People’s Pilgrimage Offers New York Prayers for Victims of Political Killings in the Philippines

People’s Pilgrimage Offers New York Prayers for Victims of Political Killings in the PhilippinesNew

York/Jersey City— In response to the rise in political killings in the Philippines and with the upcoming 34th anniversary of Martial Law on September 21st, Filipinos in New York and New Jersey are appealing to the spiritually-conscious to offer their prayers and light candles for over 730 victims of human rights violations and their families in the Philippines. The Jersey City-based Filipino youth organization Anakbayan and members of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP) are sponsoring a “People’s Pilgrimage for Human Rights” to bring public attention to intensified human rights violations in the form of politically-motivated killings and forced disappearances.

Every Sunday starting August 27th through October, the pilgrimage will travel to churches starting in Jersey City to New York City and from their doorsteps, encourage entering parishioners to offer prayers in memory of victims of human rights violations and light candles for peace and justice in the Philippines. The pilgrimage, which is open to all interested, will especially visit churches with large concentration of Filipino parishioners and Filipino church workers.

On Thursday, September 21, the pilgrimage will gather at the steps of the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan at 6:30pm, then continue in procession to the nearby Philippine Consulate for a candlelight vigil and prayer tribute. This action will be in coordination with several other overseas Filipino groups around the world who will light candles in front of the Philippine Consulates and embassies in their countries.

“Our sisters and brothers, fellow members, and all progressive voices in the Philippines calling for pro-people reforms are being targeted for these killings. The international monitor from human rights groups are pointing fingers at the Arroyo regime for an investigation. Instead, Arroyo shows she has the most to gain from this bloodshed by reallocating billions in government funds and military aid towards fake, lip service measures,” stated Gary Labao of the NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.

The Philippines is also the largest recipient of US military aid in the Asia Pacific region, with thousands of US troops currently stationed in the country to train Philippine troops in anti-terror measures. “

The Arroyo government is not having its troops trained to fight terror. It is launching an all-out war against those who criticize her regime,” Labao added.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Presbyterian Church of the USA, the United Methodist Church, and several other international church organizations have all issued public resolutions condemning the onslaught of politically-motivated killings, a significant percentage of which are church workers themselves.

A recent country report published by Amnesty International also called international attention to the rampant state of human rights violations, including killings and forced disappearances in the country.

Both Anakbayan and NYCHRP are members of Bayan, an alliance of Filipino organizations in the Philippines of whose membership comprise the largest number of victims of political killings. Bayan actively campaigns against the presence of US troops in the Philippines, the Bush-Arroyo compact in the War on Terror, and intensified foreign economic intervention in domestic affairs, including provisions of Arroyo’s proposed Charter Change (Cha-Cha) to the Philippine constitution.

Church locations and schedules of the People’s Pilgrimage for Human Rights in the Philippines,

August 27 -

OUR LADY OF VICTORIES

2217 Kennedy Boulevard 07304-1497

Sunday 12:00 noon

ST. ALOYSIUS

691 West Side Avenue 07304

Sunday 7:00 p.m.

September 3 -

OUR LADY OF MERCY

40 Sullivan Drive 07305

Sunday 12:00 noon

September 10 -

ST. AEDAN

800 Bergen Avenue 07306

Sunday 12:00 noon

September 17 -

San Sebastion Church

Woodside Queens

Sunday 12:00 noon

September 21 -

Assembly at St. Patrick's Cathedral

Manhattan at 7:00 p.m.

Procession to the Philippine Consulate

at 556 5th Avenue New York, NY

Schedules and Church venues could change, so please keep posted through this site or call the Anakbayan New York/New Jersey at #201 895 2475.

Anakbayan New York/New Jersey In Pictures

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALPRESS RELEASE
AI Index: ASA 35/008/2006
(Public)News Service No: 211
15 August 2006
Embargo Date: 15 August 2006 00:01 GMT

Philippines: Growing number of political killings risks retaliatory spiral

Numbers of political killings in the Philippines are increasing for a second year, with at least 51 killings in the first six months of 2006 compared to 66 collated by Amnesty International in the whole of 2005. The leadership of the armed insurgency has threatened to form retaliatory assassination squads.

The killings follow a pattern of unidentified men shooting leftist party members before escaping on motorcycle and have taken place in the context of an intensified counter-insurgency operation. The Philippine government has failed to protect individuals, according to an Amnesty International report released today.

"Stemming this tide of killings requires genuine political will to ensure prosecutions in all cases -- not only the ten cases in ten weeks recently called for by President Arroyo," said Tim Parritt, South East Asia researcher at Amnesty International.

Attacks rarely lead to the charge, arrest, or prosecution of the murderers. Amnesty International is concerned that a long-existing failure to prosecute and convict those suspected of human rights violations is having a corrosive impact on public confidence in the rule of law.

Of 114 killings recorded since 2001 by Task Force Usig -- the unit that coordinates investigations into political killings -- the police have arrested suspects in just three cases and no convictions have been reported.

"Solving these crimes does not mean simply the police filing a report with the prosecutor. It means an independent and effective investigation followed by a fair trial and punishment of those found responsible. Only then can justice be said to be done.

"Reverend Edison Lapuz, a member of his church's national council, worked for the rights of farmers and fisherfolk and served as a regional co-ordinator for the Bayan Muna political party. He was active in seeking justice for the killing of a local human rights lawyer, Felidito Dacut, who had been shot dead by two men riding a motorcycle.

On 12 May 2005 Reverend Lapuz was killed by two unidentified men in the house of his father-in-law, whose funeral he had been attending earlier that day. Local residents said they had seen four men on motorcycles parked at a nearby store before the shooting, wearing their helmets.

Before his death, Reverend Lapuz had complained to fellow church workers in Manila that he was under surveillance by the military. His sister said that uniformed military personnel had come to their father's house and asked for detailed information about her brother the previous October.

There are serious concerns about police investigations into Reverend Lapuz's death, with witnesses not being offered adequate protection. The investigation remains stalled, and over a year since the attack no charges have been filed or arrests made.

"The failure to identify and investigate suspects is fuelling a lack of trust in the police and aggravating the lack of convictions. Witnesses are afraid to come forward. Victims' families are liable to refuse to involve themselves in police investigations or to withdraw from court proceedings," said Tim Parritt.

"Those responsible, including any from the security forces, must be prosecuted and punished. It must be established whether there was an official chain of command underlying both the crime and its cover-up.

"The organisation is concerned that the government's declaration of "all-out war" on the Communists paves the way for further increases in killings. Most of those killed are members of legal leftist political parties which despite their legal status have been accused by senior government officials of being front organisations for illegal communist armed groups.

"No-one deserves to die for their political affiliation," said Tim Parritt. "It should be a deep embarrassment to the government that people in the Philippines cannot freely exercise their rights of political expression and association.

"The increasing killings have contributed to the breakdown of the peace process with the Communists. Amnesty International believes that only when the government takes decisive steps to prevent and prosecute political killings can any hope for peace be realised.

To see the report, Philippines: Political killings, human rights and the peace process, please go to : http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engasa350062006.

Public Document****************************************For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org/For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org/

other related articles from amnesty international:

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA350062006

ANAKBAYAN Brings Homefront issues To New York

Filipino Youth Brings Homefront Issues to New Jersey

Jersey City, NJ-- A somber mood greeted the Philippine-American Friendship Day fair held at theExchange Place, Jersey City last Sunday, June 25 when members of the militant Filipino youth organization, Anakbayan-NY/NJ Chapter together with the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), staged a silent protest calling for an end to the rampant human rights violations in the Philippines.

With gaffer's tape worn over their mouths while marching along Montgomery Street, protestors followed the Philippine Flag and a big black banner that reads, "Stop the Killings! End Political repression and Rising Fascism in the Philippines." Pictures of victims of human rights violations
committed under the Arroyo regime as well as calls to "stop the death squads", "No to cha-cha!"
were also paraded through the fair.

"Dala-dala namin dito ngayon ang mga pictures ng mga biktima para ipakita at ipaabot sa mga tao, lalu na sa mga kababayan nating Pilipino ang mga nagaganap na pagpaslang ng mga progresibong Pilipino. Nandito kami para ipaabot sa kanila na kahit hanggang dito sa U.S. ay hindi tayo dapat manahimik na lang, patuloy tayong mananawagan ng katarungan para sa lahat ng mga biktima na ipinaglalaban lamang ang kanilang mga karapatan." Alan Alda, a member of Anakbayan said about the protest.

While crowd reaction was mixed, a significant number of the street fair goers reacted Positively to the youth's messages.

"Mainit ang pagtanggap ng mga tao, dahil pamilyar sa kanila ang isyu na nangyayari sa
Pilipinas ngayon, sunod sunod na pag-patay lalu na sa mga tutol kay Gloria Arroyo at halos lahat ay kasapi ng BAYAN. At yung mga hindi nakaka- alam, sa pamamagitan ng ginawa namin, tiyak na ngayon ay alam na nila ang tungkol sa sitwasyon.", stated Bobz Manuel, a New Jersey
organizer of Anakbayan.