Mission & Justice

Al Jacinto; 9/10/08

A Filipino anti-war coalition has demanded the closure of US military bases in the southern Philippines, where American troops are aiding local forces battle Abu Sayyaf militants and other rebel groups. It said US troops have put up small bases inside Philippine military facilities in Zamboanga City and in other parts of central Mindanao where the American forces are said to be participating in combat operations against rebels. Sen. Rodolfo Biazon and members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (LOVFA) inspected US facilities in Zamboanga City last week and said they found no military facilities, but only administrative buildings used by the US forces in humanitarian missions and joint trainings with local troops in Mindanao and Sulu archipelago.

(more…)

Emma-Kate Symons; 27/9/08

Social revolution and “hedonism” are coming to Asia’s only Catholic country as The Philippines’ Congress prepares for the first time to back government distribution of free condoms and the pill to poor families. The historic law defying church teaching could be voted on as early as next week. Couples would be offered a choice between natural family planning - based on abstinence during women’s fertile days in their menstrual cycles - and artificial methods. President Gloria Arroyo’s administration favours the former option. Sex education, including family planning, would be mandated for pre-teens and adolescents in schools, a move one priest condemned as “child abuse”. If advocates of contraceptive choice win, as expected, the movement is expected to grow to embrace reform of marriage laws, and even legalisation of abortion.

(more…)

10/9/08

The Philippine authorities are investigating the killing of a family of six in an air attack in the country’s south. Four of the dead were children, aged between two and 10. The Philippine military said its aircraft came under attack and it was firing back at separatists when the civilian family’s boat was hit near the southern Datu Piang township on Monday. Lieutenant-General Cardozo Luna, a spokesman for the military, said the incident was “very unfortunate”, but blamed the separatists who he said had “provoked” the air bombardment.

(more…)

Sr Emma Delgado; Interact, Summer ‘08; 1/7/08, a Dominican nun from Mindanao, reflects on the journey that took her to work for Peace Advocates for Zamboanga (PAZ) This is an edited extract from a ‘Sharing stories’ session at Progressio’s regional workshop on women, faith and peace, Timor Leste, 21-24 February 2006. It is taken from “Faithful peace, peaceful faith; The role of women of faith in building peace”, by Jane McGrory
I come from Basilan in the southern Philippines. Paz is 12 years old and its mission is inter-religious dialogue: we work with Muslims and Protestants, reach out to indigenous people, and dream of reaching out to the Buddhist community. We celebrate the Mindanao week of peace, supported by the government. Every year more religious communities and community groups get involved, from all over the Philippines and beyond. My own personal story is of inter-religious dialogue in life. I grew up in a Muslim community: we played, ate and lived together without concern for religious differences. Life was beautiful. But in the 1970s the situation became very confused and the military took control. There was violence everywhere, widespread rights violations, and war. The conflict was between military forces and Moro rebel groups, and the victims were both Muslims and Christians.

(more…)

Marie Magleby; 28/6/08

Since she came to the UAE in 2006, Rose has been picking up the pieces of her shattered hopes. Now, eight bosses later, she keeps hoping her day will arrive. Rose arrived in the UAE with a visit visa after years of working in the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. She could have signed on with an agency in the Philippines to guarantee a job, but she had already been through a series of unfortunate events and preferred to take no risks. She wanted to meet her sponsor before signing. She refers to most of her employers as bosses, not sponsors, because only one of them sponsored an employment visa for her. The others sent her to Kish Island, Iran, every couple of months to return as a visitor, or the employment didn’t last long enough to worry about it.

(more…)

23/6/08

On a visit to the Philippines, Townsville Bishop Michael Putney has said Australia’s Catholic bishops are ready to assist Filipino bishops in their campaign against Australian-controlled mining operations. The Philippines Sun-Star reports Filipino bishops have found an ally in Australia in their bid to stop mining activities operated by Australian firms in the country. The paper quotes Bishop Michael Putney as saying Australia’s bishops are willing to help if asked by the Filipino prelates.

(more…)

Paola Totaro; 21/6/08

We met Annie not long after moving into our new home in London. She came recommended via word-of-mouth as so many migrant domestic workers do. On day one, she arrived early and I found her waiting politely outside on the street ready to start work when the clock struck 9am.We had a cup of tea together before she began work and despite palpable shyness - had nobody asked her to talk about herself before? - she said she’d come to London in 2002 and had worked six days a week ever since as a cleaner, a housekeeper, an all-round helper with a number of families to maximise her earnings.

(more…)

28/5/08

Ten women and children, wearing white masks and dressed as skeletons, danced waving a silver cloth with the words “AIDS,” “prostitution” and “child abuse.” This dance presentation opened the AIDS Candlelight Memorial program at the Good Shepherd Convent in Quezon City, northeast of Manila, on May 18. Sister Mary Soledad Perpinan organized the event. She works with the Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women (TW-MAE-W), an NGO that runs shelters and drop-in centers for prostituted women and their children. Now in its 25th year, the Candlelight Memorial held annually on the third Sunday of May is a program of the Global Health Council, which describes itself as an international alliance “dedicated to saving lives by improving health throughout the world.” About 100 Good Shepherd nuns, residents of TW-MAE-W shelters, staff of that and other NGOs, and members of a local Christian community attended the Quezon City commemoration.

(more…)

19/5/08

Around 200 Catholic leaders and religious workers will sign a protest statement against gold and copper mining operations in the southern Philippines, a bishop says. Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel reported he is draft-ing a statement opposing mining operations in Kiblawan town, Davao del Sur province, and expects to get 200 signatures. The statement will be distributed to parishes within Marbel and the two neighboring dioceses of Di-gos and Kidapawan. These three dioceses have been working together on anti-mining advocacy since 2006, when they supported a two-week strike against Xstrata Copper, the Swiss company managing the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project in Kiblawan. “We oppose the large-scale mining operations because they post a threat to the environment,” Bishop Gutierrez told reporters during a May 14 public forum in his diocese based in Koro-nadal City, 980 kilometers southeast of Manila.

(more…)

14/5/08

Every Friday, Clarita Alia takes time off from selling vegetables to pray and light candles at a public cemetery. She visits the graves of her three sons, all stabbed to death in separate incidents between July 2001 and November 2002. “I am still hurting,” the mother told UCA News on May 11. “I have hatred in my heart,” she admitted, adding that she wants justice for her sons. Police reports say the three brothers were allegedly killed by members of a vigilante group after being involved in several pickpocket incidents in the city. A case has not been filed against the suspects, however, because of “uncooperative witnesses,” Alberto Sipaco of the regional Commission on Human Rights told UCA News. “They do not want to testify because of fear,” the lawyer explained. Alia, 56, runs a vegetable stall with her five remaining children at the biggest public market in Davao City, 965 kilometers southeast of Manila. She is also a member of Stop Summary Executions, an advocacy group composed of mothers whose children were victims of extrajudicial killings in the southern Philippines.

(more…)