Political Murders in the Philippines

Bulatlat (verb to investigate) is a very liberal or leftist website that covers all the heavy issues coming from the Philippines, a very good site if you're looking this kind of news. One of the more unique angles is that many of the stories are covered via slide shows or movies, which breaks up the monotony of just still images and text. They recently covered an event in Germany that points out some shocking statistics about political killings in the Philippines since the election of Arroyo in 2001.

What would be your guess about the number of recent political murders in the Philippines? 59? 116? 212? Guess again, then read the press release published on Bulatlat.

Buffeted by heavy rain and gusty winds, more than 200 visitors of the German Kirchentag took about seven hours until they were able to light one candle for each of the 1015 victims of political killings in the Philippines.

“Though it is not new to us, we are shocked by the number of victims the candles reveal,” said Hannah Wolf, spokesperson of the German-Philippine initiative “Sumabay Tayo! Walking Together – for Justice. “In fact sheets the numbers seem so abstract. The candles are the first to give an idea of about how many individuals were actually killed, how many more are left to mourn, are traumatized and hungry for justice. To no one of these 1015 victims has justice been served. It is horrific.”

The protest called attention to the murders of more than 1000 persons who have been summarily executed since 2001 under the administration of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Organizers had earlier planned to light 1,009 candles but raised the number as they received reports of six more deaths. Among them were deaths in the central Philippine islands of Panay and Negros. The action was part of the Kirchentag, the biennial German Protestant Church gathering,[1] which was held from 20 to 24 May. Based on the Kirchentag theme “Mortal, where are you? (Genesis 3:9),” the initiative “Sumabay Tayo!“ called especially on Christians to act according to their faith and to stand for justice.

Bulatlat