Archive for March 26th, 2007
AFP not pulling troops out of Metro — Esperon
MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Monday he would not order a pullout of troops from depressed Metro Manila communities yet, despite a recommendation by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
“No, we are still studying it,” Esperon told reporters when asked if he would follow the CHR’s proposal for a pullout, to ease fears of “militarization” in the capital.
“We are open to anything but we are studying it,” the military chief added.
The CHR has written President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Oscar Calderon, and Esperon last week and called for a withdrawal of soldiers from the capital.
But Ebdane said he has not received the commission’s letter. He added that CHR chair Purificacion Quisumbing had not mentioned the proposed pullout to him in their recent meetings.
“I have not heard of that,” Ebdane said of the CHR recommendation in a separate interview.
Ebdane nonetheless stood by the deployment, saying the soldiers were “are doing something that the people are accepting. Should we stop it just because some people, who are not even from the areas, are complaining?”
Since November 2006, nine man teams have been dispatched to 27 poor villages in Quezon City, Caloocan City, and Manila for community service.
Earlier this month, Esperon admitted that the metro deployment was part of Oplan Bantay Laya 2, the military’s counter-insurgency master plan.
Last week, Army chief Lieutenant General Romeo Tolentino said the deployment was meant to stop the communist New People’s Army (NPA) from reviving its hit squads or “sparrow units” in the capital.
Left-wing militants have accused soldiers in the metro of campaigning against them and harassing their supporters but investigations by the CHR’s National Capital Region (NCR) office and the Armed Forces National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) found no evidence of electioneering.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
Admin officials, allies slam Hague verdict
‘Not authoritative,’ says SC spokesman
MANILA, Philippines — Officials and lawmaker allies of the Arroyo government slammed the guilty verdict issued by the Permanent People’s Tribunal against the Arroyo administration for alleged “gross and systematic” violations of human rights while a Supreme Court spokesman said the judgment “is not authoritative.”
The tribunal handed down its verdict against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, US President George W. Bush and their governments in The Hague, The Netherlands on Sunday, after hearing three days of testimonies in its second session on the Philippines.
Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. dismissed the tribunal as an “international kangaroo court,” noting that it handed down its verdict without hearing the side of security forces blamed for the extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances and other human rights violations under the Arroyo administration.
“How can they convict, when they have not talked to the agencies involved. What is that a kangaroo court? Ang lumalabas dito [What is emerging here is an] international kangaroo court,” said Ebdane.
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, on the other hand, said he was “not interested in their [tribunal’s] findings. That is one-sided.”
“Did they get the government’s side? No. That is totally unfair,” he said, adding the judgment would have no bearing on the government.
Earlier, tribunal officials said they had sent invitations to the government to present its side but did not receive a response. They also said that their verdict, while not legally enforceable, was “morally binding.”
Lawyer Midas Marquez, acting Supreme Court information chief, said the tribunal’s verdict cannot be used by militant organizations to ensure convictions in case they file charges in court against suspected perpetrators of the extrajudicial killings.
He did say that the Hague verdict could be attached to a complaint and presented as evidence.
For their part, administration Representatives Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte, issued a statement challenging the tribunal to “campaign for the extradition of Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison to show justice and fairness in their probe of human rights violations and killings around the world.”
Cagas said the tribunal should also look into the alleged purging and extortion activities of communist rebels.
“It should also look into the other side of the slayings issue to get a complete picture of it. They should remain true to their pro-human rights advocacy by supporting Joma’s extradition for him to face the cases against him” said Cagas.
Veloso, on the other hand, said the tribunal should have considered the “reality” that the government has to “neutralize the armed communist insurgency” when it heard the charges against Arroyo.
“Sadly, it gave weight only on the complaints and testimonies of government detractors,” he said.
Veloso said if the tribunal “truly supports an end to human rights violations in the country, then it should help government efforts to bring Sison to justice for all the crimes he allegedly committed.”
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‘What’s your problem?’ defense chief now asks nation
MANILA, Philippines — After asking the controversial question once to a broadcast journalist to whom he had since apologized, Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. is now asking the same question to the public: “What’s your problem?”
But this time, Ebdane’s poser is not a reaction to a journalist’s question but a new campaign launched by the defense chief in which people could start sending their complaints via text messaging to the Department of National defense hotline 2920 about the DND and military.
“Let’s use it properly. Expect offices concerned will provide answers to your questions and problems,” Ebdane said.
Each text message to the service, available to Globe and Smart subscribers, costs P2.50.
To text in their complaints, mobile phone users need to type “DND” followed by a space, then the message.
The 2920 hotline was previously available only for complaints regarding the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Warning pranksters, Ebdane said: “We can also, by the way, cut off the lines of that cellphone that will provide not good, as in very bad, information.”
Ebdane said militant groups, the military’s constant critics, were free to use the DND 2920 hotline.
“That’s good, even if these are complaints about their wives, the more the merrier. We don’t care if their messges are rubbish, we welcome this from them,” Ebdane said.
Ebdane had once asked a broadcast journalist what her problem was when sought for his reaction on the memorandum of agreement (MoA) between the DND and the Commission on Elections regarding the role of soldiers in the elections in May.
But Ebdane has since apologized.
View article as posted on INQUIRER.net
