Al Jazeera on Davao Death Squad

What do we stand for?

From Mindanao Times 5/24/09

Since the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) began on March 30 its investigation on the extrajudicial killings in Davao City, a cloud of doubt hung over the CHR. Many Davaoeños cannot seem to understand why the CHR is investigating the killings in Davao City that, according to the latest count, have claimed more than 800 victims—most of whom have criminal records.

They can’t help asking: Which human rights is the CHR favoring? Is it the human rights of the criminals or the human rights of the innocent civilians? Why shine a bright light on the killings when the city and its citizens are enjoying peace and prosperity? Can the CHR not leave this dark side of the city since Davaoeños can live with it anyway? Don’t these criminals deserve to be killed in the first place?

Copying Costa Rica

Thomas Friedman's column, (No) Drill, Baby, Drill, about Costa Rica's innovative move to "put energy, environment, mines and water all under one minister," which by the way no other country has ever done, got me to thinking if we could do the same here in the Philippines.

To put those departments under one roof might seem unusual. But Costa Rica did just that.

The results? According to Thomas Friedman, Costa Rica "now gets more than 95 percent of its energy from these renewables" [hydro-electric power, wind and geo-thermal] when in 1985, "it was 50 percent hydro, 50 percent oil."

What is more interesting, Friedman adds, is that "Costa Rica discovered its own oil five years ago but decided to ban drilling — so as not to pollute its politics or environment!"

This only goes to show that "economic growth and environmentalism work together." Now can we do the same?

Human Rights Watch is right

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights group, released yesterday its report, titled "You Can Die Any Time: Death Squad Killings in Mindanao."

After downloading the soft copy of the report, I managed to take a cursory read of the report. There's one portion of the report that struck me, only because it confirmed what my father told me some years back. Once he told me that some members of the DDS are former NPAs. In fact, my father said, he knew someone who had just been recruited to join this ghostly group.

One portion of the HRW's report, "The Perpetrators: Inside the Davao Death Squad," confirmed this. "Most members of the DDS fall into two main groups," the report said. "According to several insiders, the older members, some of whom were recruited back in the early 2000s, were primarily former members of the so-called “sparrow units” of the NPA who surrendered to the government, as well as some former military and police personnel."

Update: Download the full report of the HRW here.

ITV-CNN on Davao Death Squad