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.

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

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.

Human rights catastrophe in Mindanao - will you help us take action?

My U.S. tax dollars at work via the $30 million aid to the Philippine military.."a few minutes past seven [am]...My husband was outside the house...I saw five soldiers come...straight to him...one of them hit and kicked him...they ganged up on him...hit him with their guns. He tried to stand up...to protect our 7 year old daughter...they shot him...Our three children...witnessed their father being killed...his skull was broken and his left eye popped out.

click on the title to link to the full report.

Recommendations from the fields of Mindanao

Since 9-11, the U.S. has been poviding $30 million in military assistance annually as part of a counter-terror operation in the Philippines. This assistance is being subsumed in the larger civil war between Bangsamoror freedom fighters and the Philippine government. Unfortunately, this puts the U.S. on the side of one of the most corrupt governments in Asia, where impunity is widespread.

Human rights groups such as Amnesty international, Human Rights watch and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions have all conducted and issued extensive reports on this in the past several years. The Committee to Protect Journalists ranks the Philippines 6th in it's world impunity index, worse than Mexico, Russia and Afghanistan. Filipino humanitarian workers in Mindanao recently found over 200 houses burned by the Philippine army, which is directly supported by American tax dollars. Peacebuilders field workers have witnessed the deployment in central Mindanao of “ghost units” of the Philippine military, operating without insignia or identification.

To top it off, Melissa Roxas, an American woman from California volunteering as a community health outreach worker, was recently abducted, tortured and accused of being a communist. Evidence suggests that this was carried out by agents of the Philippine military. This has been widely reported in Philippine news, but not in the U.S.

These are just several examples of the many human rights problems in the Philippines. The government and military here have virtually no accountability. Rarely is there prosecution and conviction of perpetrators, if even an effective investigation.

Currently, only $2 million of the 30 million U.S. military aid is contingent on human rights conditions. We are at an important juncture as the government and Muslim sides in Mindanao have declared a truce in the fighting and the country heads into it's "election season" for the 2010 presidential elections. The U.S. government needs to make it clear that fighting terror does not mean condoning rampant impunity and disregard for basic human rights.

Therefore, we at Peacebuilders Community are remmending the following policy initiatives:

1) Immediate suspension of U.S. military aid to the Philippines pending an inquiry into counter-insurgency military operations, human rights and impunity, especially the case of American citizen Melissa Roxas.

2) Creation of a multi-sectoral task force to visit the Philippines to investigate the human rights situation and make recommendations for further policy changes.

3) Re-positioning of U.S. policy and program initiatives related to the civil war in Mindanao as a more neutral arbiter.

4) Conven an international advisory group of peace "elders," especially from the Muslim nations, to help shepherd the peace process forward for both the Muslim and Communist insurgency and to submit recommendations for a long term transitional/restorative justice process (aka, truth & reconciliation commission).

5) The creation of a UN peacekeeping force to intervene in Mindanao.

6) Creation of an environmental report card/sign posts for appropriate development so that the root causes of conflict are addressed in an ecological way.

Where in the world is Melissa Roxas

At home in Los Angeles, California. Recovering after her weekend press conference detailing her trauma incurred here in the Philippines.

Melissa, an American community health volunteer in the northern Philippines, was kidnapped last month, tortured and released, she alleges, by agents of the Philippine military.

I note this NOT because it's remarkable. There has been a perpetual, and perpetually violent, counterinsurgency war of attrition going on in the shadows of Philippine society. It has been waging at least since the era of Marcos. Left leaning civil society groups allege hundreds of tortured, killings and disappearances at the hands of government agents and security services. The government insists these are just propaganda of the communist party of the Philippines and points to individuals killed in acts of "revolutionary justice" by the armed wing of the communist party, the New People's Army.

Yet this is the first time an American citizen has been dragged into it in many a year. What is amazing to me is the lack of coverage. LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Denver Post (my hometown paper) - searches by her name come up with zilch. Nadie. None. Aside from Denver, all major cities with significant Filipino populations. The New York times had a story soon after she was released.

Wait a minute, this is an American citizen (hate to say it, but the torture of an American has more value than a non-American), and it seems to reach a new low point for the Philippine human rights situation.

And the media silence is deafening.

Praying for killers, praying for ourselves

591 words. That's all it took the archbishop of Davao, Fernando Capalla, to open a new front in the ongoing controversy over the Davao Death Squad. Since February of this year, the church season of Lent, we Catholics in Davao City have been praying for our death squad, the - "hooded killers on motorbikes" - as it says in the prescribed prayer, called an Oratio Imperata. But not just for them, but for our part in it all, we pray,


"Most of all, Heavenly Father, our souls are wounded by our stark ignorance that we too are responsible for the existence and perpetuation of the systems that promote, condone and abet these social wounds in the soul and spirit of our people. For all these, Lord, we are deeply sorry and beg your mercy and forgiveness."

I go back and forth wondering as to whether this is more than just a cost-less church gimmick or a real effort at changing a terrible situation. Where is the action? Where are base communities organizin? Why are not my fellow Catholics and other Christians outraged?

But maybe prayer is the first step in bringing it into the conscience of the larger community of faithful. The church tends to work on a longer time frame, often much to the chagrin of impatient activists. But whether it works slow or fast, this prayer seems to be a necessary step. It is necessary in order to muster the spriritual energy and focus to confront systemic and pervasive injustice. Whatever actions or practical next steps occur, they will be stymied and discouraged unless we first take these steps in our soul to confront this reality. As the prayer states, "Make us overcome the evil in the system by the power of goodness in us all who are within the system, the goodness that is rooted in you alone." The reality of massive injustice must be matched by overwhelming goodness. Now I ask myself, what will I do about it?

Davao Death Squad news report

During the term of the current mayor, Davao has become known not only around the country, but around the world as ground zero for vigilante style justice in the Philippines. Approximately 900 killings in 10 years, unsolved. This past January 2009, more than one victim was found daily, with lackluster investigation and no prosecutions. I have posted 2 news clips about this. Click on the title of this post to view one, and the previous post for the other. Please be advised these contain stark images of victims and may not be appropriate for children.