Int’l Human Rights Day countdown: Tuwid na daan, wakasan
"There is no, and there will never be, peace in BS Aquino’s ‘tuwid na daan,’" Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said on the eve of the 65th International Human Rights Day. "There will be more human rights violations, as his counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan approaches its deadline and BS Aquino stubbornly refuses to sit and talk peace with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)," Palabay said.
Int’l Human Rights Day countdown: Tuwid na daan, wakasan
"There is no, and there will never be, peace in BS Aquino’s ‘tuwid na daan,’" Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said on the eve of the 65th International Human Rights Day. "There will be more human rights violations, as his counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan approaches its deadline and BS Aquino stubbornly refuses to sit and talk peace with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)," Palabay said.
"Instead of releasing detained NDFP consultants as its obligation and as a sign of sincerity to pursue the talks, the regime convicted Emeterio Antalan and Leopoldo Caloza on September 17 for trumped-up charges of murder," she added. In 2013, peace consultant Eduardo Sarmiento was also convicted.
There are 19 NDFP consultants languishing in jails for false charges. "To the very end, the BS Aquino regime continues to violate the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) with the arrest of peace consultants," Palabay said, citing also the case of Eduardo Serrano who is jailed for more than 11 years now for charges against a certain Rogelio Villanueva.
The GPH-NDFP peace talks have been stalled for almost five years now, with the government “dishing out all kinds of lame excuses that blocked the process.”
Palabay also hit the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Peace Process (OPAPP) “for serving as a conduit of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the implementation of Oplan Bayanihan, instead of pushing forward the peace negotiation.”
Under the Whole of Nation Initiative of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which involves several civilian government agencies in carrying out Oplan Bayanihan, OPAPP representatives enter militarized communities with pseudo peace and development projects, especially in Mindanao to complement the combat operations of the Philippine Army," Palabay explained.
The OPAPP receives billions of pesos for the government’s so-called peace process, both from the regular budget and from the much-hated Development Acceleration Program (DAP).
"The Manilakbayan 2015 contingent from the Southern Mindanao region shared initial reports that the Alamara paramilitary group enters Lumad communities for, and in behalf of, OPAPP’s ‘peace and development’ programs. And we all know the Alamara was involved in numerous rights violations, including political killings,” said Palabay.
OPAPP representatives, with the army, reportedly urged Lumad families to sign their names on blank paper. "Signatures on a blank paper are usually used by the military for fake surrenders. This may also be used as proof of the ‘Free, Prior and Informed Consent’ of the community for the entry of mining companies in ancestral lands," Palabay said.
Palabay said OPAPP “is not only the regime’s deodorizer but an active machinery in the psywar component of Oplan Bayanihan. Definitely, there is no room for OPAPP in the genuine pursuit for justice and peace.”