US Congress to hear RP extrajudicial killings complaint

[Zeus]

US Congress to hear RP extrajudicial killings complaint



By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 08:49am (Mla time) 03/11/2007


MANILA, Philippines -- The Foreign Relations committees of both the United States House of Representatives and the US Senate will conduct separate hearings on the political killings in the Philippines.
Rep. Tom Lantos (California) will hold a briefing in the House foreign relations committee on the Philippine human rights issue at 10 a.m. on March 14 in Washington D.C. while Sen. Barbara Boxer (California), chair of the East Asia sub-Committee of the Senate, will also hold a hearing at 2:30 p.m. the same day.
Grassroots lobby
The US congressional hearings were the result of grassroots lobbying by Filipino-American organizations that included the United Methodist Church and the militant party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).
The hearings also came on the heels of the recent critical statements by US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney and the US State Department on the human rights situation in the country.
PM yesterday called on the US Congress to condemn the spate of extrajudicial killings of workers and peasant leaders in the Philippines.
The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches yesterday also issued another statement condemning the extrajudicial killings.
Bad rep
“All the killings of journalists and left-wing advocates in recent times have given the Philippines a bad reputation; more important than the matter of reputation is the loss of precious lives,” PCEC’s executive committee said in a statement.
A representative of the PM, Pastor Israel Alvaran of the United Methodist Church, will lobby on behalf of labor party-list group in the US Congress.
“We would like the US Congress to take note of the fact that the iron hand of repression is bearing down heavy on the working class movement in the Philippines,” Alvaran said.
Alvaran will carry a letter of appeal from PM Rep. Renato Magtubo calling on the US Congress to speak against repression of human and labor rights.
Belly of beast
“We are willing to work in the belly of the beast in order to stay the iron hand of repression by the Arroyo regime and its fascist military. We ask our fellow American legislators to stand for labor rights and civil liberties in the Philippines,” Magtubo said.
He added: It is in the common interest of the peoples of America and the Philippines. The killings of activists must stop. The urban communities must be demilitarized. The harassment of militant party-lists must end.”
Alvaran said that from the ranks of the PM alone, three labor union presidents plus Ka Popoy Lagman have been assassinated since the assumption to power of President Macapagal-Arroyo. Another union president and leader of the PM was ambushed but survived during the tenure of controversial Gen. Jovito Palparan in Leyte.
PCEC said it supported the investigations of the United Nations and the Philippine Commission on Human Rights to establish the facts and find out the truth as well. It also praised the Supreme Court for setting up special courts to try cases of extrajudicial killings.
“We plead with witnesses to come forward and provide the evidence to convict the criminals; we appreciate the risks but how else can justice be served,” PCEC added.


Ano kaya mangyayari kaina Ret. Gen Palparan and co. pagnapatunayan may nangyari nga na killings?

[Horsepower]

What they did was wrong but it's for the better. Insurgency has been dragging us for too long, it's about time to get rid of them.

I know of people back in the Marcos era who kill criminals too. It's because taking them to court is a waste of time. That's why crime rates back then were so low, every criminal is killed on every opportunity.

Personally, it's ok. Criminals don't help in the economy, they terrorize the society. It's stupid to let them live. Life of a human being is short, to spend it in constant fear and caution is a waste. So for me, for the greater good, kill all criminals, legal or otherwise.

[Isuzoom]

did you check your backyard joe?

[Monseratto]

Beijing rejected US criticism of its defence spending today with a new twist to its traditional rhetoric, saying Washington was behaving like a peeping Tom.

Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said: "How would you feel if people were always shouting at you, 'Please take off all your clothes and let me see what's underneath'. How would you respond? You would want to call the police, I think."

Love this quote from the news. Pareho din sa kaso na ito...

[Zeus]

Sabi ni Senator Enrile di dapat makialam ang US sa atin, dapat daw nila usisiin ang mga nilabag ng sundalo nila sa Iraq

[empy]

why would the US Congress have a hearing on what happens in another sovereign country? we have more relevant things to worry about domestically.

edit - it actually sounds like it's a motion to condemn "human rights violations". happens all the time. all talk.

[creepy]

Beijing rejected US criticism of its defence spending today with a new twist to its traditional rhetoric, saying Washington was behaving like a peeping Tom.

Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said: "How would you feel if people were always shouting at you, 'Please take off all your clothes and let me see what's underneath'. How would you respond? You would want to call the police, I think."

Haha. Yep, this is a nice quote. 'Ika nga: "What's sauce for the goose..."

The next headline should be :

" MEXICAN PARLIAMENT STARTS PROBE OF US GOVERNMENT TREATMENT OF GUANTANAMO PRISONERS "


...may magagalit kayang rabid U.S. right-wingers?

[Zeus]

Diplomatic protest sought over US probe of RP killings



By Jhunnex Napallacan
Visayas Bureau
Last updated 06:47am (Mla time) 03/14/2007


CEBU CITY, Philippines -- The chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs has asked the government to file a diplomatic protest over investigations by his counterpart US congressional committee into hundreds of political killings that ostensibly line the Arroyo administration’s road to economic progress.
Cebu City south district representative Antonio Cuenco said the government should not allow the US Congress to conduct an investigation, as it is clearly “an invasion of our sovereignty and should be condemned.”
“In behalf of my committee, we condemned this act by the US in interfering in our internal affairs,” said Cuenco, a member of the ruling Lakas coalition.
Cuenco’s counterpart in the US, Rep. Tom Lantos (Democrat, California), chair of the US House foreign relations committee, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (Democrat, California), chair of the East Asia Sub-Committee of the US Senate, announced they would conduct separate hearings on human rights issues the Philippines on March 14.
The results of the investigations could affect the country’s allotment of foreign aid and trade concessions.
Cuenco said the US congress is not the proper venue for the investigation; it should be an agency within the United Nations, like the human rights committee.
Senatorial candidate Manuel Villar, a guest candidate of the Genuine Opposition (GO) coalition, agreed with Cuenco on the last point.
“Although I want the extra-judicial killings investigated, I am not in favor of the United States doing the investigation. It will not look good if the US will interfere in this. I think the United Nations or any unbiased international organization is in a better position to act on the issue,” said Villar.
His colleague in the GO team, Nikki Coseteng, had less reservations. She said “human rights must be protected at all costs.”
But administration senatorial candidates Ralph Recto and Prospero Pichay joined the chorus of legislators who told US legislators to “mind their own business” and stop poking their noses into the country’s internal affairs.
The same view was aired earlier by Senator Joker Arroyo, a veteran human rights lawyer who is running for reelection under the administration’s TEAM Unity ticket.
Argued Recto: “With its awful record in Iraq, the United States may not be in the best position to pontificate on human rights, given one reputable and uncontested British estimate that 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the US invasion.” With reports from Cynthia D. Balana

[Monseratto]

US Congress to hear RP extrajudicial killings complaint

The US congressional hearings were the result of grassroots lobbying by Filipino-American organizations that included the United Methodist Church and the militant party-list group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

I thought yung mga militants complain that the yankee imperialismo kapitalista dayuhans interfere too much in the Philippines???

[empy]

I thought yung mga militants complain that the yankee imperialismo kapitalista dayuhans interfere too much in the Philippines???

:hysterical:

make up your minds activists...do you want US intervention in the Philippines or don't you?? nahihilo na kami sa inyo...medyo mahina pa naman yung presidente namin, pinahihirapan nyo pa :hihihi:

[Hanren]

I thought yung mga militants complain that the yankee imperialismo kapitalista dayuhans interfere too much in the Philippines???

Mga doble kara ika nga. I thought they hated US imperialism yet they are now espousing another approach contradicting their principles. Isa lang gustong manyari ng the leftists na ito: Create a wedge between RP and the US.

We all know that "most" militant groups are fronts of the communist movement. Na infiltrate na ba nila US Congress at lumalakas ata yung lobbying power (and influence) nila? Where did they get the money to fund such activities?

If there is one thing I hate about today's party list groups, it' these "allege" CPP-NPA fronts. It's a waste of taxpayers money.

[Zeus]

I thought yung mga militants complain that the yankee imperialismo kapitalista dayuhans interfere too much in the Philippines???

Baka dahil dito iiba na tono nila

[Zeus]

US Senate starts RP killings probe

[SIZE=2]By JESS DIAZ[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The Philippine Star [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The United States Senate is set to start an investigation into hundreds of unexplained killings in the Philippines. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]An announcement on the US Senate website said the initial inquiry would be conducted by the East Asian and Pacific Affairs subcommittee at 2:30 p.m. (Washington time) at Room SD-419 of the US Congress. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The investigation aims "to examine strategies to end the violence relating to extrajudicial killings in the Philippines," the announcement said. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The inquiry was arranged by Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democratic deputy whip and an influential member of the foreign relations committee, upon request by Filipino-American organizations in the US and by militant groups here. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]US authorities, including Ambassador Kristie Kenney, have recently expressed serious concern over the unabated political killings. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]They have even expressed willingness to provide technical help in solving these cases, but Malacañang officials said they would ask for help when it is needed. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The projected inquiry by American senators followed the recent investigation conducted by UN human rights official Philip Alston, who blamed the killings on the military. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Alston lamented that the national officialdom was "in denial" on the killings. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]One Filipino official invited to participate in the US Senate inquiry is House deputy minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, who has made himself scarce due to the issuance of a warrant for his arrest by a Leyte judge. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]In a statement released by his staff, Ocampo said he would participate in Wednesday’s hearing in whatever way he can. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]His staff said they are arranging how such participation could be made possible through hi-tech means of communication that are presently available to anyone wanting to use them. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]"As president of Bayan Muna, the party to which 127 victims of extrajudicial killings belonged, I intend to participate in the US Senate hearing to help US senators and the American people understand the prevailing culture of impunity and the political persecution of duly elected party-list organizations," Ocampo said. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]"The global spotlight will now focus on Mrs. Arroyo’s bloodied iron-fist and disabuse her from a penchant to pretend as a democrat. The world will be able to confirm that Mrs. Arroyo is a poor imitation of Ferdinand Marcos," he said. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]He thanked Senator Boxer for arranging the US Senate inquiry. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]"The Senate hearing is a result of the international uproar due to the Arroyo government’s refusal to order state security forces to dismantle death squads, and its violation of the rights of people’s organizations to operate freely without harassment," he said. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]He noted that the US State Department and American churches and organizations have criticized the Arroyo government for the unsolved political killings. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]The military blames many of the unexplained killings on communist guerrillas and their legal organizations, claiming these groups have been purging their ranks of suspected government spies. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]It is in connection with an alleged purge more than two decades ago that a Leyte judge has ordered the arrest of Ocampo and other communist leaders. But Ocampo said he was in military detention at the time. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]Depending on the result of the US Senate inquiry, future American government aid to the Philippines could be affected. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]During the Marcos era, opponents of martial law and the dictatorship successfully lobbied with the Americans to cut financial help to the Marcos regime and to pressure the late president to hold elections in 1986 after a two-decade rule.[/SIZE]

[Jun aka Pekto]

Well, that's what happens when the Democrats are in power. The Republicans have always been immigration and politically-friendly to the Philippines.

[fourtheboys96]

they should also investigate the killings or alleged killing made by these leftists. they act and speak as if they have no mistakes done and as if they are our saviour!!

[Hanren]

they should also investigate the killings or alleged killing made by these leftists. they act and speak as if they have no mistakes done and as if they are our saviour!!

Tama ka diyan bossing! Joma and his elks speak and act as if they have a halo on top of their heads.

The US (especially the present admin) have always been critical of human rights violations of other countries. Perhaps, they do not want to admit that they themselves are committing this in the guise of pursuing their anti-terror agenda (again, in Bush's time) .

Yung sa Guantanamo bay prison na lang e ni wala man lang trial yung mga nakakulong doon.

[Jun aka Pekto]

Why approach the US when the UN/Amnesty International/International Court/other international agencies should be the one doing the investigating?

The killings seem to be more than coincidence. But, the US is the wrong country to ask for a hearing...... Take the issue to the International Court where it belongs.