Canadian Churches to host five-member delegation from the Philippines

A five-member delegation from different churches and human rights groups in the Philippines will be visiting Toronto and Ottawa between March 4-9, 2007 to raise awareness and draw international attention and action on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines.

Since 2001, more than 750 social activists, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, peasant workers and indigenous activist, including 22 church workers have been killed. To this day the killings continue. The Philippine Government has been accused of failing to conduct effective investigations into the killings leading to a climate of impunity and eroding the rule of law and respect for human rights in the country.

Members of the delegation are:

• Ms. Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)
• Bishop Eliezer Pascua, General Secretary of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)
• Marie Hilao-Enriquez, National Coordinator of Karapatan (a national human rights organization)
• Fr. Jose P. Dizon, chair of KAIROS-Philippines and Director of Workers’ Assistance Centre and
• Dr. Constancio Claver, a medical doctor serving indigenous communities who survived an assassination attempt in 2006 in which his wife was killed.

The delegation will meet with Members of the Canadian Parliament, Foreign Affairs Canada, churches, NGOs, trade unions and other civil society groups committed to working for peace, justice and human rights to appeal for support in pressuring the Philippine government to stop the political killings.

Their message is a simple one. “Help us to stop the killings”. It is a message that is echoed in the following words from an open letter from the Claver family following the assassination of Dr. Claver’s wife Alyce

“Many lives have been taken and many more are in danger. Anyone amongst us who dares to speak out against the evil rampant in our land is a virtual target. But let us not wallow in despair or be paralyzed with fear. Let us call upon our countrymen to be more united in fighting this reign of injustice. Let us tell the world of this state-sponsored terrorism that is ravaging our country today. Let not death of Alyce and the others before her, be in vain.”

Their visit is organized and sponsored by the United Church of Canada (UCC), the Anglican Church of Canada (ACC), the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF), Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (CCODP) and KAIROS — the Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiative.

From Canada, the delegation will proceed to New York, Washington D.C. to lobby the American Congress and meet with churches and human rights advocates. They will also travel Geneva, Switzerland to make a presentation at the United Nations Human Rights Council and then The Hague, Netherlands (March 21-25) to provide testimonies at the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) on the alarming cases of human rights violations in the Philippines under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime.

Sign the KAIROS petition to stop the Killings in the Philippines.

Canadian Anglicans are urged to sign a KAIROS a petition letter posted on the KAIROS website in solidarity and support to “Stop the Killing Campaign“.

The signed petitions will be presented to the Parliament in spring 2007.

International pressure is crucial to stop these political killings. In the last two years, KAIROS has sent out urgent action appeals and letters to the Philippine government to put a stop to the killings and bring the perpetrators to justice. While concerned groups and individuals in the international community have joined this effort, the clamor for justice and respect for human rights in the Philippines continues to be unheeded.

KAIROS, together with some of its member churches and church based agencies, initiated a petition to the House of Commons to conduct a hearing on the political killings in the Philippines. Such a hearing should look into the Canadian government’s role in the Philippines — its interests in trade and investment specifically around mining and its cooperation with the Philippine government in the so-called “war on terror”. This issue is especially significant as the Philippine government continues to use its anti-terrorism policy to legitimize its attack against people’s democratic rights.

Please return the signed petitions to:
Connie C. Sorio at KAIROS by March 15, 2007. E-mail Connie Tel: 416-463-5312 ext. 240KAIROS website

For more information about the Philippines delegation please contact:
Mahjabeen Chowdhury, PWRDF Asia/Pacific coordinatorE-mail Mahjabeen Tel: 416-924-9199 ext. 203