RELIGION

Statement by Living Letters delegation to the Philippines

“Living letters” (2 Corinthians 3:3) is a symbol of the living Church which we represent by coming together under the auspices of the World Council of Churches (WCC) and at the kind invitation of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP). 

When asked by the disciples where He lived, Jesus answered, “Come and see” (John 1:39), then He commanded John, “write down what you see and send a letter to the churches” (Revelations 1:12). Every visit is a revelation when the knower and the known become one. 

This visit has been an opportunity for us to come and see: to see a culture, to see a people, to see a church, to see concerns, turmoil and hopes. First we were warmly welcomed by the general secretary of the NCCP, Rev. Rex Reyes. With hospitality and assistance from him and his colleagues: 

We saw and heard the heart-breaking stories of victims of human rights abuses and their family members. We saw and felt the pain of those who have lost loved ones by extra-judicial killings, arbitrary detentions, torture and enforced disappearances. 

We saw, heard and felt the pain of the farmers in Hacienda Luisita in their struggle for just labour conditions and decent livelihoods, which have been denied to them as a result of land grabbing and unfair labour practices. We call for the immediate implementation of the decisions of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council to distribute the land to the farmers. 

We saw and heard about the presence of local and foreign military personnel in Hacienda Luisita and in other parts of the country, posing a threat to the local communities. We call upon the Philippine government to repeal the Visiting Forces Agreement and withdraw all military presence from civilian communities.

We particularly saw and heard the pain, spirit and courage of the 43 health workers and their families. We question the legality of their arrest and continued detention, as do some officials of the country including the president. We strongly urge their immediate and unconditional release. 

We saw, heard and rejoice in the resolve of the secretary of the Department of Justice to have the charges against the 43 health workers withdrawn by 10 December, United Nations International Human Rights Day and if not by then, at least before Christmas. We also rejoice in her recognition of the existence of a culture of impunity that has resulted in extra-judicial killings and massive human rights violations, and her resolve to put an end to it. We affirm her belief that there is no inconsistency between human rights and justice; when you serve one, you serve the other. 

We saw and heard the desire of all Christian denominations, faith communities, social movements and all people of good will to unite together to recognise and promote the inherent value of life and human dignity. 

We saw and heard deep hopes that the president will keep his electoral promises to put an end to impunity with regard to extrajudicial killings, disappearances and abductions, implement genuine land reform, work toward reconciliation with justice and peace, and live up to his expressed commitment to give top priority to the peace negotiations. 

We write to the people of other nations to express solidarity with the Filipino people and express their concerns to the international bodies, the Philippine president, the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs. We write to the people of the Philippines with gratitude and admiration for your courage and your hope for just and lasting peace. 

May the Baby Jesus make us all Living Letters to prepare His Way by committing ourselves to prayer and action. 

Glory to God and Peace on Earth.  (Luke 2:14)

Philippine justice minister discusses human rights with WCC delegation

“Good intentions are not enough,” said the secretary of the Philippine department of justice, Leila de Lima, during a meeting with the World Council of Churches (WCC) delegation currently visiting the Philippines. She met with the “Living Letters” team on Friday 3 December.

The group of church representatives from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia and Canada visited the Philippines, 1-5 December, with the aim of looking at the current human rights situation in that country. They spoke with the justice secretary prior to an encounter with participants in a hunger strike supporting parties involved in the "Morong 43" case.

The Morong 43 have been detained since February following their arrest during a workshop sponsored by an alliance of health workers in Morong, Rizal province. Authorities have claimed the health workers possessed firearms and explosives, but the detainees insist the evidence against them was planted.

De Lima has presented arguments in favour of the detainees’ release, and she told the Living Letters delegation that she will issue a second memorandum soon re-stating her position in the hope that it will bring about a positive solution for the prisoners and their families.

She confirmed a report on extra-judicial killings in the Philippines suggesting that most such crimes committed this year have never been properly addressed. She stated her intention of forming a special commission of the department of justice with the mandate to investigate extra-judicial killings. “This will be a response to the many cases not given enough attention, and a way of breaking the culture of injustice that is prevails,“ she said.

De Lima continued, “The best intentions are there, but we need actions that will bring an end to all the human rights violations and extra-judicial killings.“

“We look for more international calls to pay attention to this current situation, for dialogues and international public statements of support in relation to the present human rights situation and all forms of injustice against the Filipino people,” the secretary of justice said at the conclusion of the meeting.

Some members of the delegation then visited the defendants in the Morong 43 case, who for the past 10 months have been detained in Camp Bagong Diwa.  

Meanwhile, farmers of the Hacienda Luisita community received other members of the WCC sponsored delegation. The farmers have been demanding land rights promised to them for the past fifty years.

Hacienda Luisita is in the central plains of Luzon. The land has been owned and controlled by the powerful Cojuangco family since 1957. T he current president, Benigno Cojuangco Aquino III, belongs to this family. Hacienda Luisita comprises 6,435 hectares of sugar cane plantations. Although the Cojuangco family took over the property on an understanding that the land would be given back to farmers after a period of 10 years, this has not happened and there is no sign that it will happen soon.

In a general strike in November 2004, the farmers of Cojuangco Hacienda Luisita united with sympathizers in peaceful protest, calling for an end to the injustices committed against them. The protest involved about 5,000 farmers. On 16 November 2004 seven farmers were killed and more than 100 wounded when the military dispersed the protesters. Six other farmers were killed during 2005 and 2006.

Talking to the delegation, farmers explained that they are compelled to work in a sugar mill and are paid the paltry sum of 9.5 Filipino pesos per day, and are allowed to work only once a week. This has a serious impact on their livelihoods and families.

In addition to their current struggle for decent livelihood, the farmers shared concern about the heavy military presence in the area, including that of foreign forces. This has resulted in the limitation of their right to assemble freely. They are not allowed to meet in public spaces or places where community gatherings would normally be held. These farmers are under constant surveillance resulting in them living in constant fear, harassed, oppressed and interrogated by militiamen (or CAFGU) that were recruited by the military.

The farmers have organized to provide a common voice against the politically and economically influential and powerful Cojuangco family, and to ask for better wages and regular work. None of their demands has been positively answered. Instead, more than 300 of the mill workers have been laid off, thus intensifying the community’s misery. The Cojuangco family continues to ignore orders from the government to distribute land to the farmers.

09.12.10 by Aneth Lwakatare, a WCC communications department intern from Tanzania.
Religious group denounces human rights violations

MANILA, Dec. 12, 2010—The current dismal situation of human rights in the country has made the Aquino government no different from the previous administration, a group of religious and clergy said.

The convenors of Religious Discernment Group, in a statement released on Dec. 4, has denounced the spate of human rights violations in the country.

They expressed shock at the fact that the new administration of President Benigno Aquino has an average of “one extra judicial killing per week.”

“The number of sectoral leaders, particularly peasants, jailed on false charges has continued to increase,” they said.

Illegally detained Morong 43 who have been in jail since February this year, were ordered released by Aquino on December 10.

The government’s failure to bring to justice the perpetrators of human abuses is an “indictment” of Aquino’s “and daan matuwid” (righteous path) mandate, the group said.

The continued implementation of the counter-insurgency program “Oplan Bantay Laya” also worries the group because of human rights violations associated with it.

“There will be no justice, freedom and peace for our people until the Government take the welfare of the people, especially [those] of the urban and rural poor instead of the interests of local elites and large foreign corporations, as the starting point for all development policies,” they said.

“We ask the Government to abandon plans to implement Oplan….but rather to resume peace talks with the NDFP and MILF to ensure that the roots of injustice are stamped out,” the group further said.

Signatories to the statement were convenors Fr. Wilfredo Dulay, MJ, Fr. Quirico Pedregosa, Jr., OP, Fr. Gregorio Obejas, OSM, Fr. Tito Maratas, MSC, Fr. Joselito Sarabia, CM, Sr. Ailyn Binco, RGS, Sr. Pat Fox, NDS, Sr. Angelita Navarro, ICM and Sr. Rebecca Pacete, MMS.

The group’s advent gathering was held to discern their prophetic role in promoting and defending human rights in the country. (CBCPNews)

Protestant, Christian churches back RH bill

MANILA, Philippines – A council of Protestant and other Christian churches in the Philippines has expressed its support for the controversial reproductive health bill in Congress, which would mandate government to promote artificial and natural birth control methods, to encourage couples to plan their family sizes.

The National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NNCP) said the RH bill would be more than the promotion of artificial contraceptives.

"As a council, we support the spirit of the RH bill [because] it mainly talks about responsible family planning and giving the right to the couples to determine how they could plan their families," said Rev. Rex Reyes, NCCP secretary general, on Saturday.

But in agreeing with the family planning measure, which was still being heard in Congress, the NCCP did not view the country's swelling population as the root cause of poverty plaguing millions of Filipinos, said Reyes.

"Overpopulation is not the only reason why many Filipinos are poor. We also need to address the proper and just sharing of our resources because we are a very rich country," he added.

The RH bill, which the Catholic Church has stoutly opposed, would be one way of promoting responsible parenthood and a means for the government to ensure that each Filipino live a "decent life," said Reyes.

He added that the council was not linking the measure to abortion. "You don't necessarily equate it that way because with the church, teaching couples before they jump into marriage is very important," he said.

"Maybe its time for the Church to also affirm the emphasis that should be given to counseling prior to marriage," he added.

The NCCP is a large organization of Protestant and non-Catholic Churches and service-oriented organizations in the Philippines existing since 1963.

Its members include the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, the Apostolic Catholic Church, the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches, the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, among others.

The Catholic Church maintains that human life starts at conception and that contraception is a type of abortion, which is also banned by the Constitution.

December 05, 2010 Jocelyn Uy Philippine Daily Inquirer

HUMAN RIGHTS

Tears, applause greet Aquino order to drop charges vs Morong 43

MANILA, Philippines—After 10 months in jail, the so-called Morong 43, a group of health workers arrested by the Arroyo administration on suspicion of being communist rebels, came a step closer to being freed Friday after President Aquino directed the Department of Justice to drop the charges against them.

Tears and thunderous applause greeted Aquino's announcement at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, where 38 of the 43 community-based health workers are detained.

Five others are being held in Camp Capinpin under the custody of the military. The five supposedly admitted to being members of the New People’s Army.

Aquino's order came on the eighth day of the detainees' hunger strike to press the administration to free them. His announcement that he has ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the charges against the health workers ended the hunger strike that had rendered the detainees weak and sent some of them to the hospital.

Witnesses said the women detainees, some of them weak and suffering from high blood pressure, whooped with joy and were energized when they heard Aquino's announcement on television.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the 23 women detainees issued a hastily written statement expressing gratitude to their supporters here and abroad.

“Ang order mula kay Pangulong Noynoy na i-withdraw ang charges sa amin ay isang tagumpay hindi lang po sa amin, kundi sa mga mamamayang naghahangad ng katarungan at karapatan sa sapat na serbisyong pangkalusugan (The order from President Noynoy to withdraw the charges against us is not a triumph for us only but also for our countrymen who yearn for justice and adequate health services),” the women said.

“Sana po sa simula ngayon ng Human Rights Day tuloy tuloy na ipaglaban ang ating karapatang pantao at sana ay pangunahan ito ng gobyerno sa kanyang pagtahak sa 'daang matuwid (It is hoped that starting on Human Rights Day the government would lead in upholding our human rights as it negotiates the ‘straight path),” the statement said.

The statement ended on a cheery note: “Muli, marami pong salamat. Kulang po ang isang notebook sa dami ng gusto naming pasalamatan (Again, many thanks. A whole notebook is not enough to hold the names of the many we want to give thanks to). Merry Christmas. With love, Morong 43.”

At the men's detention center, the detainees were also overcome with emotion and tears. The news reached the detainees while they were giving on-camera interviews for the first time since they were arrested in February.

The positive development from Malacañang removed the pall that hovered over the receiving area and was greeted by claps from both the detainees and their guards.

Gary Liberal, a nurse at the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center, said it appeared that their hunger strike, their perseverance, and their relatives' and supporters' work helped pressure the Aquino administration to withdraw the charges against them.

He also thanked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for her work on their behalf. De Lima was the head of the Commission on Human Rights when the 43 were arrested and had said that their arrest by military agents was illegal.

“I would like to thank Secretary de Lima. She knew our case right from the start,” Liberal said.

While they admitted that the President's announcement was a big step toward their release, the detainees said they wanted to see documents that would concretize his words. Their applause upon hearing the news of Aquino's order was followed by cautiously optimistic statements.

“I can only say that I am free when I am out of Bicutan,” Julius Duano told the Inquirer. Duano, a community health worker based in Masbate, said his wife gave birth to their first child while he was in prison. He pointed that he and his wife would name their son only when he is released.

With the President's announcement, there is no reason for the justice department to drag its feet on the case, Jules Matibag, the 43's lawyer said.

“This is a vindication that my clients are innocent of the trumped-up charges against them,” he said. “This announcement was made because my clients persevered in those 10 months. This victory is my clients' victory and their supporters here and abroad.”

The 43 health workers were arrested by the military on February 6 while they were attending a seminar on first medical response at a resort in Morong, Rizal.

The 43 were accused of being members of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The military charged them with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, charges that the 43 have denied.

Aquino, in his speech, said members of the Morong 43 that have outstanding warrants for other charges would still have to face those charges.

Matibag said none of his clients have outstanding warrants issued by the government. He noted that state prosecutors and the military failed to show any evidence that any of his clients had other cases aside from the illegal possession of firearms and explosives filed against them in February.

Matibag said he would work to have the 43 released before Christmas so that they can spend the holidays with their families.

“We won't allow that they will not be freed in time for Christmas,” Matibag said.

The Justice department can file the motion to withdraw information on Monday.

“The court holiday will start on Wednesday or Thursday,” he said.

Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. said those responsible for the illegal detention of the health workers should be held accountable.

“After the release of the 43 should come accountability of those responsible for the violation of their rights, from the illegal arrests, defective warrants, torture, illegal inquest and detention,” he said.

First posted 00:55:55 (Mla time) December 11, 2010 Kristine L. Alave 
Philippine Daily Inquirer

  

Military insists Morong 43 communists, but will follow Aquino

MANILA, Philippines –The Philippine Army on Friday said the order of President Benigno Aquino III to withdraw the case of the 43 detained health workers would not affect their counter-insurgency efforts.

Army spokesman Colonel Antonio Parlade said the military will accept whatever decision their commander-in-chief makes regarding the case of the 43 health workers, dubbed as the Morong 43 in reference to the place where they were arrested—Morong in Rizal province—early February this year for their alleged involvement with the New People’s Army.

“Whatever the decision of the president is, okay lang yun, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are NPAs…who were undergoing training,” Parlade told reporters.

“The arrest might have been impaired by a technicality, but it doesn’t change the fact that they are not health workers,” he added.

On Friday, Aquino ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the case against the Morong 43 on grounds that their right to due process was denied them.

The military spokesman said that they would step up their counterinsurgency effort including tactics operations and improve their legal procedures.

“Remember many of those apprehended in Morong had already been apprehended before. But that’s the nature of our democracy; if any loophole in an arrest is detected, our justice system will set a suspect free,” Parlade said.

According to Parlade, only two of the 43 arrested suspects had standing warrants of arrest for murder charges when they were apprehended by joint operatives of the Philippine National Police and military. However, he insisted that the others were arrested because they were caught red-handed with paraphernalia for producing explosives.

First posted 16:51:01 (Mla time) December 10, 2010 Katherine Evangelista 
INQUIRER.net

Palace amnesty insults ‘desaparecidos’ kin

MANILA, Philippines—The inclusion of the names of two “desaparecidos” (victims of enforced disappearances) in Malacañang amnesty list has insulted their families, saying the Aquino administration should stop using them to trumpet the presidential reprieve.

The families of Leo Velasco and Prudencio Calubid, who went missing in 2007 and 2006, respectively, added that their inclusion in the proclamation was meant to overshadow the issue of human rights violations.

“The Office of the President should stop using my father’s name, Leo Velasco, and Prudencio Calubid’s to trophy its proposed amnesty,” Lorena Santos, Velasco’s daughter and deputy secretary general of Families of the Disappeared for Justice said, as a response to the President’s amnesty proclamation.

“The Presidential Proclamation for amnesty to these people is an insult for us families who continue to search for them,” she added.

“We have long been in search for our missing fathers and justice has never been rendered.”

Velasco and Calubid were consultants for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines to the peace process. Calubid and Velasco are two of the 11 NDFP consultants and staffs who were victims of enforced disappearances.

Instead of granting them amnesty, Santos said that the Aquino administration should surface victims of enforced disappearances.

First posted 17:28:37 (Mla time) December 07, 2010 Abigail Kwok 
INQUIRER.net

ECONOMIC, POLITICS & SOCIAL

2011 ‘anti-growth’ budget slammed in Senate

MANILA, Philippines— Opposition senators took to the floor on Wednesday to deliver the traditional “turno en contra (opposition's turn)” on the proposed 2011 national budget, which Senator Joker Arroyo described as a “stagnation budget.”

Arroyo said he found it difficult to support the P1.645 trillion budget proposal next year as it was “bereft of the tools for growth.”

“It is a prescription for stagnancy, an anti-growth budget,” he said, citing for instance the reduced appropriations for public works and highways and agriculture.

While the budget of some departments had been reduced, Arroyo noted what he described as an “overconcentration” on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which was given an allocation of P21 billion for its conditional cash transfer (CCT) program alone.

Four billion pesos or 19 percent of the CCT allocation, the senator said, would be spent for the gargantuan administration cost to distribute the P17 billion CCT fund to its beneficiaries.

Arroyo said the distribution cost was more than the budget of the Department of Tourism (P1.5 billion) and the Department of Trade and Industry (P2.5 billion).

“The administration says it will not impose new taxes. Fine. But where will they get the monies to fund its programs? Through borrowings. The refuge of every administration,” he said.

This is the reason why, the senator said, he would again insert a general provision in the budget bill that would limit the total indebtedness of the national government and any of its agencies and offices to 55 percent of the latest GDP (gross domestic product) unless it obtained prior consent from Congress.

He said he inserted that provision in the 2010 budget but former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “unceremoniously vetoed it.”

“I hope President Noynoy [Benigno Aquino III’s nickname] would not do the same,” said the outspoken senator.

After Senator Arroyo, Senate Minority Alan Peter Cayetano also took the floor to deliver his own turno en contra speech.

First posted 21:39:22 (Mla time) December 01, 2010 Maila Ager 
INQUIRER.net

Belmonte assures passage of bill compensating victims of Marcos regime

MANILA, Philippines—Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday gave guarantees that in his term he will work for the passage of the compensation bill for victims of the Marcos dictatorial regime.

He said the bill has been pending in the past congresses and has been extensively discussed in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

“I understand that the human rights compensation (bill), at least (those) covering violations during the Marcos period had almost passed the Senate and had also passed in the House. Hopefully during my term as Speaker, this will be passed. I’m all for it,” he told reporters in an interview.

Speaking at a gathering to commemorate the International Human Rights week in the House, Belmonte said that the chamber will push for measures that will uphold human rights such as the strengthening of the Commission on Human Rights, establishing of human-rights centers, and the bill prohibiting gender discrimination.

Satur Ocampo, former Bayan Muna party-list Representative and chairperson of Makabayan alliance, said it is high time to have such a law that would give justice to the victims of the Marcos dictatorship.

Ocampo also called for the passage of the anti-enforced disappearance bill.

House Bill No. 954 mandates the compensation to the 9,593 class suit plaintiffs and the 24 direct action plaintiffs “who filed and won the landmark human rights case against the estate of Ferdinand Marcos in the US Federal court system in Hawaii.”

The bill was filed by party-list Representatives Teddy Casino and Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, Antonio Tinio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers, Rafael Mariano of Anakpawis, Raymond Palatino of Kabataan, and Luz Ilagan and Emmi de Jesus of Gabriela.

First posted 19:17:50 (Mla time) December 06, 2010 Lira Dalangin-Fernandez 
INQUIRER.net

RELIGION

Living Letters team to visit the Philippines

25.11.1

Children outside Jaro Evangelical Baptist Church in Iloilo City after Sunday morning service.

An international team of church representatives will pay a solidarity visit to churches, ecumenical organizations and civil society movements in the Philippines from 1 to 5 December. It will be the last in a series of "Living Letters" visits to various countries organized ahead of the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in May 2011, in order to accompany people and churches who long for peace, security and reconciliation in the midst of conflicts and violence.

The members of the team come from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America and will be travelling on behalf of the World Council of Churches (WCC).The group will be listening to the victims of human right violations in the country and to others who lost family members in extrajudicial killings. The Living Letters team will receive first-hand information regarding the state of human rights in the Philippines, and learn what the international ecumenical community can do to support the active defence of human rights and civil liberties.

Over the past decades, the WCC has been closely following the state of human rights in the Philippines. At various occasions, the WCC expressed its concerns to national and international bodies and authorities about the worsening of the human rights situation in the country.

Several WCC statements and letters have unequivocally condemned the extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, involuntary disappearances and abductions. The WCC is deeply concerned about the country's increasing militarization.

This visit is an expression of the ecumenical movement’s solidarity and commitment to accompany the churches and Filipinos who are engaged in the ministries of prophetic witness and struggle for the marginalized and the poor.

The delegation will be composed of the following members:

International delegates:

• Ms Vijula Arulanantham, Christian Conference of Asia, Sri Lanka
• Rev. Tara Curlewis, general secretary, National Council of Churches in Australia
• Ms Mardi Tindal, moderator, United Church of Canada
• Mr Tony Waworuntu, former member of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) , Indonesia

WCC staff:

• Ms Semegnish Asfaw, WCC research associate for the Decade to Overcome Violence
• Ms Anastasia Dragan, WCC youth programme intern, Republic of Moldova
• Ms Aneth Phenias Lwakatare, WCC communication programme intern, Tanzania

Local delegates:

• Fr Rex Reyes, general secretary, National Council of Churches in the Philippines
• Ms Carmencita Karagdag-Peralta, WCC Central Committee member

FOR A WORLD OF PEACE: 
A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS 
An Ecumenical Call from Hwacheon 
  
International Consultation on “World without Nuclear Weapons”
October 21-25, 2010 
Hwacheon, Korea
  
A group of persons active in the ecumenical movement from, Canada, Fiji, Korea, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines and the USA, committed to building a world of peace, a world free of nuclear weapons, came together from 4 to 6 December 2009, in Hwacheon, Republic of Korea, seeking ways to strengthen the ecumenical movement for urgent action on nuclear disarmament (possibly in cooperation with interfaith movements). 
  
The Conference was organized jointly by the Asia Pacific Graduate School, Seoul and the Korean YMCA with the support of the National Council of Churches in Korea, Presbyterian Church in Korea, the Christian Conference of Asia and the World Council of Churches. The Conference was hosted by the Hwacheon County located near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the Korean peninsula. The County had opened the Bell Park for World Peace on 26 May 2009 where in his keynote address Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union gave a call for a nuclear-weapon free world. 
  
The Conference was held with the objectives of working towards a nuclear weapon free Korean peninsula, analyzing the state of nuclear affairs in North-East Asia and understanding the implications of these for a world without nuclear weapons. It also aimed at strengthening the ecumenical movement to face the new challenges posed by nuclear developments and to work towards a world of peace, a world free of nuclear weapons. 
  
As a follow-up of the Conference in 2009, an international ecumenical group met in Hwacheon from 22nd to 25th October, 2010 to consider new developments in the area of nuclear disarmament and to renew the Ecumenical Call from Hwacheon. The analysis has been updated and the Call reaffirmed. 
  
A New Hope for Nuclear Disarmament? 
  
The Conference noted there could be a new hope for and possibly a new movement towards nuclear disarmament today. This emerged prominently on the agenda of international affairs, with President Barack Obama’s Prague call for a nuclear weapon free world followed by the resolution of the UN Security Council’s Special Session and statements by a number of prominent persons. 
  
The current discourse on a nuclear weapon-free world is characterized by a confusion of thought on what is really meant by nuclear disarmament. Several questions are being raised. Are the nuclear weapon states (NWS) ready to reduce and eliminate the role of nuclear weapons in their strategy? Or are they showing interest in nuclear disarmament motivated by vested short-term interests? Most NWS are unable to envision a situation with no nuclear weapons and seem to be seeking only reduction in the number of weapons. 
  
People who want a world without nuclear weapons should not fall into the trap of the rhetoric of the establishment on this but re-claim and re-appropriate the goal of a world without nuclear weapons with its full meaning and total demands. 
  
Obstacles to Nuclear Disarmament 
  
There is disquieting complacency on the part of most people on the nuclear catastrophe that is waiting to happen if action is not taken urgently. There are a number of reasons. One is the deteriorating moral environment in which people are conditioned to accept the use of military force. There is a climate of fear most of which is generated deliberately, in which the ultimate weapon is presented as the guarantee of security. The miniaturization of nuclear weapons, the use of depleted uranium in conventional weapons and the technological advances in conventional weapons have blurred the distinction between conventional and nuclear and created the impression that nuclear weapon is just another weapon. 
  
There are a number of major institutional and political obstacles on the road to nuclear disarmament. Without effective international disarmament machinery, the international community will not muster the confidence needed to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. Few developments would be as devastating to disarmament hopes as would a pervasive and deep-rooted suspicion that the non-proliferation regime is neither reliable nor effective. 
  
Disarmament also requires that the secrecy and obfuscation in nuclear affairs be replaced by a culture of transparency and accountability. Openness, amongst nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states is essential ingredient for verification. And verification, both with regard to disarmament and to the non-diversion of nuclear materials and technologies from peaceful to military uses, must be consistent and strict. 
  
The Myth of Deterrence 
  
Deterrence is a threat to peace. The myth that it provides security has to be exposed. Deterrence feeds on fear and suspicion and has the effect of eroding trust and confidence. Security is invoked only as a camouflage to mobilize and maintain popular support for nuclear weapons. As the WCC’s Vancouver Assembly (1983) stated, “The concept of deterrence, the credibility of which depends on the possible use of nuclear weapons, is to be rejected as morally unacceptable and incapable of safeguarding peace and security.” 
  
The issues of nuclear sharing and extended deterrence deserve serious consideration. Both ostensibly claim to prevent proliferation of nuclear weapons but actually promote proliferation by other names. NATO can station US nuclear weapons in any of its member countries. Some of these countries get nuclear weapons released for delivery by their air forces in time of war. They thus become states with nuclear deterrent. This kind of nuclear sharing is a clear violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which explicitly prohibits the transfer and receiving of nuclear weapons. 
  
There are two very different kinds of extended nuclear deterrence policies, which are in effect a US commitment to use nuclear weapons: first, if necessary to defend an ally if it is attacked by an enemy who uses conventional forces, biological or chemical weapons or nuclear weapons; second, a more tailored US commitment to use nuclear weapons in retaliation only against a nuclear attack on an ally. Extended deterrence actually gives allies of USA nuclear deterrent capability and is one form of proliferation. After the end of the Cold War it has become integrated to the imperial security architecture. 
  
The NPT Review Conference 
  
The major international event on nuclear disarmament which took place after the Hwacheon Consultation 2009 was the NPT Review Conference in May 2010. The adoption of a final document by the Conference pulled back the Treaty from the verge of collapse where it had reached in 2005. But on the three important issues related to nuclear disarmament, - a timeframe for disarmament by NWS as legally bound by Article VI of the Treaty, steps towards a Nuclear Weapons Convention and security assurances to NNWS – the Review Conference failed. It was evident at the Conference unless the NWS reduce and eliminate the role of nuclear deterrent in their strategy, no real progress will be made with regard to disarmament. 
  
The claim by the United States that its new nuclear posture is substantially different from the previous one is not valid. The Nuclear Posture Review of the USA 2010 established a goal of disarmament but also a commitment to retain the US triad of nuclear weapons delivery systems, life extensions for more than one thousands nuclear weapons and the modernization of the US nuclear weapons production complex. The Posture continues to be dominated by the strategy of nuclear competition of the USA with Russia and China. The new Posture which makes just about every non-nuclear weapon state immune from US nuclear attack, carves out an exception for Iran and North Korea. The role of nuclear weapons as an important instrument of the Empire has not changed. 
  
The issues related to the new nuclear weapon states are important in any discussion of nuclear disarmament. The new nuclear weapon states - Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea – are all outside the NPT. They are all in Asia which is heavily armed and with large presence of foreign military forces. It is in Asia that major wars are fought today and alarming tensions are rising. Nuclear disarmament thus has emerged as the key issue of peace in Asia. 
  
Northeast Asia 
  
The Korean Peninsula continues to be a nuclear flashpoint. While the focus is on North Korea’s recently started nuclear programme, the long history of nuclearisation of the region with the dominant role of the USA is often conveniently forgotten. . The efforts of North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons have to be seen against the background of the continuous threat the US posed to that state from early 50s and the US refusal to respond adequately to North Korea’s energy crisis and its aspiration for integration into the global market. Diplomatic initiatives to deal with the situation are welcome. 
  
The region includes three old nuclear weapon states (US, Russia and China), the new nuclear weapon state of North Korea and a group of non-nuclear weapon states with great potential to go nuclear. In the complex and uncertain context of Northeast Asia, two sets of major nuclear issues may arise that will contribute to the shaping of the security architecture in Northeast Asia. One is the evolution of nuclear relations among the three major nuclear weapon states. The other is the possibility of further proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region. 
  
The Pacific 
  
The Pacific, one of the most beautiful parts of the world has been disfigured and mutilated by imperial nations testing their weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear weapons states like the USA, Great Britain and France have conducted atmospheric and underground tests in the region. Among these the French have the dubious distinction of the largest number of tests for the longest period. This is not to underestimate the damage done by the others. In spite of world-wide protests especially in the seventies and eighties, the French continued the nuclear victimization of the Pacific into the nineties. 
  
South Asia 
  
The nuclear tests by India and Pakistan in 1998 have created one of the most dangerous nuclear zones in the world. At a distance of seconds by missiles, the two countries which have a history of several wars in six decades, is now engaged in a nuclear and missile race. Both have nuclear doctrines, parts of which are aggressive. Both remain outside the NPT. But both have become de-facto nuclear weapon states with the more than tacit approval of the United States. China has been a nuclear power for long. While tensions between India and Pakistan show no sign of abating, there are new tensions between India and China. The triangular relations and tensions among the three neighboring nuclear states make the situation particularly grave and disturbing. 
  
West Asia 
  
Discussions on and international reactions to the nuclear issue in West Asia/the Middle East are largely, if not solely, focused on Iran. This is in spite of the fact that Israel has been a nuclear weapon state for long, though this has been publicly acknowledged only recently by the United States. While those who advocate nuclear disarmament will have to oppose any new state acquiring nuclear weapons, the fact remains that unless the international community faces the issue of Israel’s nuclear arms, nuclear proliferation in the region cannot be prevented. The impression has fast gained ground that America’s “friends” can have nuclear weapons but its “enemies” cannot. This is what is done in the name of non-proliferation. If the United States upholds that Israel’s national security is linked to possession of nuclear weapons, it is only natural that other countries like Iran also will think along those lines. The NPT Review Conference has called for the convening of a conference in 2012 “on the establishment of a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone”. It is doubtful whether the US will take any steps in the matter. 
  
The Techno-nuclear Complex 
  
The global nuclear regime is closely integrated into the technological and scientific regime in terms of research and development (R&D) for the weapons industry and in terms of advanced technology in the military strategy and tactics including cyber warfare. This technocracy is the inner engine of industrial, communications and governmental systems which are integrated with the global military regime. The nuclear regime is an integral part of this technocratic regime. 
  
The highly technocratic setup that is characteristic of the management of nuclear technology and nuclear weapons has been linked with the elements of secrecy, non-transparency, and concentrated highly undemocratic decision-making power. Nuclear technology therefore strengthens and reinforces the worst tendencies in our societies which are geared toward more elite, hierarchical rule and militate against meaningful, participatory democracy. 
  
Patriarchy and Nuclearism 
  
The links between patriarchy and nuclearism – the latter as the epitome of military might – need to be emphasized. It is important to highlight that nuclearism is the most extreme and obscene form of a culture of militarism and such a culture has been undergirded by an ideology of power and hyper-masculinity. The worst manifestations of patriarchal and sexist behavior are reinforced through the ideology of militarism and nuclearism. 
  
The Great Human Cost 
  
People of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, even after sixty five years, are suffering from the after-effects of the first ever use of nuclear bombs. This continuing tragedy should have been an eye opener for the world as the people there cried “Never Again”. But their agony, tears and cries have been ignored by nations which went on making and acquiring more and more destructive nuclear weapons. 
  
Perhaps less known is the high human cost paid by people living in areas where nuclear tests were conducted. People were uprooted and relocated from their lands of birth and also were not given the full information of the nature of nuclear activity and its effects and were told blatant lies that their contribution would contribute positively towards humanity. The immediate effects of acute exposure in radiation led to excessive burns and increase of carcinogenic diseases. Widespread pollution and devastation on land and marine sources had forced people to move afar and reduced any chances of returning to their homelands. The governments have refused to take responsibility for their part in contributing towards health problems, displacement, pollution and “invisible contamination” passed on to future generations. 
  
The Ecological Impact 
  
This raises the larger issues of the ecological impact of nuclear weapons. Their use generates environmental side effects that are now judged to be far more devastating than even the disastrous consequences of the initial blast. A recent study of the impact of a regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan predicts some 20 million people dead by the bombings, followed by ten years of shortened growing season because of soot blown into the upper atmosphere. The latter would throw the populations of the region into deeper poverty and hunger. Because the climatic changes would affect every region, these would put at risk the lives of the 800 million most food-insecure people in the world. 
  
The economics of nuclear arms 
  
The economics of nuclear armaments is an untold story of financial profligacy. The enormous allocation of resources to the world’s deadliest weapon system is unconscionable at any time and a heavy burden on coming generations. In a world of endemic hunger, disease and poverty, in a world of over-consumption, pollution and climate change, the cost of nuclear weaponry has devastating consequences in terms of true security which, basically, is social, economic and political in nature. 
  
Some Serious Ethical Issues 
  
There are some crucial differences between nuclear weapons and conventional weapons which raise ethical issues. The first crucial ethical difference derives from the scale of nuclear devastation, a scale out of proportion to any reasonable war aims. The second crucial difference derives from the indiscriminate character of such weapons. The devastation of the biosphere from a nuclear war coupled with long-term effects of radiation adds a further indiscriminate element raising ethical issues again. Humanity’s responsibility under God for His Creation is one of the issues at stake.” 
  
Faith Stance and Theological Response 
  
1) “The nuclear issue is in its impact and thrust to humanity a question of Christian discipline and faithfulness to the Gospel,” the WCC Assembly in 1983 declared. The ecumenical process, Justice Peace and the Integrity of Creation, took up the nuclear issue as a matter of faith. 
  
2) The ideology of security through nuclear armament is heretical. In light of the biblical faith that true/authentic security comes from Yahweh God, to depend on nuclear weapons for the security of nations and peoples is an expression of unfaith that does not trust God's protection and care, and is the sin of idolatry that relies on what is not God as if it is God. "If God does not protect the house, the guardians guard in vain." 
  
3) Wars are against God; and there is no such a thing as just war; and all wars are evil. Nuclear weapon is idolatrous when it is elevated to an almighty position to decide upon the total destruction of all living beings. When such weapons of mass destruction are used or threatened to be used to destroy the life of all living beings that God has created and blessed for its fullness, it is blatant defiance of God. 
  
4) The stories of the victims of all forms of violence and war should be told in the light of the painful memory of the passion of Jesus Christ. Every single atomic missile is an attempt to crucify him again amidst all God’s people. Victims of nuclear weapons and nuclear powers are crying out to God to liberate them from suffering. 
  
5) Building Ecumenical Interfaith Networks : Conscious linking up and building networks of exchanges and program cooperation with people of other faiths are demanded today. Convergence of religious faiths, philosophical convictions and cultural wisdoms give the power to resist nuclear weapons, to formulate a vision of peace and to gain wisdom to make peace, just as the power of God’s Spirit frees us as individuals and churches to refuse to cooperate in any way with the waging of war. Instead, in the spirit of Jesus we wish to confront all injustice with readiness to accept conflicts and suffering, to cooperate with people of diverse gifts for peace making, in reconciliation processes and in shaping a political stance which seeks to outlaw war. 
  
6) On Pentecost God’s Spirit enabled us to understand each other in all our inter-confessional, intercultural and interreligious differences. Since then we have become a global community of storytelling, interpreting our different faith traditions and affirming solidarity for a life in justice and peace for the whole cosmos. In fact the household of God has many mansions. 
  
7) We see the vision of peace in the Messianic feast in the story of New City of Peace, which is the garden of life for the conviviality of all living beings in which all nations participate. 
  
The Ecumenical Response 
  
From its inaugural assembly in 1948 till the most recent one in 2006, the WCC has called for the abolition of nuclear weapons as weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction endangering humanity and the whole creation. It has maintained a consistent stand with regard to the elimination of nuclear weapons within the framework of a broader commitment to living “without resort to arms” and to seeking peace with justice and with respect for the integrity of creation. The issues have been addressed by the governing bodies of the WCC and a large number of member churches from a moral, faith-based and international perspective. At times their recommendations have been prophetic for actions by governments and concerned people. 
  
In 1954, the churches identified in viable political terms the main elements of what more than fourteen years later became the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. In 1961, from New Delhi the WCC Assembly called for two concrete steps that still define disarmament progress - no-first-use of nuclear weapons and nuclear-weapon-free zones to enhance the security of citizens in countries without the bomb. In 1983, the Vancouver Assembly called upon churches, especially those in a Europe divided between East and West, to redouble their efforts to convince their governments to negotiate for security instead of seeking it through weapons of mass destruction. The Porto Allegro Assembly in its statement “On the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons” affirmed that all people of faith are needed in our day to expose the fallacies of nuclear doctrine.” 
  
The WCC Assembly in 1983 in Vancouver in its statement on Peace and Justice, endorsing the conviction of the Panel on the Public Hearing on Nuclear Disarmament (1981) declared: “The nuclear issue is in its impact and thrust to humanity question of Christian discipline and faithfulness to the Gospel.” The ecumenical process Justice Peace and the Integrity of Creation took up the nuclear issue as a matter of faith. These theological affirmations have to be reinforced by formulating clear positions on developments in the buildup of nuclear weapons and armaments including nuclear sharing and extended deterrence, new weapon systems, missile defense and war fighting postures of new nuclear doctrines including preemption. 
  
The concept of shared human security is a reference point for ecumenical policies and programmes that address the critical transnational issues already defining the 21st century. These include climate change, the twin crises of chronic impoverishment and endemic over-consumption and the nuclear threat. Our well-being and our security are shared because of the evermore transnational nature of our existence, our shared responsibility for each other’s well-being, and the much wider participation necessary to build genuine security today. 
  
The Hwacheon Call 
  
The Hwacheon Call is addressed to the ecumenical community, its worldwide and regional organizations, member churches and all those willing to cooperate in the active pursuit of a world of peace – a world free of nuclear weapons. 
  
i. The time has come for the churches to seek greater and stronger unity to address together the issues of nuclear weapons. This demands robust development of clear policy goals, close attention to the wisdom and values reflected in sixty years of ecumenical engagement for a world without nuclear weapons, plus disciplined pursuit by member churches, specialized ministries, church-related NGOs and Christians, active in wider peace movements of the actions and recommendations that the ecumenical community has made over the years. 
  
ii. The WCC has an impressive history of dealing with the issue of nuclear disarmament. Today because of the urgency of the situation it should give the highest priority to nuclear disarmament and carry out its God-given and historic responsibility in clearly envisioning a nuclear-weapon-free world and actively working for it. This should form an important agenda of the WCC International Ecumenical Peace Convocation in Kingston in 2011 and the WCC Assembly in 2013 in South Korea. 
  
iii. While the theological positions of the WCC on nuclear issues have been clear, it is necessary to reformulate those positions taking into account new developments and new nuclear doctrines including preemption. The implications of nuclear sharing and extended deterrence have to be taken into account. Such reformulation is necessary to form the basis for a new commitment by churches and Christians towards nuclear disarmament especially in view of the increasing propensity to the use of force to settle disputes between nations. 
  
iv. The dangers posed by the nuclearization of Northeast Asia with the background of division and continuing tension in the Korean peninsula should alert the ecumenical community for focused attention on the situation and for sustained support to the Korean churches and people in their continuing struggle for peace and reunification. 
  
v. It is important to mobilize and consolidate latent majorities in all the churches opposed to nuclear weapons as part of the strategy. There should be coordination between international action and national level actions by the churches so that governments and inter-governmental bodies hear the same message from the member churches and their ecumenical organizations. 
  
vi. The United Nations and international organizations should be called upon to ensure steps by Nuclear Weapon States for disarmament, take steps for a Nuclear Weapons Convention and security assurances to Non-Nuclear Weapon States. 
  
vii. In view of the increasing nuclear proliferation and nuclear tensions in the Asian region, the WCC and CCA should give high priority to the issue. In Asia the nuclear threat has never been as high as it is today stretching from West Asia through South Asia to North-East Asia. Nuclear disarmament should be treated by the WCC, CCA and member churches as a major faith concern and a test of discipleship. The 2013 WCC Assembly should be an occasion for such affirmation. 
  
viii. Inter-faith cooperation should be actively sought in dealing with the threat to humanity and the Creation from nuclear weapons and working for a word without nuclear weapons. 
  
Signed by participants in 2009 and 2010 International Consultation on “the World without Nuclear Weapons” in Hwacheon, Korea.

Catholic schools group ask PNoy: Dismantle private armies

Stressing the need to stop the culture of impunity as shown by relentless political killings, with the Ampatuan massacre as one extreme case, Catholic schools have asked President Benigno Aquino III Wednesday to dismantle private armies.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) said this will help prevent a repeat of the gruesome killing of 58 people, 32 of them journalists, in Maguindanao last year.

“We reiterate our earlier demand for our government to apply the full force of the law against those responsible for the brutality," said the CEAP headed by Msgr. Gerardo Santos.

“All responsible government agencies must exhaust all legal means to meet the corresponding punishment for the perpetrators of the heinous crime and to dismantle private armies and put an end to the anarchy of clans in the region," it added.

Excerpts of the statement were posted Wednesday night on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site.

CEAP, which has 1,290 member schools, colleges and universities, also called for a speedy trial of the Ampatuan massacre.

It said this will bring justice to the victims of the crime, considered as the worst single case of political killings in the country’s history.

The organization lamented that after a year, the case is “not progressing substantially" and noted signs “justice is not forthcoming" at the rate it is going.

“We therefore call for a speedy and fair trial — delay of justice is a denial of justice; for vigilance so that people, organizations and institutions can monitor the progress of the case; and for transparency of the case so that the public may know," the CEAP said.

“We demand that justice be served without fear of favor at the earliest possible time," it added.

Aquino is currently assessing the confidential report of the Zeñarosa Commission about private armies in the country, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said on Wednesday. 

After studying the report, Aquino will decide whether to disclose the report to the public. (See: Aquino assessing confidential report on private armies)

Earlier on Tuesday, Aquino had announced that he is not in favor of abolishing the Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU) despite calls for its abolition on the grounds that some government militia are being utilized by some politicians as their private armies. (See: Aquino thumbs down abolition of militia forces)—JV, GMANews.TV 2010-11-24