Toronto groups seek justice for IPs, independent probe of Oct. violence

Toronto groups seek justice for IPs, independent probe of Oct. violence

From left: Deputy Gen. Bernadette Fernandez, Bern Jagunos, Rafunzel Korngut, Congen Rosalita Prosero, Pet Cleto, Connie Sorio and Sarah Salise.

By Pet G. Cleto

Indignant over the violation by police forces of the Duterte government’s maximum tolerance policy regarding protest rallies, a number of representatives from progressive  organizations in Toronto registered their calls for justice with Philippine Consulate officials last October 25.

Community leaders from Migrante Ontario, GABRIELA Ontario, Anakbayan Toronto, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines-Toronto (ICHRP-Toronto) as well as from the ecumenical coalition  Kairos, met with  Consul General Rosalita S. Prospero and Deputy Consul General Bernadette Fernandez.

They called for an independent body to investigate what they pointed out to be the very first violent dispersal of rallies of people’s organizations under the Duterte administration. They emphasized that the armed forces and the police had thereby violated the people’s democratic and political right to express their concerns.

On October 18 and 19, people’s organizations, mainly composed of people from national minorities, rallied in front of Camp Aguinaldo, and then in front of the U.S. embassy in Manila and were violently dispersed by the military and by the police.
The more violent dispersal on the 19th at the Embassy was undertaken by police under the command of Senior Supt. Marcelino Pedrozo, chief of the District Public Safety Battalion of the Manila Police District.

The four justice advocates

Bern Jagunos of ICHRP said that the two rallies were part of the week-long campaign of Moro and indigenous peoples from Mindanao to highlight their calls to demilitarize their lands and support the government’s intent to set an independent foreign policy.  She informed the Consular officials that Sandugo, the new alliance formed by national minorities, accompanied by their supporters  Anakbayan and partylist group Bayan Muna, were holding the 3rd Lakbayan or caravan of national minorities since 2014 calling for a just and lasting peace.

She said the only difference of this year’s calls for peace consists of their specific demands for a stop to military operations in their ancestral lands and end of fascist attacks against Moro peoples, and to uphold and assert national sovereignty and the people’s right to self-determination against U.S. imperialism.

“It is ironic,” Jagunos said, “that the people should be punished for exercising their democratic rights and for expressing what already President Duterte had announced he was going to do.”

Consul General Prospero responded to the subject of militarization in the ancestral lands of the lumads and the attacks on the Moro people mentioned by the groups. “Those human rights violations happened during the previous administration. These things have. been happening even in earlier governments, and  there are already ongoing investigations about them,” Consul General Prospero pointed out.

Jagunos said that difficulty about many investigations about human rights violations is that they are conducted by government police or armed forces, so there would be problems of objectivity since they are investigating their own colleagues.
“We are supportive of the many pro-people policies that the Duterte administration has set,” said Sarah Salise, Chair of the youth organization Anakbayan Toronto, “but we have to voice out our criticisms when negative developments take place, as in this case of the October 18-19 violent dispersals, they did.”

An estimated 50 persons were hurt during the dispersal and the violent and illegal arrests conducted by the police.
“Of the injured, many were youth and children,” Salise said.

“To go back to the militarization in Mindanao, many of the lumad youth are victims of militarization. Their schools – which the lumads built with the help of churches in Mindanao – were violently closed, and many of them were witnesses of the extra-judicial killings of school and community leaders, by the Philippine armed forces and the paramilitary,” said GABRIELA Ontario’s Petronila Cleto. She said the children, and their mothers, some of whom had taken refuge in Harran in Davao on the grounds of the United Church, only longed for peace to return so they could live once more in the communities they called their “paradise”. Militarization has created a Mindanao-wide terror, she said.

Deputy Consul (first name) Fernandez added that the investigations are encumbered because “no one is willing to sign up as witnesses to these incidents.” She didn’t specify which incidents she was referring to.

“The lumads I saw were not afraid to tell their stories to the media and all who visited them in Harran, “ Cleto replied.
Jagunos said that “although some demilitarization has taken place, allowing some lumads to return to their homes, other areas remain militarized, and groups like those in Harran still cannot go back.”

In accounts of the gathered together by KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights, a Lumad child was taken by the police and hidden behind the shields of at least five policewomen. Eventually members of the  rally contingent successfully negotiated with the police for the release of the child, who had been tightly handcuffed.

Connie Sorio of Kairos said that there should be more investigation as to why the commanding officer of the police decided to order the police to disperse the rally violently and to arrest demonstrators.

In many news accounts, human rights organizations in the Philippines have said they suspect involvement of U.S. embassy officials in that decision.

The representatives gave the Consul the various statements of their organizations protesting the dispersals. They asked the Consulate to relay the various points they had brought up with the officials, namely: Independent investigation of the violent dispersals; Investigation of the involvement of US Embassy; withdrawal of charges against the protesters; enforcement of maximum tolerance in future public protests.