“The military forces in the area should be immediately investigated
as there are several complaints and records of their involvement in
human rights violations against anti-mining activists like Geertman.” –
Kalikasan-PNE
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA — Outrage met reports that a Dutch environmental advocate based in the Philippines was killed early noon on July 3.
Willem Geertman, executive director of Alay Bayan Inc. (ABI), was
shot and killed by unknown men in front of his office in Sto. Domingo,
Angeles City Pampanga. As of this writing, human rights organizations
in Central Luzon are securing more information on who was behind the
killing and what the motives were.
ABI is a non-government organization that works on community-based
and development-oriented responses in addressing the vulnerabilities
stemming from poverty, powerlessness, environmental degradation and
political abuse. Together with other environmental and civic
organizations, Geertman and the ABI campaigned for disaster risk
reduction and environmental concerns in Central Luzon.
Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) and
the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) immediately expressed grief and
demanded justice for the slain environmentalist.
Kalikasan-PNE national coordinator Clemente Bautista said Geertman
was a very active advocate against large-scale mining in Pampanga and
Zambales provinces.
“The military forces in the area should be immediately investigated
as there are several complaints and records of their involvement in
human rights violations against anti-mining activists like Geertman,” he
said.
According to reports, Geertman first arrived in the Philippines 46
years ago as a Dutch missionary. He eventually devoted his life in
community development and NGO work in Central Luzon. He was actively
involved in land rights and environmental protection issues and concerns
in the region, particularly forest protection in Aurora, Pampanga and
Zambales against logging and mining.
Kalikasan-PNE said Geertman was the 17th environmental activist killed under the Aquino administration and sixth this year.
“The Aquino administration is inutile in stopping the cold-blooded
murder of environmental workers. The Aquino administration’s record is
bloodier than the previous Arroyo administration. Worse, it appears that
President Benigno Aquino III is encouraging the perpetration of
killings and human rights violations against environmental activists by
defending destructive projects like large-scale mining and commercial
logging. The administration also gave orders to military and
paramilitary forces to give protection and serve as security forces of
mining and logging companies,” Bautista said.
ABI, Kalikasan PNE and various human rights groups will immediately conduct, this week, a fact-finding mission on the incident.
For its part, Bayan slammed Geertman’s killing and demanded that
investigations should be immediately launched to expose the
circumstances surrounding his death. Bayan said it worked with Geertman
on relief missions, particularly last year in Nueva Ecija and Aurora in
the aftermath of Typhoon Pedring. Alay Bayan facilitated the relief
mission of the Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan (BALSA) led by Bayan and
allied groups.
Geertman is the second European NGO/Community worker killed under the
Aquino regime, after the death of Fr. Pops Tentorio in Mindanao.
Harrasment against environmental journalists
In a related development, Kalikasan PNE also sounded the alarm over
what it said was a harassment campaign against Mindanao environmental
journalists.
Bautista said death threats are hounding reporters Edwin Iyo and Ben
Serrano, and editor Herbie Gomez of the Mindanao-based Gold Star Daily
for speaking the truth about illegal logging in Cagayan de Oro.....
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Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/07/03/dutch-environmentalist-killed-in-pampanga/