PEPP: Vote for Peace!
- Published: 31 December 2021 31 December 2021
The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the largest formation of Christian church leaders in the Philippines, issued a call on 16 December to vote for peace in the May 2022 national elections. In a Pastoral Statement, PEPP Co-chairpersons Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro City and Bishop Rt. Revd. Rex Resurreccion B. Reyes, Jr. of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines called on the Filipino electorate “to deeply discern from among the candidates” and choose those who have a clear track record of truly working for the peace negotiations “as a viable way to address the situation of unpeace in the country.”
Judge drops murder charges vs. NDFP peace consultants, calls for peace talks resumption
- Published: 31 December 2021 31 December 2021
Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina dismissed on 16 December the 14-year old multiple murder charges against five National Democratic Front of the Philippines peace negotiations consultants Benito Tiamzon, Wilma Austria, Adelberto Silva, Vicente Ladlad and Satur Ocampo, farmer activists Norberto Murillo, Dario Tomada, Oscar Belleza and seven others. They were accused of being members of the New People’s Army and of committing mass murders in Leyte island, in central Philippines.
Read more: Judge drops murder charges vs. NDFP peace consultants, calls for peace talks resumption
CPP, religious leaders condemn bomings in Miag-ao, Iloilo
- Published: 15 December 2021 15 December 2021
In the early morning of 1 December, the FA-50 planes of the Armed Forces of the Philippines dropped at least four bombs on the village of Alimodias in Miag-ao. The bombing ravaged the area, with craters up to 4.5meters deep and 6meters wide. The aerial bombing was then followed by relentless artillery shelling from the AFP’s howitzers.
Read more: CPP, religious leaders condemn bomings in Miag-ao, Iloilo
Global unions call anew to end extrajudicial killings in the Philippines
- Published: 15 December 2021 15 December 2021
The Council of Global Unions declared this year’s Human Rights Day on 10 December as a global day of action for the international trade union movement to focus on the Philippines where, it stated, “there is a systematic campaign against labour and human rights defenders.” The CGU urged its global trade union affiliates to organize protest actions in front of Philippine embassies in their respective countries and solidarity actions for Philippine workers’ unions.
Read more: Global unions call anew to end extrajudicial killings in the Philippines
Duterte government blocks travel of Nobel Peace Prize awardee
- Published: 15 December 2021 15 December 2021
The government of President Rodrigo Duterte demanded that Philippine journalist Maria Ressa be prohibited from travelling to Oslo, Norway to receive the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December. Duterte’s Solicitor General Jose Calida petitioned the Court of Appeals on 25 November to reject Ms. Ressa’s request to travel, saying she is “considered a flight risk” as seen in her “recurring criticisms of the Philippine legal processes.”
Read more: Duterte government blocks travel of Nobel Peace Prize awardee
Duterte ‘anti-communist war’ riddled with corruption
- Published: 15 December 2021 15 December 2021
The Duterte government’s so-called war against communism, spearheaded by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is riddled with corruption, a regional spokesperson of the New People’s Army recently revealed.
Read more: Duterte ‘anti-communist war’ riddled with corruption
Human rights defenders, victims’ families protest suspension of ICC probe on Duterte ‘drug war’
- Published: 30 November 2021 30 November 2021
Human rights advocates, families of victims and Philippine legal experts are protesting the suspension by the International Criminal Court of its investigations on alleged crimes against humanity in relation to President Rodrigo Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’.