Proposal to Cut Military Aid to Philippines: A Welcome Move
The church leaders, human rights defenders and civil libertarians, who comprise the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines, welcome the proposal to reduce the US’ Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to the Philippines from nearly $30 million to only $11 million by fiscal year 2008. News reports indicate that the slash in US aid is due to the concern about the extra-judicial killings that have plagued the country since 2001. If the US pushes through with this recommendation, this will be a major victory for the kith and kin of victims of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations perpetrated by state security forces. We also appreciate the move by the US Senate appropriations committee by including specific language in a proposed law which bars the use of US military aid to be “misused by units of the [Philippine] security forces — against civilians, including civilians who are members of political opposition parties and human rights groups.”
The church leaders, human rights defenders and civil libertarians, who comprise the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines, welcome the proposal to reduce the US’ Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to the Philippines from nearly $30 million to only $11 million by fiscal year 2008. News reports indicate that the slash in US aid is due to the concern about the extra-judicial killings that have plagued the country since 2001. If the US pushes through with this recommendation, this will be a major victory for the kith and kin of victims of extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and other human rights violations perpetrated by state security forces. We also appreciate the move by the US Senate appropriations committee by including specific language in a proposed law which bars the use of US military aid to be “misused by units of the [Philippine] security forces — against civilians, including civilians who are members of political opposition parties and human rights groups.”
The proposal on military aid reduction to the Arroyo government was a direct result of the efforts of the Ecumenical Voice delegation which brought and presented the country’s human rights situation before church, government, inter-government (UN) and international non-governmental bodies in the US, Canada and Switzerland, last March 2007 as well as the lobbying efforts of American and Filipino churches and human rights groups in the US.
The faith community in the US, who were appalled by the human rights situation in the country, played a very big role in the lobbying efforts. The churches in the US, acting from a faith calling, lobbied their congresspersons to do something about the killings, which include about 26 church people to date.
The Ecumenical Voice maintains that all measures and efforts done locally, such as the Summit called by Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and internationally, like those being done by our sisters and brothers in the faith community, are welcome moves. We earnestly hope that this proposal for military aid reduction, like that of the proposals during the Summit convened by the Chief Justice, will bear fruition and ultimately stop the killings.
References:
Ms. Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes
General Secretary
National Council of Churches in the Philippines
Co-Convenor – Ecumenical Voice
Fr. Joe Dizon
Promoter
Solidarity Philippines
Co-Convenor – Ecumenical Voice