BEYOND EVIL! In Maguindanao last November 23, 2009, a group on its way to COMELEC to file for candidacy in the 2010 elections was waylaid and ambushed, resulting in the brutal death of at least 57 people, many of them journalists and innocent civilians.
BEYOND BARBARIC! The murders were made even more abominable by the cruel acts inflicted upon the victims. Aside from suffering multiple gunshot and stab wounds, the breasts of the women victims were found to have been mutilated and their genitals riddled with bullet wounds.
BEYOND DESPICABLE! The crime committed is beyond heinous and is an abhorrent and brazen violation of the dignity of the human person! It has no place in human society! It loudly calls for the vehement condemnation by all -- Christians and non-Christians alike!
BENEATH CONTEMPT! The brutal murders done in the context of electoral politics seriously endanger our democracy and gravely threaten our democratic institutions! The insultingly insensitive and grossly irresponsible statement by no less than the Spokesperson of the President of the Philippines that the Palace – by reason of friendship - will remain supportive of the alleged perpetrators yet again demonstrate arrogance in Office and raises the specter of either complacency or connivance.L The use of Martial Law by the Highest Office as its way of response once more demonstrates its callous disregard for fundamental rights and utter lack of respect for the rule of law.
WE CALL ON ALL PEOPLE TO EXPRESS IN DEEPEST TERMS THEIR INDIGNATION AND CONDEMNATION OF THE MASSACRE AND ITS PERPETRATORS!
WE DEMAND FROM THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP TO UPHOLD JUSTICE AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND TO ZEALOUSLY APPLY THE RULE OF LAW IN THE IMMEDIATE APPREHENSION AND PROSECUTION OF ALL PERPETRATORS, REGARDLESS OF FRIENDSHIPS OR ALLIANCES.
WE CALL FOR THE SETTING UP OF PEACE CONSTITUTENCIES THAT WILL GUARD AGAINST AND CURTAIL VIOLENCE, ESPECIALLY IN THE UPCOMING 2010 ELECTIONS!
TOGETHER, LET US ALL WORK TOWARDS A COUNTRY THAT SINCERELY AFFIRMS HUMAN DIGNITY AND STRONGLY UPHOLDS HUMAN RIGHTS !
COMMITTEE ON SOCIO-POLITICAL EDUCATION, ADVOCACY and INVOLVEMENT
UNIVERSITY SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT COUNCIL
ATENEO DE NAGA UNIVERSITY
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Volunteers for Voters Education!
The ADNU Social Involvement Council conducted its first Trainers Training for Continuing Political Education last 5-6 December at the Villa Caceres Hotel,Naga City. The training was undertaken with the support of ADMU School of Government-Pugadlawin Project. The trainers included Michelle Avelino of ADMU, Mr. Ramon Beleno of the ADNU Social Sciences Department, and Mr. Renne Gumba of the ADNU Institute of Politics. The participants were selected faculty, personnel, and students of the ADNU (and some representatives from the ADNU partner communities).
Launching of Bicol Autonomy Movement and Signing of Draft Charter for Bicol Autonomous Region!
The Bicol Autonomy Movement was launched last 8 December 2009 at Daet, Camarines Norte. The event started with a motorcade/rally to the Cathedral wherein a Holy Mass was celebrated. The launching and charter signing ceremonies, conducted at the Bantayog ni Rizal, then followed.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Vote for Peace 2010
Vote for Peace 2010
Statement on the Maguindanao Massacre
Vote for Peace 2010, a movement working for a political environment conducive to the conduct of a free, fair and peaceful elections, joins the Filipino people and the international community in condemning the senseless and gruesome mass killing of 57 innocent and defenseless civilians in the municipality of Ampatuan, Maguindanao province. Facts can be told about the incident but no words can exactly give description to the mass killings, what is clear is that the beastly carnage is a crime against humanity; an attack against press freedom and electoral democracy
Vote for Peace 2010 calls for the immediate arrests of all the principals and accessories to the crime, expedite the investigation and immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that justice to the victims be served:
While Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is already under the custody of police authority, we strongly criticized the government’s manner of negotiating with his family to turn him over instead of immediately arresting him. Thus, we strongly demand from the authorities that Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan should also be arrested immediately by being themselves suspects of the crime.
Others involved in the carnage should be pursued to the hilt. The officers and men of the PNP and AFP directly accountable to the breakdown of peace and order in the province should be suspended, relieved from their posts and investigated.
A Total Gun Ban should be implemented in the province. All civilian armed groups, whether private armed groups, civilian volunteer organizations and CAFGUS should be immediately dissolved and disarmed.
The CVOs and CAFGUs directly identified and working with the Ampatuans should be confined and investigated.
The State of Emergency declared for Maguindanao should be put under Comelec control and its assigned deputies for peace and order.
The 23rd of November 2009 will be long remembered not only as the worst outbreak of election violence in this country in memory but also the scale of the massacre and its sheer brutality. It is the most brutal manifestation of warlordism; a monstrous act against electoral democracy, and the worst loss of life in the history of journalism, ever. On this day, 57 people, mostly women of which two were pregnant were mercilessly killed. Thirty of the dead were journalists. The victims were bullet-riddled in the heads and private parts; a number of bodies were mutilated and a number of women-victims manifest signs of physical abuse. While a number of bodies were scattered that showed they were strafed to their sudden death, most were found piled one after another in hastily dug mass graves. There were also bodies inside the vehilces excavated from the mass grave. The fate of the victims this day was simply decided by the senseless scheme of the Ampatuans to thwart the victims’ convoy that passed Ampatuan town on their way to file the Certificate of Candidacy of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for the governorship of Maguindanao. This was taken as a viled threat by the Ampatuans that ruled the province like their personal fiefdom since 2001.
The Maguindanao Massacre sums up the spate of political killings across the country in recent years. These clearly show the government’s inutility in the securing, if not total disregard, to the rule of law and human rights. The Arroyo administration can’t keep away its hands bloodied from the Maguindanao Massacre. In the first place, warlordism in Maguindanao once more became strong due to the nepotistic coddling to the Ampatuans.
The Maguindanao Massacre, on the other hand, is a martyrdom of the victims in their pursuit of electoral democracy and press freedom. The victims knew the dangerous route they will go through, (though they never, nor anyone expected the barbaric act of such scale and horror) yet they pursued what they believe is the right thing to do. We are full of anger, shame and indignation for what befell the victims. But for their act, we should also act, so that their death will not be in vain.
We should be more steadfast and vigilant than ever as we draw close to the 2010 elections. We should work with all citizens and election stakeholders for the strict enforcement of election and peace and order laws. Let us educate ourselves with the election offenses defined by the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code and be vigilant against the abuses and opportunism of the government and candidates. Let us be aware, and help our countrymen understand that election violence is a consequence of too much partisan divide among voters; vote-buying and selling; patronage politics; proliferation of loose firearms and private armed groups; and election campaign overspending. We should call the AFP, PNP and NBI to strictly enforce the Total Gun Ban; regulating the security escorts of candidates and disarm and dismantle all private armed groups and militias. We should call on the COMELEC to declare early the critical election hotspot areas so that preventive measures against incidents of election violence be done.
Vote for Peace 2010
1 December 2009
www.votepeace.bantayeleksyon.org
For more information, please call Patrick I. Patino at tel. nos. (02)926-8340 or (02)433-0764.
Statement on the Maguindanao Massacre
Vote for Peace 2010, a movement working for a political environment conducive to the conduct of a free, fair and peaceful elections, joins the Filipino people and the international community in condemning the senseless and gruesome mass killing of 57 innocent and defenseless civilians in the municipality of Ampatuan, Maguindanao province. Facts can be told about the incident but no words can exactly give description to the mass killings, what is clear is that the beastly carnage is a crime against humanity; an attack against press freedom and electoral democracy
Vote for Peace 2010 calls for the immediate arrests of all the principals and accessories to the crime, expedite the investigation and immediately prosecute the perpetrators so that justice to the victims be served:
While Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. is already under the custody of police authority, we strongly criticized the government’s manner of negotiating with his family to turn him over instead of immediately arresting him. Thus, we strongly demand from the authorities that Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. and ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan should also be arrested immediately by being themselves suspects of the crime.
Others involved in the carnage should be pursued to the hilt. The officers and men of the PNP and AFP directly accountable to the breakdown of peace and order in the province should be suspended, relieved from their posts and investigated.
A Total Gun Ban should be implemented in the province. All civilian armed groups, whether private armed groups, civilian volunteer organizations and CAFGUS should be immediately dissolved and disarmed.
The CVOs and CAFGUs directly identified and working with the Ampatuans should be confined and investigated.
The State of Emergency declared for Maguindanao should be put under Comelec control and its assigned deputies for peace and order.
The 23rd of November 2009 will be long remembered not only as the worst outbreak of election violence in this country in memory but also the scale of the massacre and its sheer brutality. It is the most brutal manifestation of warlordism; a monstrous act against electoral democracy, and the worst loss of life in the history of journalism, ever. On this day, 57 people, mostly women of which two were pregnant were mercilessly killed. Thirty of the dead were journalists. The victims were bullet-riddled in the heads and private parts; a number of bodies were mutilated and a number of women-victims manifest signs of physical abuse. While a number of bodies were scattered that showed they were strafed to their sudden death, most were found piled one after another in hastily dug mass graves. There were also bodies inside the vehilces excavated from the mass grave. The fate of the victims this day was simply decided by the senseless scheme of the Ampatuans to thwart the victims’ convoy that passed Ampatuan town on their way to file the Certificate of Candidacy of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for the governorship of Maguindanao. This was taken as a viled threat by the Ampatuans that ruled the province like their personal fiefdom since 2001.
The Maguindanao Massacre sums up the spate of political killings across the country in recent years. These clearly show the government’s inutility in the securing, if not total disregard, to the rule of law and human rights. The Arroyo administration can’t keep away its hands bloodied from the Maguindanao Massacre. In the first place, warlordism in Maguindanao once more became strong due to the nepotistic coddling to the Ampatuans.
The Maguindanao Massacre, on the other hand, is a martyrdom of the victims in their pursuit of electoral democracy and press freedom. The victims knew the dangerous route they will go through, (though they never, nor anyone expected the barbaric act of such scale and horror) yet they pursued what they believe is the right thing to do. We are full of anger, shame and indignation for what befell the victims. But for their act, we should also act, so that their death will not be in vain.
We should be more steadfast and vigilant than ever as we draw close to the 2010 elections. We should work with all citizens and election stakeholders for the strict enforcement of election and peace and order laws. Let us educate ourselves with the election offenses defined by the Constitution and the Omnibus Election Code and be vigilant against the abuses and opportunism of the government and candidates. Let us be aware, and help our countrymen understand that election violence is a consequence of too much partisan divide among voters; vote-buying and selling; patronage politics; proliferation of loose firearms and private armed groups; and election campaign overspending. We should call the AFP, PNP and NBI to strictly enforce the Total Gun Ban; regulating the security escorts of candidates and disarm and dismantle all private armed groups and militias. We should call on the COMELEC to declare early the critical election hotspot areas so that preventive measures against incidents of election violence be done.
Vote for Peace 2010
1 December 2009
www.votepeace.bantayeleksyon.org
For more information, please call Patrick I. Patino at tel. nos. (02)926-8340 or (02)433-0764.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
STATEMENT OF CONDEMNATION: MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE
Unacceptable!
In Maguindanao last November 23, a convoy of vehicles going to COMELEC to file for candidacy in the 2010 elections was waylaid and ambushed, resulting to the brutal death of at least 57 people, many of them journalists and innocent civilians.
Inhuman!
The ambush is worsened by the inhuman and barbaric acts inflected upon the victims. Aside from suffering multiple gunshot and stab wounds, the women’s breasts were allegedly mutilated and their genitals riddled with bullet wounds.
Despicable!
This is an abhorrent violation of the dignity of the human person! The crime is beyond heinous! Such act will never be acceptable to human society and must be vehemently condemned by both the Christian and non-Christian citizens of the world!
Deplorable!
The brutal killings done in the context of electoral politics endanger our democracy and its institutions! The perceived lack of passion for justice among several national government officials is extremely alarming, also raising the spectre of either complacency or connivance.
WE CALL ON ALL PEOPLE TO CONDEMN THE MASSACRE AND ITS PERPETRATORS!
WE CALL ON THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP TO SHOW DECISIVENESS IN THE APPREHENSION AND PROSECUTION OF THE ALLEGED PERPETRATORS, EVEN IF THEY ARE LONG-TIME ALLIES OF THE INCUMBENT ADMINISTRATION!
WE CALL FOR THE SETTING UP OF PEACE CONSTITUTENCIES THAT WILL GUARD AGAINST ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE, ESPECIALLY IN THE UPCOMING 2010 ELECTIONS!
AFFIRM THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON: UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS!
CITIZENS ACT NOW: STRUGGLE FOR PEACE! FIGHT FOR JUSTICE!
INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
ATENEO DE NAGA UNIVERSITY
In Maguindanao last November 23, a convoy of vehicles going to COMELEC to file for candidacy in the 2010 elections was waylaid and ambushed, resulting to the brutal death of at least 57 people, many of them journalists and innocent civilians.
Inhuman!
The ambush is worsened by the inhuman and barbaric acts inflected upon the victims. Aside from suffering multiple gunshot and stab wounds, the women’s breasts were allegedly mutilated and their genitals riddled with bullet wounds.
Despicable!
This is an abhorrent violation of the dignity of the human person! The crime is beyond heinous! Such act will never be acceptable to human society and must be vehemently condemned by both the Christian and non-Christian citizens of the world!
Deplorable!
The brutal killings done in the context of electoral politics endanger our democracy and its institutions! The perceived lack of passion for justice among several national government officials is extremely alarming, also raising the spectre of either complacency or connivance.
WE CALL ON ALL PEOPLE TO CONDEMN THE MASSACRE AND ITS PERPETRATORS!
WE CALL ON THE NATIONAL LEADERSHIP TO SHOW DECISIVENESS IN THE APPREHENSION AND PROSECUTION OF THE ALLEGED PERPETRATORS, EVEN IF THEY ARE LONG-TIME ALLIES OF THE INCUMBENT ADMINISTRATION!
WE CALL FOR THE SETTING UP OF PEACE CONSTITUTENCIES THAT WILL GUARD AGAINST ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE, ESPECIALLY IN THE UPCOMING 2010 ELECTIONS!
AFFIRM THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON: UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS!
CITIZENS ACT NOW: STRUGGLE FOR PEACE! FIGHT FOR JUSTICE!
INSTITUTE OF POLITICS
ATENEO DE NAGA UNIVERSITY
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)