Jamby seeks Tribunal's guilty verdict against Arroyo government

Senator Jamby Madrigal testified before the Permanent Peoples'
Tribunal at The Hague on 23 March 2007. In clear and forceful terms,
she said, "As a Filipino, I accuse and seek a guilty verdict for the
regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the violations of the economic,
social and cultural rights of the people including the violation of
economic sovereignty and the national patrimony through iniquitous
agreements and economic plunder by foreign and local exploiters."

Sen. Madrigal presented before the Tribunal a 15-page "Summary of
Charges and Cases on the Continuing Displacement of the Indigenous
Peoples and the Plunder of the Environment in the Philippines".

She accused the Arroyo government of failing to implement the
Indigenous People's Rights Act (IPRA). She declared that "there is a
noticeable lack of interest on the part of the government in the
implementation of the IPRA, to the detriment of the indigenous
people."

Senator Madrigal also condemned Arroyo's Executive Order no. 364 in
2004, which "cut off the independence of the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)" as the agency to protect and promote the
rights of the indigenous peoples. The NCIP was placed under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Land Reform.

She cited the specific case of "the grant of an illegal logging
concession to Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the architect of martial
law…and former Defense Secretary of Marcos". The concession is within
the Samar Island Natural Park.

She also exposed the "open pit mining and plunder of Rapu-Rapu Island
by La Fayette Corporation in the province of Sorsogon."

She presented the cases of the displacement of indigenous peoples in
Zamboanga del Norte and in the island of Boracay by Toronto Ventures,
Inc. of Canada, despite the existence of lawful order issued by the
NCIP.

She declared that "these cases are a microcosm of what is happening
everyday all throughout the Philippines. These are not isolated
incidents."

Professor François Houtart, President of the Jury of the Permanent
Peoples' Tribunal Second Session on the Philippines, expressed his
appreciation and thanks for the presentation of Senator Madrigal. #