“The anti-terror bill is a modern expression of state warlordism. It uses legal means to subvert the state monopoly of force to serve the purposes of the ruling administration.”
The post ‘The anti-terror bill is a modern expression of state warlordism’ appeared first on Kodao Productions.
The New People’s Army (NPA) in Negros Island denied President Rodrigo Duterte’s accusation it killed a soldier using a disposable razor blade, in turn accusing government troops as “consistent violators” of the rules of war.
The post Duterte lies on razor blade killing, NPA in Negros says appeared first on Kodao Productions.
“Since early on, the revolutionary movement has considered Duterte as a rabid enemy and a rabid puppet of US imperialism by surrounding himself with generals who are notorious assets of the CIA and DIA of the US, carrying out immediately an all-out war policy under the cover of continuing Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan until he launched his own Oplan Kapayapaan in early 2017.”
The post On the question of fascism in relation to the Duterte regime appeared first on Kodao Productions.
“Our call to drop all charges against Frenchie Mae and to immediately release her is now more urgent than ever.”
By EMILY VITAL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The local court denied the motion filed by lawyers of Tacloban community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and two human rights defenders during the first hearing, June 23.
Judge Georgina Perez of Tacloban Regional Trial Court Branch 45 junked the omnibus motion to quash information, to quash issued search warrant, suppress evidence and return seized items not included in the search warrant.
Cumpio, executive director of online media outfit Eastern Vista; Marielle Domequil, staffer of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) – Eastern Visayas; and, Alexander Abinguna of Katungod Sinirangang Bisaya, the local chapter of Karapatan in the region, are charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They were arrested along with two others following the February 7 simultaneous raids of Eastern Vista office and joint offices of Bayan-Eastern Visayas and Alliance of Peasants in Eastern Visayas in Tacloban City.
The two others – Marissa Cabaljao of People’s Surge and Mira Legion of Bayan-EV – were charged with illegal possession of firearms and allowed to post bail in February. Cumpio,Domequil and Abigunia remain detained in Tacloban City Jail.
Altermidya, of which Eastern Vista is a member, lamented the court’s decision. “We fear that with this development, the motion to dismiss Frenchie Mae’s case and the other motions filed by her lawyers will also yield an unfavorable ruling,” Altermidya National Coordinator Rhea Padilla told Bulatlat.
“Our call to drop all charges against Frenchie Mae and to immediately release her is now more urgent than ever,” Padilla added.
“To detain our colleague Frenchie Mae for over four months is already a grave travesty and mockery of Philippine democracy. At a time when volunteer human rights defenders and community journalists are needed as frontliners to observe, report, and extend support to their communities in the arduous battle against COVID-19, the spurious charges that locked them up resulted in great disservice to the people. How many stories of the marginalized and underrepresented remain unreported because Frenchie Mae…was not able to perform her duties due to her incarceration?” Padilla said further.
A fact-finding mission in February revealed that the evidence were planted, with guns and ammunition allegedly recovered under the beds and under the tables. A witness said the raiding teams forced all people in both offices to head outside and made them lie on the ground at gunpoint. Members of the raiding team then went inside both offices unaccompanied by any witness, as required by the law, and stayed inside for about 10 minutes.
It was only about 45 or so minutes into the raid were members of the barangay council appeared in the scene to serve as witnesses. It was only when the search party and the barangay officials entered the offices this time around were the guns, ammunition, and explosives were found on top of beds and tables.
Padilla called on fellow journalists and the public to continue demanding Frenchie Mae’s freedom and “resist all attempts to silence critical media and truth-tellers.”
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines as well as international groups Committee to Protect Journalists, International Association of Women in Radio and Television and AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters) have issued statements calling for the immediate release of Cumpio.
The post Judge junks motion filed by lawyers of Tacloban journalist, 2 others appeared first on Bulatlat.
Judge Georgina Perez of the Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 45 denied the Omnibus Motion to rescind warrant and the information filed by the counsel of ‘Tacloban 5’, four activists and a community journalist. The 5th hearing for the case filed against publication Eastern Vista Executive Director Frenchie Mae Cumpio, 21, and Rural Missionaries […]
The post ‘Tacloban 5’ motion to rescind warrant denied by court appeared first on Manila Today.
Maaari na muling makabili ng mga murang produkto ng mga magsasaka na nagtatanggol sa kanilang karapatan sa lupa. Hanggang Hunyo 24 ng 12 ng tanghali maaaring umorder gamit ang form na kanilang online na pamilihan. Kasama sa mga binebentang produkto ang sumusunod: Indian mango – P 40 kada kilo Santol – P50 kada kilo Saba – […]
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“Four months of being locked up is traumatic for children. The government should consider their mental health. They should not be locked up anymore.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Child rights advocates said the uncertainty brought about by the COVID-19 is taking toll on children’s mental health.
The Philippines has the longest and strictest lockdown and the lack if not absence of social protection provided to poor families affect the children.
Didith van ler Linden, executive director of Action for the Care and Development of the Poor in the Philippines (ACAP), said in a recent webinar that in the beginning, the children were very happy. “They had the whole family with them, something they missed in normal times. But the uncertainty eventually brought fear of the mysterious virus, brought insecurity of the future, and of course, hunger,” she said.
Since the lockdown, ACAP has been providing psychosocial assistance and food relief to six urban poor communities in Parañaque, Pasay, and Muntinlupa. These include art activities for the children to help them deal with the trauma they are experiencing.
From the essays and drawings submitted to them, Linden said they have observed their “fears and frustrations from being cooped up” and also “sensed their confusion and their insecurities.”
“Amid the pandemic, children are locked up in their small homes, humid and without proper ventilation. You can imagine how difficult it was for them,” she said.
Playing field in education
Among the cause of worries for urban poor children, said Linden, is the planned online and distance learning when classes resume in August.
“Here they realized how uneven the playing field in education has become for them. They know only the rich can do online education,” she said.
With classes set to resume in two months, the child rights advocate said there is “no normalizing factor” around children. Linden urged the education department to prepare school children on the planned online and distance learning.
Read: Public school teachers lament DepEd’s ‘widening the gap in education access’
Small-group activities initiated by child rights advocacy groups should be allowed in communities, she said, “to address the trauma, and to play and feel normal again.”
“Four months of being locked up is traumatic for children. The government should consider their mental health. They should not be locked up anymore,” she said.
Of the 27 million Filipino students in the government’s K+12 program, only 10 million children have enrolled, according to Alliance of Concerned Teachers.
Read: Public school teachers raise 5 demands before school opens
Respect for authorities
With the emotional and mental whirlwind that Filipino children had to confront amid the pandemic, Linden expressed hopes that the young ones have not lost their respect for authorities “after seeing how unfair their families have been treated during this pandemic.”
“They saw how their parents looked for food and aid,” she said.
Jovy dela Cruz of the Association for the Rights of Children in Southeast Asia said they have also documented various rights violations among children. Cutting of their hair and putting them in dog cages and in coffins were among the documented punishments for children who were reportedly caught for breaking curfew hours.
Read: Observe child protection laws during quarantine – rights groups
Save the Children has earlier issued a statement calling on local officials to adhere to existing laws on proper treatment of children and youth.
In the same webinar, child rights advocates also called for protection of children amid the increase of reported cases of sexual violence. More reporting mechanisms, they said, should be provided, especially since they are no longer attending physical classes in school.
Child rights advocates presented their findings through a webinar hosted by Salinlahi.
The post Lockdown, poor social protection taking toll on children’s mental health appeared first on Bulatlat.
