2 NPA child warriors rescued

By Maj. FELIX M. MANGYAO, (INF) PA
October 7, 2006

CAMP LUKBAN, Catbalogan, Samar  – Elements of Alpha Company, 34th Infantry Battalion of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army has rescued two (2) female child warriors and accepted the surrender of a Communist Terrorists (CTs) amazon at Sitio Cabungahan, Tuturingon, Catbalogan, Samar on October 4, 2006 at around 10:20 a.m.

In a report submitted to Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang, Commanding General, 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army by Lt. Col. Glorivine Dida, Commanding Officer of 34IB he said that while his troops was conducting combat operations in the hinterland Barangays of Cagutian and Tuturingon all of Catbalogan, Samar they chanced upon a group of three (3) suspicious looking women.

Immediately, the troops courteously accosted the group and inquired as to their identities. In the course of questioning, it was found out that one of them is an old CT Amazon and the other two are (2) female CT recruits.

One of the two minors rescued was identified as Lynlyn Labitag y Jabon alias Mary Jane, 12 years old and a resident of Brgy Piña, Catbalogan, Samar. Accordingly, she was forced by her father (CT Floro Labitag) to join the underground movement. Her father was a member of the Arnulfo Ortiz Command of Central Front Samar – 1, Samar Provincial Party Committee of CPP-NPA.

The other minor warrior was identified as Erma Labong y Cabarles alias Jessa/Queen/Liz, 16 years old and a resident of Brgy Calundan, San Jorge, Samar. Erma alleged that she was recruited by a certain alias Tito to join the underground movement at her very young age in exchange of a brighter future and a challenging job of serving the people.

The other CT amazon was identified as Aileen Pajares y Romana alias Ami, 32 years old, a resident of Brgy. Cawayan Catbalogan, Samar, a member of BATER Platoon. She narrated the hardship while in the underground movement being a mother of four (4) children. Her husband is also an active member of the New Peoples Army. She surrendered one cal. 45 pistol with magazines and ammunitions, communist documents, extortion letters addressed to big time businessmen and a list of IRA collections from the Local Government Units and personal belongings.

Maj. Gen. Rodrigo F. Maclang, the Commanding General of the 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army, lauded the troops of Lt. Col. Dida for a job well done. He condemns in the strongest terms the CPP/NPA/NDF for their deliberate and continued recruitment of minor combatants in their ranks. “Children has the right to live a peaceful life and should be spared from this armed conflict. They have grossly violated the provisions of Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),” Maclang stressed.

Human rights groups urge entry of UN special rapporteurs to investigate political killings and HR violations in the country

Press Release
By KARAPATAN
October 7, 2006

MANILA, Philippines  –  Representatives of human rights and cause-oriented groups who attended the second session of the recently-formed United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland called on Mrs. Arroyo to allow the UN special rapporteurs to investigate the rash of extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations occurring in the country. The UN HRC which started meeting on September 18 formally ends its 2nd session today.

"In the face of the unabated extrajudicial executions, the latest of which claimed the life of our beloved Iglesia Filipina Independiente Bishop Alberto Ramento, we strongly call for the entry of the UN special rapporteurs into the country," declared Atty. Edre Olalia of the Counsel for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) and one of the members of the NGO delegation to the HRC session in Geneva. "As a member of the HRCouncil, the Philippines must show to the world that its human rights record is open to be examined by members of the world body," Atty. Olalia continued.

In their meetings with the UN special rapporteurs who are tasked to investigate cases of human rights violations, the group discovered that the Philippine government has not responded and in fact, continuously ignored the requests of the rapporteurs to visit the country and look into the reports of violations that have reached their offices.

"The Philippine government's continued refusal to allow itself to be investigated by independent and credible bodies like the UN special mechanisms only proves the Arroyo government's deception and double talk in handling the mounting cases of human rights violations," said Mr. Danilo Ramos, secretary general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), also a member of the group. KMP filed 25 cases of extrajudicial executions of peasant leaders under the individual complaints procedure of the UN human rights committee, the monitoring body of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Philippine government is a signatory.

"Mrs. Arroyo went to Europe and boastfully announced that she is inviting Europeans to come to the country and look for themselves the state of human rights in the Philippines; yet she has continuously refused to allow the UN special rapporteurs to investigate these cases. Her invitation is Malacañang's empty rhetoric meant to deceive the European Union (EU) and the international human rights organizations which have come out with strong statements of concern on the erosion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law in the country," Marie Hilao-Enriquez of the human rights group KARAPATAN, said.

During the HRC interactive dialogues between the special rapporteurs, states and NGO's, the Philippine NGO delegation was able to bring to the attention of the HRC the extrajudicial executions of indigenous peoples. Ms. Rhoda Dalang of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance was able to orally present the killings in the country. The Philippine mission was forced to acknowledge that indeed "we have received communications from the special rapporteurs on indigenous peoples and that of the human rights defenders on the killing of Alyce Claver." The mission said that they will "respond to them in due time."

Another delegation member, Ms. Tess Vistro, secretary general of the women peasant group Amihan and head of the Task Force on Rural Women of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) informed the participants of the forum on women human rights defenders, an NGO parallel event during the session, of the killings launched against women peasant organizers and human rights defenders in the Philippines.

The group also submitted urgent appeals from Bayan – Centrral Luzon to the offices of the special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, and the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The urgent appeal pertained to cases of killings and disappearances in Central Luzon, the region most militarized at present.

The five-person delegation was able to meet with the head and staff of the special rapporteurs on the right to food, human rights defenders, indigenous peoples and extrajudicial executions, the working group on arbitrary detention and the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.

The Dutch Foundation Lawyers for Lawyers and the Dutch Lawyers Without Borders, organizations which were among the lawyers groups which conducted a fact-finding mission in the country that looked into the killings of lawyers and judges, ably helped the delegation in bringing to the attention of Mr. Leandro Despouy, Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the extrajudicial executions on lawyers happening in the Philippines. Also, they discussed the alarming situation with the International Court of Jurists (ICJ), together with some members of the delegation.

The delegation also met with the members of the French and Finnish missions.

International organizations that gave support to the delegation were the International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), the Dutch Foundation Lawyers for Lawyers and Dutch Lawyers without Borders, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Interfaith International and the International Indian Treaty Council. Filipino compatriots of Migrante Switzerland gave their full and warm support to the delegation during the entire duration of their stay in Geneva. The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), an NGO assisting organizations who are willing to access the UN mechanism, agreed to give a seminar on the different UN mandates and mechanisms available.

Tacloban hosts joint Provincial and City Nutrition action officers meeting

By CATHERINE JANZ R. SICOY (KIMRO)
October 6, 2006

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte – City Nutrition Office (CNO) hosted the third quarterly meeting of the Regional Technical Working Group (RTWG) on Nutrition and Provincial and City Nutrition Action Officers (P/CNAOs) held on October 4, 2006 at the Executive Lounge, City Hall.

National Nutrition Council (NNC) Regional Coordinator, Ms. Carina Santiago said that the conference would talk about the different concerns on nutrition, including burning issues relative to the implementation of Local Nutrition Programs as well as updates about nutrition.

With regards to the commitment of the Philippines to reduce malnutrition among children by half in 2015, certain interventions and measures have been implemented both in the national and local level to alleviate the widespread condition of malnutrition in the country.

In the Philippines, 49 (63.6%) provinces are food insecure or do not have sufficient access to safe and nutritious food, which meet the dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life. This means that 6 in every 10 provinces in the country are food insecure and vulnerable and 7 out of 10 households in the country are food insecure based on the National Nutrition Survey (FNRI, 2003).

Similarly, results of the self-rated hunger surveys conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) reflect an increasing incidence of hunger, which is a common cause of malnutrition in the country. It was revealed that 16.9% Filipino families experience hunger, with nothing to eat, at least once in the previous three (3) months, the highest in years. The incidence of hunger (families who experience hunger often/always in the last three months) rose from 3.9% in 2005 to 4.2% in the first quarter of 2006, affecting 700, 000 estimated families.

Clearly, hunger is one of the most pervasive concerns of our country today. What’s more, it’s also one of the most common reasons of malnutrition among children.

The national Nutrition Council together with the different Provincial, Municipal and City Nutrition Action Officers continue their relentless drive to battle and resolve malnutrition among children in their respective areas.

The City Nutrition has continually supported feeding Programs for malnourished kids in different depressed areas in the city. Not only here but also all over the region, this kind of programs has been going on with the help and assistance of some private and civic organizations.

City Nutrition Officer, Ms. Malou Tabao believes that poverty is still the primary cause of malnutrition particularly in children; all the more necessary for effort to be concentrated in programs and projects towards its reduction.

On his part, Vice-Chair of the RTWG, Mr. Tito Aure is happy and pleased that our community is now more responsive on the various local nutrition programs of the government.

Results of the Regional Evaluation for Outstanding Municipality, Province, and City in the region were presented.

Acknowledged winners were Limasawa and Southern Leyte as Outstanding Municipality and Province and Maasin City as Outstanding City in the region.

Notably, among nine (9) candidates, Ma. Leni Ramos of Brgy. 84 (San Jose) Tacloban City earned the Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) in the region with a score of 91.7%.

The selection of winners was based on the efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the nutrition program in the different areas, as a result of monitoring and evaluation regionwide.

Ms. Emily Grande of Department of Health, made updates of the upcoming Garantisadong Pambata 2006 this October 16-20 with the theme: “4-1 Kalusugan sa Inyong Health Center”.

A field visit to Brgy. 84 (San Jose) and Brgy. 74 (Nula-Tula) followed right after the meeting. “This is to showcase and highlight best practices on Nutrition Program implementation on the barangay level”, Ms. Santiago said.

The conference was attended by P/CNAOs from Maasin City, Calbayog City, Eastern Samar and the members of the RTWG, Department of trade and Industry 8, Department of Interior and Local Government 8, Eastern Visayas State University, Department of Social Welfare and Development 8 and Department of Health 8.

4 Electric Coops in Eastern Visayas achieved full energization

By NEIL D. LOPIDO (PIA 8)
October 4, 2006

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte   –  Four Electric Cooperatives in Eastern Visayas has already achieved 100 percent energization as of July 31, 2006 according to Evangeline Paran, Head of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) during the opening ceremony of the 17th National Statistics Month (NSM) held at the NEDA regional office on Monday.

Among the 11 electric cooperatives in Region 8, Leyte Electric Cooperatives (LEYECO) II, III & V in Leyte and Biliran Electric Cooperative (BILECO) in Biliran are now fully energized covering a potential barangays of 196, 285, 416, and 132, respectively.

At the regional level, the status of energization has attained 90.8 percent which translates to about 3,984 barangays energized out of the 4,390 total potential barangays, Paran said.

At the provincial level, Biliran achieved 100 percent energization while Leyte and Southern Leyte realized 99.5 and 96.6 percent, respectively. All the Samar provinces lagged behind due to problem of inaccessibility of energy from the source of many barangays located in far-flung places and island municipalities, the NSCB regional chief further said.

Paran revealed also in her energy statistics updates that LEYECO V, where Ormoc City is included, was also noted to have registered the highest number of service connections followed by SOLECO in Southern Leyte while BILECO in Biliran got the lowest number of service connections.

On the other hand, Paran disclosed that the regional center of Tacloban City and nearby towns being served by LEYECO II, which accounts for the biggest share of 25.8 percent of the total power distributed in the region, consistently posted the cheapest electricity rate at P4.90 and P5.43 per kilowatt-hour (KWH) in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Though Biliran is already fully energized, the electricity in the province remains the most expensive at P6.19 and P6.80 in 2004 and 2005, respectively due to low consumption rate resulting from lack of industries and commercial establishments accompanied by low population in the province, Paran explained.

Moreover, Paran said that the region’s system rate or the selling price of power from the electric cooperatives to consumers was registered at P5.88 per KWH in 2005. This is higher by P0.56 over the P5.32 recorded in 2004. All electric cooperatives registered increases, with Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative (ESAMELCO) recording the highest at P1.01.

This year’s NSM celebration is focused on the theme, "Empowering Consumers through Responsive Energy Statistics" in line with the government’s Beat the Odds program of providing "Electricity for All".

Greenpeace to sue Sorsogon Gov. Raul Lee; Demands public apology for defamatory accusations

Press Release
By GREENPEACE Southeast Asia
October 4, 2006

MANILA, Philippines  – Greenpeace said Tuesday that they will sue Sorsogon Governor Raul Lee for defamation unless the governor publicly apologizes for misleading statements which he issued in a press statement last 12 August 2006.

Governor Lee’s official statement, entitled “Anti-mining militants becoming destructive, irresponsible, says Lee,” linked Greenpeace to Lafayette’s claims of pesticide sabotage. The statement appeared in full in Lafayette Mining’s corporate website last August and was also quoted widely in news articles in national dailies.

On July 21, 2006 Rapu Rapu residents reported a fish kill in Mirikpitik creek which leads out of Lafayette mine. This spill, along with several others reported by locals, occurred during the mine’s test run. No explanations have been offered by Lafayette aside from allegations of pesticide sabotage which they have yet to prove.

In his statement, Lee was quoted saying “Pouring pesticide in a creek near Lafayette's Rapu Rapu project […] was actually an act of economic sabotage” immediately after a paragraph referring to the Greenpeace banner-hanging at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) building last August 10. Greenpeace responded to the statement in a press interview where campaigner Beau Baconguis challenged Lee “to name names.” There has been no response so far from the governor’s camp.

“By merely casting innuendo on perpetrators of what Lafayette claims to be pesticide sabotage, Governor Lee’s insinuations are pointedly malicious and clearly designed to put Greenpeace in a bad light,” said Baconguis. “If this is not his intention, Governor Lee should publicly deny that his statement implicates Greenpeace in Lafayette’s claims of sabotage.”

Greenpeace Southeast Asia Executive Director Emmy Hafild has issued a formal letter to Lee containing the said demand. “Greenpeace has always believed in being accountable for our actions. We identify ourselves prominently in all of our direct, peaceful, non-violent actions and take pride in the name and credibility we have built as an international environmental organization,” said Hafild, “Greenpeace will not hesitate to take legal action against what appears to be an act of defamation.”

Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environment problems, and to force the solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future.

Solon’s personal driver shot dead in Gandara

By EMY C. BONIFACIO
October 3, 2006

GANDARA, Samar  – An ongoing coronation night for the Liga ng mga Barangays being held at Barangay Domaloong, Gandara, Samar was disrupted by a shooting incident which took place on or about 11:00 in the evening of September 28, 2006. The activity was being held at the vicinity of the municipal auditorium of Gandara in connection with the fiesta eve celebration of the said municipality, where this province’s 1st District Representative, Congressman Reynaldo Uy, was invited as guest.

According to the report gathered by this writer, police identified the victim as one Victoriano Urbano y Ortiz, 42 years old, married, a personal driver of Congressman Reynaldo Uy, and a resident of Barangay Bagacay, Calbayog City. He was shot to death, having sustained one fatal gunshot wound at the back of his head by a still unidentified person.  The assailant’s weapon which was used was .45 caliber pistol, sources disclosed.

An initial investigation conducted revealed that the victim was closely standing by, observing the activities which  was on progress at the above-mentioned time and date, together with some VIP security of the congressman and some of the policemen of the vicinity when he was shot at close range in the head by the assailant coming from an undetermined direction. The attack was unnoticed by police authorities.  It was further learned that the assailant was able to elude arrest by joining the scampering crowd and fled towards the south direction.

Meanwhile, authorities are not discrediting the possibility of political rivalries as a possible lead in the resolution of the case.  It must be recalled that Congressman Reynaldo Uy has been pioneering an anti-corruption campaign in the province by encouraging people to join the “Crusade for Samar”.  The 1st District Representative, in his latest radio and television appearances, has been very vocal in deploring and criticizing the kind of leadership our province is getting from Governor Tan. “She is the worst governor we ever had”, was Congressman Uy’s statement when made to describe Governor Tan during an interview conducted by the local media just recently.

Police authorities, headed by the Officer on case, SPO1 Rolando P Quibuyen, are presently conducting an exhaustive investigation to establish the true motive and identities of the perpetrators, but there are suspicions of an old personal grudge as one possible reason for the killing. However, no official statement has yet been heard from the police organization as of this writing.