Good afternoon, everyone.
Honourable members of the Canadian House of Commons subcommittee on human rights, we are happy to be here because we want to tell you our stories and concerns about the Philippines.
I am Angelina Bisuña-Ipong, a former political prisoner. I am from a peasant family. I worked as a school teacher, and for almost 40 years did community work with rural and indigenous communities.
I was abducted on March 8, 2005, on International Women's Day, and released six years later on February 17, 2011. Nine uniformed and heavily armed men, who introduced themselves as members of the criminal investigation and detention group, arrested me without warrant. They blindfolded me, forced me into their van, and brought me from one military headquarters to another. I was detained with no benefit of counsel and held incommunicado for 12 days.
During this time, I was tortured and sexually molested. I was beaten about my head and on the rest of my body. They stripped me naked and touched my private parts while my hands were tied behind my back. I was subjected to ridicule and continuous interrogation. I urged them to stop subjecting me to indignities that they would not want their mothers and sisters to suffer. I demanded that they treat me with respect, but they continued to mock me. Later, they left me naked and shivering in the cold the whole night, with the air conditioner turned up full blast.
While in prison, in protest I went on a hunger strike for 12 days. After 12 days, they brought me to a regular detention centre, where I was informed of the charges against me: rebellion. After several days, I was informed of additional charges of double murder, double attempted murder, and arson. All of these trumped-up charges are non-bailable. It appeared as though they just wanted me to rot in jail.
After 40 years of serving the peasants and the indigenous people, I was considered a criminal, a terrorist, and an enemy of the state. But I told myself that it is not a crime to serve the poor. In jail I made myself productive by tending an organic vegetable garden. It was a way to bond with other inmates and it led to other livelihood projects. This kept us all busy. I learned that prison walls, iron bars, and barbed wire can imprison only the body, but not our minds, our thoughts, and what we stand for.
My case is just one of 347 cases of political prisoners in the Philippines today, who are experiencing the worst kind of torture, are arbitrarily denied liberty and due process, and are charged with the most heinous crimes to cover up the political nature of the arrests and detention.
Court proceedings move at an extremely and excruciatingly slow pace. Physical, verbal, and psychological torture in secret detention is practised with impunity and is carried out on a regular, systematic basis as a way to break the morale and spirit of detainees.
From 2010 to December 2011, human rights groups documented 55 cases of torture. These are in clear violation of national and international human rights laws, including the United Nations convention prohibiting torture.
President Aquino promised to “resolve the cases of extrajudicial executions and other violations of human rights”. However, human rights violations persist, and the number of victims continues to increase.
Of the 347 political prisoners held in high-security jails throughout the country, 28 are women, 10 are elderly, and 41 are sick. Eighty-one of them were arrested under the Aquino government. Many of those were arrested without warrants and charged with criminal instead of political offences. Twelve National Democratic Front consultants in the peace talks remain in jail, despite the Aquino government's obligations under international humanitarian law and the peace negotiation agreements to release them.
The government's persecution and intimidation of human rights defenders is pursued not only through imprisonment, killings, and disappearances, but also through vilification using the media. For example, on the island of Negros, the military have their own radio program and use it to broadcast accusations and threats against the staff of Karapatan, a national human rights organization.
The deployment and embedding of uniformed and armed soldiers in rural and urban centres, including Metro Manila, has resulted in massive rights violations of ordinary citizens.
Termed as “civic action” and “peace and development programs”, these military operations are part of the Aquino government's counter-insurgency program, Operation Plan Bayanihan. Similarly, the use of paramilitary groups to provide security and protection to mining and agribusiness companies has caused widespread displacement and worsened the human rights situation in communities.
The Philippine government’s ratification of international human rights conventions and the passing of legislation are not enough to guarantee the rights of Filipino citizens. We urge you as the Subcommittee on International Human Rights to take our concerns to the Canadian government so that these inform the recommendations of the Canadian mission at the universal periodic review.
Thank you.