Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Peaceweavers statement
Mindanao Peaceweavers is the network of peace networks here in Mindanao, here is their statement
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Hope for the Future
Civil Society Recommendations Regarding the Maguindanao Massacre of November 23, 2009
Cooling Off: The agreement by the aggrieved families, friends and relatives to a 30 day cooling-off period to allow the preliminary and impartial investigation into the killing. Preliminary findings should be released by law enforcement officials at the end of the 30 days in order to provide understanding into the incident and clarify further options for the victims.
Peoples Justice: Convening of a civil society work group to make preliminary recommendations related to this incident at the end of the 30 day period in the larger picture of justice practices (i.e. legal, indigenous, Islamic, restorative and transitional) and conflict transformation in Mindanao.
Reconciling and Truth-telling Commission: A Commitment of seed funds from local and global partners for the creation of a Peoples Commission on Reconciling and Truth-telling in Mindanao (Peoples CORT) under the auspices of the United Nations or another trusted International non-Governmental Organization. The recommendations of the aforementioned civil society work group will provide basis for the establishment of a truly Cultural Process addressing the just needs of victims and the wider community. This ideas has been discussed for too long, it’s time to give it wings.
Violence Prevention: Coordination between the Philippine National Police, Philippine Army and other law enforcement investigating the incident with the Joint Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) in order to prevent inadvertent hostilities with the MILF or other armed groups.
Cooling Off: The agreement by the aggrieved families, friends and relatives to a 30 day cooling-off period to allow the preliminary and impartial investigation into the killing. Preliminary findings should be released by law enforcement officials at the end of the 30 days in order to provide understanding into the incident and clarify further options for the victims.
Peoples Justice: Convening of a civil society work group to make preliminary recommendations related to this incident at the end of the 30 day period in the larger picture of justice practices (i.e. legal, indigenous, Islamic, restorative and transitional) and conflict transformation in Mindanao.
Reconciling and Truth-telling Commission: A Commitment of seed funds from local and global partners for the creation of a Peoples Commission on Reconciling and Truth-telling in Mindanao (Peoples CORT) under the auspices of the United Nations or another trusted International non-Governmental Organization. The recommendations of the aforementioned civil society work group will provide basis for the establishment of a truly Cultural Process addressing the just needs of victims and the wider community. This ideas has been discussed for too long, it’s time to give it wings.
Violence Prevention: Coordination between the Philippine National Police, Philippine Army and other law enforcement investigating the incident with the Joint Coordinating Committee for the Cessation of Hostilities (JCCCH) in order to prevent inadvertent hostilities with the MILF or other armed groups.
Peacebuilders Statement on the Maguindanao Massacre
We deplore and condemn the vicious killings in Maguindanao Province yesterday, Monday November 23. At least 46 people, including public servants, journalists, fathers and wives, were murdered while exercising their democratic rights to register an election candidate and serving as media practitioners providing the information and transparency that undergirds a healthy society. This incident is a serious blow to that crucial work in society and may be the largest killing of media personnel ever, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.
In particular we mourn the loss of Jun Jun Legarta, a field reporter for Mindanao Bulletin, and Juvy Unto, a field reporter based in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. They are the cousins of our Peacebuilders staff member Jester Valdez.
Peacebuilders Community Inc. has been doing peace education, advocacy and conflict transformation in Mindanao since 2006. We have seen over the years how easy it is for a localized incident to spark wider violence and how negative perceptions of conflict often reduce the capacity to address these flare-ups in creative non-violent ways.
We therefore decry the media using this incident to war-type the image of Mindanao. This is seen in today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) headline picture showing a column of tanks in Datu Piang Maguindanao on May 26 in the offensive against the MILF, a war story and location of an unrelated image piggy-backed onto the current tragedy. This only cements that image of violence in the national consciousness and the idea that military action is the appropriate or only response.
We therefore call on the editors of the PDI to balance their reporting with the pictures and stories of the many peace workers, journalists and advocates struggling to birth a better reality in Mindanao. We are especially concerned about the following:
1. With the increased military and police presence in an already highly militarized and volatile area, we are concerned about a potential disintegration of the ceasefire between the army of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was only reestablished this past July.
2. The government might take this as an opportunity to go after suspects accused of human rights violations in the recent hostilities between the MILF and GRP, which could lead to displacement of civilians in other communities.
3. Spillover of communal violence into surrounding communities and the escalation of a cycle of retaliation between involved individuals, families or communities, or the settling of unrelated grudges by unrelated parties through violent means.
PBCI has learned that within every painful situation such as this lay seeds of peace and hope that will grow when watered by justice and truth. While there is tragedy and danger in this reality, there is also an opportunity to transform this into something new and better.
In particular we mourn the loss of Jun Jun Legarta, a field reporter for Mindanao Bulletin, and Juvy Unto, a field reporter based in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat. They are the cousins of our Peacebuilders staff member Jester Valdez.
Peacebuilders Community Inc. has been doing peace education, advocacy and conflict transformation in Mindanao since 2006. We have seen over the years how easy it is for a localized incident to spark wider violence and how negative perceptions of conflict often reduce the capacity to address these flare-ups in creative non-violent ways.
We therefore decry the media using this incident to war-type the image of Mindanao. This is seen in today’s Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) headline picture showing a column of tanks in Datu Piang Maguindanao on May 26 in the offensive against the MILF, a war story and location of an unrelated image piggy-backed onto the current tragedy. This only cements that image of violence in the national consciousness and the idea that military action is the appropriate or only response.
We therefore call on the editors of the PDI to balance their reporting with the pictures and stories of the many peace workers, journalists and advocates struggling to birth a better reality in Mindanao. We are especially concerned about the following:
1. With the increased military and police presence in an already highly militarized and volatile area, we are concerned about a potential disintegration of the ceasefire between the army of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which was only reestablished this past July.
2. The government might take this as an opportunity to go after suspects accused of human rights violations in the recent hostilities between the MILF and GRP, which could lead to displacement of civilians in other communities.
3. Spillover of communal violence into surrounding communities and the escalation of a cycle of retaliation between involved individuals, families or communities, or the settling of unrelated grudges by unrelated parties through violent means.
PBCI has learned that within every painful situation such as this lay seeds of peace and hope that will grow when watered by justice and truth. While there is tragedy and danger in this reality, there is also an opportunity to transform this into something new and better.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Political violence hits journalists hard in Philippines
She didn't actually know where she was going as she left the house this morning. Carol, my neighbor and the editor for the Mindanews media center, is following the breaking story of a massacre about 4 hours away from where we live. But she didn't know where they would bring the bodies. Nearly a dozen journalists were also killed in the atrocity. For more details, click here
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Brief Notes on Spirituality: 1
Faith is a gift to be received.
Not only is it a gift, but a necessary gift in the life of the spirit (spirituality). To refuse the gift of faith means to deny our innate need and desire for connection to the other - both the human other and the divine other. Doubt does not kill faith, rather, doubt is part of the daily struggle in understanding the honor bestowed on us in receiving the gift of faith. So don’t be anxious over the doubt that often exists in our spirit, but follow it's voice plumbing the depths of our faith understanding.
The opposite of faith is independence, not doubt. Independence is more deadly, for it is a refusal to genuinely acknowledge and receive the gift of faith and of the one who gives it. The world is full of people who take gifts, but few who receive them. If we are honest, we realize that we often take what we crave rather than receive what we need and desire most deeply. This happens when we listen to the voice of independence rather than receiving the gift of faith.
Let us pray for the humility and honesty to receive faith as the antidote to our independence from our fellow humanity and our God.
Not only is it a gift, but a necessary gift in the life of the spirit (spirituality). To refuse the gift of faith means to deny our innate need and desire for connection to the other - both the human other and the divine other. Doubt does not kill faith, rather, doubt is part of the daily struggle in understanding the honor bestowed on us in receiving the gift of faith. So don’t be anxious over the doubt that often exists in our spirit, but follow it's voice plumbing the depths of our faith understanding.
The opposite of faith is independence, not doubt. Independence is more deadly, for it is a refusal to genuinely acknowledge and receive the gift of faith and of the one who gives it. The world is full of people who take gifts, but few who receive them. If we are honest, we realize that we often take what we crave rather than receive what we need and desire most deeply. This happens when we listen to the voice of independence rather than receiving the gift of faith.
Let us pray for the humility and honesty to receive faith as the antidote to our independence from our fellow humanity and our God.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Documenting the injustices of war
The posting today Nov. 17 on the Mindanao People's Caucus facebook page by Father Eduardo Vasquez Jr., of his experiences as the Catholic parish priest in Datu Piang, Maguindanao, Philippines, provides horrifying details regarding some of the worst realities of the recent war in Mindanao, including: 1) Who really started it; 2) Gun running by Philippine military; 3) torture and killing of civilians; 4) ghost units of the Philippine military 5) death of children and others in IDP centers; 6) stealing of relief supplies.
1) People always want to know who "started it." The fighting after the failed signing of the MOA-AD (agreement on thorniest issue of ancestral domain) was initiated NOT by the MILF (muslim fighters), as is reported in the media, but by the goverment paramilitary CVOs (civilian volunteer organization). Father Vasquez reports that on Aug. 8, 2008, "The reason for evacuating was the news that circulated through text messages that the military would make an offensive to the MILF camps in Pikit. This news coincided with the arrival of military troops with heavy armaments in Pikit that day....At around 5:00 PM, firing between the Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) and the MILF troops started in Barangays Kolambugan and Tapodoc....The tension in Pikit heightened when the AFP started the mortar shelling to the MILF camp. Explosion of mortars could be heard all over Poblacion, on Sunday of August 10, 2008." This modus operandi was confirmed by other reports from "inside," that the CVO's would breach the ceasefire line, drawing fire from the MILF, they would engage each other, then regular army units would come in to reinforce the CVOs, leading to full-scale MILF-army confrontation. These inside reports further indicated that the MILF fell-back from their position and the army occupied their village, often burning and looting houses in the process.
2) Gun running by the Philippine military and paramilitaries, "July 2009 I received a phone call from an MILF Commander...in Datu Piang. He requested me to visit his place and to facilitate on how the war between his men and the 54th IB of the Philippine Army could be stopped. When I met him, I could sense that he really wanted to end the war. He was also afraid to die. He wanted already to live peacefully.... But what bothered me when I left the place was the revelation that he made about the sources of their bullets and other armaments. He attested that the bullets that they use are also coming from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. What he said was also confirmed by MILF Commander "jojo" (not his real name), the operation commander of the 105th base command.... When someone asked him how they buy bullets from the military, he said that 'the CVOs are the ones making the deal'.... War is indeed a business and unless this business is cut off, many civilians will continue to be displaced."
3) The disappearance, torture and killing of unarmed civilians, "The MILF attack that took place that day resulted to the death of Lucio (72) and Isidra Fano (63) who were husband and wife. Based on the testimony of their son-and-law, Lucio was shot while he was harvesting corn. Isidra however was inside their house when shot by another armed-man. Dulcisimo (37) who was their son was taken by the armed troops. We recovered his body after three days. It was already on the state of decomposition. Part of his intestine went out from his side. One of his eyes was gone. Probably he was tortured."
4) Operation of "ghost units" of the Philippine military involved in breaking the of law of war (human rights violations), "On September 6, 2009 just right after I celebrated Mass in Datu Piang a woman named Lindongan Husain who is around 60 years old approached me and asked me to help her find her 23-year old son who was arrested by the military last May 7, 2009 at around 8:00 AM. The name of her son is Kaharudin. According to the mother, Kaharudin was gardening in their backyard in Barangay Pagatin, Datu Saudi when some government soldiers picked him up and asked him to ride in the military truck. She wanted to go with her son but the soldiers did not permit her. The name clothes and the name of the company of the soldiers were covered with masking tape so that she was not able to identify them. Some people who saw the actual arrest of Kaharudin told me that some companions of the military were wearing bonnets. They were the ones who seemed to be identifying the people who were to be arrested.Kaharudin is the only son and the only person who supports his mother Lindongan."
"Meriam Aman the wife of Said Aman was so uneasy when I found her in Barangay Makir, Dato Odin Sinsuat on September 9, 2009. She and her 6 children were originally residing in Barangay Pagatin, Datu Saudi (35 years old) but decided to transfer when her husband Said was killed. Said was also arrested by the military in the morning of May 7, 2009. His body was found three days later at the Rio Grande de Mindanao in Barangay Duaminanga, Datu Piang. His wife and his six children are now living miserably in Barangay Makir Evacuation Center."
5) Death of children and other civilians in IDP centers, he lists, by number, several heart wrenching stories, "#3. Mohaymin Dangandangan - She was only 10-days old when he died in Damabalas Evacuation Center. She suffered from diarrhea. Her mother unable to lactate, fed her with any milk she could afford. She was never brought to the hospital when she got sick. When I met her parents she was already buried under the ground for one day. #4. Baby Boy Kureg - He was brought to the Bahay Kalinga on June 18, 2009. He suffered from pneumonia and severe difficulty in breathing. His whole body was swollen because of severe infections. I found out that his mother had been feeding him with “simbug” – a mixture of water and brown sugar and the worst was that, the water was coming from a dirty well not suitable for drinking. Baby Kureg died on June 20, 2009 in Cotabato Regional Medical Center."
6) Stealing relief food intended for IDP's, he lists 4 methods utilized by government officials, including the selling of food ration tickets, local governments confiscating rice sacks as their 'share', a mayor redirecting relief goods to their friends/constituents, and indiscriminate ticket throwing.
1) People always want to know who "started it." The fighting after the failed signing of the MOA-AD (agreement on thorniest issue of ancestral domain) was initiated NOT by the MILF (muslim fighters), as is reported in the media, but by the goverment paramilitary CVOs (civilian volunteer organization). Father Vasquez reports that on Aug. 8, 2008, "The reason for evacuating was the news that circulated through text messages that the military would make an offensive to the MILF camps in Pikit. This news coincided with the arrival of military troops with heavy armaments in Pikit that day....At around 5:00 PM, firing between the Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs) and the MILF troops started in Barangays Kolambugan and Tapodoc....The tension in Pikit heightened when the AFP started the mortar shelling to the MILF camp. Explosion of mortars could be heard all over Poblacion, on Sunday of August 10, 2008." This modus operandi was confirmed by other reports from "inside," that the CVO's would breach the ceasefire line, drawing fire from the MILF, they would engage each other, then regular army units would come in to reinforce the CVOs, leading to full-scale MILF-army confrontation. These inside reports further indicated that the MILF fell-back from their position and the army occupied their village, often burning and looting houses in the process.
2) Gun running by the Philippine military and paramilitaries, "July 2009 I received a phone call from an MILF Commander...in Datu Piang. He requested me to visit his place and to facilitate on how the war between his men and the 54th IB of the Philippine Army could be stopped. When I met him, I could sense that he really wanted to end the war. He was also afraid to die. He wanted already to live peacefully.... But what bothered me when I left the place was the revelation that he made about the sources of their bullets and other armaments. He attested that the bullets that they use are also coming from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. What he said was also confirmed by MILF Commander "jojo" (not his real name), the operation commander of the 105th base command.... When someone asked him how they buy bullets from the military, he said that 'the CVOs are the ones making the deal'.... War is indeed a business and unless this business is cut off, many civilians will continue to be displaced."
3) The disappearance, torture and killing of unarmed civilians, "The MILF attack that took place that day resulted to the death of Lucio (72) and Isidra Fano (63) who were husband and wife. Based on the testimony of their son-and-law, Lucio was shot while he was harvesting corn. Isidra however was inside their house when shot by another armed-man. Dulcisimo (37) who was their son was taken by the armed troops. We recovered his body after three days. It was already on the state of decomposition. Part of his intestine went out from his side. One of his eyes was gone. Probably he was tortured."
4) Operation of "ghost units" of the Philippine military involved in breaking the of law of war (human rights violations), "On September 6, 2009 just right after I celebrated Mass in Datu Piang a woman named Lindongan Husain who is around 60 years old approached me and asked me to help her find her 23-year old son who was arrested by the military last May 7, 2009 at around 8:00 AM. The name of her son is Kaharudin. According to the mother, Kaharudin was gardening in their backyard in Barangay Pagatin, Datu Saudi when some government soldiers picked him up and asked him to ride in the military truck. She wanted to go with her son but the soldiers did not permit her. The name clothes and the name of the company of the soldiers were covered with masking tape so that she was not able to identify them. Some people who saw the actual arrest of Kaharudin told me that some companions of the military were wearing bonnets. They were the ones who seemed to be identifying the people who were to be arrested.Kaharudin is the only son and the only person who supports his mother Lindongan."
"Meriam Aman the wife of Said Aman was so uneasy when I found her in Barangay Makir, Dato Odin Sinsuat on September 9, 2009. She and her 6 children were originally residing in Barangay Pagatin, Datu Saudi (35 years old) but decided to transfer when her husband Said was killed. Said was also arrested by the military in the morning of May 7, 2009. His body was found three days later at the Rio Grande de Mindanao in Barangay Duaminanga, Datu Piang. His wife and his six children are now living miserably in Barangay Makir Evacuation Center."
5) Death of children and other civilians in IDP centers, he lists, by number, several heart wrenching stories, "#3. Mohaymin Dangandangan - She was only 10-days old when he died in Damabalas Evacuation Center. She suffered from diarrhea. Her mother unable to lactate, fed her with any milk she could afford. She was never brought to the hospital when she got sick. When I met her parents she was already buried under the ground for one day. #4. Baby Boy Kureg - He was brought to the Bahay Kalinga on June 18, 2009. He suffered from pneumonia and severe difficulty in breathing. His whole body was swollen because of severe infections. I found out that his mother had been feeding him with “simbug” – a mixture of water and brown sugar and the worst was that, the water was coming from a dirty well not suitable for drinking. Baby Kureg died on June 20, 2009 in Cotabato Regional Medical Center."
6) Stealing relief food intended for IDP's, he lists 4 methods utilized by government officials, including the selling of food ration tickets, local governments confiscating rice sacks as their 'share', a mayor redirecting relief goods to their friends/constituents, and indiscriminate ticket throwing.
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