By DJ Yap
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:50:00 02/12/2010
THE INTERROGATOR’S taunt outraged Dr. Merry Mia Clamor as she sat blindfolded, her hands cuffed, in a room she could not describe, facing somebody she could not see.
The disembodied voice had sneered: “Ginamot mo na ba ang buni ni Ka Roger (Have you cured Ka Roger’s ringworm yet)?”
The 33-year-old physician did not reply.
“I was shocked. I could not say anything,” she told the Inquirer Thursday in her first interview with the media since she and 42 other health workers were arrested on Feb. 6 in Morong, Rizal, on suspicion of links with communists.
The interrogator was apparently referring to Gregorio Rosal aka Ka Roger, the spokesperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
The 43 detainees, including two doctors and other health professionals, were finally allowed to confer with their lawyers belonging to the National Union of People’s Lawyers and of the Public Interest Law Center in their tightly guarded detention cells at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.
The eight lawyers led by Edre Olalia were assisted by Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima.
Presumption of innocence
At a meeting with Brig. Gen. Jorge Segovia, the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, De Lima said the military’s treatment of the detainees did not meet human rights standards.
“Even assuming that they are really all NPAs (New People’s Army, the armed wing of the CPP), they still have rights. All civil and political rights are still available to them, especially the constitutional presumption of innocence,” De Lima said.
To which Segovia replied: “The presumption of innocence that applies to NPAs should also apply to our soldiers… As far as our officers are concerned, they’re only trying to do their job.”
Earlier, the CHR accused the military of subjecting the 43 detainees to “psychological torture”—a charge Segovia denied.
'It’s a shame’
Clamor said she was teaching volunteers first aid and other basic medical procedures at a health training seminar in the early morning of Feb. 6 when she and the other health workers were arrested.
She said her unseen interrogator’s question served to trivialize her efforts.
“I was doing this with the purest intention—to train volunteers and to give them skills so they themselves can help others in their community,” Clamor said.
“It’s a shame… I chose to stay here in the Philippines instead of going abroad. I chose to stay [despite] the knowledge it would be a thankless job,” she said.
Clamor said that as a member of the Council for Health and Development (CHD), she had taken part in medical missions and other health training seminars in Rizal, Bacolod, Negros and Iloilo.
Logistics
Segovia said the detainees had not been allowed to see their lawyers until Thursday largely because of a logistical problem.
He said it was the biggest number of arrests of “underground personalities,” and that Camp Capinpin had no ready facility to accommodate all 43 health workers.
The military also needed to process the detainees’ identities, he said.
Olalia at one point objected to the “underground” tag, prompting Segovia to rephrase his remark by adding “alleged.”
Another problem, according to Segovia, was that some of the detainees refused to reveal their identities, and their lawyers also did not provide the right names to the military custodians when seeking permission to meet their clients.
But Olalia said the right of a person to see a lawyer upon arrest was so crucial that denying it constituted a serious breach of human rights.
‘Violated’
“We felt violated. We were illegally arrested. We were questioned without a lawyer present,” Clamor said from her cell.
Recalling her first night in detention, she said the questioning was relaxed at first, with the interrogator asking where she worked, what she did, and so on.
But the tone turned hostile as the night wore on.
When she said she did not want to answer any more questions without a lawyer, she was told: “You’ll be long gone before your lawyer comes.”
Husband Karapatan exec
But while she had initially been denied access to a lawyer, Clamor said her husband, Roneo Clamor, was granted permission to see her.
“He took it in stride. He’s used to situations like this,” she said of her husband, the deputy secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan.
Clamor said she did not experience rough treatment from the soldiers except during the arrest, when they pointed long firearms at her and the others and ordered them to lie on their bellies.
“We appreciate the handling of the female guards,” she said.
In an interview with reporters, Segovia insisted that all 43 detainees were NPA members.
The military provided reporters a list of the detainees, including name, aliases, addresses, age, educational attainment, schools and “position” in the NPA.
Clamor’s position was listed as “national level.”
“That’s not true,” she said.
Online campaign
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has launched an online campaign for the release of the 43 health workers.
In a letter posted on Tuesday on its website (http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2010/3362/), the AHRC said two of the 43, Janice Javier and Franco Romeroso, were illegally held from September 2008 to June 2009 and tortured by state forces to admit that they were NPA members.
The two were released for lack of evidence but were rearrested, along with Yolanda Caraig, in Morong Rizal, on Feb. 6, the AHRC said.
It also named Clamor of the CHD, Dr. Alex Montes of the Community Medicine Development Foundation, nurse Gary Liberal, midwife Teresa Quinawayan, and other members of the CHD staff as among those arrested.
The AHRC listed the case under its “urgent appeal” desk, which, it said, was a tool “to create an international support network and open venue for action.”
It expressed the hope that the letter would reach United Nations representatives, national human rights commissions, court houses and government officials.
The AHRC suggested that the letter also be sent individually to President Macapagal-Arroyo, CHR Chair De Lima and other government officials by fax or mail.
Melissa Roxas’ case
In a separate statement dated Feb. 7, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan chapter in Canada said it was “demanding the immediate and unconditional release” of the 43 health workers.
The group said the arrests were “reminiscent” of the alleged torture suffered by US citizen Melissa Roxas in May 2009 in the Philippines, when she was abducted while on a medical mission.
With a report from Maricar Cinco, Inquirer Southern Luzon
Friday, February 12, 2010
Study in contrast
Streetwise
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
The contrast is too stark to be missed. “But they are NPA (New People’s Army)!” Thus did Executive Secretary and former General Eduardo Ermita justify the arbitrary arrest of 43 health workers and professionals attending a training seminar in Morong, Rizal last Saturday, their torture, subjection to indignities, deprivation of legal counsel, and denial of visits by relatives and officers of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
This is the same Secretary Ermita who, along with other Arroyo henchmen, immediately invoked the right to due process of the Ampatuans, Arroyo’s warlord allies in Muslim Mindanao suspected to be behind the gruesome mass murder of relatives and supporters of their political enemies, a bevy of media personnel as well as innocent bystanders.
To be labeled as NPA, ergo an “enemy of the state”, is tantamount to a death sentence (via extrajudicial execution) or being subjected to the worst human rights violations by state security forces with the blessings of Malacañang. On the other hand, to be a valued political ally of Mrs. Arroyo, able to deliver hundreds of thousands of fraudulently acquired votes for her presidential bid, to beat back government opposition in an entire region and to terrorize a dirt-poor and restless populace is to be dealt with kid gloves despite being the prime suspects in the most heinous of crimes.
According to General Ermita there was nothing illegal in the arrest of the 43 - two of whom are doctors, two others a nurse and midwife and the rest community health workers - because this is based on solid intelligence information. If this were the case, why were the combined AFP/PNP raiding force of 300 who came in four military trucks and two armored personnel carriers, unable to present any valid search or arrest warrants? Why did they conduct their search of the private resort owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte, an infectious disease expert at the UP-Philippine General Hospital, to come up with so-called evidence without any impartial witnesses to corroborate their find.
The same military intelligence that led to the "discovery" of a bundle of arms and explosives in a health training seminar had failed to detect an entire arsenal of weapons, ammunition and even armored vehicles in the Ampatuans' possession. It took the declaration of emergency rule and eventually martial law before the authorities could come up with anything substantial against the Ampatuans.
And this same AFP-PNP combine that willfully allowed the Ampatuans to commit the massacre, if they did not actually participate in it by refusing to provide security to the prospective victims, has turned its brutal, coercive power on hapless doctors and health workers whose only intent was to learn how to care for the sick in a setting of want and government neglect.
In order to give the Gestapo military and police time to manufacture more evidence and extract tortured confessions from their victims, the 43 were blindfolded and shackled, held incommunicado, denied food and toilet privileges for maximum discomfort, and deprived of mandatory visits by their legal counsel and CHR officers.
After two days, when the relatives of some of the arrested were allowed in, they were given a very short time to inquire into the condition of their loved ones and always in the intimidating presence of their captors for which reason many could not speak about the despicable treatment they had received.
While refusing to present the 43 to the media, the AFP keeps issuing press releases in a ludicrous attempt to concoct a story about their latest victims: that they were undergoing training in bomb manufacture; that the 60-year-old physician in the group, Dr. Alex Montes, is actually the NPA operative assigned to kill retired General Jovito Palparan, the bloodthirsty general who confesses to “inspiring” his men to kill NPA suspects vigilante style; that several of the women have been identified as having participated in NPA attacks.
And lo and behold, the AFP reported that campaign materials of the progressive party list Bayan Muna were also seized from the group. All the better to keep up the military’s vilification campaign against the party that has successfully won several seats in Congress since 2001 and is now fielding a senatorial candidate? Why limit the propaganda to the AFP’s having chalked up a big blow against the NPA when you can also, by innuendo, implicate Bayan Muna, currently in the thick of the electoral campaign, as an NPA “front” and scare away potential voters?
The raid against the health workers can only be seen as part of the Arroyo regime’s propensity to crack down on those who oppose its policies and its illegitimate rule. The Council for Health and Development, under whose auspices the training was undertaken, is a non-government organization committed to rendering health services to poor and underserved communities. They are critical of government policies and programs that underlie the people’s poverty, ill health and inadequate, low quality health services. As advocates of community-based health care, health training for community volunteers is a staple of their program.
The practice of treating “NPA” or “NPA suspects” as “enemies of the state” and therefore undeserving of due process rights and, more important, non-derogable human rights such as the right to life, against being tortured, against unjust arrest and detention, etc. has brought about a situation wherein military and police officials up to the Executive Secretary can blithely justify their fascist actuations on their mere say so that someone is an NPA.
But more than the fascist military mindset, it is the overweening brutality, ruthlessness and arrogance of power that characterizes the Arroyo regime, in combination with its rabid craving and desperation to remain in power that has cultivated and nurtured the culture of impunity for perpetrating such horrendous atrocities.
With elections crucial to the fate of the Arroyo cabal just around the corner, there is reason to fear that the worst is still to come. #
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
The contrast is too stark to be missed. “But they are NPA (New People’s Army)!” Thus did Executive Secretary and former General Eduardo Ermita justify the arbitrary arrest of 43 health workers and professionals attending a training seminar in Morong, Rizal last Saturday, their torture, subjection to indignities, deprivation of legal counsel, and denial of visits by relatives and officers of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).
This is the same Secretary Ermita who, along with other Arroyo henchmen, immediately invoked the right to due process of the Ampatuans, Arroyo’s warlord allies in Muslim Mindanao suspected to be behind the gruesome mass murder of relatives and supporters of their political enemies, a bevy of media personnel as well as innocent bystanders.
To be labeled as NPA, ergo an “enemy of the state”, is tantamount to a death sentence (via extrajudicial execution) or being subjected to the worst human rights violations by state security forces with the blessings of Malacañang. On the other hand, to be a valued political ally of Mrs. Arroyo, able to deliver hundreds of thousands of fraudulently acquired votes for her presidential bid, to beat back government opposition in an entire region and to terrorize a dirt-poor and restless populace is to be dealt with kid gloves despite being the prime suspects in the most heinous of crimes.
According to General Ermita there was nothing illegal in the arrest of the 43 - two of whom are doctors, two others a nurse and midwife and the rest community health workers - because this is based on solid intelligence information. If this were the case, why were the combined AFP/PNP raiding force of 300 who came in four military trucks and two armored personnel carriers, unable to present any valid search or arrest warrants? Why did they conduct their search of the private resort owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte, an infectious disease expert at the UP-Philippine General Hospital, to come up with so-called evidence without any impartial witnesses to corroborate their find.
The same military intelligence that led to the "discovery" of a bundle of arms and explosives in a health training seminar had failed to detect an entire arsenal of weapons, ammunition and even armored vehicles in the Ampatuans' possession. It took the declaration of emergency rule and eventually martial law before the authorities could come up with anything substantial against the Ampatuans.
And this same AFP-PNP combine that willfully allowed the Ampatuans to commit the massacre, if they did not actually participate in it by refusing to provide security to the prospective victims, has turned its brutal, coercive power on hapless doctors and health workers whose only intent was to learn how to care for the sick in a setting of want and government neglect.
In order to give the Gestapo military and police time to manufacture more evidence and extract tortured confessions from their victims, the 43 were blindfolded and shackled, held incommunicado, denied food and toilet privileges for maximum discomfort, and deprived of mandatory visits by their legal counsel and CHR officers.
After two days, when the relatives of some of the arrested were allowed in, they were given a very short time to inquire into the condition of their loved ones and always in the intimidating presence of their captors for which reason many could not speak about the despicable treatment they had received.
While refusing to present the 43 to the media, the AFP keeps issuing press releases in a ludicrous attempt to concoct a story about their latest victims: that they were undergoing training in bomb manufacture; that the 60-year-old physician in the group, Dr. Alex Montes, is actually the NPA operative assigned to kill retired General Jovito Palparan, the bloodthirsty general who confesses to “inspiring” his men to kill NPA suspects vigilante style; that several of the women have been identified as having participated in NPA attacks.
And lo and behold, the AFP reported that campaign materials of the progressive party list Bayan Muna were also seized from the group. All the better to keep up the military’s vilification campaign against the party that has successfully won several seats in Congress since 2001 and is now fielding a senatorial candidate? Why limit the propaganda to the AFP’s having chalked up a big blow against the NPA when you can also, by innuendo, implicate Bayan Muna, currently in the thick of the electoral campaign, as an NPA “front” and scare away potential voters?
The raid against the health workers can only be seen as part of the Arroyo regime’s propensity to crack down on those who oppose its policies and its illegitimate rule. The Council for Health and Development, under whose auspices the training was undertaken, is a non-government organization committed to rendering health services to poor and underserved communities. They are critical of government policies and programs that underlie the people’s poverty, ill health and inadequate, low quality health services. As advocates of community-based health care, health training for community volunteers is a staple of their program.
The practice of treating “NPA” or “NPA suspects” as “enemies of the state” and therefore undeserving of due process rights and, more important, non-derogable human rights such as the right to life, against being tortured, against unjust arrest and detention, etc. has brought about a situation wherein military and police officials up to the Executive Secretary can blithely justify their fascist actuations on their mere say so that someone is an NPA.
But more than the fascist military mindset, it is the overweening brutality, ruthlessness and arrogance of power that characterizes the Arroyo regime, in combination with its rabid craving and desperation to remain in power that has cultivated and nurtured the culture of impunity for perpetrating such horrendous atrocities.
With elections crucial to the fate of the Arroyo cabal just around the corner, there is reason to fear that the worst is still to come. #
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Free the 43 Health Workers
Alliance of Health Workers (AHW
PRESS RELEASE
February 9, 2010
References:
We, health workers from different hospitals, clinics and institutions nationwide, strongly condemn the illegal arrest of 43 health workers in Morong, Rizal. We are angered by the inhumane treatment and torture of our fellow health workers at the hands of the supposed “protectors” of the Filipino people. We hold the military and police men under their Commander-in-Chief Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) responsible for this open brutality against the health workers who are serving the Filipino people.
The 43 health workers were arrested under a false warrant during a health training on February 6, at 7:00 am by a composite team of 300 military and police men from the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division and Rizal Philippine National Police headed by Col. Aurelio Baladad and Supt. Marion Balonglong. They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They were held incommunicado for more than 48 hours and bore signs of torture.
Two of the health workers are community doctors who are serving poor patients through medical missions and regular clinics. Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor and Dr. Alex Montes treated hundreds of patients in Rizal, Bulacan, and Metro Manila communities affected by Typhoons Ondoy & Peping last year. The doctors are members and staff of Council for Health & Development and Community Medicine Development Foundation that spearheaded the National Health Training.
Gary Liberal is a head nurse of the Operating Room of Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) in Manila. He is the National Auditor of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), the Union President of JRRMMC Employees Union, and is a board member of Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines (ORNAP). He has served as a nurse in JRRMMC for almost 18 years and was one of the instructors during the health training.
Lydia Obera, one of the 43 health workers, is a teacher by profession, and is a community health worker for more than 20 years serving in different non-government health institutions. She is a staff of the national office of AHW.
Drs. Merry and Alex, Gary and Lydia, together with others shared their knowledge, skills, and time to the community health workers, in response to the increasing need for trained health personnel in the countrysides. The 43 health workers are serving the most deprived and far-flung communities, long time neglected by the Philippine government.
With this illegal arrest & detention, the GMA government through its most rabid military and police officers are attacking not only the health workers but the poor Filipino people sick and dying in poor communities. They are depriving again and again the poor Filipino majority of the most needed services provided by these health workers. In time, they will face the wrath of the united Filipino people.
We call on all service-oriented, freedom-loving people in the Philippines and other countries to make a stand, resist the attack against the health workers, against our health and our rights.
Free the 43 health workers now!
Hold the GMA government accountable to these human rights violations!
Continue the struggle for better health for the Filipino people!
PRESS RELEASE
February 9, 2010
References:
Emma Manuel, National President, 09178008634
Robert Mendoza, PRO, 09183186377
We, health workers from different hospitals, clinics and institutions nationwide, strongly condemn the illegal arrest of 43 health workers in Morong, Rizal. We are angered by the inhumane treatment and torture of our fellow health workers at the hands of the supposed “protectors” of the Filipino people. We hold the military and police men under their Commander-in-Chief Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) responsible for this open brutality against the health workers who are serving the Filipino people.
The 43 health workers were arrested under a false warrant during a health training on February 6, at 7:00 am by a composite team of 300 military and police men from the Philippine Army's 2nd Infantry Division and Rizal Philippine National Police headed by Col. Aurelio Baladad and Supt. Marion Balonglong. They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They were held incommunicado for more than 48 hours and bore signs of torture.
Two of the health workers are community doctors who are serving poor patients through medical missions and regular clinics. Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor and Dr. Alex Montes treated hundreds of patients in Rizal, Bulacan, and Metro Manila communities affected by Typhoons Ondoy & Peping last year. The doctors are members and staff of Council for Health & Development and Community Medicine Development Foundation that spearheaded the National Health Training.
Gary Liberal is a head nurse of the Operating Room of Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center (JRRMMC) in Manila. He is the National Auditor of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW), the Union President of JRRMMC Employees Union, and is a board member of Operating Room Nurses Association of the Philippines (ORNAP). He has served as a nurse in JRRMMC for almost 18 years and was one of the instructors during the health training.
Lydia Obera, one of the 43 health workers, is a teacher by profession, and is a community health worker for more than 20 years serving in different non-government health institutions. She is a staff of the national office of AHW.
Drs. Merry and Alex, Gary and Lydia, together with others shared their knowledge, skills, and time to the community health workers, in response to the increasing need for trained health personnel in the countrysides. The 43 health workers are serving the most deprived and far-flung communities, long time neglected by the Philippine government.
With this illegal arrest & detention, the GMA government through its most rabid military and police officers are attacking not only the health workers but the poor Filipino people sick and dying in poor communities. They are depriving again and again the poor Filipino majority of the most needed services provided by these health workers. In time, they will face the wrath of the united Filipino people.
We call on all service-oriented, freedom-loving people in the Philippines and other countries to make a stand, resist the attack against the health workers, against our health and our rights.
Free the 43 health workers now!
Hold the GMA government accountable to these human rights violations!
Continue the struggle for better health for the Filipino people!
------
Notes: The All U.P. Workers Union, Manila Chapter is an affiliate of the Alliance of Health Workers (AHW). The AHW is a labor center primarily catering to Public Health Workers. It has more than 20,000 members in more than 30 affiliate unions, public health employees associations and individual members nationwide
Sunday, February 07, 2010
HEAD Demands Immediate Release of Detained Medical Personnel
07 February 2010
Media Release
Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) called for the immediate release of two doctors, a nurse, midwife and other health workers (CHWs) arbitrarily arrested and illegally detained by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Contrary to allegations made by Colonel Aurelio Baladbad of the 202nd Infantry Brigade, the people they are holding are long-time medical personnel who are well-known to their patients and the communities they serve,” declared Dr. Geneve E. Rivera, HEAD Secretary-General.
Dr. Alex Montes of Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) and Dr. Merry Mia of the Council for Health and Development (CHD) were among those blindfolded and hauled to Camp Capinpin after elements of the AFP Southern Luzon Command and the Rizal Philippine National Police forced their way into a private resthouse in Morong, Rizal early yesterday morning.
The two doctors have been working with their respective NGOs for many years. Together with Mr. Gary Liberal, a nurse, Ms. Teresa Quinawayan, a midwife, and CHD staff members, they were conducting a health skills training with volunteers from various communities when they were arrested.
“Col. Balalad is now accusing all 43 of being members of the New People’s Army in order to justify their actions. The AFP should prove their allegations instead of using bogus arrest warrants and planted evidence.”
HEAD strongly condemned military allegations that bomb-making materials, guns, and even a claymore mine were found under the beds of the participants during their raid.
“The absurdity of the military’s story is confounding! The AFP conveniently finds these so-called weapons after confiscating all of the personal belongings of the participants as well as the materials used for the training. He (Baladlad) and his men should be reprimanded for gross abuse of authority and outright violations of basic human rights,” added Dr. Rivera.
Dr. Melecia Velmonte, who owns the resthouse, is a respected consultant of the Philippine General Hospital for infectious diseases. The place has three buildings and is a regular venue of health trainings. Yet, the AFP alleges that this is an “NPA training camp”.
The health group also denounced attempts by the military to link the party-list group, Bayan Muna.
“It is obvious that the Arroyo regime is doing everything to discredit legal organizations that have been critical of its anti-people policies. With such implicit consent, the worst forms of criminal behavior are those of state security forces, who conduct illegal raids and arrests with impunity, and who make baseless accusations with wanton disregard for the rule of law.”
“We demand an end to the abuses by the AFP, PNP, and the Arroyo regime. We demand the immediate release of our colleagues!” concluded Dr. Rivera. ####
References:
Notes: Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) are allies of the All U.P. Workers Union in its advocacy for health workers rights and people's health
Media Release
Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) called for the immediate release of two doctors, a nurse, midwife and other health workers (CHWs) arbitrarily arrested and illegally detained by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Contrary to allegations made by Colonel Aurelio Baladbad of the 202nd Infantry Brigade, the people they are holding are long-time medical personnel who are well-known to their patients and the communities they serve,” declared Dr. Geneve E. Rivera, HEAD Secretary-General.
Dr. Alex Montes of Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) and Dr. Merry Mia of the Council for Health and Development (CHD) were among those blindfolded and hauled to Camp Capinpin after elements of the AFP Southern Luzon Command and the Rizal Philippine National Police forced their way into a private resthouse in Morong, Rizal early yesterday morning.
The two doctors have been working with their respective NGOs for many years. Together with Mr. Gary Liberal, a nurse, Ms. Teresa Quinawayan, a midwife, and CHD staff members, they were conducting a health skills training with volunteers from various communities when they were arrested.
“Col. Balalad is now accusing all 43 of being members of the New People’s Army in order to justify their actions. The AFP should prove their allegations instead of using bogus arrest warrants and planted evidence.”
HEAD strongly condemned military allegations that bomb-making materials, guns, and even a claymore mine were found under the beds of the participants during their raid.
“The absurdity of the military’s story is confounding! The AFP conveniently finds these so-called weapons after confiscating all of the personal belongings of the participants as well as the materials used for the training. He (Baladlad) and his men should be reprimanded for gross abuse of authority and outright violations of basic human rights,” added Dr. Rivera.
Dr. Melecia Velmonte, who owns the resthouse, is a respected consultant of the Philippine General Hospital for infectious diseases. The place has three buildings and is a regular venue of health trainings. Yet, the AFP alleges that this is an “NPA training camp”.
The health group also denounced attempts by the military to link the party-list group, Bayan Muna.
“It is obvious that the Arroyo regime is doing everything to discredit legal organizations that have been critical of its anti-people policies. With such implicit consent, the worst forms of criminal behavior are those of state security forces, who conduct illegal raids and arrests with impunity, and who make baseless accusations with wanton disregard for the rule of law.”
“We demand an end to the abuses by the AFP, PNP, and the Arroyo regime. We demand the immediate release of our colleagues!” concluded Dr. Rivera. ####
References:
Dr. Geneve E. Rivera------
Secretary-General, 0920 460 3712
Dr. Darby S. Santiago
Chair, 0927 473 7700
Notes: Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) and Community Medicine Development Foundation (COMMED) are allies of the All U.P. Workers Union in its advocacy for health workers rights and people's health
Saturday, February 06, 2010
UNMASK THEIR SUBTERFUGE: Self-Interest In Discrediting Our Student Regent
University Student Council
University of the Philippines-Diliman
We have a Student Regent.
Contrary to the claims of the UP administration that Ms. Charisse Bernadine Bañez is not qualified to sit as a Student Regent (SR), the University Student Council of UP Diliman (UPD-USC), asserts that Ms. Bañez remains qualified and remains to be the Student Regent, unanimously mandated by the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), to represent the student body.
The UPD-USC further condemns to the highest level the manipulation of some members of the Board of Regents (BOR) and the Chancellor of UPLB in once again trying to render our SR incapacitated to discharge her duties as the representative of the students in the highest policy- and decision-making body in the University. We detest this abuse, clearly driven by the interest of reversing the decision of the BOR on the PGH Directorship at the expense of the student’s essential right to be represented.
While it is true that Ms. Banez does not officially have a Residency or Leave of Absence (LOA) status in UPLB, she remains to be a student, as she has not been officially separated from the University. She has also filed an application and appeal for Residency and then an LOA, both pending the approval of the UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco even before the January 29 BOR meeting. Contrary to the claims of the UP administration, Ms. Banez never withdrew her application for residency.
It bears notice that this is the same UPLB Chancellor who had continuously attempted to discredit Ms. Bañez and prevented her from sitting as the Student Regent ever since her selection in April 2009. He is also the same Chancellor who had prevented her from graduating from the University despite her fulfillment of all her academic requirements. Yet again, he is the same Chancellor who had refused to grant her a residency status in UPLB.. Clearly therefore, our SR's application shall not be easily granted without the strong pressure and assertion from the students.
The vendetta of Chancellor Velasco against Ms. Bañez is familiar to the students of UPLB. During the term of Ms. Bañez, she has effectively exposed Chancellor Velasco as a conspirator behind the repression, harassment, and militarization incidents in UPLB. It became known that Chancellor Velasco’s hands were not clean when the UPLB-USC of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 were made to face trumped-up charges; when the UPLB Administration refused to collect the student fund and publication fees, thereby depriving the student council and publication of the necessary source for their operating expenses; when the Editor-in-Chief who topped the editorial exam of the UPLB Perspective was not appointed; and when the military agents were permitted to enter the campus and conduct surveillances against progressive student organizations. In all these, SR Bañez was able to effectively lead the students in victorious campaigns. Clearly, this is not the first time that the Velasco administration attacked our student leaders in an attempt to abate student protests and the movement for democratic rights in the University. The removal of our SR --one of UPLB's most assertive student leaders-- from office would be a great source of relief for Chancellor Velasco.
Currently, even President Roman and the Malacanang appointees in the BOR have their own interests in making the SR position vacant. They have currently cited the ratified CRSRS to discredit our SR, but we must not forget that nine months ago, they had explicitly violated the same document when they kept our SR from representing us in the Board for two months. They have proven to us that they can implement the rules when it suits them; they disregard the same rules when it is in conflict with their interests.
Their interests lies in the Directorship of the Philippine General Hospital and the micro-privatization of PGH. The PGH Directorship became a highly-contestested position during the BOR vote-casting last December 2009, such that some members of the BOR who lost in the vote tried to move to rescind and invalidate the decision to appoint Dr. Jose Gonzales as the new PGH Director, in order to field their own bet. Pres. Roman even issued a memorandum in January to hold the oath-taking of Dr. Gonzales but was defeated by the mass movement in UP Manila . Now, despite the decision of the BOR to permit our SR to participate and vote in the December BOR meeting, they are now moving to invalidate all BOR decisions since November where our SR have participated, including the votation for the PGH Directorship.
The ill motives are clearly laid down in front of us. We shall be disenfranchised of our right to representation as Ms. Bañez is attacked and discredited just so the few can secure their interests in the BOR. This move from the administration to discredit our SR is a curtailment of our right to genuine representation as they are aware that Ms. Bañez does not have a successor and that the GASC shall not convene until April 2010 to select a new SR.
They have proven once again, that for the powers that be led by Pres. Roman and the Malacañang bloc, self-interest gains more weight than our fundamental right to be represented. They have committed a grave disrespect not only to Ms. Banez and the institution she represents, but as well as to the University that expects a transparent and democratic governance from its administration.
It is imperative for us to take our historic role of defending our student institutions. We are called once again to stand by our Student Regent and condemn this intervention from the Roman administration. Our SR must discharge her duties of representing the students until the end of her term especially since fee increases and various anti-student policies in other campuses shall be decided upon. Together, let us assert that UPLB Chancellor Velasco grant the application of Ms. Banez for Residency, give back her rights and privileges as a student of the University, and stop the political persecution and harassment in UPLB.
With the firm resolve demonstrated by those who fought for the establishment of the OSR, we call on our fellow members of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) to reaffirm the mandate we have given to Ms. Banez. We call on the broadest number of students in the entire University system to support the campaign to defend our SR from political persecution and attacks; to prove, once again, that measures meant to impede our democratic rights shall fail against the collective militancy of the students.
Stop political persecution in the University!
Reaffirm the mandate and Defend our Student Regent!
Fight for our right to be represented!
University of the Philippines-Diliman
We have a Student Regent.
Contrary to the claims of the UP administration that Ms. Charisse Bernadine Bañez is not qualified to sit as a Student Regent (SR), the University Student Council of UP Diliman (UPD-USC), asserts that Ms. Bañez remains qualified and remains to be the Student Regent, unanimously mandated by the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), to represent the student body.
The UPD-USC further condemns to the highest level the manipulation of some members of the Board of Regents (BOR) and the Chancellor of UPLB in once again trying to render our SR incapacitated to discharge her duties as the representative of the students in the highest policy- and decision-making body in the University. We detest this abuse, clearly driven by the interest of reversing the decision of the BOR on the PGH Directorship at the expense of the student’s essential right to be represented.
While it is true that Ms. Banez does not officially have a Residency or Leave of Absence (LOA) status in UPLB, she remains to be a student, as she has not been officially separated from the University. She has also filed an application and appeal for Residency and then an LOA, both pending the approval of the UPLB Chancellor Luis Rey Velasco even before the January 29 BOR meeting. Contrary to the claims of the UP administration, Ms. Banez never withdrew her application for residency.
It bears notice that this is the same UPLB Chancellor who had continuously attempted to discredit Ms. Bañez and prevented her from sitting as the Student Regent ever since her selection in April 2009. He is also the same Chancellor who had prevented her from graduating from the University despite her fulfillment of all her academic requirements. Yet again, he is the same Chancellor who had refused to grant her a residency status in UPLB.. Clearly therefore, our SR's application shall not be easily granted without the strong pressure and assertion from the students.
The vendetta of Chancellor Velasco against Ms. Bañez is familiar to the students of UPLB. During the term of Ms. Bañez, she has effectively exposed Chancellor Velasco as a conspirator behind the repression, harassment, and militarization incidents in UPLB. It became known that Chancellor Velasco’s hands were not clean when the UPLB-USC of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 were made to face trumped-up charges; when the UPLB Administration refused to collect the student fund and publication fees, thereby depriving the student council and publication of the necessary source for their operating expenses; when the Editor-in-Chief who topped the editorial exam of the UPLB Perspective was not appointed; and when the military agents were permitted to enter the campus and conduct surveillances against progressive student organizations. In all these, SR Bañez was able to effectively lead the students in victorious campaigns. Clearly, this is not the first time that the Velasco administration attacked our student leaders in an attempt to abate student protests and the movement for democratic rights in the University. The removal of our SR --one of UPLB's most assertive student leaders-- from office would be a great source of relief for Chancellor Velasco.
Currently, even President Roman and the Malacanang appointees in the BOR have their own interests in making the SR position vacant. They have currently cited the ratified CRSRS to discredit our SR, but we must not forget that nine months ago, they had explicitly violated the same document when they kept our SR from representing us in the Board for two months. They have proven to us that they can implement the rules when it suits them; they disregard the same rules when it is in conflict with their interests.
Their interests lies in the Directorship of the Philippine General Hospital and the micro-privatization of PGH. The PGH Directorship became a highly-contestested position during the BOR vote-casting last December 2009, such that some members of the BOR who lost in the vote tried to move to rescind and invalidate the decision to appoint Dr. Jose Gonzales as the new PGH Director, in order to field their own bet. Pres. Roman even issued a memorandum in January to hold the oath-taking of Dr. Gonzales but was defeated by the mass movement in UP Manila . Now, despite the decision of the BOR to permit our SR to participate and vote in the December BOR meeting, they are now moving to invalidate all BOR decisions since November where our SR have participated, including the votation for the PGH Directorship.
The ill motives are clearly laid down in front of us. We shall be disenfranchised of our right to representation as Ms. Bañez is attacked and discredited just so the few can secure their interests in the BOR. This move from the administration to discredit our SR is a curtailment of our right to genuine representation as they are aware that Ms. Bañez does not have a successor and that the GASC shall not convene until April 2010 to select a new SR.
They have proven once again, that for the powers that be led by Pres. Roman and the Malacañang bloc, self-interest gains more weight than our fundamental right to be represented. They have committed a grave disrespect not only to Ms. Banez and the institution she represents, but as well as to the University that expects a transparent and democratic governance from its administration.
It is imperative for us to take our historic role of defending our student institutions. We are called once again to stand by our Student Regent and condemn this intervention from the Roman administration. Our SR must discharge her duties of representing the students until the end of her term especially since fee increases and various anti-student policies in other campuses shall be decided upon. Together, let us assert that UPLB Chancellor Velasco grant the application of Ms. Banez for Residency, give back her rights and privileges as a student of the University, and stop the political persecution and harassment in UPLB.
With the firm resolve demonstrated by those who fought for the establishment of the OSR, we call on our fellow members of the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) to reaffirm the mandate we have given to Ms. Banez. We call on the broadest number of students in the entire University system to support the campaign to defend our SR from political persecution and attacks; to prove, once again, that measures meant to impede our democratic rights shall fail against the collective militancy of the students.
Stop political persecution in the University!
Reaffirm the mandate and Defend our Student Regent!
Fight for our right to be represented!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
