The champions of the Philippine Revolution against colonization rose up in arms not just to fight for freedom and independence but also for lands, decent jobs, livelihood, right to education, and, essentially, the right to live humanely.

It was an uprising for rights, a cry for dignity.

Today, even as we proudly remember our heroes and their valiant deeds, we are still hounded by issues and atrocities that undermine human rights and attack the very fiber of our beings as individuals, as communities, and as a nation.

Our national heroes of the past, like Gat Andres de Castro Bonifacio, have raged and organized against the trampling (what we now call as impunity) of human dignity during the Spanish and American colonial periods. We take continuous inspiration and courage from the women and men who fought for individual and national freedoms and justice and broke through the impunity of their times. Human rights defenders of today cannot but be enthused by their examples of unselfish and determined struggles to uplift our common humanity and dignity. Human rights defenders must be unwavering in their goal to break impunity.

Development is not development when it is being rammed down the throats of the people.

Development becomes aggression when it undermines the will of the people and triggers human rights violations in the process.

The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) condemns in the strongest possible terms the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) decision to issue an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) for the 11, 200 hectare Mindoro Nickel Project to be ‘developed’ by the Intex Resources, a Norwegian mining company.

Copenhagen - Geneva, 13 November 2009. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) welcome the signing yesterday by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Act Penalizing the Commission of Acts of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, prescribing Penalties Therefore and for Other Purposes. The signing of the Act is a considerable step forwards in preventing and eradicating all forms of torture and ill-treatment in the Republic of the Philippines.