We have never seen this kind of barbarism in our age and time.   Not even in the war fields of Iraq and Afghanistan, has this kind of brazen, brutal and blatant act of impunity happen.  More so in an avowed democratic country we call the Republic of the Philippines.

The Mindanao Peace Weavers (MPW), the broadest network of peace constituency in Mindanao strongly condemns the horrendous killings of unarmed, helpless women and other civilians in Maguindanao yesterday.  We eventually hold the national government accountable for the deaths of 40 gentle and peaceful civilians, including members of the media around high noon in a highway in Maguindanao.

The civilians in Mindanao badly need respite not only from the tug of war between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government armed forces but also from political clans  and their private armies which continue to wreak havoc in the island.

The MPW calls on the government to uphold the constitutional provisions which bans private armed groups.  On July 2006, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo issued Executive Order 546, which allows local officials and the PNP to deputize barangay tanods as ‘force multipliers’ in the fight against insurgents.  The EO allowed local officials to convert their private armed group into legal entities as civilian volunteer organizations (CVO’s).

Forty-four persons – including a politician about to file her and her brother’s certificates of candidacy (COCs), as well as journalists covering the event – were confirmed killed when heavily armed men allegedly identified with the Ampatuan political clan were waylaid on its way to the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Maguindanao.

Supporters of Buluan Vice Mayor Toto Mangudadatu and Mangudadatu Vice Mayor Eden Mangudadatu and their  companions were on their way to the Comelec office to file COCs at around 10:30 a.m. when they were blocked at a checkpoint manned by some 100 Maguindanao police personnel and armed civilian volunteers allegedly led by Datu Unsay town mayor Datu Andal Ampatuan Jr. and the Provincial Police Inspector.

We call on government to immediately arrest those responsible for the senseless deaths of civilians and take  concrete and decisive action to bring the perpetrators to justice. It is high time for government to stop the  arrogance, impunity and hubris of the people behind the killing. It is also time to do the same with their handlers be they cowering behind official government logos and titles.

We join the families of those who were killed in their unfathomable grief today.  But we also call for sobriety.  We ask the government and other groups in Mindanao to uphold the rule of law.  We are heartened that the victims families are allowing the law and the wheels of justice to take its course.

May this atrocity serve to guide and strengthen us in our peace work. We also remain vigilant in the effort to further muddle the peace situation in Mindanao and spawn unregulated military control in the area.

MPW will continue engaging with local government units, local communities and with women and youth in the long road to peace.  With the drafting of the Mindanao Peoples Peace Agenda (MPPA),MPW seeks to bring together peoples in a dialogue for a mutual and lasting peace in Mindanao.

Maguindanao will never be the same again after yesterday’s massacre.  Mindanao will never be the same again.  The country will never be the same again.  There is no recourse for us but to collectively work to end this nightmare. (30)

The YOUNG MORO PROFESSIONALS NETWORK strongly condemns the barbaric killing of more than 40 innocent men and women in Ampatuan, Maguindanao on November 23, 2009.  Such acts are truly UN-ISLAMIC.

We grieve with the families of all victims and join them in calling for JUSTICE. We urge those in power to allow JUSTICE and PEACE to prevail.

In these difficult times, we pray for our FAITH to grow ever stronger.  May we find the STRENGTH not to give in to hatred.  May we find the COURAGE to continue doing what is GOODdespite the evils around us.  May POSITIVE CHANGE become a reality in Mindanao and elsewhere.

May we allow the ALMIGHTY to rule our land and our hearts.

The Mindanao Peoples’ Peace Movement (MPPM), a network/coalition of human rights and peace advocates coming  from different grassroots tri-people organizations in Mindanao and the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi,condemned in the strongest term possible the abduction and subsequent massacre of women, lawyers, and journalists in Maguindanao on November 23, 2009;

The mass murder is a barbaric and savage act that has no place in civilized societies.The perpetrators of this dastardly act have acted in complete disregard for human rights, sanity, law and order. This just shows the depth of the pits that our democracy has sank into where would-be political rivals are eliminated at will and with ease by the ruling political elite in the country.

The recent incident is just one of the manifestations of how our political system of elite democracy has bred the worst kind of barbaric ruling elites such as the warlords and kingpins that are covetously guarding over their respective political domains. They have become the little gods who dispenses orders and decides over the fate of people, curtail dissent and effectively neutralizing the competition;

What is more unfortunate and sad is that the National Government seemed powerless to take action against the perpetrators, completely inutile in the face of these savagery.

While the declaration in the Provinces of Sultan Kudarat, Cotabato and Maguindanao in a State of Emergency is supposed to stabilize the brewing situation in these areas, however, the declaration is also an effective way of covering up the traces of the massacres as investigation in the areas can become doubly difficult. This is because the local police and military have lost the credibility and moral authority in conducting the investigation with top police officials in the Maguindanao Province being implicated in the carnage;

We, therefore, call upon all sectors to be united and more vigilant in the face of the recent killings and barbarism that trample upon our human rights and decency;

We joined other groups and sectors that are expressing their grave concern and alarm over these detestable acts committed by the perpetrators of the mass murders;

We are calling for an impartial and transparent investigation that will look into the cases of mass murders. We are afraid that there are more people killed than reported, innocent civilians that happened to ply the same road at the same time as the victims during that fateful day of the massacre;

Further, we strongly demand for the National Government to give justice to all the victims of the mass carnage and show to all citizens and to the world that it can protect its citizens from these ruthless criminals regardless of their political affiliations. Now is more than ever the time for the State to assert itself as the protector of the human rights of the people and not be cowed by these blatant display of savagery of its political allies.

Finally, we express our sincere condolence and sympathies to the families of those who are killed especially our fallen Lumad Council of Peoples Representatives, Mr. Napoleon Salaysay from the Bagobo tribe, who died in the performance of his duty, being one of the journalists killed in the Maguindanao massacre.

25 November 2009

Cotabato City

Reference: Mabel Carumba

Secretary General, MPPM

Contact #: 09205065235

We grieve together with the families of those brutally killed in the
23 November massacre in Ampatuan town in the province of Maguindanao.
We stand in solidarity with the Filipino people in voicing their
collective outrage over this brazen display of power and arrogance
that can only flourish in the continuing culture of impunity that
pervades the country.

We are appalled and angered at the manner by which this attack on more
than fifty-seven [57] innocent lives was carried out. Women,
journalists, lawyers, and defenseless civilians terrorized and
murdered by around 100 armed men. Bullet-ridden bodies dumped in mass
graves. Some with their faces and bodies crushed either with rifle
butts or by the backhoe that ran over them before they were buried
together with their vehicles. Forensic evidence indicates that some
may have even been buried alive. The women, victims twice over, had
their pants unzipped, showing signs of possible rape.

That the backhoe, undeniably a property of the local government, was
readily at hand to dig up the mass graves in order to hide this
gruesome crime leads us to ask – did the perpetrators actually believe
that they can hide a massacre of such a massive scale? For them to
even think that they can get away with their crime undetected and
unpunished speaks a lot about the sorry state of the system of justice
and governance in the Philippines today. Where extrajudicial killings
abound and perpetrators remain unpunished. Where journalists, lawyers
and human rights defenders are abducted and killed amidst the constant
denial of the present administration, which claims its adherence to
human rights law. Where warlords are assured of political power and a
legalized private army, with the benefit of government-issued
firearms. Where violators of human rights are rewarded with
appointments in government instead of a jail sentence.

We call for an end of this culture of impunity and the pervading
system of injustice in the country. Such can only breed more violence
and continually create conditions for unpeace.

We reaffirm our strong belief in human rights and on democratic
institutions. In the right of women to be free from all forms of
violence. In the freedom of expression and of the press, and in the
right of the people to be informed. In the legal system and on respect
for lawyers, not only as human rights defenders but also as officers
of the court. In the right of suffrage and on the electoral process.
In good governance and the right to choose our own leaders. In a
transparent and accountable government. In the right to equal
protection of the law and a government which upholds the rule of law
and where no one is above the law. In the right of the people to life
and to live a life free from fear.

Even with the eventual “surrender” and filing of charges against one
of the main perpetrators of this dastardly act, we remain vigilant in
our demand for justice and continue to hold the present Administration
accountable until justice is finally served.

After a hard and prolonged discussion, the MILF and Philippine government peace negotiators finally signed the Agreement on Civilian Protection today at Kuala Lumpur. This historic agreement pushed further the GRP-MILF Peace Talks to formal resumption.

The Framework Agreement on the formation of the International Contact Group (ICG) and the Agreement on the Protection of Civilians are essential mechanisms to prevent the repeat of the debacle in Kuala Lumpur on August 5, 2008 when the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) was not signed by the government, as well resulting displacement of more than 600,000 people in Mindanao.

The ICG serves as guarantee that both the government and MILF comply with all signed agreements.

The GRP Peace Panel was composed of: Amb. Rafael Seguis, chairman; Atty. Bong Montessa, Amb. Ed Malaya, and Director Mark Ryan Sullivan, while the MILF delegation was led by Mohagher Iqbal, chairman,  Atty. Michael Mastura, Bobby Maulana Alonto, and Jun Mantawil.  Datuk Othman Bin Abdul Razak, as usual, acted as facilitator.

(26 NOVEMBER – 2 DECEMBER 2009)

Theme : “Think Mindanao, Feel Mindanao,
Bring Peace to Mindanao”

“Blessed are the Peace Makers, for they shall be called Children of God.” Matthew 5:9

“O you who believe! Enter into Peace (perfectly and completely)…”
Al-Qur’an, 2:208

“You will not enter paradise unless you believe. But you will not be able to believe unless you love one another; Do you want me to tell you a way by which you will be able to love one another? Give (and show) peace towards one another.” –Al-Hadith

In the spirit of fraternal collaboration and solidarity, we greet with respect our fellow Mindanawons as we celebrate once again the Mindanao Week of Peace.

Providentially initiated in 1998 by the Peace Advocates Zamboanga (PAZ), the MWP region-wide celebrations, later vigorously promoted by the BUC, have thankfully energized Mindanawons to express in many varied ways our need and aspirations for lasting peace. This variety of ways inspired by our respective faith and culture has repeatedly shown us that peace must begin with each and everyone of us.

Therefore, if peace has to be brought up personally to Mindanao by every Mindanawon, this need and aspiration must influence the individual thoughts and feelings of us all. Since our holy scriptures remind us always that each of us bears the image of the Almighty and Merciful Creator in our souls and spirit, this godly gift must always be in our minds when we think, in our heart when we feel, and in our behavior when entire Mindanao as one and solid community calls for a just and lasting peace.

So in the name of God/Allah we earnestly urge every Mindanawon: “Think Mindanao, Feel Mindanao, Bring Peace to Mindanao”.

Assalamu alaikum/ Peace be with us all!

(Sgd.)

FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, DD HILARIO M. GOMEZ, JR., PhD
Archbishop of Davao UCCP Bishop Emeritus

(Sgd.)

DR. HAMID A. BARRA
Ulama League of the Philippines

Mindanao Peoples Caucus
July 19, 2009

Aspiring candidates for the presidency and the senate have started selling themselves to the public, spending millions of pesos to look either “pro-poor” or “champion of the poor” so that the poor Filipino masses will vote for them.

Aside from the paid ads, these presidentiables and senatoriables have managed to squeeze themselves into noontime shows, showbiz talks and whatever opportunity there is for public mileage – again to reach out to the Filipino people and tell them “I am for the poor;” “I am poor;” “I used to be poor;” “my heart is for the poor,” “I will fight for you.”

But the real test for the packaging is not much on what their ads say they are, but on what they have done for the poorest of the poor in this country.

One case in point is the humanitarian crisis in Maguindanao and North Cotabato – constituting the most number of victims out of 745,763persons displaced by the renewed hostilities between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) from August 10, 2008 to May 18, 2009, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre’s (IDMC) April 2009 report had said Mindanao’s 600,000 IDPs was “the biggest new displacement in the world” out of 4.2 million newly displaced in 2008, higher than the “massive new displacements” in Sudan (550,000) and Kenya (500,000).

As of June 30, 2009, records of the Department of Social Welfare in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Region 12 as consolidated by the Office of Civil Defense, show that a total of 71,662 families or 359,022 persons are still languishing in evacuation centers or with their relatives in the ARMM and North Cotabato.

Of this number, Maguindanao posted the highest at 56,685 families or 286,542 displaced villagers, followed by North Cotabato at 8,384 families or 40,069.

Records showed a total of 339 evacuees have died since August 2008: 19 caught in the crossfire in North Cotabato and 31 in the ARMM. But more evacuees died from ailment in the evacuation centers: 223 of them, the OCD report said. The NDCC casualty figure is higher: 372 have died and 160 have been injured as of June 4, 2009. Of the 372, 109 died from actual encounter while 263 died “due to illness at evacuation centers.”

Many of those died either from mortar fire or from preventable diseases in the evacuation centers were children and babies but did any of our aspirants bother to look their way? Did they send relief goods to these IDPs, these poorest of the poor, some of whom have no more homes to return to?

Walk your talk, Sir, Ma’am: Instead of pouring millions of pesos on paid advertisements, you may want to visit evacuation centers and elicit from the IDPs themselves, what is the real STATE OF THE NATION.

–
RICK R. FLORES
Communications Specialist
Mindanao Peoples Caucus
www.mindanaopeoplescaucus.org
florrick@gmail.com
0910-310-9178

PUBLISHED ON JULY 18, 2009 AT 4:40 PM (bulatlat.com)

The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) welcomes the recent announcements made by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) that the GRP-NDFP formal peace talks will resume next month, August 2009.

The PEPP commends the negotiating panels of the two parties, as well as the third party facilitator, the Royal Norwegian Government, for successfully resolving the problems and removing the obstacles that stood in the way of the formal talks for the last five years.

We look forward to the two parties resuming in earnest the negotiations on Social and Economic Reforms. The urgency and importance of crafting a comprehensive agreement on this substantive agenda cannot be overemphasized, especially in the light of the current global and local financial and economic crisis resulting in increasing poverty and hardships for our people. We urge the two parties to negotiate these reforms that would address the roots of the armed conflict with the national interest and the people’s welfare foremost in mind.

We look forward to the reconvening of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC), along with the resumption of formal talks. The JMC is mandated to monitor the implementation of the GRP-NDFP Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). We call on the JMC to promptly and speedily act on the numerous complaints of human rights violations in connection with the armed conflict already filed with and received by the Joint Secretariat of the JMC.

We reiterate our resolve to continue supporting the negotiations as part of our people’s quest for a just and enduring peace. We shall engage our churches and constituencies and mobilize our organizations in the discourse on the roots of the armed conflict and on the necessary measures to resolve these roots. In particular, we shall contribute to the dissemination and implementation of the CARHRIHL, and in generating discussions that would heighten the awareness and lead to an eventual consensus on social and economic reforms, especially among the youth and other basic sectors who are the main stakeholders in the peace process.

These we will do in prayer and with the faith that the cries for peace and justice will reverberate in this land and finally come to pass.

Signed:
Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, DD Ms. Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes
Co-chairperson, PEPP Co-chairperson, PEPP

Most Rev. Deogracias S. Iñiguez, Jr., DD
Head, PEPP Secretariat

The violence has to stop.

We, the Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW) call on the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to return to the negotiating table for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Mindanao.

We strongly condemn the bombings in Cotabato City and other parts of Mindanao. We urge a thorough and impartial investigation, mindful of the cloud of suspicion around previous bombings, that will lead to truth and justice.

We ask both sides of the GRP and the MILF to be mindful in issuing statements in the light of the recent bombing in Cotabato City which killed 5 civilians and injured 35 others, that could create division by projecting the war in Mindanao as religious in nature, when it is not. For several decades, the Moro, indigenous peoples and settlers in Mindanao have live together harmoniously.

Instead, GRP and the MILF should review their peace and security framework and operations to ensure the genuine interests and protection of the Mindanawans, especially their right to self determination and governance.

We also deplore the more quiet but pervasive and lingering violence of displacement being experienced by hundreds of Mindanao communities.

The Geneva based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center reported that more than 600,000 civilians were displaced from August to December last year after talks between the MILF and the government hit a snag over the non-signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain.

As of June 25, according to the records of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), a total of 71,662 families or 359,022 persons have yet to return home as of June 29, 2009 and of this number, 56,685 families or 286,542 persons are still in the evacuation centers or relatives’ houses.

They are cramped in evacuation centers and not spared from daily mortar shelling. Children make up almost 70 percent of the deaths in the war-torn communities.

We are also very alarmed over the recent pronouncement of the military that they view internally displaced persons as “reserve enemy force.”

International humanitarian law and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Displaced Persons clearly state that it is the primary responsibility of the State to protect the rights of the civilian population, especially women and children from being violated.

The GRP and the MILF must protect and uphold the rights of civilians. Both invoke the civilians’ welfare when they wage war against each other and also when they negotiate peace. They should immediately address the situation of the internally displaced persons, by guaranteeing their safety to return home and resume normalcy in their daily lives.

We also urge the GRP and the MILF to review and reactivate the ceasefire mechanisms that had previously been effective in lowering the levels of violence, In the meantime, they must take immediate steps to discipline their respective troops.

We offer ourselves to all parties in seeking that elusive platform where the stalled process can move forward . Mindanao Peaceweavers is a convergence of peace advocates in Mindanao. It currently represents the broadest network of peace constituency in the island cutting across non-government organizations, academe, religious, human rights groups, peoples organizations and grassroots communities.

Mindanao has suffered long enough. The lives of our children have been wasted.We pray that the GRP and the MILF find a common ground for ending the hostilities in Mindanao. There is no other way. The GRP and the MILF must sitdown and negotiate. Now.

SIGNED:

Convenors and Secretariates:

Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace (IRSMP)

Mindanao Peace Advocates Conference (MPAC)

Agong Network

Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)

Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC)

Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement (MPPM)

Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN)

Catholic Relief Services (CRS)

Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)

SALIGAN-Mindanaw

Technical Assistance Center for the Development of the Rural and Urban

Poor (TACDRUP)

CBCS condemns the spate of bombings in Mindanao

The Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS) condemns in the strongest possible terms the recent spate of bombings in Mindanao and makes the following calls and clarifications:

* That a thorough investigation by a credible independent body be conducted on all incidents of bombing (July 4 in Datu Piang, Maguindanao; July 5 in Cotabato City; July 6 in Lanao del Norte; and July 7 in Jolo and Iligan City) to unmask the truth behind them (who perpetrated/masterminded them, for what motives/reasons, are they related to one another) and bring the culprits to justice;

* That responsible reporting be observed always by the media. The people of Mindanao cannot afford the Christian-Muslim killings of the 1970’s to resurface. After the Cotabato City blast, news reports have spread that give the impression that it was the cathedral that was bombed. To make it clear, the blast took place in a stall selling lechon across the cathedral compound. It totally wrecked the stall and also damaged a portion of a certain beerhouse. Nevertheless, this makes no excuse to bomb the place;

* That places of worship be spared from any form of violence and/or desecration. The blast in Jolo also happened near a church. We denounce the bombings in the same manner that we condemn acts by men in uniform who occupied mosques, urinated in them and/or desecrated them;

* That the immediate acts of finger-pointing be stopped to prevent further escalation of the conflict and to contain any possible public panic to pave the way for sobriety, as well as thoughts and actions that are reasonable and not solely driven by biases, emotions and preconceived notions that may be wrong;

* That all people should be accorded their human rights, including both victims and suspects. The incremental number of victims of human rights violations has long been alarming. No one should be another victim of human rights violation in pursuit of justice. Due process should always be observed in dealing with suspects to the bombing: one is innocent until proven guilty, not one is guilty until proven innocent;

* That groups of all faiths here in Mindanao be more vigilant and strengthen their unity and solidarity in the face of these bleak incidents. This is NOT a Muslim-Christian conflict. Let us clear our minds and fortify our greatest resolve not to allow these dastardly acts to successfully sow suspicion and animosity that could lead to conflict; and,

* That the peace panels of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front return to the negotiating table to solve the age-old Mindanao conflict. The problem of the Bangsamoro as an indigenous people is highly political that it can only be resolved through genuine political means and not through military operations. Quelling rebellion and bringing peace are two different things. The peace talks are the highest form of dialogue between the two parties. A final agreement between them could spell sustainable peace and development in the Bangsamoro homeland.

We join in consoling and comforting the families of the victims of the blasts, the more than half a million internally displaced persons who have also been further agonized by indiscriminate bombings in the very sites of evacuation, and other people who are victims of injustices.

Our prayers for the attainment of genuine peace and development.

Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society (CBCS)
KFI Compound, Doña Pilar Street, Poblacion IV
9600 Cotabato City, Philippines
Telefax No.: +63 (064) 421-5420
E-mail: cbcs_04@yahoo.com, secretariat@cbcsi.org