con't... (message board 106)

Name:   Antonio Morales
Email:
Date:

To Carlo and Hitler

Please read the RH bill and point out the provisions that are questionable to you. You are hallucinating and needed to stop allowing your mind to wander into the great unknown. Just focus on the issue at hand and this world would be a better place.

Facts should controvert fiction and false claims. Otherwise, we will always be under the shadow of fear and false teachings.

Name:   Hazel Arcenio Gremio
Address:   Boracay Island, Aklan 5604, Philippines
Email:   hazelarcenio@yahoo.com
Date:   June 5, 2011

Just want to get the attention of all Abenalis, Pinano or Dimatawaran in Leyte, Leyte. If you know this person named Erlinda Pinano Abenalis, just email me or contact me on face book, she is my mother and i just want to know if someboby in Leyte knows her. She got married and residing now in Aklan.
Hope to hear some good news with you guys. Thank you.

Name:   Carlo
Address:  Eastern Samar
Email:
Date:  5-30-11

RH Bill!

A very deceptive honeyed poison. At the outset it is very appalling, but inside it is treacherous as a serpent...it will kill the society little by little. It is not a new issue nor a practice it was practiced in Egypt of which Moses was spared...It is also practiced nowadays all over Europe in Singapore and in China…etc.. It is very alarming because the promise is "MONEY" or wealth of the nation…means to be a prosperous country…you must eliminate your children...Of course it was a very decisive battle of Hitler to eliminate the Jews and Stalin his people... I say it is nothing new… it is only another way of expressing our fears and of our guilt...it is not the poor who longs for it...it the rich...why? because they enrich themselves thru ???? corruption…hence, their guilt and their fear... it is not the ignorant who longed for it. They are the learned people of this world…why? because they know too much how about their crime to the state and to the people.

And I say it is very deceptive...and it is very old...they are not the works of a simple people of todays but of geniuses long before…the forerunners of this are not the congress of the Phils...it arose in Europe long long centuries before...they were the forerunner of the French revolutions, they enthroned Hitler and invent communism…they want to control the people...they want to control the states, they want to control the world...how....thru money (banking) and laws...they want to lead the people to inequity...from translating the bible into numerous translations in order to disqualified the church's dogma...it has been discovered before: see "COMMUNISM IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH"..."ILLUMINATI" "MASONRY". They great bankers and lawgivers. They do not target membership on ordinary people...ask a good Jesuit and you know about this...this RH bill is not as easy to battle as one can see it…because it is universal...and it is not the work of human......i can see evil in this...the work of inequity...the conspiracy against the church "people of god".....i can see the ruin of humanity...

Name:   Millions of Filipinos Praying for Peace
Address:  In the World Wide Web
Email:
Date:   May 29, 2011 A Day to Remember the Dead in all Wars

View Current Signatures - Sign the Petition
http://www.petitiononline.com/peace511/

To: Filipinos All Over the World and their Leaders
To the Government of the Philippines and their Supporters and the National Democratic Front and their Supporters
11 April 2011 revised 26 May 2011

A FERVENT PRAYER FOR PEACE

We are Peace and Justice Advocates spread out all over the Philippines and the world – scattered, in the millions, in the far-flung countries of the globe – all earnestly praying for peace and justice in our beloved homeland.

The armed conflict between the Marxist and Maoist rebels groups on one hand and the government military and paramilitary forces, on the other hand, has been going on for over half a century. It is one of the longest such struggles in the world. And there is no apparent end in sight.

Since its inception, countless lives have been lost among the combatants as well as in the civilian population. The youth at the prime time of their lives have become martyrs to this cause. Some children have been caught in the crossfire. Tens of thousands more have been displaced—losing their properties, land or means of livelihood, living miserable lives, dreams deferred, abandoned or lost altogether. Poverty, lack of education, hunger and ill-health stalk them; infrastructures that underpin our economy damaged or destroyed, impeding our economic development.

We understand, even sympathize with, the grievances of the rebel groups. They are driven to desperation and hopelessness, denied, on a number of occasions, access to democratic space to voice their concerns, or simply ignored, and in some cases deliberately exploited and oppressed. Worse, those whom we consider as the protectors of our people have perpetrated violence against them.

We understand, too, the position of the government to defend its legitimacy to govern, even as we know on some occasions the levers of political powers have been obtained by fraudulent means and utilized, along with military force, to coerce and repress the poor, the uneducated and the disenfranchised.

Faced with massive problems from within – poverty, corruption, poor education, and lack of access to health care, malnutrition and hunger – and competitive pressures, even onerous practices, from without as a result of a globalized world, this state of chronic armed struggle impairs our capacity to make significant progress on our internal problems and to compete effectively with other nations. We put at risk our present and future. "A house divided against itself will fall."

We have to settle this once and for all to move forward as a nation. Both sides have their own shortcomings and excesses in furthering their causes and what they believe in. But in governance, political change and striving for a better life for all, the situation is not the proverbial “Irresistible force and the immovable object.” Each side has to compromise for the good of all.

We urge the National Democratic Front, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New Peoples Army and the Government of the Philippines to immediately ceasefire and negotiate NOW the terms of Peace and Justice. The Filipino people have suffered too long and too much in the crossfire between the warring parties. The country is being held back in progress and development while neighboring nations are passing us by in almost all human and economic indicators. The Philippines is not just the "sick man of Asia" but its people have scattered in all four corners of the world and the seven seas in a tragic Diaspora, some as lowly servants, sex slaves, and drug mules holding onto knife blades for their own survival and their loved ones left back home.

We implore the combatants of the ideological divide to craft an agreement based on peace with justice and compassion towards national reconciliation. With peace, justice, compassion, and a spirit of national reconciliation, we can move on and build a better Philippines.

Only given the foregoing conditions, primarily with peace and justice, can we mobilize and harness and take full advantage of our capabilities as a people, and our natural resources, which are considerable, for the fulfillment of our individual and collective needs and aspirations in our own land. Then our people will no longer be forced by economic circumstances to make a living in foreign lands, where some meet untold sufferings, treated like slaves, machines or commodities. Given the appropriate leadership, we can be creative and productive in a land we call home.

We appeal to the National Democratic Front of the Communist Party of the Philippines (NDF-CPP) to reflect on the appropriateness and continued relevance of their almost unchanging ideological driving force, especially the vow of so many of its adherents that only through a protracted war, the armed struggle, and rivers of blood and a nationwide chorus of lamentations throughout the width and breath of our Homeland can a just, peaceful, progressive, and respected society be attained.

Given the undeniable and massive changes in the world when the now discredited Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the so-called socialist and communist countries of Eastern Europe collapsed, “historical and economic determinism” and the inevitability of socialism through revolutions are not the unchanging laws of history.

When the satellite countries of the USSR collapsed in Eastern Europe, corruption was unbelievable among the topmost leaders of the political leadership.

In “Communist” China and “Communist” Vietnam where formerly rigid doctrines have adapted to sociological, cultural, political, and economic realities and, to lesser extent, to more humane and human values, are those countries on the road to communism?

We appeal to the leadership and the idealistic adherents of the National Democratic Front to assess their achievements in the 41 years that they have been waging this war of national liberation.

We appeal to the National Democratic Front to consider the alternative of a peaceful struggle to attain political power in collaboration with other groups, which, like them, are also fighting for a better Philippines, but pursuing it within the parameters of the law and democratic processes.

We are convinced that an unending armed struggle in our homeland – fighting for principles through violence and arms – may have become passé‘ and ineffective in the Philippines and the world in contemporary times in the light of more urgent and critical issues such as inexorable climate change, clashing systems of religious faith, a global political and economic order reeling from the disastrous economic policies in America, and in the homeland, massive environmental degradation, and the destruction of the network that sustains life.

We appeal to our political and our governmental leaders and their economic and business supporters to be more receptive and responsive to the concerns of the poor and marginalized, to be more effective and transparent in governance, to enlarge the democratic space for dialogue, to exercise utmost restraint in the use of force and to stop from committing human rights abuses in the course of ostensibly defending the Government, and to observe strict adherence to the principles that govern a civilized society, a society that ostensibly has a Constitution and is governed by the rule of law.

Whatever divides us – be it political, social, and economic factors – is not beyond human resolution, nor beyond compromises that are beneficial to everyone concerned.

We implore both sides of the ideological divide to convert their swords into plowshares, to harness those weapons for productive, creative uses for a nation in dire strait.

We believe that the pursuit of PEACE with JUSTICE is a cause greater than anyone of us – whatever political or social persuasion we may have, whatever cultural values we cherish.

We firmly believe that Peace with Justice and the achievement of very real possibilities – health, progress, prosperity, happiness, hope for a better tomorrow, and a people treated with dignity and not disrespected all over the world – are not beyond fulfillment for the 101 million Filipinos, for their children and the future generations of our people. We believe that it is within our power to make these dreams a reality.

Our Fervent Prayer: Let us exert every effort to have Peace and Justice enshroud our Beloved Homeland.

For Bayan Ko! Onward to a Better Philippines, we are:

Sincerely,
The Undersigned
View Current Signatures

Name:   Antonio Morales
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email:
Date:  5-27-11

Decoding the Deluding Mantra of Fr. Cimagala

This is a reaction to the piece written by Fr. Roy Cimagala. His exhortation that the church has a right to voice out its opposition to the ongoing debate regarding the RH bill is correct. However, the one major thing that is questionable is when one is no longer voicing out an opinion on a particular subject but trying to impose one's doctrinal interpretation of an issue to be adopted as a national policy. Fr. Cimagala is right that the church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines, is the moral guardian of our country. Look at how immoral we are as a nation. Is it not the failure of the church, the supposedly guardian of our morality?

Fr. Cimagala says "what kind of democratic state would we be if we silence the voice of a very significant sector of our society as the Church?" Well, my answer is simple. The government has not silenced the church. The church tried to silence the majority. Threatening political leaders who will vote for the measure to be excommunicated is a form of silencing the conscience of our political leaders.

Here's my beef on the RH bill issue. On the right of responsible parents to intelligently decide the number of their children and the methods they would use as contraceptions, whether natural or artificial, are not within the province of the church. Only the couple should decide how many kids they will have and whether or not they should use condom or follow the rhythm method espoused by the church. My advice to Fr. Cimagala and his minions is to stay away from the bedrooms. Instead, go back to the classrooms and institute rigorous morality classes for Filipinos.

The problem with the church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, is that it wants to impose the mantra of "go and multiply." Who do you think are the number one violators of this command? Using their deluded argument that one's role in life is to be like a rabbit, then why is it that the Roman Catholic Church decided that the priests and nuns should be exempted from this command? If you are not supposed to have sex and raise children, how could you be an expert in sex and raising children? And if people are merely sex machines producing children year after year, is the church willing to feed them, clothe them, give them shelter, provide them with quality education? No, the church just wants to have poor and uneducated people who will blindly follow the dictates of a Padre Damaso.

Religion becomes an opium of a society when unintelligent people succumb to mental stagnation. Deep inside, Fr. Cimagala knows that the RH bill is not espousing abortion but educating people to be responsible adults who would value life as sacred and holy. The RH bill is not favoring the use of artificial contraceptives but providing a wide array of choices for people to use in order to promote reproductive health including the use of natural methods as favored by the catholic church. The RH bill is not about promoting promiscuity as drumbeated by celibate priests and bishops. It espouses the promotion of education so that the next generation of Filipinos would have knowledge that sex is a taboo but a human experience we should be fully informed about. Yes, knowledge is dangerous but little knowledge or no knowledge at all are even more dangerous.

Continue to preach about the morality of teenage experimental sex, Fr. Cimagala in San Carlos-Talamban. Continue to denounce those who are in the sex trade. But, please denounce also those brothers of yours who prey on unsuspecting children and teenagers. And, please tell your bishops not to cover this stories up too.

In closing, the separation of state and the church is important. During the dark years of the Spanish rule in the Philippines, the church became too abusive to the extent that it sparked a revolution. No more do we want the church and state to combine its powers to oppress and abuse the people. I suggest that the church start by focusing on the morality of stealing and lying so that Catholics in government offices should stay true to the teachings of the church. And that a church that denounces gambling should not accept regular payouts from Pagcor and PCSO. And finally, that a church that denounces sexual immorality should excommunicate marital infidels like Manny Pacquiao or Jejomar Binay and Bishop Ted Bacani for his homosexual indiscretions.

Name:   Rex B. Cole
Address:  New Zealand
Email:
Date:   5-21-11

Chan: “We are more than ready!”

Whew !!!! the picture on this column looks like a total militarization of Samar island. Is it a psywar to make people scared instead of PEACE?

Name:  Jose D. Obrero
Address:  Block 43, Lot 15 Salburg St., Summerwind Village 4, Buro Main, Dasmariñas 4114, Cavite
Email:   jdo2061@yahoo.com
Date:  Mayo 19, 2011

Maupay nga adlaw haiyo nga tanan!

Ako si Jose D.Obrero, taga Bo.Guinsorongan.anak ni Filemon Lacasa Obrero, ako yana ay nandito ha Dasmariñas Cavite nakatira. Dose anyos ako na umalis ha Samar, yana ako ay 50 Years old na.

Mayda ako problema han akon Birth cirtificate. Di daw ako nakarihistro sa NSO-National Statistic Office, kaya deri ako makakuha han akon copya han akon Birth Certificate.

Magpapatulong sana ako kon hinoman an nakakakilala ha akon, na ipa late register ako dida sa munisipyo sa Catbalogan, kay deri man ako maka uwi dida ha Guinsorongan yana dahil may trabaho ako.

May kamag anak ako dida ha Guinsorongan, si tatay Boning Obrero, at si na ate Preting, na ank ni nanay Julieta bangin kilala ninyo hira. Ito nag aking Cell.#-09152588400. E-mail- jdo2061@yahoo.com

Maraming Salamat! God Bless us all!

Name:   Western Samar
Email:
Date:  5-18-11

Sa lahat ng mga politiko ng Samar

Hinde magbabago ang patakaran ng Samar kung mga politiko mismo ang mag papatayan!!!

Kawawa ang mga mamayang mahirap at ang ibang mamayan na pwede lang suhulan ng pera para pumatay ng kapwa!

Aabutin pa hang-gang sa inyong mga anak-at apo-apo ng inyong mga apo, na hang-gang doon ay nag papatayan parin ang mga politiko oh politika lalo na alam nilang hinde nila kaya ang kalaban sa mga susunod na eleksyon!

Hang-gang ganyan nalang ba tayo Samar?? Yan lang ba ang kaya natin? Pumatay ng kapwa?

Idilat ang mga mata! Mag isip tayo at magtulungan para sa kabutihan ng ating mga mamayan!

Name:   ACOS
Email:   acosamarenos@gmail.com
Date:   May 12, 2011

The Alliance of Concerned Samareños (ACOS) is one with Calbayognons and the rest of the people of Samar in mourning the untimely death of Calbayog City Mayor Reynaldo Uy. ACOS condemns in the strongest possible terms this latest incident of politically-motivated violence in the province.

ACOS lauds Mayor Ining Uy as a true public servant ever responsive to the citizens’ welfare. Mayor Uy started serving the people as a medical doctor reminiscent of Dr. Remberto "Bobby" de la Paz, who was also martyred by the Marcos dictatorship in 1982. ACOS shared Mayor Uy’s position on several issues in Samar such as the demand to stop large-scale mining and other sincere efforts for environmental protection in the province. He stood up against militarization and initiated congressional investigations on military atrocities committed by the 8th infantry Division under Arroyo’s favored Gen. Jovito Palparan in 2005. When others were afraid to speak up, Mayor Uy’s staunch position against military abuses victimizing not just Samar but the rest of the region led to the removal of Gen. Palparan in the Eastern Visayas.

Samar has long been plagued with political violence at the expense of its citizens. This culture of violence and the political system it supports no doubt is one alarming cause for concern, affecting genuine progress and stability in our province.

Justice for Mayor Uy!

End political killings!

Name:   Banu
Address:   Catbalogan City, Samar
Email:
Date:   May 10, 2011

An pagpakamatay ni Mayor Uy in kanan Diyos pagburot-an, bangin dere natugot an Makagarahum nga umabot ngadi ha segundo distrito an crimen ha primero distrito. Although an eya panoyo-anan in poypoyon an curroption ha Samar nga amo an makusog nga battle cry hit mga Samarnon pero mahataas naman an porsyento han killings dinhi ha aton. Let us look on God's intervention.

Name:   FREE ERICSON ACOSTA CAMPAIGN
Email:   freeericsonacosta@gmail.com
Date:   May 9, 2011

Political Prisoners and the Catbalogan 5: Tales of Torture and Arbitrary Arrests from the Eastern Visayas
(Last of two parts)

When barangay officials in Bay-ang, San Jorge raised the alarm after Acosta was picked-up by the military, human rights groups led by Katungod-Sinirangan Bisayas (Katungod-SB) immediately took the initiative to look for Acosta in military detachments and detention facilities all over Samar. They asked civilians around military camps if soldiers had brought in captives; inquired with the wardens and jail guards if they had new prisoners accused of being “rebels.”

A jail guard in a Catbalogan jail said yes, and said that there were in fact five of them. One, he said was brought in only last August, but the others have been there for years now.

And so on that fateful day in February, they stumbled upon the Catbalogan 5.

After a few days, these human rights groups were informed that Acosta was already remitted at the Calbayog sub-provincial jail. But from their search for Acosta, concerned groups in Samar found out that they had a few more political prisoners to handle.

The Catbalogan 5 is composed of farmers Noel Galvez, Simon Gabijan, Jesus Bacnotan and spouses Loreto and Beatriz Gabuay. Except for Loreto’s wife Beatriz, all of them face criminal charges related to NPA actions in Samar. Beatriz “chose” to stay in detention, and says that she refuses to part with his husband for fear of her life. She says that military men continue to visit their barrio to harass her, even when Loreto was already behind bars.

Based on signed interviews and factsheets initially forwarded by human rights volunteers in Samar, the Catbalogan 5 underwent the same, if not worse circumstances of illegal arrest suffered by political prisoners like Acosta, Tomada and Sarmiento. Their testimonies imply that some, if not all of them endured torture and gross human rights violations while under the custody of authorities who arrested, and later accused them, they say, of false charges to justify their continued detention.

These farmers say that the charges, ranging from robbery to multiple murder, were made in connection with high-profile “tactical offensives” launched by the NPA in the last decade. From these offensive actions, the NPA carted away several high-powered firearms from the AFP and the PNP, while government forces usually suffered heavy casualties.

While they were arrested under different circumstances, all of them maintain their innocence of the charges made against them. They assert that they could not have been part of any of those armed offensives as they are just ordinary barrio folk -- one says he was in fact at home, another was coping with menial jobs in Manila, while others were naturally just tending to their farms when the NPA actions transpired.

Even with the possibility that these farmers may have been involved, or may be supporters of the NPA with their homes and farms located in the interior barrios of Samar marked as “NPA guerilla zones” by the AFP, human rights groups uphold that these detainees deserve humane treatment and should be afforded the right to counsel and the best defense possible. These they say have been elusive to ordinary peasants who likewise suffer most from grave abuses in militarized regions all over the country, especially under the “killing spree that was Oplan Bantay Laya” and now, from “intensified militarization under the guise of team work and solidarity” in Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan.

Noel Galvez, 42, is a farmer from Barangay Buloan in Calbiga town. He was arrested in August 2010 while herding fellow barriomen to register at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) office in Calbiga in time for the barangay elections which was held last October. Sources say that Galvez, who has long been harassed and accused by the military of being a NPA supporter, was convinced that he should avail of the army’s offer of reconciliation especially now that the Aquino administration promises a better future for ordinary citizens. Galvez had earlier submitted himself for “clearance” at one military detachment for him to be able to “campaign freely” for a barrio politician.

Despite this “clearance,” he was still arrested and charged with frustrated murder and multiple murder in relation to an NPA raid in Barangay Binanggaran, Calbiga. Two (2) troopers were reportedly killed, while two (2) high-powered rifles were seized by the NPA in that December 17, 2009 incident. Galvez says that he has witnesses to prove that he was working on his farm when the raid happened, but a certain Capt. Renante Morales of the 8th ID insists that it was Galvez he saw a hundred meters from his position. Capt. Morales said that Galvez in fact wore a green shirt, and served as “blocking force” in the rebel attack.

Simon Gabijan, 48, of Barangay Lipata in Paranas town says that he had gone fishing with his family starting before dawn until about noontime of February 28, 2002. He had learned that the NPA raided the Municipal Police Station (MPS) in nearby Motiong, from the usual barrio word-of-mouth when they got home. Based on information from actual news reports, the early morning raid of the NPA resulted in three (3) casualties for the PNP, while the rebels seized at least fifteen (15) high-powered firearms from the ill-manned police detachment.

After a few months Gabijan received a subpoena stating that he was accused of participating in the raid. He immediately submitted himself to the Motiong police station to clear his name. At the station, the local officers assured Gabijan that there was nothing to worry about – they told him that the rebels who participated in the raid were all in their youth and so it was unlikely that Gabijan was actually involved. The Chief of Police who identified himself as Rivera told him to ask a Judge Jakosalem about his case. The judge in turn, advised Gabijan to get a lawyer so that he could file a motion to quash. He attempted to get a lawyer, but given his limited resources – and probably banking on the assurances made by the police officers – Gabijan just went on to try his luck in Manila.

Several months after he returned to Samar, Gabijan was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for criminal charges in connection with a different NPA offensive. He was accused of involvement in the March 17, 2004 raid on the 34th IB and PNP station in San Jose de Buan town, several kilometers away from Paranas.

According to a statement released by the NPA’s Efren Martires Command in the Eastern Visayas, thirteen (13) soldiers and one (1) policeman were killed in the raid. The NPA suffered three (3) casualties but seized M16 and M14 rifles, and several pistols from government forces.

Gabijan says that he was still in Manila when the raid occurred – he had returned to Samar only in June of 2004. Three policemen have testified against Gabijan, and claimed that they actually saw him around 4:30 in the morning, participating in the rebel attack. Gabijan innocently wonders how the policemen could have possibly seen him when it is still dark at such an hour. He says that he is already convicted of the charges made against him.

Jesus Bacnotan, 64, also of Barangay Lipata, was charged with several criminal cases for alleged involvement in the NPA raid in Motiong. But it was only in 2008 that he says he was arrested – abducted, rather – by soldiers from the 8th ID.

On November 20, 2008, at around 11 in the evening, men who identified themselves as soldiers went knocking on the Bacnotan residence and asked for Jesus. Jesus, roused from his sleep, opened his doors to his unexpected visitors. He was immediately blindfolded and pushed inside his captors’ vehicle. Because of the long drive, he thought that he would be brought to the 8th ID headquarters in Barangay Maulong, Catbalogan. At around 3 am based on his estimates, he was made to ride another vehicle and was told that he would be brought to a hospital. He said that he was brought somewhere in Tacloban City or Leyte.

Bacnotan says that he spent three (3) nights under military custody where he underwent continuous tactical interrogation by several military men who took turns in questioning him. He was blindfolded all the while. He realized that he was brought to Leyte because he saw the San Juanico Bridge when his blindfold was finally removed – aboard another vehicle bound for the 8th ID headquarters in Maulong.

It was only then that he was turned over to the police. He was informed that he was being charged with rebellion, multiple murder, frustrated murder and robbery when he was brought to the Catbalogan Hall of Justice. Bacnotan, who was already a senior citizen at the time of his arrest, was made to stay another three (3) nights in the Maulong military barracks before he was remitted to the provincial jail in Catbalogan.

Loreto Gabuay, also a senior citizen at 63, is a farmer from Barangay Salay in Paranas. He is also being charged with involvement with several NPA actions such as the Motiong and San Jose de Buan raid, and even ambuscades by the NPA in Barangay Babaclayon and Lawaan in Paranas. Gabuay says he was either at home with his family or tending his nearby farm when these incidents happened.

Gabuay was arrested by soldiers from the 34th IB on September 23, 2008. At around 3 am, soldiers surrounded their residence in Barangay Salay and commanded the persons inside his home to get out. His family refused to abide as it was still dark. At daybreak, soldiers barged into his home and searched for “concealed weapons.” When they found nothing, the soldiers took Loreto with them. The soldiers did not carry, or show them a search warrant or warrant of arrest.

For fear that Gabuay would be summarily executed, his wife Beatriz, 48, begged the soldiers to spare his husband and asked that she be brought with them. They were blindfolded and brought to the 8th ID headquarters in Maulong. At the military barracks, Loreto was repeatedly tortured and coerced to admit that he was a NPA commander. His interrogators promised him stable means of livelihood if he surrendered.

He was turned over to the police where he was made to sign some documents and was informed of the charges filed against him. After ten months, Beatriz was released.

More than a year after she was released, soldiers returned to Barangay Salay looking for Beatriz. They said that they now have an arrest warrant for her. Beatriz returned to the Catbalogan jail to inform his husband that she was still being harassed by the military. They solicited the help of the jail warden, who promptly advised Beatriz to check with the Hall of Justice if there was indeed a standing arrest warrant against her. She learned that there is none, but still Beatriz refuses to return to Barangay Salay because she says the military is after her.

While the charges filed against these farmers are currently handled by lawyers from the Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO), the Catbalogan 5 appeal to concerned institutions, human rights advocates, and lawyers to look into their plight.

“Mano” Jesus Bacnotan asks if anyone could donate eyeglasses.

They hope that – despite the lingering climate of fear and impunity in the region – Samareños and the rest of Waraynons open their eyes to this glaring injustice.

Name:   Carol Ecija
Address:   Brgy Amamtillo, Marabut, Samar
Email:
Date:   May 07 2011

Hi mga taga Marabut maupay gud it aton mayor ngan kapitan unta mag improve pa it Marabut.