Letters
IT is with great sadness and anger that Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific have received the news of the murders of Datu Victor Danyan, as well as seven members of his family and community, by the Philippine armed forces on Dec. 3, 2017, in their ancestral territory in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato.
Datu Victor and the T’boli–Manubo Sdaf Claimants Organization (Tamasco) communities are long time partners of the Friends of the Earth Philippines/ Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center in their struggle against human rights violations by Consunji-owned companies encroaching on ancestral territory for coffee plantations and coal operations.
The killing of Datu Victor was perpetrated a year after the Consunji company was granted an extension to their 25-year coffee plantation permit that expired in 2016. An extension granted through legal manipulation, without free prior and informed consent from T’boli-Manobo communties. No one gains from the death of Datu Victor and the T’boli-Manobos other than Consunji’s corporate interests.
These murders came only a month after the commemoration of the Philippine congress’ enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (Ipra) 20 years ago. Their deaths serve as an indictment of the Philippine legal system, which remains uncaring, irresponsive and ineffective in upholding the rights of indigenous peoples over corporate interests.
The killing of Datu Victor was perpetrated a week after the President Duterte government suspended peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and pronounced a crackdown on suspected Communist rebels. The attempt by the Philippine military to justify the killings by labelling Datu Victor a “communist rebel” simply does not hold. Datu Victor fought tirelessly from 1991, when the coffee plantation was first granted a license, for legal and peaceful means in seeking redress for these corporate landgrabs, despite continuous persecution by company guards and government military forces.
We condemn the continued government and corporate security forces’ attacks on defenders of communities and territories fighting against corporate plunder and environmental destruction. We call on the Duterte government to cancel the coffee plantation and coal operation permits inside the Tamasco ancestral domain. We call on the Duterte government to hold to account the perpetrators of attacks and violations against the T’Boli-Manobos including those responsible for the killings of Datu Victor, his two sons, his son in law, and four other members of his community on 3 December 2017. –Romel de Vera and Julia Karlysheva, Friends of the Earth
Baseless, free pass
IT is with rage that we greet the approval of Senate and Congress to extend the declaration of martial law in Mindanao for another one year, up to Dec. 31, 2018. With 240 votes in the affirmative versus 27 in the negative, both Houses have effectively exposed themselves as rubber stamps of Duterte’s militarist policy, especially for as long as it serves their interests.
An extended period of military powers on steroids will give leeway for another period of abuses, violations, detentions, evacuations, and other invasions of human rights especially in Lumad and Moro communities. All of these no thanks to the AFP operatives under the US imperialist command, as it hacks through the increasingly unstable Duterte regime, desperate to regain control of the Philippine and economic landscape.
It is becoming more apparent that the “counter-terrorism” bogey is merely a pretext for a nationwide all-out offensive against the people, that has long been floating around their heads.
Even the AFP’s head honchos have admitted that the real purpose of martial law is to target NPA rebels and other most wanted targets.
Quite contrary to such a purpose, martial law in Mindanao has been wielded against the civil rights of Moro civilians in Marawi, Lumad communities in Surigao del Sur, and other unsuspecting civilians, on the mere accusation of being Maute members or NPA rebels. It has only resulted in hourly airstrikes, hordes of forced evacuations and harrassments and killings by trigger-happy state forces.
Interestingly, even business elites, political enemies, and imperialists are starting to show support for martial law.
Apart from the increased intervention of the US-AFP, it seems that business and other players such as China are eyeing their investments in infrastructure and other projects in the war-torn area. Even the LP through Vice President Leni Robredo has expressed their support.
Their persistence to heighten martial rule is but a sign of the increasing instability of the system, and a desperate attempt at reconsolidating the state in the ruling class’ bid for control and super-profit.
What the government seems to not realize, however, is that martial law, on the other hand, will only amplify the resistance of the people and their cries for social change. Last time there was martial law for 20 years, the people’s movement was never silenced, but instead only grew by hundredfolds.
The Duterte administration should immediately lift the madness called martial law lest things get worse, and resume peace talks which he withdrew from.
This craziness called martial law must stop! Should the Duterte regime persist, expect the same or greater to happen. The all-out war against the Moros and the Filipino people will only strengthen their unity and their call for real change against the rotten system.
The heightened offensive of the state will not quell but will only further incite the resistance of the Moro and Lumad and other peoples. Crisis generates resistance. For as long as the state is stubborn on answering the root causes of poverty and crisis, the Moro, Lumad and other minorities will continue their struggle for self-determination. The people, thus, will continue to march for their aspiration for a just and peaceful society, a struggle that cannot be achieved by full-blown military rule.
Kabataan Partylist strongly encourages everyone, especially the youth, to participate and to initiate indignation protests nationwide to register our disapproval of the extension of martial law in Mindanao. Together, we shall fight against tyranny and fascism. –Sarah Elago, Kabataan representative
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