Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Oct. 30th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Order, please.

Welcome to the 54th meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Today is October 30, 2012.

Today we have appearing as a witness, Neri Colmenares, who is a member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines. He is accompanied by Connie Sorio, who is here to provide him with assistance. However it is Representative Colmenares who is actually our witness today. He will be the one making a presentation and he'll be the one to whom you ought to direct your questions.

I will just remind you all that today's session is televised and will be appearing on CPAC, and as I always encourage you to remember, your mother might watch this, so behave in a manner she would be proud of.

That being said, Representative Colmenares, I invite you to begin.

[Neri Colmenares, Member, House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines, As an Individual]

Thank you.

On behalf of my party and the Filipino people, I would like to thank the subcommittee for giving us the opportunity to share some insights on the Philippine situation today.

I was informed that the subcommittee has met several Filipino groups since 2007 on various issues concerning human rights and, to a certain extent, the possible involvement of Canadian firms in human rights issues in the Philippines.

I will not dwell anymore on the basic issues raised by the various groups, namely the church leaders, even members of Parliament who were here before, and recently, human rights advocates. I will just go into certain updates on the issues, but I would first like to reiterate that there are requests for the Canadian Parliament to conduct a study mission to the Philippines to look into human rights conditions in the country and, at the very least, look into whether or not Canadian firms are indeed involved in certain human rights violations in the country.

Maybe the most apt story to describe the current conditions in the Philippines today would be that of Merlyn Bermas, who was head of a local government unit, called a barangay, in the Philippines. A few months ago, she condemned members of the 49th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine army for the killing of one of her constituents. Benjamin Mancera was killed, according to Merlyn's charges, by the 49th Infantry Battalion and when he was killed, his sons, 11-year-old Richard and 8-year-old Michael, were also killed. A few months later Merlyn Bermas was riding on a motorcycle, a public commute in the Philippines, when two men riding motorcycles pulled up and shot her dead. Unfortunately also, adding to the woes of the family of the victim, her four-year-old son, Gerald, was also hit in the head. They tried to revive him but one day later, he died in a hospital in Camarines Sur, a southern province in the Philippines.

In essence, the human rights conditions in the Philippines could be described by saying that the killings continue.

Unfortunately, Merlyn Bermas is but one of the 114 victims of extrajudicial killings since President Aquino came to power in July 2010. There are many statistics on the escalation of human rights violations, but I will send the committee the documents rather than discuss the statistics here.

You see, in the Philippines some of our public officials resent dissent. They are not tolerant of protests, especially those that expose corrupt practices in government, especially protests that show dissent on abusive policies, because after all, this corruption and these abusing policies are worth millions of dollars for these public officials. That is why they sometimes resort to repressive measures to stifle dissent.

The military, another corrupt institution in our country, is all too willing to implement these repressive measures. Those who are first hit, of course, are the sectors that bear the brunt of these abusive policies, the farmers, the indigenous people, the various urban poor communities, but in the end repressive measures know no bounds. Extrajudicial killings would target church leaders, church members, women, and in the case of Merlyn Bermas, children.

We come here with a story to tell that human rights violations continue to exist in the Philippines, and we would very much want the international community to express concern on the escalation of these human rights violations.

I would like to add, however, that the human rights violations, unfortunately, involve certain transnational corporations. Unfortunately, in the news today are examples, or charges at the very least of involvement of certain transnational corporations operating in areas where indigenous people reside. Canadian mining firms have been reported to have been involved in this issue.

You see, there are transnational corporations in the Philippines that hire paramilitary groups in the country, ostensibly for security reasons, but the fact is, as everybody knows, that the hiring of paramilitary groups is a recipe for disaster. Unwieldy elements of armed civilians are known to have committed serious human rights violations a long way back during the time of Marcos and the next Philippine presidents. I'm sure there are many reports in many Latin American countries and other Asian countries where paramilitary groups were used and had very disastrous effects on human rights.

There are many Canadian mining firms in the country. Some are in the north, as in Abra, which the committee would probably know about because a Canadian firm called CANEX, I think, applied for 85% of the total land area of the province, applied for and was granted a mining permit by public officials there.

The other Canadian firm that gained public attention recently is Toronto Ventures Incorporated, or TVI. TVI has been charged publicly for being involved in using paramilitary groups. This is not an unreasonable suspicion, especially since the president of the Philippines, in fact, was convinced to issue an executive order allowing paramilitary groups to be used by transnational corporations in their operations.

I'll share two stories on TVI. One is with regard to the report by the media that they were detained or held hostage, as they termed it, by members of the paramilitary group hired by TVI. They were on their way to cover a demolition of houses of indigenous people residing in an area where the mining operation of TVI was about to take place. According to the media, they were detained and prohibited by the paramilitary groups from covering the demolition.

To be fair to TVI, and to give you both sides of the story, TVI did come out the next day to deny the fact that they were hiring paramilitary groups. They also denied that they conducted a demolition of houses of indigenous people in their mining areas. The fact we cannot avoid is that in public perception, TVI is now involved in human rights violations, especially since they used a paramilitary group to suppress a legitimate coverage by the media.

The other story I'd like to share is the case of Timuay Manda, a known anti-mining activist from among the indigenous people in Zamboanga del Sur where TVI is operating. Timuay Manda was shot last September while bringing his son, Jordan, to school. Timuay Manda survived the attack and, unlike Merlyn Bermas, he was not killed. However, his son, Jordan, was hit in the back and died instantly. An eight-year-old child died in the process.

Again to give you both sides of the issue, because the event caused a public uproar in the Philippines, not only was there another attempt on the life of an environmental activist, not only is this another example of repression on indigenous people, but an innocent child was also killed in the process.

TVI, of course, also issued a denial, together with the military and the police, that they were involved in the shooting. They said that their paramilitary groups were not involved in the shooting, and in fact that Timuay Manda is actually not an anti-mining activist but is, rather, an illegal mining activist.

I would not claim to have personal knowledge of who is telling the truth here, but in my view, Mr. Chair and committee members, it doesn't matter anymore. The fact is that another child is dead, and the child was killed in this battle for resources and gold and nickel. I think it is one death too many for resources in the Philippines.

Whether TVI is involved or not is something that must be found out, but probably the recourse should be that there must be a response to find out whether or not Canadian firms are indeed involved in human rights violations in the Philippines. After all, it is not only the security but also the image of Canadian investments in the Philippines that is at stake.

In the end, there are many requests and expressions of concern on human rights conditions and various other requests, but I will reiterate what I said at the beginning and the requests by previous delegations to the subcommittee, that the subcommittee should, if possible, conduct a study mission to the Philippines to look into human rights conditions in the country, or at the very least, to look into whether Canadian firms are involved in these human rights violations. I do not think this is an unreasonable action on the part of a Parliament that is, I know, a Parliament also concerned with the image, and the security, of course, of its investments abroad.

I will conclude with a statement that for the Filipino people, the response of the international community has always been an effective means for us to alleviate the plight of our people. It has always worked, probably not in eliminating human rights violations or extrajudicial killings, but in holding at bay, to a certain extent, the perpetrators of these killings. An expression of concern, a study mission, for example, would go a long way in not only alleviating the conditions of the Filipino people, but also in saving lives.

I do not know whether the conduct of a study mission to the Philippines is easy or difficult for the Canadian Parliament to do, but because it is an opportunity to save lives, I am sure it is an effort worth working for.

Maraming salamat po. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much, Representative Colmenares.

We have enough time to do six-minute rounds.

I invite Mr. Sweet to begin questions.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, Mr. Colmenares, for your testimony and for our previous conversations as well.

What did the President say when he signed an executive order for international companies to be able to use paramilitary groups? What was his justification for that? I'm certain there are many Filipino businesses that rely on the police to protect them. What was the rationale for these companies' being able to use paramilitary groups?

[Neri Colmenares]

The constitution itself actually looks with disdain on paramilitary groups, because of our experience with the Marcos government before. In the constitution there is a discouragement of the use of a paramilitary force, which was in fact the main criticism when the President signed the executive order.

I would like to add that our party is part of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives, but even we were forced to criticize the President for the issuance of such an executive order.

His reply was that there is an inability on the part of the police, because mining operations take place in upland areas very distant from urban centres. The explanation of both the President and the military is that they have a regular paramilitary group called CAFGU, but there is a special paramilitary group called Special CAFGU or SCAA. While the CAA is organic to the armed forces—they pay them and they have operational control over them—they cannot afford to pay the Special CAFGUs. That is why they said they would be asking for donations from concerned businesses who want to have security from the Special CAFGU.

However the President phrases it, the fact is that this unwieldy group of armed civilians under the pay of transnational corporations—and private corporations, at that—could actually lead to human rights violations. Despite the criticism, the President said that there is a need for such a special group and that the government will make sure that the special paramilitary groups are regulated and operationally under the control of the armed forces.

That was his reply, sir.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Colmenares.

The breaking news from the Philippines right now is that the marines have gone after a group of militants called Abu Sayyaf for hostages that they took. There's also another group called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as well as the National Democratic Front.

How do you determine who is the source of these extrajudicial killings? The allegations that you make are very strong. But you don't feel that it's these groups, do you, who are guilty of those extrajudicial killings?

[Neri Colmenares]

Yes.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Who is it, and how do you determine that?

[Neri Colmenares]

Thank you for that question.

I would immediately take out the Abu Sayyaf. For me, at least, it has no political ideology to speak of. It is a group of bandits. However, with two other rebel groups, the government actually has signed agreements or treaties.

With the NDF, the government has signed what is called CARHRIHL, or an agreement to respect international humanitarian law and human rights in the conduct of their war, an application of the Geneva Convention. That's with the NDF. With the MILF, as probably you've heard, the government has recently had the framework of a peace agreement.

As a human rights lawyer, before I became a parliamentarian, we actually studied the accusations and charges of the victims, and the families of the victims, that it was the military who committed these acts. We found three evidentiary tracks in these killings.

First, these victims are usually officially vilified by the military—in PowerPoint presentations, in public squares—publicly saying that these persons are, as they sometimes call them, destabilizers. At most, they call them terrorists, or communists. In the Philippines, if you're called a communist, you really can die. The person who's vilified, whether an activist or an environmental advocate or an anti-mining advocate or a church leader, will die or disappear one or two months later.

The second evidentiary track we noticed was the impunity with which the crimes were committed. These crimes were committed in broad daylight, most of them, at least, in public squares, in town plazas, as if the perpetrator was not afraid at all of being accosted by the authorities and the police.

The third evidentiary track we noticed was the complete lack of interest on the part of the military or the police to investigate and prosecute the offenders. This is one evidentiary track that leads us to believe, and to believe the charges of the families of the victims, that the paramilitary units, at the very least, or the military, are involved, or at least government personnel are.

Of course, there are also other cases now where the military was arrested. Perhaps I can take a short amount of time to discuss the case of Benjamin Bayles, a lay leader of a church in the Philippines. He was shot on June 14, 2010. Unfortunately for the perpetrators, it was the same modus operandi, Mr. Sweet. Two armed men on a motorcycle, wearing helmets, shot him at three in the afternoon. They were arrested by the police. Once they were arrested, they were accused and charged with the murder.

During a budgetary deliberation, because of the claims of the family of Bayles that these persons were actually army members, despite the fact that the two accused claimed they were mere fishermen, and they used fake names, I was able to wrangle from the Secretary of National Defense an admission that indeed the murder of Benjamin Bayles, a member of the church, an activist of the church, was perpetrated by the Philippine army. In fact he was forced to mention the name, rank, and serial number of both of the accused in the killing. Recently it has been officially declared so by the court.

In any case, there have been such allegations by the families, and we believe both: the evidentiary tracks, which could be called circumstantial evidence, and overwhelming circumstantial evidence at that, and of course the direct implication, as in the case of Benjamin Bayles.

I would like to add that even the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, for example, has actually issued a warning statement. It did not mention Canada or TVI, but it did mention mining operations in Mindanao, especially in the ancestral lands of the Moro people, warning them from conducting such mining operations.

To a large degree, the perception has always been that the paramilitary groups committed these crimes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

That more than uses up the time. I let it go substantially over, because it was the answer from the witness rather than a further question.

Mr. Marston, please.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate your going over on that, because it's part of the discussion I want to have as well.

I understand that in those budgetary hearings you were able to track the paramilitaries. As I understand it, there are two groups of paramilitaries. Could you speak about that hearing where you sorted out the official paramilitary group from the one that's the real problem?

[Neri Colmenares]

Actually, to be light about this, sometimes it's nice that during budgetary deliberations members of the executive are forced to cooperate with Parliament. After all, we are the ones who approve their budget.

In one of those budgetary hearings, I was able to ask them about the existence of the CAA, because as I mentioned, the constitution prohibits paramilitary groups that are unregulated. They were forced to admit that there was the special CAA. They were forced to admit it, although of course, they phrased it in a nice way, saying that the SCAA, or the special CAA, is there to protect the people and the community. But because they don't have any budget, they ask for donations from the community and the companies operating in the area to help in the maintenance of these groups. “We assure your honour,” they said, “that we will have operational control over the special paramilitaries.”

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

That's an important phrase: operational control.

You made some very serious accusations about Canadian companies, and of course, that's very concerning to all of us around this table. You've talked about us potentially, as a committee, doing a study over there.

I'm really concerned, because you talked about a linkage with donations. That's different from a person having a contract with someone who is going to work as an employee. The idea of a donation gives the impression that it's an all-encompassing group of people who are not particularly tied to the Canadian company.

Would you like to speak to that? Are you aware that TVI or another Canadian company directly employs the CAA, the paramilitary group?

[Neri Colmenares]

Actually, I was very careful in my presentation. I said “alleged”, because I have to admit honestly that I have no personal knowledge, and I don't think it is very easy to gain personal knowledge of whether there is direct hiring. That is why probably a Canadian study mission would have more power to obtain that information. I have to admit, Mr. Marston, that I have no personal knowledge of direct hiring.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

We have had different companies from Canada in different countries suggest similar things, but suggestion is a long way from evidence. I appreciate your clarifying this, because until we're sure to have direct evidence, we have to be a little bit cautious.

My next question has to do with your sense of a study we can do. How effective do you think we actually could be in another country, away from our home country, investigating? We're going to be, to some degree, at the mercy of whoever is around us guiding us and assisting us. How long do you think that would take?

[Neri Colmenares]

Our government has an economic strategy of luring foreign investors. That has been the economic strategy since the martial days of Marcos. Because of that, our government has always been sensitive to expressions of concern by the international community. In fact, I mentioned in my presentation that it's probably a small thing on the part of the international community to express concern, write letters, or conduct a study mission, but its impact on the lives of the victims and the families of the victims is really great. In fact, I would not be exaggerating if I said that it indeed saves lives.

I had experience, when I was a young student, of being imprisoned during the time of Marcos. Letters from Canada arrived in my cell. They were from members of Amnesty International in Canada. Once these letters arrived, the torture stopped. I was arrested when I was 18 years old, in 1978, and I still remember to this day Veronica McGuire of Toronto, a 75-year-old woman, who not only made life easier for me, but actually gave us comfort during those days in prison.

The international community indeed plays a large role, and Canada is very influential.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

I'm going to interrupt you for a second, sir, because I'm going to be out of time here. I agree with you that having an interest from this committee, whether it be doing a study in Canada or writing letters of concern will have an impact. I don't disagree with you. I know historically that's happened.

I was really questioning if our purpose in travelling there, if we chose to go, would be symbolic, arriving there to have it noted that Canadians were taking interest as one stage, or would it be actual gathering evidence of the situation, which, to my mind, is far more complex. I was really asking if you have some kind of a plan in mind that would facilitate our doing that.

[Neri Colmenares]

The effect would be both. It would be symbolic in the sense that the presence of a study mission would, in fact, impact immediately on alleviating the attacks. Other than that, I'm sure that in the Philippines you would have better access to information, not just on TVI, but on other Canadian mining firms, because they're spread out all over the country. If allowed to, you would also have access to the communities themselves, and that for me is very important. I can discuss everything under the sun here, but they're the ones who really matter.

I'm sure that your concern is that your program or itinerary may be hijacked. I think the subcommittee has the discretion to do that. If I may add, sir, there are church groups in the Philippines, whether Catholic or Protestant, who would be happy to—

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Again, sir, I'm going to interrupt you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

You actually can't because you're out of time.

[Neri Colmenares]

Sorry about that, but yes there are church groups that would be able to also provide an itinerary there.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Go ahead, Mr. Albrecht, please.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Colmenares, for being here today.

First of all, I found most of your testimony very troubling when you indicated the innocent children being murdered, possibly coincidentally, and then the police not taking an active interest in apprehending or bringing to justice those who may have been responsible for it.

I want to focus on two primary areas. One is the political reality, and the other is the religious. I understand you're part of the coalition that is government right now, so I'm assuming that your party is not experiencing any overt oppression, or is that, in fact, the case?

Second, in terms of religious freedom, our government is very concerned about promoting religious freedom not only in Canada, but internationally, and that includes the right for someone to change their religion or convert. Have there been improvements in terms of the religious freedoms that are being allowed in the Philippines, or do you see an actual increase in crackdown, especially as we're leading up the 2013 elections?

[Neri Colmenares]

That is the very distressing part because during the time of Arroyo, many members of the church were victims of extrajudicial killings, but under the current dispensation, these continue.