News
5 firearms seized in Negros Oriental raid
A four-strong commando unit of the New People's Army seized three M16s, an M14 and two .45 caliber pistols in an attack on a Philippine National Police detachment in Barangay Masulog, Canlaon City, Negros Oriental in the early morning of May 5.
The offensive was carried out despite the deployment of additional military and police forces in the island.
Misamis Occidental folk demand pullout of 10th IB
RESIDENTS of Misamis Occidental demanded the pullout of abusive troops of the Philippine Army 10th IB led by a Lt. Col. Libertino.
They put forth their demands in a meeting on April 19 in Barangay Lower Bautista, Sapang Dalaga attended by 100 peasant leaders from eight barrios. Peasants from the villages of Lower Bautista, Masubong, San Agustin, Ventura, Guinabot, Dapacan, Alto, Siloy and Bonifacio disclosed their terrible experiences when the 10th IB conducted pursuit operations against an NPA unit it had an encounter with on March 14.
Soldiers of "B" Coy ransacked, destroyed property and terrorized the barrios. The peasants complained that the soldiers stole their farm animals and other property.
One peasant was being forced but refused to serve as a guide for military operations. Four soldiers pointed their guns at another peasant who was being forced to surrender his M14 rifle because he was supposedly an NPA member.
KARAPATAN-Western Mindanao conveyed their complaints to the 10th IB command, but the abuses were denied by an official by the name of Capt. Toraino. This enraged the victims no end.
Meanwhile, in Compostela Valley, relatives demanded the immediate release of Jordan Donillo, 32, of Barangay Cabuyuan, and Rexan Esperanza, 17, of Barangay New Leyte, both from the town of Mabini. The two were accosted by troops of the 60th IB "C" Coy on April 25 in Sitio Palawan, Barangay Magpalusong, Mabini.
The 60th IB imprisoned them and brings them along during operations. According to 60th IB chief Col. Edgardo Gonzales, the detainees will be released only if they promise not to return to the armed movement. The relatives said that the detainees bore torture marks on their bodies.
Tens of thousands of workers nationwide commemorate international labor day
A big insult! This was how workers reacted to Gloria Arroyo's Labor Day offer of free rides on the MRT, a concert, tickets to a basketball game, and discounts in various stores. Instead of becoming elated, tens of thousands of workers marched to plazas, streets and public places on May 1 to demand a P125 increase in daily wages and a stop to the regime's anti-labor policies. Their actions also coincided with the coordinated "miting de abanse" of the Anakpawis party in various parts of the country.
In Metro Manila, up to 30,000 workers gathered at the Liwasang Bonifacio.
While Arroyo was busy prettifying her image before a number of workers in Laguna, 5,000 workers gathered in Calamba City, Laguna to assail her policies. Similar mobilizations also took place in other cities in Luzon. Up to 40,000 workers participated in protest actions in the entire Visayas. Thousands also res-ponded to the call of Kilusang Mayo Uno and Anakpawis in Mindanao.
The Arroyo regime refuses to address the workers' just demands. Throughout Arroyo's term, workers received not a single centavo in wage hikes. Despite the wage freeze, prices of basic goods and services continually went up. According to a study conducted by the workers, the real value of their wages has already fallen by P51.80 since 1999. This means that the current P280 minimum wage is now worth a mere P229.
Torture by British and American soldiers in Iraq exposed
OCCUPATION troops in Iraq were stripped of their pretenses anew with the expos� of the cruel acts of torture, lasciviousness and humiliation perpetrated by British and American soldiers on Iraqi prisoners.
A television presentation on April 28 of pictures of Iraqi prisoners being tortured by American soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad drew widespread condemnation from the American people and especially from Iraqis and other Arabs. One photograph shows a detainee standing naked on a box with his head covered by a hood and his hands tied with wire. Another picture shows several naked Iraqi prisoners piled on top of each other and being ridiculed by male and female American soldiers. It was the American soldiers themselves who took the photographs.
Meanwhile, two soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment of the British Army gave pictures to the Daily Mirror, a London newspaper, showing abuses committed by British troops against Iraqi prisoners. One photograph shows a British soldier urinating on an Iraqi detainee. The two British soldiers said that it was a common practice among their fellow soldiers in Iraq to swap photographs of prisoners they had abused.
It will be remembered that last January, the maltreatment of eight Iraqi prisoners in the hands of British soldiers was exposed. The soldiers kicked the detainees several times, leading to the death of one of the prisoners. One report states that up to 25 detainees have died in various prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan controlled by the US-led occupation forces.
The dozens of photographs were shown on several other television stations and printed in many other newspapers worldwide. There are growing calls for the abuses to be classified as war crimes and for an investigation by independent human rights organizations.
The US and UK have thus been compelled to investigate. A probe by the US military confirmed widespread cases of beatings, video- and picture-taking of male and female detainees who had been stripped naked, forcing detainees to engage in various lascivious acts, rape and other sexual abuses committed against prisoners as well as other brutal acts. Pres. George W. Bush and other US government and military officials have also been compelled to address Arab countries in an apparent bid to rationalize the incidents. Instead of asking for an apology, however, Bush expressed full confidence in American military officers whom he claimed were a big help to the Iraqi people.
Despite the gravity of the human rights violations committed, Gen. Janis Karpinsky who was then the administrator of US prisons in Iraq, was merely given an admonition. Six Military Police personnel found to have tortured Iraqi prisoners were merely reprimanded. None of them has been dismissed or forced to resign. Gen. Karpinski, who has admitted to being aware of the abuses since last year, said that she could not countenance them. She said that the torture was ordered by military intelligence officers who controlled the detention cells where the abuses occurred.
Opposition to US Patriot Act grows
THERE is growing opposition to the US Patriot Act even as Pres. George W. Bush has campaigned to make the law permanently binding. Some 300 local government units are now opposed to the Act, according to the latest reports from the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The latest local government unit to pass a resolution against the Patriot Act was Martha's Vineyard in Tinsbury, Massachusetts. Prior to this, the states of Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont, the cities of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, Dallas, Denver, San Jose, Seattle, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., Pittsburgh and El Paso and the three most populous cities of New York, Los Angeles and Chicago had already expressed their opposition.
These local government units strongly condemn the overweening power granted by the US Patriot Act to the Department of Justice to arrest, detain and deport aliens without filing any case against them.
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