Freedom of the press stands endangered in Maguindanao massacre

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NCCP statement on the massacre in Maguindanao

Sangguniang Pambansa ng mga Simbahan sa Pilipinas
National Council of Churches in the Philippines
879 EDSA West Triangle, Quezon City, Philippines

NCCP statement on the massacre in Maguindanao

A Massacre Most Foul, Gross, and Utterly Repugnant

It is a massacre most foul, gross, and utterly repugnant!

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines joins the people in mourning. We reach out in prayer and solidarity to the families of the victims of the massacre in Maguindanao. The death toll of 46 people as of this writing, includes members of the media and two lawyers known for their human rights advocacy. We also reach out to the relatives of those missing.

May the Holy Comforter be with them.

Yet even as we grieve and mourn, we are outraged. We are outraged that government has not acted with dispatch. Two days after news of the carnage broke out, the suspected mastermind has not been taken into custody. From day one, the spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines already identified the suspected mastermind – a known staunch ally of the President and undeniably a political warlord in Maguindanao. We join the demand for the Government to take action but, we are appalled that a state of emergency has been declared in Maguindanao. For so long, Mindanao has been militarized and used to justify more military hardware and budget. What other more powers does the government need?

This massacre is a grim reminder of the pervading culture of impunity and the lack of respect for human rights that has been in our midst and that has turned for the worse since 2001. We are indignant of this continuing culture of impunity and the lack of political will of the government to stop these killings. What government has been doing is the swift perpetuation of injustice and the slow if not hollow dispensation of justice.

The gruesome massacre of unarmed civilians is also a painful reminder that government
statements to the dismantling of political warlordism have been mere rhetoric. Government has either turned a blind eye or entered into alliances with these warlords for political expediency at the expense of creating democratic space.

Political warlordism is a manifestation of a feudal social order and we join the call that it should now be a thing of the past.

To our partners around the world, our deep gratitude for upholding us in your supplication and affirming our calls. We pray that peace and justice be given a chance in Mindanao and elsewhere in this country. We pray that all the resources that have been poured in Mindanao bail the people out from the mire of poverty, neglect and human indignity. We pray that we all rise from this blasphemy for the sake of the God who loves us all and calls us to be one people and for the sake of our children and the children yet unborn.

REV. FR. REX RB REYES, JR.
General Secretary

Bishop NATHANIEL P. LAZARO
Chairperson

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NCCP calls for State’s accountability on James Balao’s disappearance

BAGUIO CITY- “Let us continue to search for James and the other disappeared. To search for them is to search for justice and peace. To continue searching is keeping alive the hope that we in the Philippines deserve better from those who lead in government. It is a struggle to make that hope a reality. A way is to call our leaders on their accountability”, National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) Secretary General Fr Rex Reyes Sr relayed on September 17 marking the day activist James Balao was abducted a year ago.

James Balao, 47, writer, social activist, and Indigenous Peoples rights advocate, had been missing for a year now. He is strongly believed to have been abducted on Sept 17 by elements of the Military Intelligence Group and Intelligence Service Unit of Region 1, in La Trinidad, Benguet.

Reyes said, “The list of victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances which gets longer to this day is a testament to a government whose concept of national security is the elimination of principled dissent”.

Victims have cut across Philippine society – teachers, lawyers, media people, local civil servants, farmers, workers, students, indigenous people, members of civil society and people’s organizations and clergy and other church workers – all unarmed civilians, the NCCP head said.

Among other enforced disappearances are activists Romy Sanchez who disappeared in 9 March, Pepe Manegdeg in 29 November and Albert Terradano in 30 November, all in 2005 also believed to be abducted by elements of the government’s military forces. They are all young men full of dreams for the upliftment of justice and human rights, choosing a path not many would like to tread.

Very recently, 26-year-old Noriel Rodriguez was reportedly abducted by suspected military agents in Gonzaga town, Cagayan province, last week. Noriel is affiliated with the militant Akbayan which does medical missions, literacy classes and peasant
organizing.

Noriel is the 15th Anakbayan member who had either been abducted or killed
under the Arroyo administration, reports say. Among others were University of the
Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, missing since 2006.

The government’s Oplan Bantay Laya remains to provide the legal framework in this continuing political repression. “As long as the OBL exists, there will be continuing harassment and impunity against advocates of human rights and civil liberties”, Reyes added.

During the observance program held here in the city, the NCCP head also took the opportunity to thank the Baguio City government for the support in the campaign to surface James and for making this occasion a part of the wider city centennial celebration; and the other local governments in Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province for showing the same kind of support in the call for surfacing Balao.

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