A local radio station in General Santos City was peppered with bullets on Wednesday night.
Veteran journo files criminal, administrative raps vs police, military
“We need to speak up and say what really happened, they [officers accused] should be held accountable for the offenses they have made.”
By ALYSSA MAE CLARIN
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Davao Today columnist Margarita Valle filed criminal and administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman today against Philippine National Police and Army officers who arrested her and held her incommunicado for almost 12 hours last June 9.
In her submitted complaint, Valle filed criminal offenses of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, arbitraty detention, violation of Republic Act No. 9745, also known as the Anti-Torture act of 2009, and, violation of Miranda Rights, or the rights of persons arrested, detained or under custodial investigation.
She also filed administrative charges of gross misconduct, grave abuse of authority, and conduct unbecoming of a public official against the officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Region 9 and of 102nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army who had taken her from Laguindingan Airport in Misamis Oriental on June 9.
In her 20-page complaint, Valle said her kidnapping and detention was done by the authorities without any legal reason, as there was no evidence presented that proved her abduction to be a part of a legally authorized military operation.
Listen to Ging Valle’s statement #FightBack #JusticeForValle pic.twitter.com/T3NB1Gqjcd
— Bulatlat (@bulatlat) July 4, 2019
Valle had also stated how the accused officers blatantly disregarded her efforts to assert her rights, which she had done right from the start, eventually causing her to suffer from serious anxieties that had almost endangered her health.
“The refusal of my captors to answer my questions as to where and what they will do to me caused me stress and fear for my safety, for my life,” said Valle. She said that her 12-hour captivity, with no communication and information from friends and family, was enough to torture her mentally and psychologically.
By filing this case, Valle said that she is standing up against the many human rights violations conducted by state security forces, not only to her but to many others who have also been taken against their will and forced to admit to crimes they did not commit.
“We need to speak up and say what really happened, they [officers accused] should be held accountable for the offenses they have made,” Valle said.
Valle was assisted by her lawyers from the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), colleagues from the alternative media and the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP).
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Duterte administration being dishonest about economic ‘gains’
Research group IBON said that the Duterte administration is
being dishonest in its recent pronouncements about high growth, reducing
unemployment, and reducing poverty. The group said that the government is
taking liberties with statistics as part of its propaganda campaign that
President Duterte is keeping his promise of real change.
In its pre-State of the Nation Address (SONA) forum, the Department of Finance (DOF) hailed the Duterte administration for its achievements during its first three years in terms of “rapid economic expansion”, “the lowest [unemployment] in 40 years”, “alleviating poverty”, and Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law “benefiting 99 percent of taxpayers”.
According to IBON executive director Sonny Africa however, growth
has actually been slowing since the start of the Duterte administration. Philippine
Statistics Authority (PSA) data show that gross domestic product (GDP) growth
has been slowing in the 11 quarters since the start of the Duterte
administration from 7.1% in the third quarter of 2016 to 5.6% in the first
quarter of 2019. There was a momentary increase to 7.2% in the third quarter of
2017 but growth fell rapidly after this. IBON also pointed out that the growth
was slowing even before the budget impasse and election ban on infrastructure
spending.
Africa added that the economic managers are being deceitful
in claiming that the 5.1% unemployment rate in April 2019 is the lowest
unemployment in four decades. He pointed out that the DOF is well aware that the
change in the official definition of unemployment in 2005 drastically reduced
the reported unemployment rate and number of unemployed which makes the April
2019 figure incomparable with the 25 years of data before 2005.
On the contrary, IBON said, computing according to the
original definition of unemployment for comparability would show that the real unemployment
rate in 2018 is 10.1% and the real number of unemployed is 4.6 million. These
are much worse than the already high 9.0% unemployment rate and 4 million
unemployed in 2016, again computed according to the original definition. In
contrast, officially released figures for 2018 were a grossly underreported 5.3%
and 2.3 million, respectively.
The high unemployment is a direct result of how only an
annual average of 81,000 new jobs have been created since the start of the Duterte
administration, from 41 million employed in 2016 to 41.2 million in 2018. This
is the worst job generation in the post-Marcos period.
Poverty statistics meanwhile show seemingly less poor Filipinos
only because of government’s very low poverty threshold, said Africa. The government’s
Php69.50 daily per capita poverty threshold and only Php48.60 subsistence or food
threshold in the first semester of 2018 are absurdly low and not conceivably
enough to meet decent minimum standards for food, shelter, transportation,
health care, and education, stressed Africa. He said that this leads to a gross
underestimation of the real number of poor Filipinos.
Finally, Africa clarified that it is very deceitful to claim
that TRAIN benefited 99% of taxpayers. The Duterte administration wants to make
it appear that 99% of Filipinos benefited from TRAIN but the truth is that only
5.5 million personal income taxpayers with tax cuts out of 23 million Filipino
families gain from TRAIN. The poorest 17.2 million or eight out of 10 Filipino
families will pay TRAIN’s higher consumption taxes but without any personal
income tax gains to offset these. The government is trying to distract the
public from how a disproportionate part of TRAIN revenues come from the poorest
majority of Filipinos due to additional levies on consumption goods including
petroleum products and sugar-sweetened beverages, said Africa.
IBON warned the public to be more discerning about the
government claims and not to take these at face value. Yet the country can only
start to take steps to real solutions when there is more candor and honesty,
rather than self-serving propaganda, about the real problems the economy and
the people face. ###
LEGIT
Davao City Tourism Officer Generose Tecson shows the IDs issued by the Department of Tourism for accredited tour guides. At the I-speak press conference on Thursday, July 4, 2019, Tecson urged the public to avail tour services only of individuals and groups accredited by the City Government. (Ken E. Cagula/davaotoday.com)
“Very difficult time for family” Cdo Mayor Oca Moreno says on son’s drug bust
A few days into his third and final term, Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno faces a crisis in his family.
2 detained babies and their mothers arrive back in PH
“Our rights as humans were violated! The female wardens acted as if they are not mothers themselves. They were vile and mean, treated us like animals. All the children always get terrified when they’re around,” Raly told Migrante.
‘Esperon’s complaint deflects on more fundamental matters’ – Karapatan
“National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s actions show that this government is indeed hell-bent on silencing its critics using the entire extent of its resources and through deliberately magnifying technicalities to veer the conversation away from the core issue of state-sponsored attacks by the Duterte government. ”
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The filing of perjury complaint against human rights group Karapatan, women’s group Gabriela and religious group Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) only shows that the government is hell-bent on silencing its critics.
This is the response of Karapatan’s secretary general Cristina Palabay to National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s recent filing of a complaint against their group before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, July 2, Tuesday.
She said the filing of the perjury complaint against their group “deflects on the more fundamental matters and transcendental issues” in their petition.
Esperon accused the groups of “issuing false statements in their writs of amparo and habeas data petition.” He alleged that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has revoked RMP’s certificate of registration since Aug. 20, 2019.
Palabay said there is “no intent to falsify, manufacture or misrepresent anything even on such microscopic technicalities and minute procedural points.”
She pointed out, “The filing of a perjury complaint, along with other documented judicial harassment, extrajudicial killings, defamation and threats directed at our colleagues, is part and parcel of the attacks we face, aimed at discrediting our advocacy and invalidating the urgency of the pleas of the victims of human rights violations.”
Karapatan, Gabriela and RMP filed petitions for writ of amparo and writ of habeas data before the Supreme Court on May 6. On June 18, in a one-day hearing at the Court of Appeals (CA), the petitioners were not allowed to present their witnesses and other documents to prove their allegations. Ten days after, on June 28, the CA dismissed their petitions saying that “there is no substantial evidence to establish the petitioners’ allegations.”
The series of red tagging by military officials has made the groups filed the petitions. According to Karapatan there have been 145 activists killed since the beginning of Duterte’s presidency until March of this year.
The vilification of human rights defenders also continues. Just recently, Karapatan Central Visayas chairperson Phoebe Zoe Sanchez received a death threat sent via mobile that says, “Mrs. phoebe sanchez inihap na lang adlaw nimo dinhi sa kalibutan condolence sa imong pamilya (Mrs. phoebe sanchez your days in this world are numbered, condolence to your family)” and “Phoebe sanchez rest in peace.”
Human rights activist and lawyer Beverly Musni also reported that a streamer was placed outside her house in Cagayan de Oro City tagging her and several other persons as members and recruiters of the New People’s Army (NPA) regional unit committee.
“National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s actions show that this government is indeed hell-bent on silencing its critics using the entire extent of its resources and through deliberately magnifying technicalities to veer the conversation away from the core issue of state-sponsored attacks by the Duterte government,” Palabay said.
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