Church leaders denounce Philippines political killings, call for justice under new president
Episcopal News Service. June 30, 2010 [063010-01]
Matthew Davies
Global church leaders have condemned the murders of two lay members of the Philippine Independent Church in what is being reported as the latest spate of political killings under the controversial presidency of Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who stepped down June 30 as the country's leader.
Benjamin Bayles, a human rights activist, and Jovelito Agustin, a broadcaster who defended workers' rights, were reportedly shot dead June 14 and 15, respectively, by suspected paramilitary groups on motorcycles.
Both men were active members of the Philippine Independent Church, or Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), which is in full communion with the U.S.-based Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
Alexander Baumgarten, director of government relations for the Episcopal Church, called the murders "tragic and shocking" and underscored "the urgent need for the international community to work for an end to the long pattern of human-rights abuses sponsored by the government of the Philippines."
The Episcopal Church's Executive Council, at its June 16-18 meeting in Maryland, passed a resolution joining with ecumenical partners, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, and other churches "in condemning unresolved human rights cases, including extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests, and the detention of church workers in the Philippines; and called upon the Philippines government to ensure that the human rights of church workers are respected and to seek the release of illegally detained church workers in the Philippines."
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Bayles and Agustin "point to the pattern of continuing impunity against progressive organizations and their members, and journalists who raise critical voices," said the Rev. Rex Reyes, general secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines and a priest in the Episcopal Church of the Philippines, in a June 24 statement.
Extrajudicial killings and abductions occur without the permission of a court or legal authority and are generally carried out by a government attempting to rid itself of a disruptive influence.
More than 1,100 extrajudicial killings have been documented between the start of Arroyo's presidency in 2001 and October 2009, according to human rights group Karapatan. During that same period, Karapatan recorded a total of 204 victims of enforced disappearance and 1,026 victims of torture.
The Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, World Council of Churches general secretary, denounced the killings in a June 29 letter to incoming President Benigno Aquino III, urging "the Philippines government to keep its commitment to international human rights instruments and put an end to the killings and to the culture of impunity by prosecuting the perpetrators and granting justice to the victims of human rights violations."
For the Most Rev. Godofredo David, IFI obispo maximo, Bayles and Agustin "are the latest victims of a systematic attempt to silence the Iglesia Filipina Independiente ... Their deaths clearly point to a re-intensification of political killings and worsening political repression and human rights violations in the Philippines."
David has called on Aquino to "hold the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the numerous cases of political repression and killings in the Philippines under the military's counter-insurgency policy."
Baumgarten told ENS that the Philippines begins a new chapter of its political history, as it swears in Aquino as president. "President Aquino, whose own family has borne the wounds of political violence, campaigned on a promise to punish the perpetrators of human-rights abuses," he told ENS. "We urge the international community, including the United States government, which has sent an official delegation to today's inauguration, to hold the president accountable for his promise."
Bayles and Agustin were not the only victims in Arroyo's final month as president.
Nestor Bedolido, a journalist in Digos City in southern Philippines who had written about corrupt practices of politicians, was killed on June 19, and Desidario Camangyan, a radio broadcaster known for anti-logging and anti-mining commentaries, was gunned down June 14 while hosting a singing contest in Manay town, also in southern Philippines.
IFI Bishop Felixberto Calang told Ecumenical News International on June 22 that for the killings to stop, "Aquino must show political will by ensuring the prosecution of Ms. Arroyo as a violator of human rights along with those who gave and received the marching orders to kill."
Interim IFI Bishop Felomino N. Ang of the Diocese of Negros Occidental, where Bayles was murdered, said: "The diocese shall continue fighting for the truth to bring the perpetrators to the bar of justice … Is this the price a church worker has to pay for his undying commitment to the cause of the poor, deprived, oppressed and exploited of his community?"
In September 2008, Episcopalian James Balao was abducted at gunpoint months after he complained to family and friends that he was under constant surveillance. Balao is a founding member of the Cordillera People's Alliance, a federation of grassroots organizations dedicated to the promotion and protection of indigenous peoples' rights. Balao remains missing.
Former IFI Obispo Maximo (Prime Bishop) Alberto Ramento was found stabbed to death at his rectory in October 2006. Known for his advocacy work for peace and human rights, Ramento had been an outspoken critic of the Philippine government.
More recently, a group of 43 health workers who have been detained since Feb. 6 and denied basic human rights, remain in custody.
The health workers were participating in training sessions conducted by a non-government organization, the Council for Health and Development, when more than 300 military invaded the compound and made the arrests. The health workers were accused of being a communist group and charged for alleged possession of explosives and firearms, claims that have been widely refuted.
Among the health workers are Dr. Alexis Montes, a member and former national health program coordinator of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and Angela Dolorico, an indigenous woman from Sagada, Mountain Province, and a member of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines.
The Rev. Winfred B. Vergara, missioner of Episcopal Asiamerica Ministries and a former IFI priest, acknowledged that Aquino promised during his inaugural speech to stamp out corruption and make sure that those who committed injustice to the masses be made accountable.
"We pray that he makes good on his promises to stand up and put an end to these extra-judicial killings of church workers and human rights activists, which were the blight of the past Arroyo administration," Vergara said. "The activist Filipino churches are not 'enemies of the state' nor 'fronts of communist organizations.' Their goal is to realize a truly free, peaceful and prosperous Philippines that respects human rights and dispenses social justice."