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13 million activities? Drilon wants review of PNP’s NTF-Elcac funds after huge 2021 activity claim

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13 million activities? Drilon wants review of PNP’s NTF-Elcac funds after huge 2021 activity claim

By: Gabriel Pabico Lalu – Reporter /INQUIRER.net /November 11, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Franklin Drilon has called for a thorough review of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) funds inside the Philippine National Police (PNP), after it was revealed that 13 million activities were done just in 2021.

The 13 million activities were revealed during the Senate hearing on the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), after Drilon asked what happened to the P1.194 billion NTF-Elcac funds within DILG, which were supposedly used for meetings, convergence, and other purposes.

According to Drilon, they have computed the amount of activities that would have been done by the PNP if the 13 million number is accurate, and it yields an answer of 43,333 activities per day across the country — which the Senator said is difficult to believe.

“We computed that, and it turns out that for the past 10 months, assuming 13 million activities, that would be 43,333 activities per day for the last 10 months, which on its surface is immediately difficult to believe,” Drilon said.

“But may we request that these allocation be examined closely, and we will accept the explanation of the good sponsor,” he added.

Senate finance committee chair Senator Sonny Angara, who is defending DILG’s budget, said that it was outgoing police chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar who told him that PNP spent P766 million for the 13 million activities.

“They had 13 million activities […] according to the Chief PNP,” Angara said.

Angara noted that 12 clusters within the PNP have done the 13 million activities, which includes the following:

  • counter mobilization activities
  • conduct of focused law enforcement operations
  • capacity building and situational awareness
  • retooled community support related activities
  • intensified monitoring of communist terrorist groups
  • assistance on inter-agency case build-up on extortion activities by terrorist groups

In response, Drilon said he has never heard of any agency doing 13 million activities in a year.

“Dalawampu’t apat na taon na po ako sa Senado, ngayon ko lang narinig ang report na merong ginastusan na 13 million activities in a span of one year, or less than one year,” Drilon said.

(I have been in the Senate for 24 years, it is only now that I have heard of a report which said that an agency spent for 13 million activities in a span of one year, or less than one year.)

“Now no wonder the COA has flagged the way the expenses are being, or the budget is being disbursed: 13 million activities in a span of 10 months or something?” he asked again.

Angara said that the activities are meant to orient cleared barangays about how they would continue progress, which requires DILG and PNP personnel to do several meetings with local government units, local officials, and other national agencies.

“Broadly, its to win the hearts and minds of the communities, the cleared barangays, but for the DILG they went around — for 2021, the use of the funds was they visited the barangays which were to be covered under the 2022 appropriations, the 1,406 LGUs, they would spend time there, the DILG teams, and spend time with the community,” he said.

“And for some barangays, they would assist them in deciding or choosing which projects could be availed of, although the final decision fell to the barangays, and they would have community meetings, convergence meetings with the LGU officials, barangay officials, municipal officials, as well as they would also converge with the other national government agencies as to the needed services on the ground,” he added.

NTF-Elcac’s proposed funds for 2022 — including its budget for the current year — have undergone scrutiny in the Senate after the agency failed to submit an explanation on its expenditures.

The lack of an explanation led the Senate finance committee headed by Angara to slash NTF-ELCAC’s budget, from the proposed P28 billion to P4 billion.

Earlier, documents cited by Angara showed that only 26 of the 2,318 projects under the NTF-ELCAC’s Barangay Development Fund worth P16.4 billion have been completed.

Another 900 projects are still under the pre-procurement stage, 700 projects more are in the procurement stage, while 560 are still being implemented.


Martial Law Victims Appeal To SC: Jail Imelda Marcos

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Martial Law Victims Appeal To SC: Jail Imelda Marcos

Rhodina Villanueva, November 10, 2021, www.onenews.ph

The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto said in the interest of justice for all victims of human rights violations during the martial law period, the Supreme Court should make former first lady Imelda Marcos pay for her crimes.

Martial law victims and survivors have appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Nov. 9, to affirm former first lady Imelda Marcos’ conviction by the Sandiganbayan and to send her to jail.

In a letter addressed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, SELDA or the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto said, “In the interest of justice for all victims of human rights violations during the martial law period, we again appeal to this honorable Court to affirm Mrs. Imelda Marcos’ conviction by the Sandiganbayan. We call on the sense of truth and justice of members of this honorable Court and decide with dispatch to dismiss Mrs. Marcos’ appeal.”

SELDA issued the request to the high court during the third anniversary of Marcos’ conviction for seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan.

“We suffered during the Marcos conjugal dictatorship and we continue to suffer as we continue to see that Imelda is out of jail, out of accountability. The dictator’s widow continues to live the life, not sickly and dirt poor, as she receives all the geriatric care she wants and needs using all the wealth from the people’s pockets accumulated in their more than two decades of power and might,” Danilo dela Fuente, SELDA vice chairman, said.

It has been three years since Marcos was convicted for seven counts of graft by the Sandiganbayan for illegally funneling at least $352 million to Swiss foundations in the 1970s when she was governor of Metropolitan Manila.

Marcos was, however, allowed to post bail amounting to P300,000 and has also filed an appeal before the high court regarding her conviction.

“The Sandiganbayan decision must be upheld. The amassing of ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses are among the reasons why the nation has sunk deeper into poverty, ballooning debt and crisis. As long as there is ill-gotten wealth that remains in the hands of the Marcoses, we will continue to demand the return of all that were stolen from the Filipino people from the nation’s coffers. We will not allow more of that through another Marcos in the person of Ferdinand, Jr.,” Dela Fuente said.

SELDA had inquired about the status of Marcos’ appeal last year addressed to then chief justice Diosdado Peralta. There remains no action regarding the inquiry, as well as the appeal.

“We urge the Supreme Court not to be accessory to the Marcoses’ continuing grand deception and escape from accountability. In his recent statements, the dictator’s son Ferdinand Jr., brags as the one who will bring progress and development to the country. A dictator father, a tax evader son, a mother convicted of graft – this is a family who should be brought by the high court down to the darkest annals of history,” Dela Fuente said.

[OPINION] ‘Sara all’ could escape a Davao drug raid like Jefry Tupas

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[OPINION] ‘Sara all’ could escape a Davao drug raid like Jefry Tupas

Nov 9, 2021, Tonyo Cruz

Is it really possible that the family of President Duterte and Mayor Sara didn’t know about Tupas and the company she keeps? Were they in the dark about the PDEA raid and the ‘high-value targets’ associated with Tupas?

At around noon of Monday, November 8, I began to receive frantic messages and calls from Davao-based friends. They were all asking if I’ve heard the reports, and if I’ve weighed in on them. 

They were referring to widely-shared photos showing Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas at the party raided by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) on November 6 at a resort in Mabini town, Davao de Oro. 

I used to know Tupas. We became friends before Rodrigo Duterte became president and when she was still in the intersection of advocacy and journalism. Our common friends on Facebook know we’ve repeatedly crossed swords over Duterte’s incompetence, cruelty, and tyranny. This explains why our friends from the South sent word about the raid and her involvement in it.

As her friend, I spent the next few hours reading up on what little has been reported, mainly the rehashed and rewritten press release from PDEA. The rumors are wilder, with some saying Tupas and her partner were let go on the request of higher-ups; in local lingo, an “arbor.”

In an interview with Rappler, Tupas confirmed that she attended the party.  But she claimed, quite conveniently, that she and her partner left early or an hour ahead of the PDEA raid.

Tupas’ statements to Rappler were terse and unexciting. They were a far cry from the usual that Davaoeños get from the imperious and sharp-tongued informal spokesperson of Mayor Sara Duterte and the city’s information officer.

No more Facebook?

For the political junkies and journalists out there, Tupas’ social media posts are a major source of news and information about Mayor Sara Duterte, city events, and the mayor’s meetings with important personalities.  Local, national, and international news outlets have long been citing her accounts in their reportage on the activities of the Duterte family.

Perhaps only Senator Bong Go could beat Tupas in terms of access to the Duterte patriarch and family. 

Soon after the November 6 raid, Tupas deactivated her Facebook account.

Her social media friends and observers of Davao politics are familiar with Tupas’ social media content. 

Apart from Duterte-related posts that promote and defend her principal to the hilt, she also posts quite regularly about social gatherings with friends even amid the pandemic and her pre-pandemic foreign travels.

My sources in Davao say that deactivating her Facebook account was an attempt to disassociate herself from the 17 persons who were nabbed by PDEA on November 6. 

They said that many of them are not mere acquaintances she met only on that date, and that her previous Facebook posts would paint a stark picture: that Mayor Duterte’s information officer is closely and regularly associated with PDEA’s “high-value targets.”

Tupas has made no statement regarding any of the 17 persons at the raid, whether to vouch for them or to deny any links to them. If they were indeed friends, Tupas’ silence and her abrupt decision to delete her Facebook account both tell a lot about her concept of friendship.

Worse, there are Davaoeños who suspect that Tupas was actually there during the raid, only to be freed as an “arbor” of a senior official.

Did Mayor Sara know?

Mayor Duterte has yet to release any statement regarding the incident, although there are reports circulating across the city that Tupas is planning to resign or may be dismissed over the incident.

Is it really possible that the family of President Duterte and Mayor Sara didn’t know about Tupas and the company she keeps? Were they really in the dark about the November 6 raid and the “high-value targets” associated with Tupas?

Tupas has enjoyed the Dutertes’ confidence ahead of the 2016 elections, but especially after.

Mayor Duterte plucked her out of activism and alternative media in 2016 and named her city information officer. Immediately prior to this, Tupas was a writer for the elder Duterte’s media bureau.

But although she is employed by the city government, Tupas has had an outsized reputation owing to her proximity to the mayor and the President.

Tupas may become a headache for Mayor Sara if speculations are confirmed that she will replace and substitute for Senator Bato dela Rosa as presidential candidate for the 2022 elections.

‘Big change’

As the furor grows over her involvement in the November 6 beach party, journalists and activists from Mindanao remember stories of their post-2016 interactions with Tupas. 

They always expressed surprise over the “big change” from being the “activist” who asked them for assistance like free board-and-lodging during the presidential campaign, and for donations when she had to go to Brussels as a grand winner in the 2015 European Union Peace Journalism Awards.   

Tupas won the prize for her article titled “The Teachers of Raja Muda.” One of the highlights of her 2015 trip to Europe was meeting top communist leaders Jose Maria Sison, Luis Jalandoni, and the late Fidel Agcaoili for an exclusive interview at the Amsterdam airport. 

Since 2016, though, Tupas has kept her distance from or attacked journalists and activists, stayed close with the Dutertes, acquired expensive new tastes, and picked new sets of friends.

Some of those new friends were arrested at the November 6 which Tupas attended. Did those friends call her frantically to ask for her help? Did she call them to offer hers? Or was it Tupas who tipped the PDEA?

There are a lot of questions waiting to be answered. The people of Davao want to know the truth from their mayor and their city information officer. Importantly, Filipinos across the country also deserve to know. 

Meantime, her former friends in Mindanao and Manila are frantically calling and messaging each other, trying to get to the bottom of the raid and to find out what role Tupas had in it. – Rappler.com

Goebbels, Hitler’s propagandist, and the lies he inspires in PH

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Goebbels, Hitler’s propagandist, and the lies he inspires in PH

By: Kurt Dela Peña – Content Researcher Writer /INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—More than 70 years since the end of Adolf Hitler’s evil empire in 1945, social media has unleashed thousands of versions of Joseph Goebbels, the propagandist who helped Hitler rise to power and exterminate at least six million people just because they were Jews.

As Goebbels found success in his propaganda strategies, one tactic he so efficiently employed to keep the German people enthralled by the Nazis was the indiscriminate use of lies or falsehoods.

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth,” Goebbels had said at the height of the Nazis’ power, explaining his biggest propaganda strategy.

Goebbels succeeded in the massive use of lies at a time when the source of news, whether fake or real, was limited to newspapers, films, radio broadcasts and word-of-mouth.

That power to deceive has been multiplied countless of times by social media in the age of the internet.

Goebells’ tactics have found parallels in social media-crazy Philippines, especially in its politics.

One example is the continuing attempt to rewrite history about martial law, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his family.

In 2016, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) reported that from 1986 to 2016, P170.97 billion have been retrieved by the government from an estimated P253 billion to P506 billion of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth.

But social media accounts, with names that are either aliases or fictitious but clearly followers of Marcos, fill the internet with tales about Marcos, his more than 20-year reign and how he got hold of all his wealth.

Among the posts by the pro-Marcos social media accounts were that the late dictator did not steal money and became rich because his services as a lawyer were paid with “192,000 tons of gold by the Tallanos” referring to a fictitious clan which was supposed to have ruled the pre-colonial Philippines then supposed to be known as the Kingdom of Maharlika.

The gold angle persisted. Other claims made, including by former First Lady Imelda Marcos, were that Marcos got rich because he discovered the fabled Yamashita treasure.

Marcos’ human rights record was also fed to the social media machine of lies.

The New York-based Amnesty International said during martial law, 3,257 people were killed, 34,000 were abused and tortured, 70,000 were imprisoned, while 878 went missing.

Thousands of online content, all posted on social media by Marcos followers using aliases or fictitious names, said all those who had been killed during martial law were communist guerrillas. From 1972 to 1986, the Marcos followers’ posts claimed, “if a person follows the law, there’s nothing to fear.”

Economic numbers during the Marcos dictatorship also became fodder for the social media grist mill.

According to data from Martial Law Museum, Philippine foreign debt during the Marcos years spiked from 0.36 billion dollars in 1961 to 28.26 billion dollars by the time Marcos was thrown out of power in 1986. Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate estimated that Filipinos would continue to pay for debts incurred under Marcos until 2025.

But pro-Marcos accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tiktok, using aliases or fictitious names, are feeding the social media platforms with unverifiable information that the debts went to infrastructure projects, like San Juanico Bridge and Lung Center of the Philippines, and none to the pockets of the Marcoses.

Arrested Davao partygoers say Jefry Tupas, many others allowed to escape

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Arrested Davao partygoers say Jefry Tupas, many others allowed to escape

Nov 9, 2021 Rommel Rebollido

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines

Sara Duterte’s sacked information officer was at the party during the raid but was let go by PDEA agents, says a report from Newsline Philippines

Several suspects in the controversial November 6 beach party raid in Mabini, Davao de Oro, accused law enforcers of a cover-up by allowing a close aide of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, her companions, and many others to escape while choosing which ones to arrest and file complaints against for violation of the law on dangerous drugs.

They aired their grievances behind bars at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional office in Davao City in an interview by journalist Edith Caduaya of the online-based Newsline Philippines. 

In the interview shown on Tuesday night, November 9, the group said law enforcers were unfair because the then-Davao City information officer Jefry Tupas and other partygoers were allowed to leave the resort during the raid.

The allegation was made the night after Tupas admitted to Rappler that she attended the beach party but left for Davao City with her boyfriend and another companion about an hour before the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-led raid.

Duterte on Tuesday said Tupas was fired from city hall on Sunday, November 7, because she was “involved in a drug raid.”

The suspects said there were at least 50 partygoers, including Tupas, when authorities staged the raid.

“Daghan man bisita; naa pay taga Manila (There were many guests; there were even those from Manila),” one of the arrested suspects told Newsline Philippines.

While sprawled on the ground, they said law enforcers told them to keep calm, and then they started calling several names.

In unison, they exclaimed “Jefry Tupas!” when they were asked whose name law enforcers called first.

Tupas, according to the detainees, then approached the PDEA agents, and they overheard her telling them, “Staff ko ni Inday Sara, unsa ni sir? (I’m a staff of Sara, what’s this about, sir?)”

They said they then took Tupas away.

Shortly after, they said the law enforcers called Tupas’ boyfriend and another companion.

“Wala mi nag expect na ipatakas na diay sila (We did not expect that they would let them escape),” one of the detainees said.

Many other partygoers were allowed to leave the resort, they said.

Another said authorities seized several items from Tupas and his companions.

“Ang mga na-confiscate ug nakuha nila gikan nila Jefry Tupas, gibutang sa among front, gi inventory ug sa amoa gipapiktyuran,” a detainee said.

(The things they confiscated from Jefry Tupas were placed in front of us, inventoried, and then they took photos.)

The detainees also alleged that they were manhandled during the raid, an accusation that the PDEA director for the Davao Region, Aileen Lovitos, denied.

Lovitos said there were many people around who saw if they were manhandled.

“There is no need for that. It is not our practice,” she said

Of the 17 arrested, 14 tested positive for use of meth, marijuana, and stimulant drug ecstasy, she said.

Asked why Tupas was not in the PDEA list of suspects when those arrested maintained that she was there, Lovitos told Newsline Philippines that the PDEA has already filed charges against 17 suspects.

“Kana among statement, and we will stand by it (That is our statement, and we will stand by it),” Lovitos said.

The PDEA filed charges against the suspects, including the host of the party, Revsan Ethelbert Papey Elizalde.

Authorities pounced on the 33-year-old Elizalde, PDEA’s primary target, as soon as he allegedly sold a party drug and marijuana to an undercover agent at the Sea Eagle beach resort in Barangay Pindasan in Mabini town.

The subsequent search resulted in the seizure of more suspected illegal drugs worth about P1.5 million. – Rappler.com

Rommel Rebollido is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship

3 years since graft conviction of Imelda Marcos, Martial Law victims appeal affirmation of verdict

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3 years since graft conviction of Imelda Marcos, Martial Law victims appeal affirmation of verdict

Kristine Joy Patag – Philstar.comNovember 9, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — Three years since the Sandiganbayan’s guilty verdict on former Rep. Imelda Marcos (Ilocos Norte), a group of Martial Law victims appealed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo to “affirm” the graft conviction of the wife of the late dictator.

Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) wrote to Gesmundo on Tuesday urging the chief justice to upheld the conviction of Marcos, noting that their inquiry on the appeal status in 2020 went without answer.

They were referring to Marcos’ appeal to the SC to reverse the anti-graft court’s fifth division conviction on three counts of violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act in connection with her alleged financial interest in a private local corporation during her government tenure.

The trial of this specific case already lasted for 17 years, until the ruling of the Sandiganbayan division on Nov. 9, 2018, but Marcos has yet to serve any prison time three years since.

Danilo Dela Fuente, SELDA vice chairperson, told Gesmundo: “Sir, we, the victims of the atrocities during Marcos’ martial law, have suffered enough. We continue to suffer as we witness Mrs. Marcos, the principal conspirator of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is still out of jail, living a profligate lifestyle, shamelessly luxuriating with the money she and her family stole from the Filipino people, despite this conviction by the Sandiganabayan.”

In a separate statement, Campaign against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA) also pointed out that pending the resolution of the appeal, Marcos remains free.

“In the meantime, we Filipinos continue to pay for the Marcos regume’s massive loans — loans for government projects which were embezzled and funneled to the Marcos’ own fraudulent Swiss foundations,” they added.

READ: ‘More than money, it is about memory’: Fight against dictatorship continues for some Marcos victims

Return to power

SELDA, in its letter to the chief justice, also pointed out that Marcos son, Bongbong, is running for president in the 2022 polls, and suspicions were raised that funds for the campaign may be obtained from the nation’s coffers.

“In the interest of justice for all victims of human rights violations during the martial law period, we again appeal to this honorable Court to affirm Mrs. Imelda Marcos’ conviction by the Sandiganbayan,” they said.

“We call on the sense of truth and justice the members of this honorable Court and decide with dispatch to dismiss Mrs. Marcos’ appeal,” they added.

CARMMA also stressed that their reasons for protest and indignation against the Marcoses remain even with more than three decades since the historic ouster of the patriarch.

“We continue the call for justice – for all of us who suffered under the Marcos dictatorship that imprisoned, tortured, and killed thousands of Filipinos. Decades may have passed, but not the memory of the Marcos’ reign of terror, the wanton plunder of our nations’ coffers and the disregard for the voices of the people,” they said.

“Plundered money by the Marcoses should be returned to the people, instead of being held by this dynasty for their political rehabilitation and ambitions. They should be held accountable for their crimes. We should oppose all attempts of their return to Malacañang,” they added.

As voting nears, more than 150 lawyers stress Roque unfit for international law body

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As voting nears, more than 150 lawyers stress Roque unfit for international law body

Kristine Joy Patag – Philstar.com November 8, 2021

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:23 p.m.) — Less than a week before elections to the panel, more than 150 lawyers raised their objection to the nomination of presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to the International Law Commission.

A total of 152 lawyers wrote to nearly 200 Permanent Missions and Member States at the United Nations General Assembly to register their “vehement objection” to Roque’s candidacy for the international law panel.

Among the notable signatories of the letter is detained Sen, Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The lawyers noted that Roque has defended and justified his principal Duterte, who is now under investigation by the International Criminal Court for allegations of crimes against humanity over the bloody “war on drugs.” 

— Less than a week before elections to the panel, more than 150 lawyers raised their objection to the nomination of presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to the International Law Commission.

A total of 152 lawyers wrote to nearly 200 Permanent Missions to United Nations of Member States of General Assembly to register their “vehement objection” to Roque’s candidacy to join the international law panel.

Among the notable signatories of the letter is detained Sen, Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The lawyers noted that Roque has defended and justified his principal Duterte, who is now under investigation by the International Criminal Court for allegations of crimes against humanity over the bloody “war on drugs.”

The lawyers said that “as a lawyer, [Roque] is supposed to be a purveyor of facts and the truth and should uphold the administration of justice, a role he has sacrificed in exchange for his blind loyalty to a strongman president.” They said they fear that Roque will bring that “blind loyalty” to the ILC. 

The UN General Assembly could elect Roque to the ILC as one of eight representatives from Asia-Pacific states to sit for five years beginning Jan. 1, 2023.

The ILC was instrumental in the creation of the International Criminal Court as it helped draft the statute that created the tribunal that tries genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

The election of the ILC is set on November 12.

Undermining international mechanisms

The lawyers said of the president’s spokesman: “Quite incongruous for a professed international law expert, he has openly undermined international mechanisms on accountability like the [International Criminal Court], the UN Human Rights Council, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.”

“As fellow lawyers, we are scandalized by his spins and reinvention of basic legal principles and concepts in his zealousness to repackage President Duterte’s pronouncements of questionable legal and constitutional bases,” they added.

They also noted that Roque has “rationalized extrajuidicial killings” and “tolerated weaponization of the law against activists, dissenters and the opposition.” 

They also accused the former human rights lawyer of red-tagging those who sought to oppose his nomination.

Among the signatories of this letter to the ILC are former law deans Pacifico Agabin and JV Bautista, former Solicitor General Joel Cadiz, former Reps. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna) and Erin Tañada (Quezon City) and former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Ade Fajardo.

Reps. Edcel Lagman (Albay) and Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna), National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia and law professor Howard Calleja also signed the letter.

The Free Legal Assistance Group also sent at least two letters to the ILC, expressing their objection to Roque’s nomination to sit in the panel. Roque’s nomination also earned objection from the University of the Philippines, Diliman where he obtained his law degree and taught constitutional law and public international law for 15 years.

(Letter below)

We, members of the Philippine Bar, in our individual and/or organizational capacities, respectfully put on record our vehement OBJECTION to the candidacy of Filipino lawyer HERMINIO “HARRY” ROQUE JR. to the UN International Law Commission.

Atty. Roque is the official spokesperson of President Rodrigo Duterte who is now facing investigation by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity for the extrajudicial killings and other violations in the so-called “drug war.”

Unfortunately, Harry has unbelievably defended and justified President Duterte’s pronouncements enabling extrajudicial killings, attacks on the rule of law and due process and on his unacceptable positions on human rights, justice, pandemic responses and good governance.

Quite incongruous for a professed international law expert, he has openly undermined international mechanisms on accountability like the ICC, the UN Human Rights Council, and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Harry has also publicly enfeebled platforms for resolutions of conflicts like the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

As a lawyer, he is supposed to be a purveyor of facts and the truth and should uphold the administration of justice, a role he has sacrificed in exchange for his blind loyalty to a strongman president. We fear he will bring this with him to the ILC.

Lamentably, Harry has rationalized extrajudicial killings and tolerated the weaponization of the law against activists, dissenters and the opposition. He is very sensitive to legitimate criticism and even berated media and health professionals calling out government on its policies and practices.

As fellow lawyers, we are scandalized by his spins and reinvention of basic legal principles and concepts in his zealousness to repackage President Duterte’s pronouncements of questionable legal and constitutional bases.

Even more appalling for us is that Mr. Roque has baselessly ascribed less than noble motives and even publicly red-tagged or labelled anyone who oppose his nomination and candidacy to the ILC.

For these reasons alone, we regret as his brethren to express our considered view that to allow his undeserved election to the ILC would be an aberration to its mandate, might diminish its standing before the international community of nations, and even affect its credibility as a body that will initiate studies and make recommendations to encourage the progressive development and codification of international law.

Hence, we are compelled to ask your Permanent Mission to decline giving our very own colleague in the legal profession Mr. Roque your crucial vote in his candidacy to be a member of the ILC. ###

(Note: 152 signatories as of 8 November 2021, 315 p.m. Philippine time)

Name Designation Organization

Noemi Abarientos Children’s Legal Bureau

Andrei Andresan Integrated Bar of the Philippines Surigao Sur

Pacifico Agabin Law Professor University of the Philippines College of Law

Juan Alfonso

Aileen Almora

Minerva Ambrosio Manlaban sa EJK

Lawrence Aquino National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Joseph Areno Vice President Integrated Bar of Philippines – Iloilo

Antonio Azarcon Chairman Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Mae Azores National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -Bikol

Raymond Baguilat Integrated Bar of Philippines – Ifugao

Cristina Balajadia UP Women Lawyers Circle

Eleanor Balaquiao Integrated Bar of Philippines – Camarines Sur

Edgardo Balgos Board Member Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Board

Danilo Balucos Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Charadine Bandon Integrated Bar of Philippines

Voltaire Banzon

Carolyn Baterna Integrated Bar of Philippines

Janne Baterna National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -Panay

Dana Batnag National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -NCR

JV Bautista Law Dean Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties

Sherrylynne Bautista

Mary Bayang Indigenous Peoples Rights International

Jose Begil Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Purificacion Bernabe President International Pro Bono Alliance 

Raul Bitoon Integrated Bar of Philippines – Negros

Noel Bose Law Professor

Jeremy Bueno III National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – Ilocos Sur

Jose Cadiz Former Solicitor General 

Howard Calleja  Law Professor

Pura Calleja Free Legal Assistance Group

Edgar Carmona National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers –Camarines

Ruth Cervantes National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -NCR

Hilda Clave Artikulo Tres

Francisca Claver Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Neri Colmenares Chairperson National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Kristina Conti Public Interest Law Center

Marra Cordero Integrated Bar of Philippines – Iloilo City

Reynaldo Cortes Chairperson Cordillera Human Rights Alliance 

Ephraim Cortez Secretary General National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Michael de Castro Leflegis

Josalee Deinla Spokesperson National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Leila de Lima Senator

Edwin Dela Cruz International Seafarers Action Center

Ericson Dela Cruz National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – CL

Adan Delamide Integrated Bar of Philippines – Capiz

Lovely De La Torre Integrated Bar of Philippines – Iloilo City

Norma de Leon Prayer Battalion for Truth and Justice

Jocel Dilag Free Legal Assistance Group

Elpidio Digaum Former President Integrated Bar of the Philippines -Surigao

Jenny Domino International Commission of Jurists

Christopher Donaal Free Legal Assistance Group

Rene Estocapio Vice President National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -Iloilo

Miles Evans Integrated Bar of Philippines – Makati

Abdiel Fajardo Former President Integrated Bar of Philippines

Susan Fernandez Portia Sorority Alumnae Association

Camille Flores Integrated Bar of Philippines –Quezon City

Alnie Foja National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -NCR

Mary Fokno Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Ruben Fruto Former Law Professor

Eduardo Gaanan Jr. International Pro Bono Alliance 

Annette Gengos Integrated Bar of Philippines – Iloilo City

Dennis Gorecho University of the Philippines Law Batch 1998

Angelo Guillen Officer National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – Iloilo

Emmanuel Jabla Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties

Charles Juloya National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – La Union

Tomas Junco Jr. President Integrated Bar of Philippines – Guimaras

Philip Jurado Former Government Corporate Counsel

Randy Kinaud National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers– Ilocos

Anacleto Lacanilao Convenor Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties

Edcel Lagman Congressman House of Representatives

Carmelo Lasam

Nelson Lidua Jr. Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Francine Longid

Minerva Lopez Officer National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -NCR

Dexter Lopoz  Spokesperson Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Kristian Lora Integrated Bar of Philippines – Cebu

Cipriano Lupeba Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao 

Florisa Luteijn   International Bar Association

Donna Manlangit Integrated Bar of Philippines

Ian Manticajon National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers -Cebu

Alan Mazo Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Vivienne Mendez Portia Sorority Alumnae Association

Felwina Mondina Pilipino Ass’n of Workers and Immigrants

Carlos Montemayor Jr. National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Kutch Montenegro Past President Integrated Bar of Philippines Surigao Sur

Leon Montilla Former President Integrated Bar of Philippines Surigao del Sur Joyce Moran Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Beverly Musni Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Beverly Musni, Yr. Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Czarina Musni Secretary General Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Oscar Musni Free Legal Assistance Group

Noel Neri Prolabor Legal Assistance Center

Beverly Noriega University of the Philippines Law Batch 1990

Virgilio Ocaya Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Shirley Olaguer Portia Sorority Alumnae Association

Edre Olalia President National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Rolando Rico Olalia

Julian Oliva Jr. National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Jobert Pahilga Executive Director Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo

Wylie Paler Integrated Bar of Philippines

Emilio Pana Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Katherine Panguban National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – NCR

Camille Parpan Free Legal Assistance Group

Rachel Pastores Managing Counsel Public Interest Law Center

Luz Perez Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo

King Perez Visayas Community Law Center

Isagani Pilaspilas   Integrated Bar of Philippines -Iloilo City

Manuel Quibod Law Dean Ateneo de Davao College of Law

Jennifer Ramos Environmental Lawyer

Princess Ramirez Integrated Bar of Philippines

Stephanie Refina UP Portia Sorority Alumnae Association

Jude Romano Ateneo De Manila Law Batch 1989

Remigio Saladero Prolabor Legal Assistance Center

Catherine Salucon Vice President National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – Isabela

Louie Santos Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Sandra Santos National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – NCR

Amylyn Sato Executive Director Public Interest Law Center

Maneeka Sarza National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – NCR

Fhillip Sawali Trustee Alyansa ng mga Abogado ng Bayan

Ryan Solano Integrated Bar of Philippines – Baguio-Benguet

Juan Senupe Jr.

Albert Silva Integrated Bar of Philippines – RSM

Leo Sombiro Jr. Former President Integrated Bar of Philippines – Iloilo City

Virginia Suarez Chairperson Kaisa Ka

Clodualdo Subaldo Jr. Integrated Bar of Philippines – Himamaylan

Maricar Sugayan UP Women Lawyers Circle

Filibon Tacardon Integrated Bar of Philippines – Quezon City

Mary Jane Tadili National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers

Fahima Tajar Labor Rights Defenders Network

Lorenzo Tanada  IIII Former Congressman

Wigberto Tanada Former Senator

Wigberto Tanada Jr.

Reizel Tanchico Integrated Bar of Philippines – Makati

Rodel Taton Law Dean San Sebastian Graduate School of Law

Sol Taule Legal Counsel KARAPATAN

Frank Tiongson National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – NCR

Jose Mari Tirol   Law Dean University of San Agustin College of law

VJ Topacio Prolabor Legal Assistance Center

Peter Trinidad Vice President Integrated Bar of Philippines – Surigao del Sur

Melva Valdez Portia Sorority Alumnae Association

Pilita Venturanza Integrated Bar of Philippines-Oriental Mindoro

Brenda Viernes National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – NCR

Cleto Villacorta III

Sarah Villamor National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers – Negros

Susan Villanueva  President  SAMASA

Eugenio Villareal Law Professor Former MTRCB Chair

Pamela Yabut

Cris Yambot Integrated Bar of Philippines – RSM

Marie Yuvienco

Jose Zafra IV Past President Integrated Bar of the Philippines – Surigao Sur

Carlos Zarate Congressman Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao

Young Filipino activists want world leaders to not just listen, but also act vs climate change

Pinoy Abrod
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Young Filipino activists want world leaders to not just listen, but also act vs climate change

Gaea Katreena Cabico – Philstar.com November 3, 2021

MANILA, Philippines — To have his voice heard in Glasgow, United Kingdom, 23-year-old climate activist Jefferson Estela had to tangle with financial difficulties.

The architecture student who leads the Youth Strike for Climate Philippines had to set up a crowdfunding page to raise pocket money for his trip.

He also reached out to lawmakers, hoping they would support his journey to attend the crucial United Nations climate talks, known as COP26, which could determine the kind of present and future that Estela and billions of young people across the planet could experience.

But most of the politicians did not respond and did not spare him a peso.

Fortunately, he made it to the cold and damp Scottish city through the help of Loss and Damage Youth Coalition as well as other organizations and individual donors. But his experience reflects the reality that the most vulnerable often face difficulties in attending important events due to high costs of travel and lack of political will.

“If they really support youth actions, then why such a thing is not being supported? We don’t want to be praised, we want to be supported,” Estela said.

Space in the negotiating table

Young people like Estela are the least responsible for human-induced climate change, yet they are the most vulnerable to its impacts.

Climate change threatens the survival of the young people in the global south—lower income nations facing the brunt of a warming planet—with strong typhoons, floods and extreme heat adversely affecting their communities.

Even though they are the most affected, they are the least represented.

“It is important that there is a space for the youth [in negotiations like this] not just because we wanted to talk about inclusivity. We are talking about our future here, and we cannot let these people decide for my life, for our lives, for our generation,” he said.

Marinel Ubaldo, a survivor of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), said it is critical that young people from the most impacted places are represented in the talks.

“I’ve literally seen death and I don’t know if I can afford another super typhoon in my life because I don’t know if I can survive it… It’s important that we put a human face to the climate crisis,” she said. At least 6,000 people were killed when Yolanda battered the country in 2013.

The Philippines sent a 19-person delegation to Glasgow to fight for the nation’s interests in the summit, billed as the world’s last chance to avoid catastrophic global warming. The team was dominated by finance and foreign affairs departments.

The delegation has been criticized for the absence of officials from the Climate Change Commission, civil society groups and youth climate activists.

In a message to Philstar.com, Finance chief Carlos Dominguez, who serves as the government’s chief negotiator, said at least six members of the delegation are below 30 years old. He added three members of the team are in their early 30s.

“One young delegate is a full-blooded [Kakana-ey],” Dominguez also said, referring to an indigenous peoples group in the Cordilleras.

But does the country’s delegation know the reality faced by those young people on the frontlines of climate change, Ubaldo asked.

“Do they know the frustration we have thinking that we don’t have a future, or maybe we have a future but that means we’re busy surviving another typhoon or another climate disaster?” said Ubaldo, the country’s coordinator for the 16th UN Climate Change Conference of Youth.

COP for children

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, one billion children are at extremely high risk to climate change impacts.

“COP26 must be the COP for children,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.

On the first day of COP26, Ubaldo and other young climate activists submitted a global youth statement to COP26 president Alok Sharma and the UN climate change agency.

The document lists down their top policy demands, which include need for effective climate plans, real representation at COP, policies that promote transition to renewable energy sources and for rich nation deliver on their decade-old climate finance pledge.

Filipina Mitzi Jonelle Tan also joined fellow climate activists Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate and Dominika Lasota in sending a call to world leaders to act swiftly in tackling climate change by keeping the 1.5°C goal alive, ending fossil fuel investments and enacting policies that will protect the most vulnerable sectors from climate impacts.

Estela was only in sixth grade when Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) triggered one of the worst floods in Metro Manila in 2009. The deluge upended his life, and pushed him to call for climate action and climate justice.

“I don’t want to see any other kids to experience what I have experienced because it’s not normal. It’s not normal that a child thinks if he or she is going to die,” he said.

Tired of ‘blah, blah, blah’

Like Thunberg, Filipino climate activists are also tired of “blah, blah, blah.” They want world leaders to match rhetoric with action.

COP26 marks the third time that Ubaldo is attending climate negotiations. But she feels not enough progress has been made.

“I’m tired of attending this and going home [as if something happened] when nothing happened. I want to take home something that will actually help [my community],” she said.

Activists are skeptical the biggest climate summit in recent years will deliver. But it needs to, Tan stressed. 

“COP26 has to live up to expectations because this is a matter of life and death,” Tan, convenor of Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines (YACAP).

Jon Bonifacio, an activist with YACAP and Fridays for Future MAPA (Most Affected People and Areas), said failure at COP26 means “those experiencing the impacts of the climate crisis today will continue to do so, and their situation will continue to worsen.”

Beyond Glasgow

Regardless of what happens in Glasgow, the fight to prevent planetary collapse will continue, Bonifacio and Estela said.

“The fight is not limited to the Conference of Parties; it extends beyond that. It’s just one of the avenues we’re maximizing to get the changes that we desperately need,” Bonifacio said.

They will continue to demand world leaders to slash emissions and rich nations to provide compensation for the damages they caused. Once they return home, they will carry on with conducting climate education and reaching out to impacted communities to help them build resilience.

“If it fails, we will continue to hold people accountable. We will not be silenced,” Estela said.

—

This story was produced as part of the 2021 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security.

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