapigilan
kaya nila ang kanilang mga
sundo?
Isang tipikal na peliku-
lang katakutan ang Sundo.
Kung tutuusin, wala namang
bago sa mga elemento ng
pelikula na kung saan ang
nananakot ay mga multo.
Nariyan pa rin ang mga kara-
niwang sangkap ng katakutan
tulad ng dilim, dugo, at kung
anu-anong mga panggulat.
Mahusay naman ang pag-
kakaganap ng mga tauhan.
Maganda ang lapat ng tunog
at maayos ang editing. Ang
pinaka-problema marahil ay
ang kababawan ng kuwento
at ang pagiging predictable
nito. Walang matibay na hibla
ang kuwento na magtatagni sa
buhay ng mga tauhan. Hindi
rin ito masyadong nalalayo
sa mga dating pelikulang su-
mikat na may kahalintulad
na konsepto tulad ng Final
Destination kung saan ang
mga tauhan din ay sinusun-
dan ng kamatayan. Manipis
ang kuwento ng mga tauhan
sa Sundo. Halos walang ma-
raramdamang bigat sa daloy
ng kuwento maliban sa lahat
silay kinakailangang makai-
was sa tawag ni kamatayan.
Ang konsepto ng pagka-
karoon ng sundo ng isang tao
bago ito mamatay ay hindi
naman talaga isang katakutan
kundi patunay lamang na ang
ating mga mahal sa buhay ay
lagi lamang nariyan buhay
man sila o pumanaw na. Pa-
tunay rin ito na may buhay
pa pagkatapos ng kamatayan.
Hindi naman talaga sugo ni
kamatayan ang sundo kundi
isang pagtitibay ito na tayoy
hindi mag-iisa maging sa
kabilang buhay. Ngunit iba
ng ginawa ng Sundo. Marahil
ito ang hinihiling sa peli-
kula bilang isang horror. Yun
nga lang, naging masyadong
mababaw ang pagtrato rito
sa nasabing konsepto. Kung
isang demonyo si kamatayan
na pilit pinapatay ang mga
taong nagnanais pang mabu-
hay, nasaan ang kapangyari-
han ng kabutihan na siyang
maaaring makalaban dito?
Nakababahala na sa halip
na manalangin o pumunta
sa simbahan ang mga tauhan
upang humingi ng gabay at
tulong, ay sa kapangyarihang
itim pa rin umasa ang mga ito.
Kahanga-hanga lang ang pag-
nanais ni Romano na iligtas
ang mga nalalaman niyang
sinusundo ngunit pawang
wala namang kinahinatnan
ang kabutihang loob niya. Ma-
linaw naman ang mensahe ng
pagsisisi at pagpapatawad sa
pelikula ngunit natakpan ito
ng malabis ng kapangyarihan
ng demonyo. Hindi rin angkop
sa mga batang manonood
ang pelikula sa kadahilanang
maaring itong magdulot ng
bangungot sa kanila.
Volume 43 Number 4
31
NEWS
BRI EFS
JAPAN
Govt looks at fresh
$300-M crisis package
Seriously affected by
the global fnancial crisis,
the Japanese govt might
have to spend another
$300 million to stimulate
the economy, fnance min-
ister Kaoru Yosano said. He
said the countrys economy
is facing another sharp
contraction.
INDIA
Mumbai attack trial
starts
Mohammed Ajmal Kas-
ab, accused of being the
lone surviving gunman in
last years Mumbai attacks,
has told a court he is from
Pakistan and wants legal
assistance. In February,
police formally charged
Kasab with waging war
against India. Several gun-
men killed 166 people in
a 3-day rampage last No-
vember.
CHINA
Govt to adhere with US
bonds
Chinas Central Bank
said US Treasury bonds
will remain central to plans
for investing its foreign ex-
change holdings. Hu Xi-
aolin, deputy director of
the bank, said that doing
such is an important ele-
ment in Chinas investment
strategy and it will continue
the practice.
BANGLADESH
7 Islamic militants get
life in prison
A Court here has sen-
tenced seven Islamic mili-
tants to life in prison for their
role in simultaneous bomb
attacks across the coun-
try in 2005. All Jamayetul
Muhahideen Bangladesh
members were found guilty
of doing the series of bomb
blasts at the Rajshahi Uni-
versity in 2005 that killed at
least 28 people.
AFGHANISTAN
Violence at highest
level since 2001
Eleven people were
killed in a series of bomb
blasts in Afghanistan re-
cently. The extremist Tali-
ban militia claimed respon-
sibility for the deadliest
blasts. Violence is at its
highest level since U.S. led
forces toppled the Taliban
in 2001, with attacks by
rebels spreading from the
south and east to the out-
skirts of Kabul.
N. KOREA
Govt admits detaining
female US journalists
The govt admitted it
is holding two American
journalists for illegally
entering the country by al-
legedly crossing the border
from China. State-run news
agency KCNA said the
women were detained on
March 17, and a so-called
"competent organ" is now
investigating the case.
THAILAND
PM survives censure
motion
PM Abhisit Vejjajiva,
along with 5 senior mem-
bers of his cabinet, has
survived a censure motion
in the national parliament,
just 3 months after assum-
ing offce. Opposition Pheu
Thai party fred a barrage of
allegations like corruption
against Vejjajiva and his 5
senior ministers.
SINGAPORE
Recession to last 3
years
Singapores PM Lee
Kuan Yew said his coun-
trys export-dependent
economy will take at least
three years to recover from
the recession triggered by
the global economic crisis.
Lee said that a recovery
within two to three years
was part of an optimis-
tic scenario that assumed
a turnaround in the US
economy next year.
VIETNAM
Bird fu kills child
A three-year old boy
here has died from bird
fu becoming the countrys
third human victim of the
disease this year, authori-
ties said. Vietnam has the
world's second highest bird
fu death toll after Indone-
sia, with 55 deaths.
INDONESIA
Activists clash with
loggers
Greenpeace activists
here have clashed with
security guards outside
the offce of Indonesia's
biggest logging and palm
oil company, the Sinar
Mas Group. Activists were
punched and kicked as
they tried to protest against
alleged illegal land-clearing
in Indonesia's Papua re-
gion and on Borneo. Sina
Mas head, Daud Darsono
confrmed the clash, saying
security has responsibil-
ity for the building not the
company.
PHILIPPINES
Govt reviews anti-kid-
nap strategy
The Arroyo govt said its
anti-kidnapping strategy
has failed, and an offcial
review is under way. At
least 12 people, including
International Red Cross
workers and a Sri Lankan
peace advocate, are being
held hostage by the Abu
Sayyaf and other armed
groups in Mindanao. Natl
Security Adviser Norberto
Gonzales said the govt
wants to know if the failure
to stop abductions is due to
a lack of action by offcials,
or a lack of resources.
SRI LANKA
Sri Lanka hits 'aid co-
alition'
The govt has criticized a
vicious coalition of aid and
humanitarian agencies for
their actions over the coun-
trys civil war. The defense
ministry said those pre-
tending to be aid groups
were prolonging the confict
to secure their income.
Rights and aid groups have
continued to criticize both
the government and Tamil
Tiger rebels over civilian
casualties.