NDFP International Information Office
In a letter hand-delivered to UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston by the NDFP-Joint Secretariat yesterday in Quezon City, NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson, Luis G. Jalandoni reiterated the NDFP invitation to Prof. Alston to meet with the NDFP Negotiating Panel and Monitoring Committee in Utrecht “anytime at your convenience after your visit to the Philippines to discuss matters of mutual concern regarding the human rights situation in the country.”
NDFP International Information Office
In a letter hand-delivered to UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston by the NDFP-Joint Secretariat yesterday in Quezon City, NDFP Negotiating Panel Chairperson, Luis G. Jalandoni reiterated the NDFP invitation to Prof. Alston to meet with the NDFP Negotiating Panel and Monitoring Committee in Utrecht “anytime at your convenience after your visit to the Philippines to discuss matters of mutual concern regarding the human rights situation in the country.” The invitation was for Prof. Alston and his staff.
Jalandoni took the occasion to give Prof. Alston a study of 23 cases of extra-judicial killings filed against the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. He said, “The submission of human rights groups are supported mainly by fact sheets which contain enough material information for conducting impartial investigation by concerned parties…” These cases were subsequently filed by representatives of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) against the NDFP. Jalandoni pointed out further, “The submission by the AFP and PNP representatives are woefully lacking in supporting documents and information.”
Jalandoni pinpointed the Arroyo regime’s Task Force Usig and AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon as responsible for “grave injustice done to the victims of extra-judicial killings.” He added, “this injustice extends from prior stigmatization as ‘communists’, intimidation and harassment by military, police and paramilitary forces, up to false accusation that they have been killed for the most foul offenses like espionage and gross malversation of funds against the revolutionary movement.”
Jalandoni further stated, “The 23 cases in the study given to Prof. Alston included 17 victims who were members of organizations viciously vilified by the GRP, namely partylist groups Bayan Muna and Anak Pawis, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and affiliated peasant organizations, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Karapatan, United Church of Christ of the Phlippines (UCCP) and the Promotion of Chruch People’s Response (PCPR).” He added, “The rest of the victims were peasants, village officials, or ordinary folk, some of whom were openly tagged as communists or communist supporters by the military, police and paramilitary anti-communist groups.
