HAPIT Vol. IX No. 2
April-June 2006

HAPIT is rootword of the Ifugao term Hahapitan, meaning community dialogue. It is published quarterly by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance.

Amid this onslaught of state terrorism and political repression, the international community has taken action to join the campaign to stop the killings in the country, and the Cordillera region, specifically. Statements of condemnation and pressure letters flooded the Philippine government and appeared in both national and local media. Of prominence are those by the Uniting Church of Canada, European Commission Head of Delegation Jan de Kok, UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, and human rights groups Amnesty International (AI) and the Asian Human Rights Council (AHRC), to name a few.

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance’s international campaign to stop the killings has generated significant support from friends and partners, including private citizens who have responded to our SIGN ON LETTER and sent it to the Office of Philippine President and other concerned officials of the Philippine government. Letters and Statements of Concern have also been sent out to the Philippine government officials in response to the ACTION ALERTS that the CPA has sent out, regarding the heightening threat and surveillance of Cordillera political activists, the political assassination of Jose Doton, Rafael Markus Bangit and Alyce Claver, and the frustrated assassination of Dr. Constancio “Chandu” Claver. The SIGN ON letters and letters/statements of concern have come from countries across Asia and Europe, including responses condemning the military hitlist of Cordillera political activists. The CPA extends its sincerest gratitude to the response of these friends and partners for their response to the campaign and bringing attention to it at the international level.

An international concern
The Stop the Killings campaign has reached broad support, starting from community levels to the international arena. The broad and intensive projection of this campaign has made it an international issue, which, resulted to international pressure on the part of the Philippine government.

International lobbies have taken place at the United Nations, while intensive advocacy continues among organizations advancing human rights. The AI has specifically submitted a memorandum (Philippines: towards ensuring justice and ending political killings, September 14, 2006) to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during her recent visit to European countries. The memorandum specifically contained its conclusion and recommendations on the reassertion and respect of human rights, administration of justice, and action from other human rights institutions at the national and international levels.

AI notes that “existing serious flaws in the delivery of justice to the victims of such killings represents a failure by the government to fulfill its obligation under national and international law to protect the right to life of every individual in its jurisdiction”, further stating that the spate of killings have significantly affected the breakdown “of a protracted peace process and an accompanying human rights agreement, between the Government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).”
The letters and statements of concern have also called on the Philippine government to carryout its obligations to international humanitarian law, recognizing the sanctity of life and the right to due process. These same organizations have also reiterated the fundamental freedoms of citizens as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is also legally guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution.

The international arena has is eyes on the Arroyo government. It cannot, for long, remain undaunted with the barrage of protests and calls for justice for the victims. The Arroyo administration will continue to isolate itself from the Filipino people and the international community with its inaction to the killings. The quest of justice for the victims’ families, their relatives, friends and communities has been fortified with the solid, concrete support of the international community. # Abigail T. Bengwayan