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PRESS RELEASE
July 16, 2008
KMP LAUDS CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION BANNING MILITARY PRESENCE IN SCHOOLS
Regional farmer’s alliance, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas – Southern
Mindanao lauds the Davao City council after it has passed a house
resolution that prohibits military forces from occupying schools in their
counter-insurgency operations.
KMP – SMR said this move is worth emulating by other city and local
councils, especially in the provinces wherein military use of public
places such as schools, gyms, civilian homes and even clinics have been
rampant.
“We completely support the Davao City Council in this move that expresses
sincere regard for human rights, especially for the rights of children,
who are oftentimes rendered victims by the military as it pursues its
militarist goals without any regard for civilian lives and safety,”
expressed Pedro Arnado, vice-chairperson KMP-SMR.
He also said military operations under the behest of the Eastern Mindanao
Command former chief Lt. Gen. Cardozo M. Luna up to the present leadership
of Maj. Gen. Armando L. Cunanan has been marked with such a violation
which consequentially resulted to the violation of children’s rights and
pose danger to their lives.
According to the 2008 human rights documentation records by human rights
groups, recent cases of militarization such as those in Talaingod, Baganga,
Compostela and New Bataan showed that military forces occupied and used
public places within civilian populated areas, which is a violation of the
Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law (CARHIL) and other international instruments on peace and
human rights.
Calling on the military hierarchy to heed the Davao City Council
resolution, Arnado said military forces even outside the city should
follow accordingly.
He also lambasted the presence of military troops in civilian communities
such as the reported presence of military troops in the Sitio Tudaya, Brgy.
Sibulan in Davao Del Sur.
Arnado said the military’s mere presence in the community is considered a
threat to the people’s opposition to the Tudaya hydro-power plant being
constructed by the Hydro Electric Power Corporation (HEDCOR) a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Aboitiz.
Arnado also challenged the Eastern Mindanao Command leadership to pull-out
the 28th Infantry Battalion in Sitio Valma, Brgy. Ngan in Compostela which
is now reportedly occupying the sitio’s gym and health clinic as the
constrcution of a military headquarters is ongoing.
KMP-SMR also demanded swift administrative and criminal actions against
two members of the Philippine Air Force who drew a cross on a young boy’s
abdomen using a cigarette, which it said is a “vicious” violation of the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child.
Arnado said similar incidents happen more often in the far-flung
militarized areas but remain unaddressed. Arnado urged local government
units to continue to be vigilant against military abuses and defend
civilian rights and supremacy. #
Reference:
Pedro Arnado
Vice-Chairperson, KMP-SMR
Media Desk: 0929-5594543 (Daday)
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