WCC NEWS: Philippine justice minister discusses human rights with WCC delegation

From WCC media <noreply@wcc-coe.org>
Date Thu, 9 Dec 2010 11:28:41 +0100

World Council of Churches - News

PHILIPPINE JUSTICE MINISTER DISCUSSES HUMAN RIGHTS WITH WCC DELEGATION

For immediate release: 09 December 2010

By Aneth Lwakatare (*)

“Good intentions are not enough,” said the secretary of the Philippine
department of justice, Leila de Lima, during a meeting with the World
Council of Churches (WCC) delegation currently visiting the 
Philippines.
She met with the “Living Letters” team on Friday 3 December.

The group of church representatives from Asia, Europe, Africa, 
Australia
and Canada visited the Philippines, 1-5 December, with the aim of 
looking
at the current human rights situation in that country. They spoke 
with the
justice secretary prior to an encounter with participants in a hunger
strike supporting parties involved in the "Morong 43" case.

The Morong 43 have been detained since February following their arrest
during a workshop sponsored by an alliance of health workers in 
Morong,
Rizal province. Authorities have claimed the health workers possessed
firearms and explosives, but the detainees insist the evidence against
them was planted.

De Lima has presented arguments in favour of the detainees’ release, 
and
she told the Living Letters delegation that she will issue a second
memorandum soon re-stating her position in the hope that it will bring
about a positive solution for the prisoners and their families.

She confirmed a report on extra-judicial killings in the Philippines
suggesting that most such crimes committed this year have never been
properly addressed. She stated her intention of forming a special
commission of the department of justice with the mandate to 
investigate
extra-judicial killings. “This will be a response to the many cases 
not
given enough attention, and a way of breaking the culture of injustice
that is prevails,“ she said.

De Lima continued, “The best intentions are there, but we need actions
that will bring an end to all the human rights violations and
extra-judicial killings.“

“We look for more international calls to pay attention to this current
situation, for dialogues and international public statements of 
support in
relation to the present human rights situation and all forms of 
injustice
against the Filipino people,” the secretary of justice said at the
conclusion of the meeting.

Some members of the delegation then visited the defendants in the 
Morong 43
case, who for the past 10 months have been detained in Camp Bagong 
Diwa.

Meanwhile, farmers of the Hacienda Luisita community received other 
members
of the WCC sponsored delegation. The farmers have been demanding land
rights promised to them for the past fifty years.

Hacienda Luisita is in the central plains of Luzon. The land has been 
owned
and controlled by the powerful Cojuangco family since 1957. T he 
current
president, Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III, belongs to this family. 
Hacienda
Luisita comprises 6,435 hectares of sugar cane plantations. Although 
the
Cojuangco family took over the property on an understanding that the 
land
would be given back to farmers after a period of 10 years, this has 
not
happened and there is no sign that it will happen soon.

In a general strike in November 2004, the farmers of Cojuangco 
Hacienda
Luisita united with sympathizers in peaceful protest, calling for an 
end
to the injustices committed against them. The protest involved about 
5,000
farmers. On 16 November 2004 seven farmers were killed and more than 
100
wounded when the military dispersed the protesters. Six other farmers 
were
killed during 2005 and 2006.

Talking to the delegation, farmers explained that they are compelled 
to
work in a sugar mill and are paid the paltry sum of 9.5 Filipino 
pesos per
day, and are allowed to work only once a week. This has a serious 
impact
on their livelihoods and families.

In addition to their current struggle for decent livelihood, the 
farmers
shared concern about the heavy military presence in the area, 
including
that of foreign forces. This has resulted in the limitation of their 
right
to assemble freely. They are not allowed to meet in public spaces or
places where community gatherings would normally be held. These 
farmers
are under constant surveillance resulting in them living in constant 
fear,
harassed, oppressed and interrogated by militiamen (or CAFGU) that 
were
recruited by the military.

The farmers have organized to provide a common voice against the
politically and economically influential and powerful Cojuangco 
family,
and to ask for better wages and regular work. None of their demands 
has
been positively answered. Instead, more than 300 of the mill workers 
have
been laid off, thus intensifying the community’s misery. The Cojuangco
family continues to ignore orders from the government to distribute 
land
to the farmers.

(*) Aneth Lwakatare is a WCC communications department intern from
Tanzania.

More information on the visit (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=7e0c2f789da296b2e226 )

WCC member churches in the Philippines (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=b3672f8ddaf71bc48a65 )

Statement by the "Morong 43" (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d826a95583eb88f74339
)

Statement by the Living Letters delegation (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0d3bef50baa6af45039a )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, 
witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship 
of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 
Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 
million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the 
Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse 
Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, 
Switzerland.



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