MANILA — Church workers and human rights defenders reaffirmed their commitment to fighting corruption as part of their peace advocacy.
At the 12th death anniversary commemoration on June 1 of former Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Obispo Maximo Tomas Millamena, the latter’s remarks were recited: “The world needs peace workers who can confront the dangers and challenges we face today […] The world needs more people who can serve and defend us against those who seek to steal, to kill, and to destroy.”
The IFI, through its General Secretary Dindo Ranojo, said that trillions of pesos are being stolen from the people due to corruption, adversely impacting the basic social services.
Greenpeace calculated that as much as P1.08 trillion ($17.5 million) of the government’s climate-tagged expenditures like flood control projects could have been lost due to corruption since 2023.
Ranojo said that many legislators and even those in Malacañang are implicated in the widespread plunder.
Plunder and graft charges have been filed against Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manual Bonoan, as well as DPWH engineers Denryl Cortuna and Manny Bulusan and Arturo Gonzales Jr.
“Good governance and politics of change are part of the peace talks. This should compel them to go back to the negotiating panel,” Ranojo said. “We should not only call for accountability but to act on it.”
There are 15 peace consultants currently imprisoned, according to Karapatan. Maria Sol Taule, Karapatan deputy secretary-general, said that human rights violations continue under the Marcos, Jr. administration.
Karapatan documented 135 extrajudicial killing victims under Marcos Jr. ‘s counterinsurgency program, and more than 1,000 summarily killed in the name of continuing “drug war.”
Taule said that the Anti-Terror Law and Terorrism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law have been weaponized against 227 human rights defenders.
IFI church worker Aldeem Yañez remains imprisoned for illegal possession of firearms and explosives and terrorism financing charges. Both of these laws have been often used against activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and church workers.
“For the longest time, we have been documenting human rights violations. This is not new to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Rodrigo Duterte, it all spans across administration through the government’s counterinsurgency program,” Taule said.
Millamena played a role in the peace negotiations between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Philippine government. He was part of the peace process as an NDFP Nominated Independent Observer in the Joint Monitoring Committee under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CAHRIHL). He also participated in the resumption of formal peace talks in Oslo in 2001. (AMU, DAA)
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