Philippine military blamed for ‘dirty war’ against leftists

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 28, 2007

MANILA: The Philippine military has been waging a “dirty war” against leftists that has resulted in the murder and disappearance of hundreds of Filipino activists, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

In a report, the group said that the government had failed to prosecute members of the armed forces implicated in the killings and that witnesses were afraid to testify, thus contributing to “official impunity.”
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Rights groups warn of rise in abductions in Philippines

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 11, 2007

MANILA: Berlin Guerrero has been an activist for much of his adult life. Aside from being a pastor for a Protestant church in Laguna, a province just south of Manila, he has also been involved in protests and in organizing Bayan Muna, the Philippines’ largest leftist party.

But nothing prepared him for what happened on May 27. He had just attended a service that day when a van without license plates cut into his path. Several men got out, dragged him into the vehicle and sped away, leaving behind Guerrero’s horrified wife and children.
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Teachers bear the brunt of election violence in the Philippines

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 7, 2007

MANILA: Nellie Banaag and her crew had just finished counting the votes cast hours earlier and were about to bring the ballot boxes to Taysan Town Hall when the men arrived. The men, masked and armed, fired their guns, poured gasoline on the boxes and set them ablaze.

Banaag and another woman, Leticia Ramos, ran to the toilet to hide.

But the flames quickly spread and burned down the building in Taysan, a town in Batangas Province, south of Manila. Banaag and Ramos burned to death inside the toilet. A dozen other people were injured, and one of them eventually died in the hospital.
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Australia will train Philippine soldiers in anti-terror tactics

By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: June 1, 2007

MANILA: Australia will send troops to the southern Philippines to help train Filipino soldiers in anti-terrorist tactics under a security agreement signed Thursday, officials from both countries announced.

Under the agreement, which was signed in Canberra by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of the Philippines and Prime Minister John Howard, Australia will provide Manila with military equipment, including 28 high-speed gunboats to strengthen the Philippine Navy.
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