Philippine News Digest 137

Contents:

• Army troops kill rights group leader
• Secret marshals deployed in South Cotabato
• 70 minors arrested for stealing fish
• US senators deny toxic waste contamination in Clark, Subic
• 13.4 million families are poor

Army troops kill rights group leader

The deputy secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan based in Mindanao, and three of her companions were killed by members of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division April 6. They were Benjaline Hernandez, 22; Crisanto Amora, 23; Vivian Andrade, 18; and Labaon Sinunday, 30. Hernandez was in the middle of a month-long research on the peasant situation and on the impact of the paece process in Cotabato. Her research also included a follow up documentation on the massacre in Arakan Valley where three peasants were killed last year. She worked on the research with the Arakan Progressive Peasant Organization. Bishop Felixberto Calang who is also chairperson of Karapatan said hernandez’s body was riddled with bullets, her skull crushed apparentlt by a blunt object, and her body bruised all over. Her chest was also burned, which is an indication that she was shot at close range. Source: Ayan Mellejor and correspondent reports, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 10 April 2002.

Secret marshals deployed in South Cotabato

South Cotabato Provincial Police Chief Romeo Rufino issued a gag order to local media in Koronadal City, southern Philippines in order to prevent suspected terrorists from preempting the security measures implemented by the police. Police have also dispatched secret marshals over the province. Arthur Condes, an anchorman of a local radio station immediately slammed the gag order by Rufino, saying that it is the media’s responsibility to inform the people. To do otherwise means a neglect of its work, he added. Source: R. Sarmiento and correspondent report, Today, 9 April 2002.

70 minors arrested for stealing fish

Police arrested at least 70 minors, most of whom were male teenagers with ages ranging from 12 to 16, for allegedly stealing fish from traders at a market in Malabon City April 8. Most of those arrested live in slum areas under dire poverty, and though police say that a syndicate is behind the rampant thievery at the fish port the arrested minors said they sell their “catch” to end users or bring them home to feed their hungry families. They were turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development before being released to their parents. Source: Jonathan Mayuga with correspondent report, Today, 9 April 2002.

US senators deny toxic waste contamination in Clark, Subic

Around 114 people, including children, have died from various illnesses due to the hazardous contaminants left behind by the US military bases in Clark and Subic but US senators visiting the Philippines deny this. According to Senators Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Ted Stevens of Alaska, it has yet to be determined if the toxic waste did not come from the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. However, scientific environmental studies in Clark and Subic indicate that water and soil were indeed contaminated in several sites. The US government has been evading the legal responsibility to clean up the toxic waste since it left its two bases here in 1991. It merely committed to help the Philippine government in environmental projects, but even with that it has failed. American multinational corporations, ranging from mining corporations to tropical fruit canneries, are among the worst polluters in the country. Meanwhile, 50 people from San Jose del Monte City were rushed to different hospitals in Metro Manila last week after inhaling the dust spewed by 54 drums of dyes unloaded in the said city. Source: Malou Talosig, Ramon Lazaro and other correspondents, Today, 4 April 2002.

13.4 million families are poor

Research Director Antonio Tujan of the Ibon Foundation, Inc. said nearly 88 percent of Filipino families live in poverty, dismissing the government’s poverty figure as overly understated. According to government data from the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted by the National Statistics Office, about 34.2 percent of Filipino families live below the poverty level, way behind Ibon’s figure. Tujan added that the government estimate was based on a “ridiculously” low annual per capita poverty threshold of P13, 916, which means a Filipino only needs P38.13 a day to meet all his basic needs. He questioned the Arroyo administration’s sincerity in winning the fight against poverty within the decade through its Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2001-2004. He pointed out Arroyo’s refusal to grant the P3, 000 across-the-board wage increase and her over-bloating of the military and defense budget. Source: Romer Sarmiento, Today, 1 April 2002.