Vilification of activists continues with Oplan Bayanihan

Vilification of activists continues with Oplan Bayanihan

After investigating extrajudicial killings here in 2007, Philip Alston, then UN Special Rapporteur for extrajudicial executions, tagged the vilification of activists as one of the practices that gave rise to these killings. But vilification has continued.
By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Twenty-year-old Mildred Salang-ey was shocked to receive a subpoena on March 5, 2011. She was charged with murder, frustrated murder and attempted murder by the 86th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.


The military accused Salang-ey, a member of Mt. Province Youth Association and Anakbayan, as one of the New People’s Army guerrillas who launched an offensive against the Philippine Army on February 26, 2011 in Asipulo, Ifugao.

“My family was in disbelief. It [filing of charges against me] had dire effects on my studies and on my family. They were so worried. My sibling suffered a psychological problem because of this,” Salang-ey said in Filipino during a hearing of the House Committee on Human Rights, March 13. Salang-ey was a student of the Mountain Province State Polytechnic College in Bontoc.

Salang-ey was one of the witnesses who testified before members of the committee regarding the continuing vilification campaign of the military against development workers and activists.

Through the help of Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, a local chapter of Karapatan, Salang-ey was able to file her counter-affidavit. On December 22, 2011, the case has been dismissed due to lack of merit.

Mildred Salang-ey, 20, testifies before the House Committee on Human Rights, March 14, on the harassment she experienced in the hands of the military (Photo by Macky Macaspac)

“The accusations by the military have no basis at all,” Salang-ey said. “We have our rights as humans. We have the right to do what we think is right,” she said.

Meanwhile, Milagros Aowat, 58, a staff of the Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (Chestcore), could not accept that her more than 30 years of service to the poor communities in the region as a health worker would be the very reason why she experienced several forms of harassment.
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Source:  Bulatlat.com

URL: http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/03/16/vilification-of-activists-continues-with-oplan-bayanihan/