Protestant leaders condemn abuses in Philippines
July 25, 2005
By Maurice Malanes*
MANILA, Philippines (ENI) — Filipino and foreign Protestant church
leaders have condemned what they describe as “massive human rights
violations” and outright killings of innocent people perceived as
“subversives” under the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“We demand justice for all victims of massive human rights violations
and desecration of human lives under Arroyo’s watch,” said Sharon Rose
Joy Ruiz-Duremdes, chief executive of the National Council of Churches
in the Philippines, in a July 21 statement.
Duremdes asserted there has been a “wave of killings” of peace advocates
in the country, including church people. She said it has alarmed
international church leaders and organizations, such as the Geneva-based
World Council of Churches.
One recent victim, she said, was the Rev. Edison Lapuz of the United
Church of Christ in the Philippines and a leader of the Promotion of
Church People’s Response, a multi-denominational group working for
justice and peace in central Philippines.
Lapuz had just come from the burial of his father-in-law when he was
killed May 12 in San Isidro, Leyte. Shortly before his death, he was
organizing a conference for church people to discuss the ill effects of
large-scale mining in his area.
The Rev. William Tadena, a priest of the Philippine Independent Church,
was gunned down March 13. He had been helping settle a labor dispute
within his parish in Tarlac in Central Luzon.
Lapuz and Tadena are among 411 people for whom the Karapatan human
rights monitoring group says it has records showing they have been
killed either by execution, assassination or massacre since Arroyo
became president in January 2001.
The killing of church people, including lawyers, journalists, human
rights workers and activists, prompted the National Council of Churches
in the Philippines to invite 13 Protestant bishops and representatives
of the World Council of Churches and the Christian Conference of Asia to
a July 15-20 fact-finding mission. United Methodist Bishop Solito
Toquero of Manila was among those who urged the delegation to visit.
“We urge the government to put an end to the pattern of killings that,
for many Filipinos, are reminiscent of the [late] Ferdinand Marcos
dictatorship,” fact-finding members said. They issued a statement after
visiting Tarlac, a three-hour drive north of Manila, and Surigao
Province in southern Philippines. Marcos ruled the Philippines under
martial law from 1972 to 1986.
The delegation from the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and four
other nations urged Arroyo to order an impartial probe of the killings,
and advised the police and military to ensure the safety of civilians
during police and military operations against armed insurgents.
The World Council delegation and local Protestant church leaders said
they found out that besides outright killings, human rights violations
included intimidation by the military, illegal detention and torture of
peasants working on farms for rich
landlords.
The United Methodist Church, a member of the World Council, has about 181,000 members in the Philippines.
*Malanes wrote this article for Ecumenical News International, which
distributed it. Information on the United Methodist Church was added by
UMNS.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
Global Connections: Philippines
Assassination report on Lapuz
BBC News: Philippines Protest
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