From the Philippine Star (Jul 11): 3 killed, 4 wounded in ambush
An engineer was killed while three militiamen were wounded when communist rebels attacked a convoy of construction workers in South Cotabato’s Surallah town on Thursday.
In Salibo, Maguindanao, a barangay chairman and an Army sergeant were killed in an ambush by members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters yesterday.
Police investigators identified the slain engineer as Ulysses Mero of Gemma Construction Co. , which is involved in multimillion peso infrastructure projects in Barangay Upper Sepaka, southwest of Surallah.
The assailants, who reportedly belong to Front 73 of the New People’s Army (NPA), detonated a roadside bomb to stop the vehicles transporting construction workers and militiamen before shooting at the victims.
The militiamen traded shots with the rebels until responding barangay officials and armed civilian volunteers arrived, forcing them to retreat to a nearby hinterland.
Barangay officials confirmed that two NPAs, initially identified only as Roman and Gersan, were killed in the firefight.
http://www.philstar.com/nation/2015/07/11/1475512/3-killed-4-wounded-ambush
Friday, July 10, 2015
PHL studying provisional remedy for West PHL Sea dispute – De Lima
From GMA News (Jul 10): PHL studying provisional remedy for West PHL Sea dispute – De Lima
The Philippine government is considering provisional measures before the UN Tribunal on the Law of the Sea against Chinese reclamation in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippine government is considering provisional measures before the UN Tribunal on the Law of the Sea against Chinese reclamation in the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea.
The idea to seek remedial remedy from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was first put forward by Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, saying it is allowed under Art. 290 (1) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Under that provision, if a dispute has been submitted to a tribunal of competent jurisdiction, the tribunal may prescribe any provisional measures which it considers appropriate under the circumstances to preserve the respective rights of the parties to the dispute or to prevent serious harm to the environment, pending the final decision.
In an interview on Friday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the legal team defending the Philippine claim over the WPS is currently focused on convincing the international tribunal it has jurisdiction over the territorial dispute.
"Kung magru-rule po favorably sa atin (on jurisdiction), siguro iyon na ang susunod na gawin natin... Kasama na iyan sa pinagaaralan ngayon ng legal team (ang suggestion on provisional remedy). Pinagaaralan muna ng husto iyan," said De Lima, who had just arrived from The Hague to observe the proceedings.
De Lima clarified however she the remedy does not "pre-empt" the legal strategy of the Philippine legal team, composed of foreign lawyers and Solicitor General Florin Hilbay.
The Justice secretary stressed the importance of settling first the issue over jurisdiction on the arbitral case filed by the Philippines against China, which has repeatedly invoked its historical claim over the entire South China Sea.
"Jurisdictional pa ito and this is basic this is fundamental. ito muna talaga dapat ang i-hurdle natin jurisdictional issue," De Lima said.
"Kailangan sa mga ganyan ang legal strategy. Importante that the legal strategy is as important as the merits of our position," she added.
8 MILF rebels nabbed with unlicensed guns in Marawi City
From GMA News (Jul 10): 8 MILF rebels nabbed with unlicensed guns in Marawi City
Eight members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front who identified themselves as operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation were arrested in Marawi City for possession of firearms without the necessary licenses and permits, the Philippine Army said Friday.
Lt. Col. Audie Mongao, public affairs officer of the Philippine Army's 1st Infantry Division, identified those nabbed as Jalud Ditucalan Macaraya, Alinor Binta Sarif, Salmer Mindalano, Mohammad Faisal Sanguila, Ibrahim A. Apil, Jannatey Bin Abi Ombra, Mahid Apil and Mohammad Jamil C. Antap.
All are residents of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte
Macaraya is allegedly the subject of a warrant of arrest for kidnapping.
Mongao said joint operatives of military and police were conducting a checkpoint at the vicinity Barangay Moncado, Kadingilan, Marawi City when they spotted a red Mitsubishi Adventure (RGX-862) carrying the eight.
The Army said the MILF members and the confiscated firearms were brought to the 65th Infantry Batallion for investigation and proper disposition "after documentation and verification."
A check on the vehicle yielded firearms without pertinent documents.
Among those confiscated were eight handguns all of which were loaded with live ammunition.
MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal confirmed the incident
“True but our ceasefire committee is working for their furlough,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online.
In June, the MILF turned over to an independent body at least 75 high-powered firearms as part of the group's decommissioning process under the peace process with the Philippine government.
No less than President Benigno Aquino III witnessed the ceremony.
The decommissioning is part of the normalization process specified in an annex of the peace agreement entered into by the MILF and the Philippine government in March last year.
Under the peace agreement, 30 percent of MILF firearms will be decommissioned once Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified while another 35 percent will be turned over when the Bangsamoro government and its police force have been established.
The remaining final 35 percent will be decommissioned once the exit agreement signifying that all commitments have been fulfilled is signed.
The BBL is still pending in Congress with the Senate still waiting for the substitute version of the bill to be submitted by local government committee chairman Ferdinand Marcos Jr while the House of Representatives is already discussing its version in the plenary.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/519946/news/nation/8-milf-rebels-nabbed-with-unlicensed-guns-in-marawi-city
Eight members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front who identified themselves as operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation were arrested in Marawi City for possession of firearms without the necessary licenses and permits, the Philippine Army said Friday.
Lt. Col. Audie Mongao, public affairs officer of the Philippine Army's 1st Infantry Division, identified those nabbed as Jalud Ditucalan Macaraya, Alinor Binta Sarif, Salmer Mindalano, Mohammad Faisal Sanguila, Ibrahim A. Apil, Jannatey Bin Abi Ombra, Mahid Apil and Mohammad Jamil C. Antap.
All are residents of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte
Macaraya is allegedly the subject of a warrant of arrest for kidnapping.
Mongao said joint operatives of military and police were conducting a checkpoint at the vicinity Barangay Moncado, Kadingilan, Marawi City when they spotted a red Mitsubishi Adventure (RGX-862) carrying the eight.
The Army said the MILF members and the confiscated firearms were brought to the 65th Infantry Batallion for investigation and proper disposition "after documentation and verification."
A check on the vehicle yielded firearms without pertinent documents.
Among those confiscated were eight handguns all of which were loaded with live ammunition.
MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal confirmed the incident
“True but our ceasefire committee is working for their furlough,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online.
In June, the MILF turned over to an independent body at least 75 high-powered firearms as part of the group's decommissioning process under the peace process with the Philippine government.
No less than President Benigno Aquino III witnessed the ceremony.
The decommissioning is part of the normalization process specified in an annex of the peace agreement entered into by the MILF and the Philippine government in March last year.
Under the peace agreement, 30 percent of MILF firearms will be decommissioned once Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified while another 35 percent will be turned over when the Bangsamoro government and its police force have been established.
The remaining final 35 percent will be decommissioned once the exit agreement signifying that all commitments have been fulfilled is signed.
The BBL is still pending in Congress with the Senate still waiting for the substitute version of the bill to be submitted by local government committee chairman Ferdinand Marcos Jr while the House of Representatives is already discussing its version in the plenary.
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/519946/news/nation/8-milf-rebels-nabbed-with-unlicensed-guns-in-marawi-city
Suspected Abu Sayyaf member nabbed
From ABS-CBN (Jul 11): Suspected Abu Sayyaf member nabbed
A suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was arrested Friday afternoon near Sitio Gapuh and Sitio Balingsungay in Barangay Talabaan in Zamboanga City, police said.
Zamboanga City Police Station 4 Police Chief Inspector Elmer Solon identified the suspect as Basit Balahim, alias "Ballan," who is allegedly among those responsible for the Dos Palmas kidnappings in Lantawan, Basilan in 2002.
Balahim, who has been under surveillance, was spotted in Barangay Talabaan, along with another suspected Abu Sayyaf member who was arrested last month.
After police interrogation, the suspect was brought to the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center.
Balahim refused to comment on the allegations against him.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/07/10/15/suspected-abu-sayyaf-member-nabbed
A suspected member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was arrested Friday afternoon near Sitio Gapuh and Sitio Balingsungay in Barangay Talabaan in Zamboanga City, police said.
Zamboanga City Police Station 4 Police Chief Inspector Elmer Solon identified the suspect as Basit Balahim, alias "Ballan," who is allegedly among those responsible for the Dos Palmas kidnappings in Lantawan, Basilan in 2002.
Balahim, who has been under surveillance, was spotted in Barangay Talabaan, along with another suspected Abu Sayyaf member who was arrested last month.
After police interrogation, the suspect was brought to the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center.
Balahim refused to comment on the allegations against him.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/07/10/15/suspected-abu-sayyaf-member-nabbed
Photo essay: They came down the mountains for their shining red star
From the pro-CPP online publication Bulatlat (Jul 10): Photo essay: They came down the mountains for their shining red star
[1]
DAVAO CITY— “Are the flags ready for Tatay?” asked a young woman as she rushed into the cavernous Almendras Gymnasium in the heart of this sprawling southern city. She was talking on her phone while clutching a sheaf of papers, presumably the program flow of tonight’s tribute. “Pila? Okay. I-taxi niyo na. Basta kay Tatay, laban,” she said. (How much? Okay. For Father, we shouldn’t care how much.)
[2]
“Father” was the legendary rebel who punished the Philippine Army with telling blows for the better part of four decades in Southern Mindanao. He led the formation of the New People’s Army’s first battalion-sized unit that captured an enemy general in 1999 and held him as prisoner of war for weeks. He was Leoncio ‘Commander Parago’ Pitao, “the shining red star of the revolution.”
[3]
Sick and unarmed, he was mowed down by a hail of bullets last June 28, however, along with his young medic Vanessa “Comrade Kyle” Limpag. Gloatingly, Philippine Army officers told Parago’s comrades to come down the mountains to lay down their arms.
[4]
It seemed that thousands indeed have tonight. Busloads of peasants and indigenous peoples choked Almendras’ main entrance and lined up to walk up to the red flag-draped coffin on the stage. They were somber, as if it was indeed their biological father inside the simple white box. But they had no guns with them to lay down before Parago’s killers. Instead, they wore determined looks on their faces. These faces are grieving, but they do not look defeated.
[5]
[6]
But Pitao was more than a just rebel commander to them. No one said he was cruel to his captured enemies because he was anything but. He was an exemplary organizer, an inspiring leader. He defended the poor and the persecuted against predatory businesses and despotic landlords. Above all else, he was a compassionate friend. They say that he was a father in more ways than one to the tens of thousands who have met him.
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
Many touched the coffin’s glass as they gaze on the dead rebel and as they leave. Some raised their clenched right fist in a militant salute. Parents raised their children to allow them to see a white-shirted corpse adorned only with a logo that was replicated in giant flags up on the rafters and around the stands. Very few made the ritualistic sign of the cross but bishops, priests and pastors abounded in the building.
[13]
The speeches and songs were expectedly fiery. A mere few meters away from a police camp, soldiers with assault rifles stationed a few street corners away, and intelligence agents among the throng they were nakedly defiant. How could humble peasants and Lumads be so daring and brave?
[14]
[15]
[16]
A famous person came while the tribute was well into its third hour. Video lights glared and flash bulbs fired as Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte walked in with his entourage of journalists and staff. Laughter greeted his jokes as he paid tribute to the dead man’s life with the poor communities of his city. In the end, however, it was not him that the people came for, but the man whose smiling face was printed on thousands of red shirts that filled the venue.
[17]
[18]
And there were indeed thousands of them. They filled the stands and the gymnasium floor. Almendras Gymnasium have run out of chairs for so many of them and so they either stood or sat on the floor throughout the lengthy program.
[19]
[20]
Thousands more filled the courtyard, forming an explicit wall between the people inside and those who may think of disrupting the occasion. Only Pitao’s daughter Rebelyn’s—abducted, raped, murdered and dumped at a lonely roadside in Carmen, Davao by suspected military agents in 2009—funeral march may equal the size and breath of this throng.
[21]
The tributes inside went well past midnight. Strong-throated youth activists on the stands exchanged shouted slogans that praised the Communist Party, its army, its popular front, its revolution and its most famous commander lying in state before all of them.
[22]
Even in death, their Tatay still unites and inspires them for their revolution.
Text and photos by Raymund B. Villanueva
Kodao Productions
[23]
URLs in this post:
[1]DAVAO CITY— “Are the flags ready for Tatay?” asked a young woman as she rushed into the cavernous Almendras Gymnasium in the heart of this sprawling southern city. She was talking on her phone while clutching a sheaf of papers, presumably the program flow of tonight’s tribute. “Pila? Okay. I-taxi niyo na. Basta kay Tatay, laban,” she said. (How much? Okay. For Father, we shouldn’t care how much.)
[2]“Father” was the legendary rebel who punished the Philippine Army with telling blows for the better part of four decades in Southern Mindanao. He led the formation of the New People’s Army’s first battalion-sized unit that captured an enemy general in 1999 and held him as prisoner of war for weeks. He was Leoncio ‘Commander Parago’ Pitao, “the shining red star of the revolution.”
[3]Sick and unarmed, he was mowed down by a hail of bullets last June 28, however, along with his young medic Vanessa “Comrade Kyle” Limpag. Gloatingly, Philippine Army officers told Parago’s comrades to come down the mountains to lay down their arms.
[4]It seemed that thousands indeed have tonight. Busloads of peasants and indigenous peoples choked Almendras’ main entrance and lined up to walk up to the red flag-draped coffin on the stage. They were somber, as if it was indeed their biological father inside the simple white box. But they had no guns with them to lay down before Parago’s killers. Instead, they wore determined looks on their faces. These faces are grieving, but they do not look defeated.
[5] [6]But Pitao was more than a just rebel commander to them. No one said he was cruel to his captured enemies because he was anything but. He was an exemplary organizer, an inspiring leader. He defended the poor and the persecuted against predatory businesses and despotic landlords. Above all else, he was a compassionate friend. They say that he was a father in more ways than one to the tens of thousands who have met him.
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]Many touched the coffin’s glass as they gaze on the dead rebel and as they leave. Some raised their clenched right fist in a militant salute. Parents raised their children to allow them to see a white-shirted corpse adorned only with a logo that was replicated in giant flags up on the rafters and around the stands. Very few made the ritualistic sign of the cross but bishops, priests and pastors abounded in the building.
[13]The speeches and songs were expectedly fiery. A mere few meters away from a police camp, soldiers with assault rifles stationed a few street corners away, and intelligence agents among the throng they were nakedly defiant. How could humble peasants and Lumads be so daring and brave?
[14] [15] [16]A famous person came while the tribute was well into its third hour. Video lights glared and flash bulbs fired as Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte walked in with his entourage of journalists and staff. Laughter greeted his jokes as he paid tribute to the dead man’s life with the poor communities of his city. In the end, however, it was not him that the people came for, but the man whose smiling face was printed on thousands of red shirts that filled the venue.
[17] [18]And there were indeed thousands of them. They filled the stands and the gymnasium floor. Almendras Gymnasium have run out of chairs for so many of them and so they either stood or sat on the floor throughout the lengthy program.
[19] [20]Thousands more filled the courtyard, forming an explicit wall between the people inside and those who may think of disrupting the occasion. Only Pitao’s daughter Rebelyn’s—abducted, raped, murdered and dumped at a lonely roadside in Carmen, Davao by suspected military agents in 2009—funeral march may equal the size and breath of this throng.
[21]The tributes inside went well past midnight. Strong-throated youth activists on the stands exchanged shouted slogans that praised the Communist Party, its army, its popular front, its revolution and its most famous commander lying in state before all of them.
[22]Even in death, their Tatay still unites and inspires them for their revolution.
Text and photos by Raymund B. Villanueva
Kodao Productions
[23]URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/1-7/
[2] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/2-8/
[3] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/4-3/
[4] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/3-5/
[5] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/5-2/
[6] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/6-3/
[7] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/7-2/
[8] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/8/
[9] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/9/
[10] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/10/
[11] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/11/
[12] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/12/
[13] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/13/
[14] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/14/
[15] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/15/
[16] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/16/
[17] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/17/
[18] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/18/
[19] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/19/
[20] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/20-2/
[21] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/22/
[22] Image: http://bulatlat.com/main/2015/07/10/they-came-down-the-mountains-for-their-shining-red-star/attachment/21/
[23] Image: http://bulatlat.com
Mistaken identity: Judge frees 'Abu Sayyaf' after 3 years
From ABS-CBN (Jul 9): Mistaken identity: Judge frees 'Abu Sayyaf' after 3 years
Jirin Hattimon (second from left), his wife Jaiham (left), Commissioner Edil Baddiri of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (center), and Hattimon's relatives. Photo courtesy of Commissioner Edil Baddiri.
IN 2012, JIRIN HATTIMON was living a blissful life, having just married a woman his family had also learned to love. Then 34, he was eager to start his own family in Sulu. But the farmer's plans were rudely interrupted when policemen accosted him while he was walking near the pier sometime in April.
Jirin was flown to Manila and detained at the Special Intensive Care Area of Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, along with some of the most wanted people in the country.
The police called him "Black Tungkang", supposedly a top leader of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf with a P3.3-million bounty for his involvement in the abduction of some members of the Jehovah’s Witness in 2002. He was charged in court.
Two 'Black Tungkangs'
Jirin was detained not far from a man named Abdullah Ussih, who was also accused of being "Black Tungkang". Ussih was arrested just two months before him.
When the two "Black Tungkangs" were presented to kidnap victim Amily Mantec, she said neither Jirin nor Ussih was involved in her abduction. They didn’t even bear any physical resemblance to the wanted Abu Sayyaf leader.
Ussih was released in 2013. But it forced the police to pin down Jirin. The police insisted he was "Black Tungkang".
Mistaken identity
But in a court order dated June 10, 2015, Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Toribio Ilao, Jr. gave weight to the testimony of kidnap victim Mantec.
“The Jail Warden…is ordered to immediately release from custody Jirin Hattimon who was mistaken for Black Tungkang,” the order said.
51 wrongful arrests
Jirin, now 37, is the second person released since June in a case of mistaken identity. The other one was Kudairi Abdulla, accused of involvement in the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping case. He was released last June 12.
Last March, an ABS-CBN Investigative report uncovered 51 wrongful arrests since 2004 in government’s fight against terrorism. Most of the men had rewards for their capture, ranging from P150,000 to P3.3 million.
It took over three weeks to process clearances to ensure Jirin had no other pending case anywhere in the country.
Jirin finally walked a free man on July 3. It was time to go home to Sulu.
Not sorry?
Jirin was smiling but silent when he left the maximum security compound after three long years.
He was accompanied by Commissioner Edil Baddiri of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) whose office had to scrape funds to purchase a ticket to Zamboanga that would allow Jirin to reunite with his family.
Jirin carried two bags: one contained clothes; the other had a Quran and other books. But he received not a single centavo in damages from the law enforcers that ruined his life, not even an apology.
P10,000 for years of injustice
Under RA 7309 or the Victims Compensation Program, victims of unjust imprisonment may be entitled to a maximum of P10,000 as a symbol of “government’s desire to alleviate the plight of the victims… for the injustice that cost them precious years that should have been shared with their family instead of prison cells,” reads Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s opening message in the Handbook for this program.
But in order to qualify for the claim, the victim must have been unjustly accused,
convicted, imprisoned and subsequently acquitted. Or, the victim must have been unjustly detained and released without being charged.
Baddiri said Jirin does not qualify for the compensation because he was charged in court and was not convicted.
Baddiri confirmed there was nothing in the law that provided timely compensation for victims of mistaken identity. “The way the Board of Claims has interpreted the law, yung cases nila hindi ma-cocover,” Baddiri said.
Half a million pesos per day
The Human Security Act of 2007 provides stiff penalties for unproven charges of terrorism, with damages running to half a million pesos for every day spent in prison.
But Jirin does not qualify for damages under the Human Security Act, either. “For the Human Security Act to apply, you should be charged under that law. Not all kidnapping is terrorism. The crime charged here is under the Revised Penal Code,” Baddiri said.
Stemming the tide
The NCMF has been lobbying for amendments to RA 7309 to include compensation for victims of wrongful arrest.
“There should be an after care program for these victims. Then the next aspect is to make accountable those responsible (for the wrongful arrest), just to stem the tide. Maraming nakakalaya tapos huli ng huli so parami ng parami yung nasa loob ng kulungan,” Baddiri said.
One option available to victims to enable them to collect damages is to file civil and criminal charges against those who made the wrongful arrest. But it would be a long, tedious and expensive process.
Jirin for one has no interest in going after his perpetrators.
For now, all he wants is to live in peace and enjoy his freedom with his wife and family.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/07/09/15/mistaken-identity-judge-frees-abu-sayyaf-after-3-years
Jirin Hattimon (second from left), his wife Jaiham (left), Commissioner Edil Baddiri of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (center), and Hattimon's relatives. Photo courtesy of Commissioner Edil Baddiri.
IN 2012, JIRIN HATTIMON was living a blissful life, having just married a woman his family had also learned to love. Then 34, he was eager to start his own family in Sulu. But the farmer's plans were rudely interrupted when policemen accosted him while he was walking near the pier sometime in April.
Jirin was flown to Manila and detained at the Special Intensive Care Area of Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, along with some of the most wanted people in the country.
The police called him "Black Tungkang", supposedly a top leader of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf with a P3.3-million bounty for his involvement in the abduction of some members of the Jehovah’s Witness in 2002. He was charged in court.
Two 'Black Tungkangs'
Jirin was detained not far from a man named Abdullah Ussih, who was also accused of being "Black Tungkang". Ussih was arrested just two months before him.
When the two "Black Tungkangs" were presented to kidnap victim Amily Mantec, she said neither Jirin nor Ussih was involved in her abduction. They didn’t even bear any physical resemblance to the wanted Abu Sayyaf leader.
Ussih was released in 2013. But it forced the police to pin down Jirin. The police insisted he was "Black Tungkang".
Mistaken identity
But in a court order dated June 10, 2015, Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Toribio Ilao, Jr. gave weight to the testimony of kidnap victim Mantec.
“The Jail Warden…is ordered to immediately release from custody Jirin Hattimon who was mistaken for Black Tungkang,” the order said.
Kudairi Abdulla (wearing yellow shirt), another victim of mistaken identity, has also been released. Photo courtesy of NCMF Commissioner Edil Baddiri
Jirin, now 37, is the second person released since June in a case of mistaken identity. The other one was Kudairi Abdulla, accused of involvement in the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping case. He was released last June 12.
Last March, an ABS-CBN Investigative report uncovered 51 wrongful arrests since 2004 in government’s fight against terrorism. Most of the men had rewards for their capture, ranging from P150,000 to P3.3 million.
It took over three weeks to process clearances to ensure Jirin had no other pending case anywhere in the country.
Jirin finally walked a free man on July 3. It was time to go home to Sulu.
Jirin Hattimon is finally a free man after 3 years.
Jirin was smiling but silent when he left the maximum security compound after three long years.
He was accompanied by Commissioner Edil Baddiri of the National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) whose office had to scrape funds to purchase a ticket to Zamboanga that would allow Jirin to reunite with his family.
Jirin carried two bags: one contained clothes; the other had a Quran and other books. But he received not a single centavo in damages from the law enforcers that ruined his life, not even an apology.
P10,000 for years of injustice
Under RA 7309 or the Victims Compensation Program, victims of unjust imprisonment may be entitled to a maximum of P10,000 as a symbol of “government’s desire to alleviate the plight of the victims… for the injustice that cost them precious years that should have been shared with their family instead of prison cells,” reads Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s opening message in the Handbook for this program.
But in order to qualify for the claim, the victim must have been unjustly accused,
convicted, imprisoned and subsequently acquitted. Or, the victim must have been unjustly detained and released without being charged.
Baddiri said Jirin does not qualify for the compensation because he was charged in court and was not convicted.
Baddiri confirmed there was nothing in the law that provided timely compensation for victims of mistaken identity. “The way the Board of Claims has interpreted the law, yung cases nila hindi ma-cocover,” Baddiri said.
Half a million pesos per day
The Human Security Act of 2007 provides stiff penalties for unproven charges of terrorism, with damages running to half a million pesos for every day spent in prison.
But Jirin does not qualify for damages under the Human Security Act, either. “For the Human Security Act to apply, you should be charged under that law. Not all kidnapping is terrorism. The crime charged here is under the Revised Penal Code,” Baddiri said.
Stemming the tide
The NCMF has been lobbying for amendments to RA 7309 to include compensation for victims of wrongful arrest.
“There should be an after care program for these victims. Then the next aspect is to make accountable those responsible (for the wrongful arrest), just to stem the tide. Maraming nakakalaya tapos huli ng huli so parami ng parami yung nasa loob ng kulungan,” Baddiri said.
One option available to victims to enable them to collect damages is to file civil and criminal charges against those who made the wrongful arrest. But it would be a long, tedious and expensive process.
Jirin for one has no interest in going after his perpetrators.
For now, all he wants is to live in peace and enjoy his freedom with his wife and family.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/07/09/15/mistaken-identity-judge-frees-abu-sayyaf-after-3-years
Joma Sison backs PH legal battle vs China over sea dispute
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jul 10): Joma Sison backs PH legal battle vs China over sea dispute
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Thursday declared his support to the legal struggle of the Philippine government against the “aggressive acts” of China in the West Philippine Sea.
“The [Philippine government] has good reason to demonstrate the seriousness of the [Philippine] position,” Sison told the Inquirer in an online interview.
Sison said he and his wife, Julie de Lima-Sison, signed the “Joint manifesto of Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands” supporting the Philippine government’s fight for national sovereignty and maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea “against the aggressive acts of China.”
The West Philippine Sea is part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ) recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
Although it ratified the Unclos, China refuses to recognize the Philippines’ EEZ, seizing reefs in the West Philippine Sea and transforming them into artificial islands from which, its rivals for territory in the South China Sea fear, it would project its military might in the region.
China’s actions also appear to contravene its former leaders’ stand against superpower aggression. In Maoist lingo, the current Chinese leadership is carrying out a wrong line in foreign policy.
Deng’s pronouncement
In 1976, then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping told the UN General Assembly: “A superpower is an imperialist country which everywhere subjects other countries to its aggression, interference, control, subversion or plunder and strives for world hegemony…. If one day China should change her color and turn into a superpower, if she too would play the tyrant in the world, and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social imperialist, expose it, oppose it and work with the Chinese people to overthrow it.”
Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, is also a political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the CPP.
On Tuesday, a small group of Filipinos living in the Netherlands staged a rally at the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos) at The Hague as an arbitral tribunal opened oral arguments on the Philippines’ challenge to China’s claim to 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea.
“I was not able to join the picket because I had to do my monthly reporting to immigration police,” Sison said.
‘Junket’
When asked if he shared the observation of University of the Philippines professor Harry Roque that the 35-member government delegation now in The Hague for the oral arguments is on a “junket,” Sison replied: “I leave to the fiscal experts the evaluation of the expenses whether within budgetary limits and whether worthwhile in relation to other needs.”
Roque, who is director of the Institute of International Legal Studies at the UP Law Center, questioned the government’s decision to send a 35-member delegation to The Hague when only two of its members would argue the Philippine case before the tribunal.
Roque argued that the money spent by the Philippine delegation should have been used to help fishermen displaced from Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) when China seized it in 2012.
Sison said Roque had a “good patriotic reason to be critical of the size of the delegation.”
He said he had not yet met any member of the Philippine delegation.
Opposing Marcos
Sison rebutted the argument of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the Philippine government wasted the opportunity to peacefully settle the dispute when it rejected China’s invitation for bilateral talks.
“How can the Philippines negotiate with China, which always declares ‘ab initio’ (from the beginning) that it has indisputable sovereignty over 90 percent of the entire South China Sea and that in effect the Philippines has no rights over its EEZ and ECS (extended continental shelf)?” Sison said.
The Philippines has asked the arbitral tribunal to nullify China’s claim to nearly the whole South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, as it is a violation of Unclos.
Manila is trying to convince the tribunal that it has jurisdiction over the case, as it involves Unclos, whose integrity, it says, is at stake in the proceedings.
Declaration of support
The statement of Filipinos in the Netherlands that the Sisons signed said: “We, Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands, stand together in upholding the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Motherland, and in defending the Filipino people’s sovereign rights over their exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea, now being illegally claimed and encroached upon by China.”
The group observed that in the last few years, China had been committing “blatant acts of aggression by imposing its baseless and arrogant claim of owning 90 [percent] of the South China Sea, grabbing the Philippines’ entire extended continental shelf and 80 [percent] of our exclusive economic zone.”
“It has occupied the shoals off Masinloc, and is doing intensive reclamation work on reefs, shoals and islets in the [Spratly archipelago],” the group said.
“China has thus robbed the Filipino people of bountiful fishing grounds and vast amounts of mineral wealth, and gravely damaged the marine environment. We denounce in the strongest terms these aggressive incursions of China! These crimes violate Philippine sovereignty, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, conventions on the environment, and the freedom of navigation in the high seas,” it said.
US exploiting sea row
But the group also alleged that the US government had been exploiting the territorial dispute in order to increase its military presence in the Philippines and the entire Asia-Pacific region.
On June 23, Sison noted on his Facebook page that US officials, including Republican Sen. John McCain, were the first to declare that US naval vessels must keep a 22-km distance from the Chinese reclamations, conceding that these belonged to China.
“Since then, the US has been pressing the Philippines to accept the reclamations to keep US-China military cooperation and allow the US to have military bases in the Philippines under the pretext of protecting the Philippines from China,” Sison said.
The group statement said that even with increased US military presence in the area, the American military had only stood by and allowed China to commit the acts of aggression against the Filipino people and their territories.
“This shows that the US military presence in the Philippines is maintained and deployed not for the defense of Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the group said.
It claimed that the United States “has its own imperialist interests to protect” against the Philippines and China.
Dangerous game
The group said the United States and China were just using Philippine territory “as an arena for their dangerous game of imperialist aggrandizement, pursuing their own military, economic and political agenda of competition and collusion.”
“The casualty is the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Filipino nation,” it said.
“We call on our compatriots to denounce and resist China’s aggression and all forms of foreign intervention. We are for a truly independent foreign policy that neither bows to China’s aggression nor kowtows to US dictates,” the group said.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/125866/joma-sison-backs-ph-legal-battle-vs-china-over-sea-dispute
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on Thursday declared his support to the legal struggle of the Philippine government against the “aggressive acts” of China in the West Philippine Sea.
“The [Philippine government] has good reason to demonstrate the seriousness of the [Philippine] position,” Sison told the Inquirer in an online interview.
Sison said he and his wife, Julie de Lima-Sison, signed the “Joint manifesto of Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands” supporting the Philippine government’s fight for national sovereignty and maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea “against the aggressive acts of China.”
The West Philippine Sea is part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ) recognized under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
Although it ratified the Unclos, China refuses to recognize the Philippines’ EEZ, seizing reefs in the West Philippine Sea and transforming them into artificial islands from which, its rivals for territory in the South China Sea fear, it would project its military might in the region.
China’s actions also appear to contravene its former leaders’ stand against superpower aggression. In Maoist lingo, the current Chinese leadership is carrying out a wrong line in foreign policy.
Deng’s pronouncement
In 1976, then China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping told the UN General Assembly: “A superpower is an imperialist country which everywhere subjects other countries to its aggression, interference, control, subversion or plunder and strives for world hegemony…. If one day China should change her color and turn into a superpower, if she too would play the tyrant in the world, and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social imperialist, expose it, oppose it and work with the Chinese people to overthrow it.”
Sison, who lives in exile in the Netherlands, is also a political consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the political arm of the CPP.
On Tuesday, a small group of Filipinos living in the Netherlands staged a rally at the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (Itlos) at The Hague as an arbitral tribunal opened oral arguments on the Philippines’ challenge to China’s claim to 90 percent of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea.
“I was not able to join the picket because I had to do my monthly reporting to immigration police,” Sison said.
‘Junket’
When asked if he shared the observation of University of the Philippines professor Harry Roque that the 35-member government delegation now in The Hague for the oral arguments is on a “junket,” Sison replied: “I leave to the fiscal experts the evaluation of the expenses whether within budgetary limits and whether worthwhile in relation to other needs.”
Roque, who is director of the Institute of International Legal Studies at the UP Law Center, questioned the government’s decision to send a 35-member delegation to The Hague when only two of its members would argue the Philippine case before the tribunal.
Roque argued that the money spent by the Philippine delegation should have been used to help fishermen displaced from Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) when China seized it in 2012.
Sison said Roque had a “good patriotic reason to be critical of the size of the delegation.”
He said he had not yet met any member of the Philippine delegation.
Opposing Marcos
Sison rebutted the argument of Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the Philippine government wasted the opportunity to peacefully settle the dispute when it rejected China’s invitation for bilateral talks.
“How can the Philippines negotiate with China, which always declares ‘ab initio’ (from the beginning) that it has indisputable sovereignty over 90 percent of the entire South China Sea and that in effect the Philippines has no rights over its EEZ and ECS (extended continental shelf)?” Sison said.
The Philippines has asked the arbitral tribunal to nullify China’s claim to nearly the whole South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, as it is a violation of Unclos.
Manila is trying to convince the tribunal that it has jurisdiction over the case, as it involves Unclos, whose integrity, it says, is at stake in the proceedings.
Declaration of support
The statement of Filipinos in the Netherlands that the Sisons signed said: “We, Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands, stand together in upholding the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Motherland, and in defending the Filipino people’s sovereign rights over their exclusive economic zone and extended continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea, now being illegally claimed and encroached upon by China.”
The group observed that in the last few years, China had been committing “blatant acts of aggression by imposing its baseless and arrogant claim of owning 90 [percent] of the South China Sea, grabbing the Philippines’ entire extended continental shelf and 80 [percent] of our exclusive economic zone.”
“It has occupied the shoals off Masinloc, and is doing intensive reclamation work on reefs, shoals and islets in the [Spratly archipelago],” the group said.
“China has thus robbed the Filipino people of bountiful fishing grounds and vast amounts of mineral wealth, and gravely damaged the marine environment. We denounce in the strongest terms these aggressive incursions of China! These crimes violate Philippine sovereignty, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, conventions on the environment, and the freedom of navigation in the high seas,” it said.
US exploiting sea row
But the group also alleged that the US government had been exploiting the territorial dispute in order to increase its military presence in the Philippines and the entire Asia-Pacific region.
On June 23, Sison noted on his Facebook page that US officials, including Republican Sen. John McCain, were the first to declare that US naval vessels must keep a 22-km distance from the Chinese reclamations, conceding that these belonged to China.
“Since then, the US has been pressing the Philippines to accept the reclamations to keep US-China military cooperation and allow the US to have military bases in the Philippines under the pretext of protecting the Philippines from China,” Sison said.
The group statement said that even with increased US military presence in the area, the American military had only stood by and allowed China to commit the acts of aggression against the Filipino people and their territories.
“This shows that the US military presence in the Philippines is maintained and deployed not for the defense of Philippine sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the group said.
It claimed that the United States “has its own imperialist interests to protect” against the Philippines and China.
Dangerous game
The group said the United States and China were just using Philippine territory “as an arena for their dangerous game of imperialist aggrandizement, pursuing their own military, economic and political agenda of competition and collusion.”
“The casualty is the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Filipino nation,” it said.
“We call on our compatriots to denounce and resist China’s aggression and all forms of foreign intervention. We are for a truly independent foreign policy that neither bows to China’s aggression nor kowtows to US dictates,” the group said.
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/125866/joma-sison-backs-ph-legal-battle-vs-china-over-sea-dispute
CONFIDENCE BUILDING | House leaders meet Reds in The Netherlands
From InterAksyon (Jul 10): CONFIDENCE BUILDING | House leaders meet Reds in The Netherlands
CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison (left) and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. talk to each other as NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni looks on during their meeting in Amsterdam. (photo courtesy of Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II)
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and three other leaders of the House of Representatives met with communist leaders living in exile in Utrecht, The Netherlands in what he called an initiative to get stalled peace talks with the rebels back on track.
"It's more like confidence-building measure," Belmonte told InterAksyon.com in a text message after meeting Jose Maria Sison, Luis Jalandoni and Ruth de Leon Zumel in a Japanese restaurant in Amsterdam at 6 p.m. on July 9 (2 a.m., July 10, Manila time).
Sison is the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and currently chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front, Jalandoni chairs the NDF peace negotiating panel, and Zumel, widow of the late NDF officer Antonio Zumel, heads the Front's secretariat.
Belmonte was accompanied by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, Davao Representative and appropriations committee chairman Isidro Ungab, and Romblon Representative and accounts committee chairman Eleandro Jesus Madrona.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, NDF legal counsel, helped arrange the meeting.
The venue of the meeting is about an hour's drive from The Hague, the Dutch capital where Belmonte attended the first round of oral arguments before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal on the Philippines' case against China's incursion into disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines was represented by a top level team led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Solicitor General Florin Hilbay.
An earlier report quoted Sison as saying he supported the Philippines' legal case against China's "aggressive acts" in the West Philippine Sea.
Sison said he and his wife, Juliet de Lima-Sison, have signed the "Joint manifesto of Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands” which backs the Philippines' fight for maritime rights in the disputed territories.
The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the largest ecumenical formation of church leaders in the country, earlier urged the government and the NDF to immediately resume peace negotiations "to address the roots of the armed conflict."
"We call on the GPH (government of the Philippines) and NDFP to immediately resume the formal peace talks in order to address the roots of the armed conflict. Along with this call is our appeal to both parties to make themselves more visible and accessible to the public, especially to the organizations accompanying this process," the PEPP had said in a statement.
The formal peace talks between the government and the NDF were suspended in June 2011.
In 2013, efforts were started for a possible meeting between Sison and President Benigno Aquino III in Hanoi, Vietnam, which would be hosted by the Norwegian government.
But the plan fizzled out after what Jalandoni called the failure of the both sides to come up with a mutually agreed general declaration.
The initiative hoped to replicate the tack the government adopted with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, when Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim met secretly in Tokyo in 2011 in what was described as a "great leap forward" for efforts to end the decades-long conflict in the southern Philippines.
In March 2014, the government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which concluded 17 years of negotiations between the two parties. The agreement led to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is being tackled in Congress.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113922/confidence-building--house-leaders-meet-reds-in-the-netherlands
CPP founder Jose Ma. Sison (left) and Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. talk to each other as NDF chief negotiator Luis Jalandoni looks on during their meeting in Amsterdam. (photo courtesy of Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II)
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and three other leaders of the House of Representatives met with communist leaders living in exile in Utrecht, The Netherlands in what he called an initiative to get stalled peace talks with the rebels back on track.
"It's more like confidence-building measure," Belmonte told InterAksyon.com in a text message after meeting Jose Maria Sison, Luis Jalandoni and Ruth de Leon Zumel in a Japanese restaurant in Amsterdam at 6 p.m. on July 9 (2 a.m., July 10, Manila time).
Sison is the founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines and currently chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front, Jalandoni chairs the NDF peace negotiating panel, and Zumel, widow of the late NDF officer Antonio Zumel, heads the Front's secretariat.
Belmonte was accompanied by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, Davao Representative and appropriations committee chairman Isidro Ungab, and Romblon Representative and accounts committee chairman Eleandro Jesus Madrona.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, NDF legal counsel, helped arrange the meeting.
The venue of the meeting is about an hour's drive from The Hague, the Dutch capital where Belmonte attended the first round of oral arguments before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal on the Philippines' case against China's incursion into disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines was represented by a top level team led by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Solicitor General Florin Hilbay.
An earlier report quoted Sison as saying he supported the Philippines' legal case against China's "aggressive acts" in the West Philippine Sea.
Sison said he and his wife, Juliet de Lima-Sison, have signed the "Joint manifesto of Filipinos and friends of the Filipino people in the Netherlands” which backs the Philippines' fight for maritime rights in the disputed territories.
The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, the largest ecumenical formation of church leaders in the country, earlier urged the government and the NDF to immediately resume peace negotiations "to address the roots of the armed conflict."
"We call on the GPH (government of the Philippines) and NDFP to immediately resume the formal peace talks in order to address the roots of the armed conflict. Along with this call is our appeal to both parties to make themselves more visible and accessible to the public, especially to the organizations accompanying this process," the PEPP had said in a statement.
The formal peace talks between the government and the NDF were suspended in June 2011.
In 2013, efforts were started for a possible meeting between Sison and President Benigno Aquino III in Hanoi, Vietnam, which would be hosted by the Norwegian government.
But the plan fizzled out after what Jalandoni called the failure of the both sides to come up with a mutually agreed general declaration.
The initiative hoped to replicate the tack the government adopted with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, when Aquino and MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim met secretly in Tokyo in 2011 in what was described as a "great leap forward" for efforts to end the decades-long conflict in the southern Philippines.
In March 2014, the government and the MILF signed the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, which concluded 17 years of negotiations between the two parties. The agreement led to the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, which is being tackled in Congress.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113922/confidence-building--house-leaders-meet-reds-in-the-netherlands
Philippines vs China: The Case of South China Sea
From the Value Walk (Jul 9): Philippines vs China: The Case of South China Sea
On Tuesday July 7th, a five-person panel of judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague heard the opening of the Philippines case against China concerning claims in the disputed South China Sea. Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippines hope to convince the tribunal that the court has jurisdiction in the dispute and should intervene. If the tribunal ultimately declares the court has jurisdiction in the dispute, then the court will make moves to determine actual claims. China has refused to take part in the case, arguing that the court has no authority to intervene in the dispute. While this tribunal does not garner the same attention as military standoffs in the South China Sea do, the legal implications of it are of a magnitude higher. This case is sure to attract the attention of the governments of every country that has a dispute with China.
The Philippines have raised five key points against China’s claims in the South China Sea; China is not entitled to exercise “historic rights” over the region, China’s nine dash line has no international legal basis, China’s claims are to geographical bodies which under international law do not confer EEZ zones, China has violated the sovereign right and jurisdiction of the Philippines, and finally, China has violated UNCLOS by damaging the regional marine environment.
The proceedings will last until July 13th though a decision on jurisdiction will still be months away. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is a 117-state body that rules on disputes between countries and is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. The same day of the opening of the tribunal, Chinas ambassador to the Philippines offered new bilateral talks to settle the dispute. The government in Manila flat out rejected this offering which the timing of leaves one to suspect that China might be concerned of the eventual outcome of the tribunal.
China has publicly refused to take part in the proceedings and is instead seeking to solve the dispute through bilateral talks. When asked by the tribunal to submit counterarguments, China instead submitted a “position paper” declaring that the court has no jurisdiction over the dispute. China argued that it is entitled to reject arbitration in disputes concerning boundaries, historic titles, or military activity since in 2006 it filed a formal declaration that invoked the opt-out clause of Article 298 of UNCLOS. China has also argued that by filing this case, the Philippines have violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Signed in 2002 between China and ASEAN members, the DOC is a non-binding declaration that discourages claimant nations from engaging in activities that will heighten tensions in the disputed region.
The current case was first filed by the Philippines in January 2013 at a United Nations tribunal. At the time, del Rosario the said, "The Philippines has exhausted almost all political and diplomatic avenues for a peaceful negotiated settlement of its maritime dispute with China." When filed, the Philippines lacked strong support from the U.S. and Japan and even other South East Asian countries. That lack of support has transformed into support as the dispute has flared up with China taking many provocative actions in the region including island building and increased military activity in recent years.
Relations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have only grown more hostile since the 2013 filing. In April 2014, the Philippine Navy was locked in a standoff with Chinese maritime surveillance ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Since then, other standoffs and incidents have occurred between the two countries. Recently, joint military drills held by the Philippines with the U.S. and Japan near disputed territory has only further angered China.
China has repeatedly sought to use bilateral talks with disputing nations rather than international bodies to solve the South China Sea dispute. Beijing does not want its disputes handled and decided upon by international courts as the pressure would then be on China as a member of the international community to abide by the decisions of the court. To reject the decision of an international body would certainly hurt the world opinion of China and encourage other countries to react the same to China. If the tribunal rules in the favor of the Philippines and the case eventually moves to arbitration, is China ready and willing to take part? For that matter, is China ultimately willing to accept the decisions of an international court if they are not in its favor?
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/07/philippines-vs-china-the-case-of-south-china-sea/
On Tuesday July 7th, a five-person panel of judges at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague heard the opening of the Philippines case against China concerning claims in the disputed South China Sea. Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Philippines hope to convince the tribunal that the court has jurisdiction in the dispute and should intervene. If the tribunal ultimately declares the court has jurisdiction in the dispute, then the court will make moves to determine actual claims. China has refused to take part in the case, arguing that the court has no authority to intervene in the dispute. While this tribunal does not garner the same attention as military standoffs in the South China Sea do, the legal implications of it are of a magnitude higher. This case is sure to attract the attention of the governments of every country that has a dispute with China.
The Case
In his opening statement before the tribunal, Philippine Foreign Minister Albert del Rosario said "The case before you is of the utmost importance to the Philippines, to the region, and to the world." He added, "In our view, it is also of utmost significance to the integrity of the convention [UNCLOS], and to the very fabric of the legal order of the seas and oceans." What is at stake is not only the claim by the Philippines but international law, in this case UNCLOS itself.The Philippines have raised five key points against China’s claims in the South China Sea; China is not entitled to exercise “historic rights” over the region, China’s nine dash line has no international legal basis, China’s claims are to geographical bodies which under international law do not confer EEZ zones, China has violated the sovereign right and jurisdiction of the Philippines, and finally, China has violated UNCLOS by damaging the regional marine environment.
The proceedings will last until July 13th though a decision on jurisdiction will still be months away. The Permanent Court of Arbitration is a 117-state body that rules on disputes between countries and is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. The same day of the opening of the tribunal, Chinas ambassador to the Philippines offered new bilateral talks to settle the dispute. The government in Manila flat out rejected this offering which the timing of leaves one to suspect that China might be concerned of the eventual outcome of the tribunal.
China has publicly refused to take part in the proceedings and is instead seeking to solve the dispute through bilateral talks. When asked by the tribunal to submit counterarguments, China instead submitted a “position paper” declaring that the court has no jurisdiction over the dispute. China argued that it is entitled to reject arbitration in disputes concerning boundaries, historic titles, or military activity since in 2006 it filed a formal declaration that invoked the opt-out clause of Article 298 of UNCLOS. China has also argued that by filing this case, the Philippines have violated the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Signed in 2002 between China and ASEAN members, the DOC is a non-binding declaration that discourages claimant nations from engaging in activities that will heighten tensions in the disputed region.
The Dispute
China claims all of the South China Sea, basing its claim on ancient Chinese maps which showed Chinese activity in the islands dating back centuries. Other countries in the dispute (Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan) though have their own basis for claims while none claim as much as China does except for Taiwan. The Philippines base their claim on geography and the legal principle Res nullius which states that an object is ownerless and free to be owned. Following WWII, Japan which controlled the islands relinquished its control without any specific beneficiary making them free for annexation. Furthermore regarding geography, all of the islands claimed by the Philippines fall within its 200-mile EEZ.Relations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have only grown more hostile since the 2013 filing. In April 2014, the Philippine Navy was locked in a standoff with Chinese maritime surveillance ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Since then, other standoffs and incidents have occurred between the two countries. Recently, joint military drills held by the Philippines with the U.S. and Japan near disputed territory has only further angered China.
Possible Outcomes
The delegation from the Philippines strongly believes the tribunal will rule in their favor. If the tribunal declares it has no jurisdiction in the case, the Philippines will be forced to find another venue to bring the dispute to. On the other hand, a ruling by the tribunal that the court has jurisdiction will show that the basis of the claims by the Philippines are stronger than those of China. Where the case goes from there is anyone’s guess.China has repeatedly sought to use bilateral talks with disputing nations rather than international bodies to solve the South China Sea dispute. Beijing does not want its disputes handled and decided upon by international courts as the pressure would then be on China as a member of the international community to abide by the decisions of the court. To reject the decision of an international body would certainly hurt the world opinion of China and encourage other countries to react the same to China. If the tribunal rules in the favor of the Philippines and the case eventually moves to arbitration, is China ready and willing to take part? For that matter, is China ultimately willing to accept the decisions of an international court if they are not in its favor?
http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/07/philippines-vs-china-the-case-of-south-china-sea/
Reds now ready to start new talks, says Belmonte
From the Manila Standard Today (Jul 11): Reds now ready to start new talks, says Belmonte
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/07/11/reds-now-ready-to-start-new-talks-says-belmonte/
HOUSE Speaker
Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Friday the communist leaders living in exile in Utrecht
He said Jose
Maria Sison and Luis Jalandoni had agreed to the meeting he had sought, and
that they also wanted to tap him as the “bridge” between the communists and the
government.
The formal peace
talks between the government and the NDF were suspended in June 2011.
“Yes, they were
ready to resume informal talks. I just listened,” Belmonte told The Standard.
“I just listened.
There were no commitments on my part, but it was a very informative dinner with
Joma and Jalandoni.”
Belmonte said
Sison and Jalandoni did not impose “preconditions” to what he called an
“initiative” to get the stalled peace talks with the rebels back on track.
He said he would
report to President Benigno Aquino III the “informative dinner” that he had
with the communist leaders.
He said he had
sought the meeting with Sison, Jalandoni and Ruth de Leon Zumel in a Japanese
restaurant in Amsterdam
Belmonte is with
the 35-member delegation to The Hague , where the
Philippines is arguing its case
against China over their
dispute in the West Philippine Sea .
Sison is the
founding chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines
Jalandoni heads
the NDF’s peace negotiating panel, and Zumel, the widow of the late NDF officer
Antonio Zumel, heads the NDF secretariat.
“No
preconditions. I will mention it to the President,” Belmonte said.
“I wanted
to meet them while I was here (The Netherlands] and it was arranged while l was
in Manila
Belmonte was
accompanied by House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, Davao City Rep. and
appropriations committee chairman Isidro Ungab, and Romblon Rep. and Eleandro
Jesus Madrona in the meeting.
Edre Olalia, the
NDF’s legal counsel, helped arrange the meeting.
Olalia confirmed
that the meeting pushed through, but that he was not privy to what was
discussed since he was in Manila
The venue of the
meeting is about an hour’s drive from The Hague ,
the Dutch capital, where Belmonte attended the first round of the oral
arguments before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal on the Philippines ’ case against China ’s incursion into the disputed territories
in the West Philippine Sea .
The Philippines
An earlier report
quoted Sison as saying he supported the Philippines ’
legal case against China ’s
“aggressive acts” in the West Philippine Sea .
http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/07/11/reds-now-ready-to-start-new-talks-says-belmonte/
Ka Parago: A soldier of the poor
Posted to the pro-CPP online publication the Davao Today (Jul 9): Ka Parago: A soldier of the poor
The tribute program for fallen New People’s Army commander Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao opened with a song themed with what has been a monicker of communist guerillas, that they are “soldiers of the poor.”
“Ang sundalo sa kabus, andam makigbisog, ang sundalo sa kabus (the soldiers of the poor, ready to struggle, the soldiers of the poor),” the song goes amidst the roar of applause of the attendees of the tribute program.
The Davao City Sports and Recreation Center, the venue of the program was filled with mourners who appear to have just arrived in the City, 7pm of Thursday.
Ka Parago is a known NPA commander in Davao City’s Paquibato District which share borders with Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
Statements from the NPA say Paquibato residents call him “Tatay (Father).”
The tribute program’s first message was given in a video present by another prominent NPA leader in Mindanao, Ka Oris.
“While Ka Parago came from the poorest of families and have not reached a high degree of education, he understood what the revolution meant,” said Ka Oris.
Ka Oris said “he was already old and sick but he continued to fight till the end amidst problems and obstacles in the family and his work.”
1BAP Partylist Representative Silvestre Bello III, in his speech, said coming to Ka Parago’s wake is his “obligation to a friend.”
He said when news reached him of Ka Parago’s death, an Army friend from his hometown Legazpi, Albay, said “it’s the end of the Communist movement.”
“Whoever that military official is, he is ignorant of history. While poverty, injustice and corruption still prevails, the revolution will continue,” said Bello.
Bello said he admired Parago since his youth.
“I admire him because he still fought even when he is already old, but us, we stopped,” he said.
Bello said “we should salute someone like Parago. But you (the younger generation) must continue the fight for us.”
The program heard a few speeches at 8pm but people seem to have started to come in while many still lineup at the gates.
The gym, said to hold a capity of 5,000 people, was already full from the bleachers to the court.
At the back of the gymnasium, mourners aim their eyes to the large mural of Ka Parago as the viewing of his remains, which lie at the stage’s center, was temporarily stopped till the program’s end.
Manong Rody, 48, a farmer from Paquibato came with a backpack.
“I packed some food and malong. I came alone since it’s hard to bring my children with me,” he said.
Manong Rody said he, along with many others from Paquibato, will stay the night to attend Ka Parago’s funeral march 7am of July 10.
“Like the soldiers of the poor, we poor farmers of Paquibato came prepared to bid Ka Parago our goodbye with the promise to keep the fight,” he said.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/ka-parago-a-soldier-of-the-poor/
The tribute program for fallen New People’s Army commander Leoncio “Ka Parago” Pitao opened with a song themed with what has been a monicker of communist guerillas, that they are “soldiers of the poor.”
“Ang sundalo sa kabus, andam makigbisog, ang sundalo sa kabus (the soldiers of the poor, ready to struggle, the soldiers of the poor),” the song goes amidst the roar of applause of the attendees of the tribute program.
The Davao City Sports and Recreation Center, the venue of the program was filled with mourners who appear to have just arrived in the City, 7pm of Thursday.
Ka Parago is a known NPA commander in Davao City’s Paquibato District which share borders with Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
Statements from the NPA say Paquibato residents call him “Tatay (Father).”
The tribute program’s first message was given in a video present by another prominent NPA leader in Mindanao, Ka Oris.
“While Ka Parago came from the poorest of families and have not reached a high degree of education, he understood what the revolution meant,” said Ka Oris.
Ka Oris said “he was already old and sick but he continued to fight till the end amidst problems and obstacles in the family and his work.”
1BAP Partylist Representative Silvestre Bello III, in his speech, said coming to Ka Parago’s wake is his “obligation to a friend.”
He said when news reached him of Ka Parago’s death, an Army friend from his hometown Legazpi, Albay, said “it’s the end of the Communist movement.”
“Whoever that military official is, he is ignorant of history. While poverty, injustice and corruption still prevails, the revolution will continue,” said Bello.
Bello said he admired Parago since his youth.
“I admire him because he still fought even when he is already old, but us, we stopped,” he said.
Bello said “we should salute someone like Parago. But you (the younger generation) must continue the fight for us.”
The program heard a few speeches at 8pm but people seem to have started to come in while many still lineup at the gates.
The gym, said to hold a capity of 5,000 people, was already full from the bleachers to the court.
At the back of the gymnasium, mourners aim their eyes to the large mural of Ka Parago as the viewing of his remains, which lie at the stage’s center, was temporarily stopped till the program’s end.
Manong Rody, 48, a farmer from Paquibato came with a backpack.
“I packed some food and malong. I came alone since it’s hard to bring my children with me,” he said.
Manong Rody said he, along with many others from Paquibato, will stay the night to attend Ka Parago’s funeral march 7am of July 10.
“Like the soldiers of the poor, we poor farmers of Paquibato came prepared to bid Ka Parago our goodbye with the promise to keep the fight,” he said.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/ka-parago-a-soldier-of-the-poor/
Photos: Thousands attend Kumander Parago’s burial in Davao City
From the pro-CPP online publication Davao Today (Jul 10): Photos: Thousands attend Kumander Parago’s burial in Davao City
CLENCHED. Escorts of the late Commander Parago raise their fists during the funeral march on Friday. (Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
RED GUARDS. A police officer watches the coffin of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, alias Kumander Parago, as Red guards surround the coffin displayed along the highway of Buhangin, Davao City during the funeral caravan.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
YOUTH. Members of the underground revolutionary youth organization Kabataang Makabayan join the funeral march of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, alias Ka Parago on Thursday. The group also calls for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
YOUTH. Members of the underground revolutionary youth organization Kabataang Makabayan join the funeral march of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, alias Ka Parago on Thursday. The group also calls for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
YOUTH. Members of the underground revolutionary youth organization Kabataang Makabayan join the funeral march of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, alias Ka Parago on Thursday. The group also calls for the resumption of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
MARCHING PARAGOS. Sympathizers wear masks of NPA’s Kumander Parago’s image during his funeral march around downtown Davao City.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
THOUSANDS. Around 10,000 people march along San Pedro Street, Davao City towards Davao City Memorial Park where Kumander Parago is cremated on Friday noon. (Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
REPAINT. Members of the underground youth movement repaint the graffiti wall along Matina highway in Davao City with images of Kumander Parago and the words Long Live the New People’s Army. On Thursday afternoon local artist finished a mural of Kumander Parago, however it was defaced in black paint immediately.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
REPAINT. Members of the underground youth movement repaint the graffiti wall along Matina highway in Davao City with images of Kumander Parago and the words Long Live the New People’s Army. On Thursday afternoon local artist finished a mural of Kumander Parago, however it was defaced in black paint immediately.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
REPAINT. Members of the underground youth movement repaint the graffiti wall along Matina highway in Davao City with images of Kumander Parago and the words Long Live the New People’s Army. On Thursday afternoon local artist finished a mural of Kumander Parago, however it was defaced in black paint immediately.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
LAST GLIMPSE. Relatives of Leoncio Pitao take a picture of him before he was cremated at the Davao Memorial Park on Friday.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
LAST GLIMPSE. Relatives of Leoncio Pitao take a picture of him before he was cremated at the Davao Memorial Park on Friday.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
WIFE. Evangeline, wife of slain NPA commander Leoncio Pitao, receives the flag of the Communist Party of the Philippines after the liturgy held at the chapel inside Davao Memorial Park. Beside her is Bishop Jonathan Casimina of the Episcopal Diocese of Davao.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
CREMATION ROOM. The remains of New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, alias Ka Parago, is taken to the cremation room inside Davao Memorial Park past 3:00 pm on Friday.(Ace R. Morandante/davaotoday.com)
NPA mass base shown in Ka Parago’s burial
From the pro-CPP online publication Davao Today (Jul 11): NPA mass base shown in Ka Parago’s burial
The attendance of an estimated 10,000 individuals in the funeral march of a fallen rebel commander is a “reflection” of the New Peoples Army’s strength of its mass base here, a prominent militant leader said.
Former Bayan Muna partylist representative Satur Ocampo, said that while the thousands who came to the Friday burial of Leoncio Pitao would be considered “many”, he said “it is but a reflection and perhaps, a fraction of what has been called the mass base of the NPA”.
Ocampo said that based on his experience, this “mass base perform comprehensive task but its reflection of strength is sometimes felt during deaths of well-known leaders.”
Ocampo was formerly a business editor of a national newspaper before he became one of the founders of the underground National Democratic Front.
The Philippine Army annually says the NPA mass base is “weakening in strength” and that its regular forces are “dwindling in numbers.”
The NPA and human rights groups also accuse government that it intensifies its “fascist campaigns of suppression” through “torture, threats and extrajudicial killings” to weaken support to the revolutionary movement.
“But that is shattered by the mass base in occasions like this when they show up and defy fear and show revolutionary strength,” Ocampo said.
Ocampo said “this also shows how prepared the mass bases are to sacrifice for the revolution in cases where the state gets back at them for coming here (Parago’s burial),” he said.
“This is not yet that mass base as in events like this the movement is limited because of its location and logistical requirements,” he said.
Ocampo said the Army “falls to their own mistakes of giving wrong estimates of supposed NPA strength.”
“The Army estimated the NPA strength to be more or less 3,000 in late 2014 and said that in 2015 it is more than 4,000 and they recently said it decreased,” he said.
About 100 trucks, buses, cars and light motor vehicles carried mourners of Pitao, alias Ka Parago, to Davao City from many areas of eastern Mindanao days earlier and more came for the funeral caravan and funeral march Friday.
A few thousand more mourners came from Davao City.
The caravan of trucks and buses, including one truck which carried Ka Parago’s remains, held a condemnation program outside the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) headquarters where mourners splattered red paint against its walls Friday morning.
The Army said Ka Parago and his medic Vanessa Limpag, alias Ka Kyle, were killed in an encounter in Paquibato District on June 28.
The NPA, however, said the killing of Ka Parago and Ka Kyle is a violation of international humanitarian law as they said Ka Parago was already “weak and sick”, while Ka Kyle “was unarmed and identified herself as a medic and raised her hands to surrender.”
At 1:00 pm Friday, the caravan unloaded mourners to mount what Davao militant leaders say is “one, if not the biggest, funeral march for an NPA leader in the country’s history.”
Ocampo said the sheer number is “comparable to the funeral march of Ka Roger Rosal.”
Ka Roger is the spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines who died in 2011 because of an illness.
“They are somewhat different in the functions they performed. Ka Parago is the rebel ground commander, while Ka Roger is a spokesperson but the support of the mass base is the same,” he said.
The revolutionary underground’s flag of colors led the march followed by the funeral car. A jeepney blasting a song composed for Ka Parago came next, then the truck carrying Ka Parago’s remains with his honor guards followed.
Next in the march is Ka Parago’s family, then the large group in formation was led by Ocampo and known activist-leaders.
The funeral march took the main thoroughfares of Davao City to the Davao Memorial Park.
Bystanders who seemed awed by the big number of marchers came out of their workplaces to take a glimpse of the march. Some took the opportunity to document it using their video cameras and cellphones.
Some bystanders say they could not believe the news of Ka Parago’s death until his remains passed before them during the march.
Meanwhile, a group of graffiti artists carried a stenciled face of Ka Parago and the text “Sampa sa NPA (join the NPA)” and painted it on walls and posts while the march edges on.
Many were not shy to chant “long live the New People’s Army.”
At about 2:00 pm, a short liturgical program was initiated for Ka Parago inside the crematorium chapel.
The family was given time to give their last glimpse before his body entered the crematorium, but some mourners went out of their way to also bid goodbye.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/npa-mass-base-shown-in-ka-paragos-burial/
The attendance of an estimated 10,000 individuals in the funeral march of a fallen rebel commander is a “reflection” of the New Peoples Army’s strength of its mass base here, a prominent militant leader said.
Former Bayan Muna partylist representative Satur Ocampo, said that while the thousands who came to the Friday burial of Leoncio Pitao would be considered “many”, he said “it is but a reflection and perhaps, a fraction of what has been called the mass base of the NPA”.
Ocampo said that based on his experience, this “mass base perform comprehensive task but its reflection of strength is sometimes felt during deaths of well-known leaders.”
Ocampo was formerly a business editor of a national newspaper before he became one of the founders of the underground National Democratic Front.
The Philippine Army annually says the NPA mass base is “weakening in strength” and that its regular forces are “dwindling in numbers.”
The NPA and human rights groups also accuse government that it intensifies its “fascist campaigns of suppression” through “torture, threats and extrajudicial killings” to weaken support to the revolutionary movement.
“But that is shattered by the mass base in occasions like this when they show up and defy fear and show revolutionary strength,” Ocampo said.
Ocampo said “this also shows how prepared the mass bases are to sacrifice for the revolution in cases where the state gets back at them for coming here (Parago’s burial),” he said.
“This is not yet that mass base as in events like this the movement is limited because of its location and logistical requirements,” he said.
Ocampo said the Army “falls to their own mistakes of giving wrong estimates of supposed NPA strength.”
“The Army estimated the NPA strength to be more or less 3,000 in late 2014 and said that in 2015 it is more than 4,000 and they recently said it decreased,” he said.
About 100 trucks, buses, cars and light motor vehicles carried mourners of Pitao, alias Ka Parago, to Davao City from many areas of eastern Mindanao days earlier and more came for the funeral caravan and funeral march Friday.
A few thousand more mourners came from Davao City.
The caravan of trucks and buses, including one truck which carried Ka Parago’s remains, held a condemnation program outside the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) headquarters where mourners splattered red paint against its walls Friday morning.
The Army said Ka Parago and his medic Vanessa Limpag, alias Ka Kyle, were killed in an encounter in Paquibato District on June 28.
The NPA, however, said the killing of Ka Parago and Ka Kyle is a violation of international humanitarian law as they said Ka Parago was already “weak and sick”, while Ka Kyle “was unarmed and identified herself as a medic and raised her hands to surrender.”
At 1:00 pm Friday, the caravan unloaded mourners to mount what Davao militant leaders say is “one, if not the biggest, funeral march for an NPA leader in the country’s history.”
Ocampo said the sheer number is “comparable to the funeral march of Ka Roger Rosal.”
Ka Roger is the spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines who died in 2011 because of an illness.
“They are somewhat different in the functions they performed. Ka Parago is the rebel ground commander, while Ka Roger is a spokesperson but the support of the mass base is the same,” he said.
The revolutionary underground’s flag of colors led the march followed by the funeral car. A jeepney blasting a song composed for Ka Parago came next, then the truck carrying Ka Parago’s remains with his honor guards followed.
Next in the march is Ka Parago’s family, then the large group in formation was led by Ocampo and known activist-leaders.
The funeral march took the main thoroughfares of Davao City to the Davao Memorial Park.
Bystanders who seemed awed by the big number of marchers came out of their workplaces to take a glimpse of the march. Some took the opportunity to document it using their video cameras and cellphones.
Some bystanders say they could not believe the news of Ka Parago’s death until his remains passed before them during the march.
Meanwhile, a group of graffiti artists carried a stenciled face of Ka Parago and the text “Sampa sa NPA (join the NPA)” and painted it on walls and posts while the march edges on.
Many were not shy to chant “long live the New People’s Army.”
At about 2:00 pm, a short liturgical program was initiated for Ka Parago inside the crematorium chapel.
The family was given time to give their last glimpse before his body entered the crematorium, but some mourners went out of their way to also bid goodbye.
http://davaotoday.com/main/politics/npa-mass-base-shown-in-ka-paragos-burial/
CPP/NDF/NPA: ELEGY from the peasant army, NPA, for Comrade Parago
NDF/NPA propaganda poem posted to the CPP website (Jul 10): ELEGY from the peasant army, NPA, for Comrade Parago
Joint IPSO efforts to be sustained: AFP
From the Visayan Daily Star (Jul 10): Joint IPSO efforts to be sustained: AFP
The Army's 3rd Infantry Division and the Police Regional Office 6 are not taking chances, and vowed to further strengthen and sustain the joint internal peace and security efforts in the region, despite the declaration of all provinces in Negros and Panay as peaceful and ready for further development.
Negros Occidental was the last province in Western Visayas to be declared peaceful and ready for further development, which was made last month.
Maj. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, 3ID commander, who attended the Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting in Jamindan, Capiz Tuesday, said the complementary and concerted effort of the AFP, the PNP and other stakeholders, through “Dagyaw Para sa Kalinong (Working Together for Peace)” paved the way for the declaration of all the provinces in the 3ID's area of operations as peaceful and ready for further development.
Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz, newly-installed regional police director for Western Visayas, also attended the RJPSCC meeting and stressed the need for law enforcement agencies and the uniformed services, to work closely with all stakeholders to maintain peace and order, especially since the region is hosting major national and international events.
During the security meeting, the 3ID presented its midyear accomplishments on the conduct of Internal Peace and Security Operations, where credit was given to the combined efforts of the Army and the PNP, through the RJPSCC, its spokesman, Maj. Rey Tiongson, said.
The 3ID also reported the recovery of 20 firearms and the neutralization of 30 New People's Army members in Panay and Negros in the first semester of 2015, of which four had been arrested and 26 surrendered.
Sixteen explosive materials were recovered and 19 NPA camps were seized, also during the period, Tiongson said.
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2015/July/10/negor4.htm
The Army's 3rd Infantry Division and the Police Regional Office 6 are not taking chances, and vowed to further strengthen and sustain the joint internal peace and security efforts in the region, despite the declaration of all provinces in Negros and Panay as peaceful and ready for further development.
Negros Occidental was the last province in Western Visayas to be declared peaceful and ready for further development, which was made last month.
Maj. Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero, 3ID commander, who attended the Regional Joint Peace and Security Coordinating Council meeting in Jamindan, Capiz Tuesday, said the complementary and concerted effort of the AFP, the PNP and other stakeholders, through “Dagyaw Para sa Kalinong (Working Together for Peace)” paved the way for the declaration of all the provinces in the 3ID's area of operations as peaceful and ready for further development.
Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz, newly-installed regional police director for Western Visayas, also attended the RJPSCC meeting and stressed the need for law enforcement agencies and the uniformed services, to work closely with all stakeholders to maintain peace and order, especially since the region is hosting major national and international events.
During the security meeting, the 3ID presented its midyear accomplishments on the conduct of Internal Peace and Security Operations, where credit was given to the combined efforts of the Army and the PNP, through the RJPSCC, its spokesman, Maj. Rey Tiongson, said.
The 3ID also reported the recovery of 20 firearms and the neutralization of 30 New People's Army members in Panay and Negros in the first semester of 2015, of which four had been arrested and 26 surrendered.
Sixteen explosive materials were recovered and 19 NPA camps were seized, also during the period, Tiongson said.
http://www.visayandailystar.com/2015/July/10/negor4.htm
Lockdown mode
From the Mindanao Times (Jul 9): Lockdown mode
Red alert for final viewing of slain rebel leader
THE DAVAO City Police Office intensified security for the Luksang Parangal for Leoncio Pitao alias Kumander Parago of the New People’s Army to be held at the Davao City Recreation Center at 6 p.m. today.
Red alert for final viewing of slain rebel leader
THE DAVAO City Police Office intensified security for the Luksang Parangal for Leoncio Pitao alias Kumander Parago of the New People’s Army to be held at the Davao City Recreation Center at 6 p.m. today.
The authorities expect some NPA leaders and members, along with sympathizers to pay their last respects for the slain guerilla leader. The interment is scheduled on Friday afternoon at the Davao Memorial Park.
Speaking yesterday during the AFP-PNP press conference, Sr. Insp. Milgrace Driz, city police spokesperson, said that 20 personnel from the City Public Safety Command and different precincts will secure the area.
“We will have a maximum deployment as much as possible with the help also from the Traffic management office and Traffic group,” Driz said, adding that mobile patrol units will intensify monitoring and conduct random checkpoints as part of the security procedure.
Driz, however, assured the public that the city is safe. As for the NPA rebels who will come in for a visit, they were told to leave behind firearms and explosives and also warned against committing crimes while in the city.
“But those with warrants of arrest will surely be arrested,” she said.
Lt. Isis Gabasa, spokesperson of Task Force Davao, reiterated that communist guerillas paying their tribute won’t be touched as long as they comply with the instructions.
The Luksang Parangal was arranged by the City Mayor’s Office.
Last June 28, Pitao and the unit’s medic, later identified as Vanessa Limpag, were killed in an encounter in Barangay Panalum in Paquibato District.
Recovered from the site were three M16 rifles, three backpacks and several rounds of handrifle grenades.
The National Democratic Front-Southern Mindanao also ran a full-page advertisement with the Philippine Daily Inquirer on July 7 giving honor to the fallen rebel leader. It also claimed that Pitao wasn’t killed in a clash as claimed by the army, but was rather murdered in cold-blood.
“Ka Parago was killed while undergoing treatment for his lingering illnesses,” the statement read. “He had diabetes, hepatitis and hyperthyroidism which forced him to slow down in the midst of relentless military operations of the AFP. The medic, Ka Kyle (Vanessa Limpag) who was treating and nursing him was also razed to the ground. Well-oriented of her right under Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions, she had already raised her arms and was shouting that she was a medic, but was gunned down just the same by the raiding team.”
The letter, signed by Siegfried Red representing the Regional Party Committee, accused the army of “brazenly” disregarding the Rules of Engagement of the Geneva Convention and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and the International Humanitarian Law (CARHR-IHL).
“They should be held accountable for the death of a medical personnel. It is very clear that in the current practice of the reactionary armed forces, the military kills indiscriminately and with impunity,” it added.
NPA commander released after posting P200-K bail
From the Mindanao Times (Jul 10): NPA commander released after posting P200-K bail
A HIGH-ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) was released from Compostela Valley Provincial Jail on the order of a trial court after posting bail worth P200,000.
Zaldy Cañete alias Jingoy, a leader of NPA’s Pulang Bagani 4th Company, was released on Wednesday after his lawyers showed the release order signed by the Regional Trial Court executive judge and addressed to the warden.
He was charged with multiple murder, homicide, and kidnapping of various military personnel.
He was arrested on Jan. 30, 1010, after being wounded in a firefight in Barangay Sarmiento, Laak, Compostela Valley Province.
Based on the report of military, Cañete was a celebrated case of child combatant who was recruited at the age of 13 and who rose steadily and quickly within the ranks of the NPA. He surrendered after being wounded in a gunbattle with the Army’s 3rd Special Forces Battalion in Talaingod town in Davao del Norte.
'PH likely to win, lose some claims vs China'
From Rappler (Jul 10): 'PH likely to win, lose some claims vs China'
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal explains that sovereignty and China's land reclamation beyond the Philippines' exclusive zone are Manila's main hurdles in the arbitration case
MIXED RULING. Professor Jay Batongbacal says the Philippine team at The Hague, The Netherlands will most likely secure a mixed ruling on jurisdiction after the first round of oral arguments. Photo courtesy: DFA
While the Philippines expects to win its historic arbitration case against China, a leading maritime law expert believes Manila is likely to get a mixed ruling on the major hurdle of jurisdiction.
'Shaming China won't work'
Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal explains that sovereignty and China's land reclamation beyond the Philippines' exclusive zone are Manila's main hurdles in the arbitration case
MIXED RULING. Professor Jay Batongbacal says the Philippine team at The Hague, The Netherlands will most likely secure a mixed ruling on jurisdiction after the first round of oral arguments. Photo courtesy: DFA
While the Philippines expects to win its historic arbitration case against China, a leading maritime law expert believes Manila is likely to get a mixed ruling on the major hurdle of jurisdiction.
Jay Batongbacal, assistant professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, said that the most plausible outcome is for the arbitral tribunal based in The Hague to divide the Philippines' claims on the South China Sea. The tribunal will then decide on each claim whether or not it has jurisdiction or the power to try the case.
“Given that the case presented by the Philippines is rather complicated – there are at least 13 to a little less than 20 claims depending on how you count them – I think it's realistic to expect that at least the tribunal will come up with a mixed decision saying it has jurisdiction on some, but not on others,” Batongbacal said on Rappler Talk on Thursday, July 9.
Watch the full interview:
The Philippines is presenting oral arguments from July 7 to 13 to convince the tribunal to take jurisdiction of its case. Jurisdiction is Manila's toughest obstacle, with Beijing arguing in a position paper in December 2014 that the tribunal does not have power over the case.
Batongbacal said it is crucial for the Philippines to win jurisdiction because under the tribunal's rules, the issue must first be resolved before it can proceed to the merits.
The director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea said that the best case scenario for the Philippines is for the tribunal to rule that it has jurisdiction on all the claims. The worst case is for the arbitrators to say they have no jurisdiction; case closed. (READ: Rough seas: Will PH 'lawfare' work vs China?)
“That can happen if they are convinced of China's arguments that the issues cannot be separated: the sovereignty over the land cannot be separated from the maritime features, and therefore the maritime rights and jurisdiction cannot also be decided unless they first go into sovereignty over land,” he said.
China argues that case is about who owns disputed islands and rocks in the South China Sea. Territorial sovereignty is beyond the scope of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), known as the constitution for the oceans.
For the Philippines, the case is about the sea, not land, particularly maritime rights under UNCLOS like the right to fish and to exploit oil and gas within an exclusive zone. (READ: EXPLAINER: Philippines' 5 arguments vs China)
“So the difficulty really lies in that divide,” Batongbacal said. “Because conventionally or normally, whenever maritime issues are presented to international tribunals, they first have to determine who has sovereignty over the adjacent land features before they can move on to the adjacent waters because of the principle 'the land dominates the sea.'”
The foundation of UNCLOS, this principle means that states are able to exercise rights over waters depending on the distance from adjacent land.
Batongbacal agreed with Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio that if the Philippines hurdles jurisdiction, the tribunal will likely strike down China's controversial 9-dash line.
Invalidating the 9-dash line is one of the main objectives of the Philippines.
China uses the line to claim almost the entire South China Sea where $5 trillion in global trade passes every year. The sea is also the site of coveted fishing areas, and potential vast deposits of oil and gas. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to the sea.
Reclamation a tricky issue
China's massive reclamation in the South China Sea is another issue the Philippines raises.
The law professor has said that reclamation “tampers with the evidence,” because it casts doubt on whether the features were originally rocks or islands, which have different maritime entitlements.
'Embarrassing China only makes them dig in even deeper into their positions like reclamation. But moral suasion would certainly have some influence in the long-term.'
- Professor Jay Batongbacal
Batongbacal said that the problem is 3 of the 8 maritime features that China turned into artificial islands are beyond the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Philippines has the right to explore and exploit natural resources within its 200-nautical mile EEZ.
He said UNCLOS allows states to create artificial islands in the high seas or international waters.
“Although we have contested their legality, if the artificial islands are regarded by the tribunal as being part of the high seas then it does not actually help us because China, just like any other state, would be able to say they can establish these islands in the high seas. And that's under our own theory so that really is a problem,” Batongbacal said.
He added that the Philippines only has the chance of contesting the legality of reclamation in features within its EEZ like Mischief Reef.
“If we're successful in convincing the tribunal that the artificial islands are within our EEZ and continental shelf, and that none of the other island features in that area can generate such a shelf or zone, then we can ask the tribunal to say they are in violation of international law because they are constructions on somebody's EEZ.”
Besides jurisdiction, the other challenge for the Philippines is getting China to follow a ruling favorable to Manila. The tribunal is expected to hand down a decision by early 2016.
Batongbacal said that the Aquino administration's naming and shaming strategy will not work.
“Embarrassing [China] only makes them dig in even deeper into their positions like reclamation. But moral suasion, a clear statement that these are the rules that everyone must follow, would certainly have some influence in the long-term. States do place importance on their stature and reputation in the international community,” he said.
The maritime scholar shared the observation of many analysts that the Philippines relies too much on the legal track to resolve the maritime dispute. Whether officials admit it or not, the arbitration case dominated Philippine-China relations since 2012.
“We really need to diversify in order for us to maximize whatever benefits we can get from each and every option. That can include bilateral negotiations if necessary, but that does not preclude multilateral negotiations on another front or even arbitration again, if we feel that is necessary on another issue. We can use ASEAN, military alliances, bilateral alliances – we should make use of all of them.”
He said exploring other avenues is important because it will take more than a decade for a positive ruling to be enforced. (READ: The impossible dream and the West Philippine Sea)
Win or lose, talking to China will be inevitable.
“A ruling will help us in the future in negotiating some other arrangement, so ultimately it's about reinforcing your argument, your negotiating position.”