| RSS

< Browse > Home /

Campus Journalists Demand Swift Justice

PRESS RELEASE

Campus journalists condemn the very slow delivery of justice to the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre, and challenge the Aquino administration to enforce its political will to expedite the prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime.

Members of the campus press believe that one year of injustice since the day of the massacre of 58 lives is an excessive display of irresponsibility by the government.

Paul Randy Gumanao, the Vice President for Mindanao of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), said that unless justice is served, the Arroyo and the Aquino regimes are accountable to the people.

“The impotent action of our government is a form of betrayal of our democracy. It is not enough that we just remember the most gruesome attack in media history. We need to act and rage because there is a continued culture of impunity in our country,” Gumanao said.

CEGP sees that the Amapatuan massacre case is not isolated from the piles of human rights violations cases that the government must address urgently.

“Student journalists are always standing by the people. Therefore we believe that the people’s outrage, rather than the Ampatuans’ might, must be feared and attended by the government. What happened in Maguindanao was not solely an attack against the journalists or the lawyers. It was an arrogant attack against the Filipino people,” Gumanao added.

The international community also expressed sentiments against the massacre. New York-based Human Rights Watch delivered a report indicting former president Arroyo of aiding the Ampatuans gain political and miltary power. This report, according to CEGP, has to be considered by the Aquino administration.

“P-Noy has to show us what he meant by ‘daang matuwid’. Prosecute not only the Ampatuans but all the other individuals involved in nurturing a barbaric culture in the country,” Gumanao said.

CEGP, in its 79 years of existence as the longest-running and the widest organization of tertiary campus publications, said it will always support campaigns and actions that will benefit the majority. The group is also joining in various activities in the first year commemoration of the Amatuan massacre this November 23
Monday, November 22, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in
< Browse > Home /

Gov’t responsible for rights worker’s death–UN

By Leila B. Salaverria

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Article Reference Click HereFirst Posted 23:23:00 10/02/2010

 ©Copyright 2001-2010 INQUIRER.net, An Inquirer Company




Photo from karapatan.org
THE UNITED Nations Human Rights Committee has found the Philippine government responsible for the 2002 death of human rights worker Benjaline Hernandez who was shot dead by paramilitary forces.

“The committee, based on the material before it, finds that the [Philippine government] is responsible for the death of Ms. Benjaline Hernandez, and concludes that there has been a violation of article 6, paragraph 1, of the [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] with regard to Ms. Benjaline Hernandez,” it said.
The committee said the government violated its obligations to provide effective remedies to resolve Benjaline’s case, as required by the covenant.
The Philippine government is obliged under article 6, paragraph 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to protect the right to life and to prevent or refrain from the arbitrary deprivation of life.
Benjaline’s mother, Evangeline, represented by the Karapatan human rights group, went to the UN to seek justice for her daughter.
The Philippines is a party to the Optional Protocol to the Covenant.
Benjaline, deputy secretary-general of Karapatan Southern Mindanao, was conducting research on the impact of the peace process on the community of Arakan when members of the Citizens Armed Force Geographical Unit, led by a 7th Army Battalion officer, attacked the hut where she and several others were about to have lunch.
An autopsy showed that Benjaline was shot at close range while she lay on her back.
In its findings, the UN committee said that Benjaline’s killing by paramilitary forces was undisputed.
It rejected the government’s denial that the military was responsible as no convincing evidence was submitted.
It said the Philippines also failed to submit convincing information that it had taken action to fulfill its obligation under the covenant.
Though the government filed a case against one officer and a few others, no one else had been prosecuted or brought to justice in connection with Bernardine’s killing, it said.
It also said that while the government provided data on the establishment of the Melo Commission and handed down guidelines for special courts to address extrajudicial killings, it did not say how these initiatives would contribute to the resolution of Benjaline’s case.
These actions also fail to explain the lack of progress in Benjaline’s case in the courts, it added.
It pointed out that the State party (that is, the Philippines) is obliged to ensure that the remedies it employs are effective.
"A State party may not avoid its responsibilities under the covenant with the argument that the domestic courts are dealing with the matter, when the remedies relied upon by the State party have been unreasonably prolonged," it said.
The UN committee told the government to submit to it information about the measures it has taken to address the committee’s views within 180 days.
The government told the committee that Evangeline’s letter to the UN was premature and that she had not exhausted all the domestic remedies available to her.
It denied that the cases Evangeline had filed before the courts and the Commission on Human Rights had been unreasonably delayed.
It said it had taken other steps to address extra-judicial killing cases.
Monday, October 4, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in
< Browse > Home /

Kris-Crossing Mindanao : Impunity still

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
| No Comments | Posted in
< Browse > Home /

Solon seeks probe on questionable OJT fees for nursing students

Reposted from Kabataan Partylist
Now in her last year in college, Neshreen Kingking is a senior nursing student enrolled in one of the prestigious nursing schools in Metro Manila. Being the eldest of six who are all studying, she took up nursing, an in- demand course, to help improve the financial situation of their family.
Like any other nursing student, Neshreen is required to do hospital and community duties as part of their Related Learning Experience (RLE), an on-the –job training (OJT) or internship program. Neshreen and other nursing students are required to finish all their hospital duties as a requirement for graduation.
Of the P 57,371 she pays every semester for tuition and other fees, 38.49 percent or an estimate of P 22,082 goes to the payment for RLE, which is, in essence, a payment to allow students to render their services in hospitals. The payment for the RLE is even a bigger percentage compared to her tuition, which costs P15,690 per semester.
Not only does she pay hefty amount for her duties, most of the time she also provides the medical supplies needed especially when they are designated to public hospitals.
Neshreen’s problem is not an isolated case. It is a reality that almost half a million Philippine nursing students are facing today.
Such alarming reports have pushed Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino to file House Resolution 434, which seeks to investigate the exorbitant fees paid by students undergoing on-the-job trainings such as hospital duties.
“It has been a prevalent practice in recent years among hospitals to charge nursing students exorbitant fees simply to grant them the ‘privilege’ of rendering services in their institutions. It has been reported that some hospitals even exploit this situation by refusing to fill in vacant plantilla positions with actual nursing professionals and simply let their student trainees do the work in order to cut on expenses and earn more profits,” he added.
Palatino said “students and parents are at the losing end here. Despite rendering actual work for months, they are required to pay for the public service they provide and even arrange for medical supplies.”
“No less than the Labor Code of the Philippines recognizes work rendered even by apprentices and learners, and provides for the protection and promotion of their rights and benefit,” the resolution stated.
He added, “Students are still obliged to pay OJT fees even if they are the ones who will hunt for companies that will accept them as interns. Both the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Health should disallow such fees so that students will not be exploited by hospitals through placing burdensome fees.”
“Students and parents are beset by the profit-oriented education and health service system of the country. Like products which are in demand in the market, students are compelled to pay the price set by businessmen in order to avail their needs. Through on-the-job trainings, students are the ones filling up the shortages of health workers in hospitals. It is disturbing to know that they are exploited by paying thousands of pesos for their internship – the free public service they are offering,” he said.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010 | No Comments
< Browse > Home /

A Day with the Director
Saturday, September 18, 2010 | No Comments
< Browse > Home /

SIGWA Davao Screening


SIGWA, which means storm, is the story of six young lives caught in the tempest of the First Quarter Storm during the 1970's. Set in persecution, intrigue, torture and betrayal, a bloodstained page in the history of the Philippines. The movie recounts and exposes untold stories of the horror and sins of an abusive regime. Ironically, despite the years have passed, there have been many regimes but some issues still prevail. It was given a grade of “A” by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB).

The film features Megan Young and Dawn Zulueta as Dolly, Allen Dizon as Eddie, Marvin Agustin and Tirso Cruz III as Oliver, Pauleen Luna and Zsa Zsa Padilla as Sita, Jay Aquitania and Jim Pebangco as Rading, and Lovi Poe and Gina Alajar as Azon. Tirso Cruz III won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Cinemalaya 2010 for his role  as Oliver, the traitor and in the later part reinvents himself as the Presidential Spokesperson.
Saturday, September 4, 2010 | No Comments | Posted in