[News] Philippines - Satur emerges on YouTube, 84th women killed

Thu Mar 15 15:30:31 EDT 2007

fyi. there are now 838 political killings in the 
Philippines, 84 are women. The Che Che Gandiano 
was murdered earlier this week for testifying to 
the UN via Alston about the politically motivated murder of her father-in-law.

Satur emerges for US hearing - on YouTube

03/15/2007 | 07:35 AM

At about the same time the US Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee opened its hearings on 
extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, Bayan 
Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo 
posted his messages on the issue via the world 
wide Web -- he came out on the party-list group's 
YouTube Channel at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, Manila time.

Ocampo, who is also House deputy minority leader, 
addressed his messages to the citizens of America 
and the international community. For a week now, 
he has been the subject of manhunt operations by 
local policemen for alleged involvement in the 
death in the 1980s of supposed former rebel allies.

Tonyo Cruz, Bayan Muna spokesman, said the videos 
were posted 2:30 am on the party-list group's 
YouTube channel, 
<http://youtube.com/bayanmunadotnet>http://youtube.com/bayanmunadotnet.

In his two videotaped messages, Ocampo urged the 
international community to reject the lies of the 
Arroyo government and look into the role of the 
counter-insurgency Oplan Bantay Laya approved by 
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

He also took the opportunity to explain at length 
the legal shortcuts and violations to due process 
in the concocted multiple-murder case against 
him, for which he asked the international community for support.

Ocampo said that Oplan Bantay Laya's targeting of 
both armed combatants and unarmed activists, and 
the tagging of Bayan Muna as a communist front 
explains both the political slays and the 
political persecution of anti-Arroyo Members of Congress.

He stressed that the Arroyo government's own Melo 
Commission and the UN Special Rapporteur on 
Extrajudicial Killings have rejected authorities' 
claims of an ongoing communist as the supposed 
culprit for the murders that have victimized more 
than 830 Filipinos including 129 Bayan Muna members.

Ocampo also thanked the US organizations and 
churches for their lobby efforts that have 
successfully compelled the powerful foreign 
relations committees of both houses of the US 
Congress to take on the issue of unresolved and 
continuing political killings under Arroyo.

Ocampo urged American lawmakers to undertake more fact-finding missions so they
themselves will find out the real situation.

As he expressed gratitude for the groundswell of 
support, the former political detainee and peace 
negotiator called on the international community 
to strengthen solidarity with Filipinos 
especially activists and partylist representatives such as himself.

Bayan Muna's Media Bureau said that more videos will be posted on Thursday.

"There are at least three more videos which we 
will upload within the day. These videos are 
addressed to Bayan Muna members and the millions 
who have made Bayan Muna the Number One partylist 
in surveys and actual elections," said a 
statement from the party's media bureau. "We 
intend to show and play these videos and their 
audio versions in sorties, forums and in our 
mobile electoral campaign vehicles."

The statement added that "the videos will be an 
addition to Bayan Muna's public information 
arsenal as we wage battle against the black 
propaganda emanating from Malacanang, Camp Crame 
and Camp Aguinaldo.We intend to maximize our 
YouTube channel for our national and 
international reelection campaign." - GMANews.TV

Account of Incident –

On March 10, 2001, at around 3:00 in the 
afternoon, Che Che Gandinao was shot dead by a 
lone gunman near the 9th IBPA detachment in Brgy. 
Guinalaban, Salay, Misamis Oriental. She 
sustained four gunshot wounds and later died in the hospital.

She was presented as a witness to the murder case 
of her late father-in-law "Tatay Daki" Gandinao 
during the Philippine visit of the UN Special 
Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on 
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

Che Che was a member of Bayan Muna, a duly 
accredited political party that promotes the 
rights and welfare of the marginalized sectors of 
the country – the workers, peasants,, fisherfolk, 
indigenous peoples, urban poor and other 
down-trodden by actively pushing urgent people's 
concerns in the halls of the Philippine Congress.

She was likewise a member of MOFA - an affiliate 
organization of the Kilusang Magbubukid sa 
Pilipinas "Peasant Movement of the Philippines" – 
a nationwide fedderation of organizations of 
landless peasants, small farmers, farm workers, 
subsistence fisherfolk, peasant women, and rural 
youth. KMP is recognized as the most militant 
peasant federation in the Philippines and cited 
to among the most significant peasant movements in Asia.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1.  The immediate formation of an independent 
fact-finding and investigation team composed of 
representatives from human rights groups, the 
Church, local government, and the Commission on 
Human Rights that will look into the assassination of Che Che Gandinao.

2.   The arrest and prosecution of the 
perpetrators of the crime/s of summary execution

3.   The immediate and proper indemnification of the victims; and

4.   The Philippine Government to be reminded 
that it is a signatory to the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a 
party to all the major Human Rights instruments, 
thus it is bound to observe all of these instruments' provisions.

You may send your communications to:

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic
Malacanang Palace,
JP Laurel St., San Miguel
Manila Philippines
Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80
Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968
Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462
E-mail: <mailto:corres at op.gov.ph>corres at op.gov.ph 
/ <mailto:opnet at ops.gov.ph>opnet at ops.gov.ph

Sec. Jesus D. Dureza
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
  *Office of the Peace Process
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
Voice: +63 (2) 636 0701 to 066
Mobile:
Fax: +63 (2) 635 9579

<mailto:osec at opapp.gov.ph>osec at opapp.gov.ph

Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane, (Ret.)
Secretary, Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Building, Camp Emilio Aguinaldo,
E. de los Santos Avenue
Quezon City
Voice: +63(2) 911-9281 / 911-0488
Fax: +63(2) 911 6213
<mailto:osnd at philonline.com>osnd at philonline.com

Hon. Raul M. Gonzalez
Secretary, Department of Justice
Padre Faura St., Manila
Direct Line 521-8344; 5213721
Trunk line 523-84-81 loc.214
Fax: (+632) 521-1614
Email <mailto:sad at doj.gov.ph>sad at doj.gov.ph

Hon. Purificacion V. Quisumbing
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., UP Complex
Commonwealth Avenue
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Fax: (+632) 929 0102
Email: <mailto:drpvq at chr.gov.ph>drpvq at chr.gov.ph

Please send us a copy of your email/mail/fax to 
the said government official to our address below.

URGENT ACTION Prepared by:

KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights)-National Office
2/F Erythrina Bldg. Maaralin cor. Matatag 
Streets, Brgy. Central, Quezon City 1100 PHILIPPINES
Voice/Fax: (+632) 435 4146
Emails: <<mailto:karapatan at tri-isys.com> 
karapatan at tri-isys.com > / 
<mailto:karapatan.pid at gmail.com>karapatan.pid at gmail.com
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A US-Philippine Women's Solidarity Mass Organization
3543 18th Street #17
San Francisco, CA 94110
email: sfbayarea at gabnet.org
web: 
<https://host406.ipowerweb.com:8087/webmail4//parse.pl?redirect=http://www.gabnet.org>www.gabnet.org 

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www.freedomarchives.org 
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