YOUTH FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTIES (YACL)

YOUTH FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF CIVIL LIBERTIES (YACL)

Concept Paper

Civil liberties are freedoms that completely protect the individual from government. Civil liberties also set limits for government so that it can not abuse its power and interfere with the lives of its citizens. Common civil liberties include freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and additionally, to due process, to a fair trial, and to privacy. They are basic rights given to every man of the world. However, there are times when these civil liberties are blatantly disregarded by the government.

In the present regime, the Arroyo government continued to implement rules and policies that benefit foreign interests and not of the Filipino people. And most of the times, violations of the civil, political are committed and human rights of the Filipino people were disregarded. The needs of the youth, most especially, were not given sufficient attention. The Philippine Constitution itself recognizes the importance of the Youth in a strong republic. In Section 13 of the Article II, it says that “the State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs.” And no less than the National Hero Jose Rizal called the youth as “the hope of the fatherland”.

Even the simplest duty of the government to the youth was disregarded like better, accessible and free education and even social services to the youth. When in fact the Philippine constitution says that the government must give education the highest budget allocation, the Arroyo administration allots the national budget to debt servicing and militarization, leaving Education as the third priority.

In public elementary and secondary schools, the ratio of teachers to their pupils is 1:60. In general, there is a constraint of 25, 000 classrooms, 15 million books and 39, 000 teachers. From 27% last 1960, the national budget for education for 2002 reached only 12%. The tuition fee in the University of the Philippines, the premier state university, increased by 300%! Each year, SUCs are forced to increase their tuition fees because of the lack of subsidy from the national government. Worthy to mention here too is the program of the government to privatize SUCs, which will give unimagined burden to the already burdened Filipino nation.
The same trend is happening today. The students’ criticism on the government intensified and became a serious issue. When students protest against these atrocities being done to them, the government’s answers are riot policemen, barricades, tear gas, fire trucks and imprisonment. When the youth and students joined legal youth organizations that fight for the rights of the youth and the students, the government started tagging them as communists, front of NPA and so on. The persecution of activists started and the US-Arroyo government is behind the persecution.

These atrocities were intensified when George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, declared the worldwide “war on terror” after the 9/11 bombing, with the Philippines as second in line. The present regime intensified the militarization of many areas all over the country. It implemented dangerous and deadly regulations like the Oplan Bantay Laya I and II, Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR, or the “no permit, no rally” policy), Executive Order 464 (that prevents cabinet members, police and military generals, senior national security officials, and "such other officers as may be determined by the President" to attend congressional hearings unless the President gives permission to those who will attend the said proceedings) and the Presidential Proclamation 1017 (the declaration of the Philippines under a State of National Emergency last 2006).

Because of this counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism strategies of the present regime, the human rights group Karapatan has recorded over 863 cases of extrajudicial killings and 197 cases of forced disappearances and abductions, whose victims were innocent citizens – youth and students especially, and members of legal organizations being tagged by the government as fronts of communists; not spared too are human rights activists, church people, journalists, lawyers and judges, who were known critics of the present regime’s puppetry and atrocities, and numerous other human rights violations. This is an ironical picture of her promise of an empowered youth and nation when she assumed power thru the people’s uprising during the EDSA People Power II.

Even the Bicolano youth were not spared from the claws of the US-Arroyo regime. To date, there are already 7 youth victims of extrajudicial killings in the Bicol region alone, namely:

Cris Hugo, 20 years old student of Bicol University and regional spokesperson of the League of Filipino Students (LFS), a progressive national organization, shot dead on March 19, 2006 by two unidentified motorcycle-riding men. He has reported to have been receiving death threats from military since 2005.

Rei “Mon” Guran, 22-years old student of Aquinas University, shot dead on July 31, 2006, while onboard a bus. He was an active member of the Christian Youth Fellowship, and provincial spokesperson of LFS in Albay.

Joel Asejo, a Bicol University Student and an active member of Tau Gamma Phi and a member of Anakbayan in Daraga, Albay. He was shot dead while in a beach in Sto. Domingo, Albay.

Farly Alcantara, 23 years old and member of the League of Filipino Students, who was shot dead last February 15; the killing happened during the visit and investigations on the political killings in the Philippines by Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary killings.

Roberto “Jun-Jun” Bagasbas (26 yrs. old) and Ronilo Brezuela (16 yrs. old), KABATAAN PARTYLIST Poll watchers abducted and killed while doing their duty during the canvassing of votes in Capalongga, Camarines Norte. People from the military told the residents the next day that the victims were killed in a “legal encounter” with the armed left though they were known in the community as non members of communists.

The seventh youth killed in Bicol was under Karapatan’s reported but undocumented case, but it was confirmed by Karapatan-Camarines Sur that the youth killed was a member of Suara Bangsamoro, one of the five progressive partylists who joined the 2007 election; reports said that he has 57 gunshot wounds all over the body.

Considering the widespread civil, political and human rights violation being experienced by the Bicolano youth, the voice of unity and patriotism is once again heralding in the wilderness. There is a dire need of a unified Bicolano youth.

Responding to the need and duty of a unified Bicolano Youth, we are convening the Youth for the Advancement of Civil Liberties (YACL). This alliance aims to unify the Bicolano youth in particular and other sectors who are with the youth and their advocacies like the Church, the Academe, the Media and the Bicol Movement Against inHuman Security Act, the Regional multi-sectoral alliance against HSA, whose initiative is to secure and protect the civil liberties of the Bicolano youth.

We believe that the Church, has been a prime advocate of the youth’s rights ever since. The Church also creates public opinion which is an important medium to reach out to the greater number of the Region’s youth populace.

In the same manner, the Academe plays an important role in this advocacy. They can be our venue to enlighten and awaken the intellectual sectors of the society of the real face of society and their effects on the youth and the students. The Media, being the most influential factor of any society will be the medium for the dissemination of information and of our being critical to the present atrocities being experienced by the Bicolano youth as a whole.

Objectives of the YACL

· To unify the different youth organizations to protect the civil liberties of the youth;

· To rekindle the youth’s passion for human rights advocacy and justice;

· To gather support from the various sectors;

· To educate the youth on the real situation of the youth in the country;

· To mobilize the youth, personalities, individuals, and groups for the upholding of the civil liberties of the youth;

· To unite individuals to adhere with this advocacy to prevent the further trampling of our right;

· To enrich network of youth civil, political and human rights defenders and advocates, local and international alike.

Organization Initiators:

Kabataan Partylist

National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP)

Student Christian Movement (SCM)

College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)

Act Now to Defend Human Rights and Morality (AND-HRM)

League of Filipino Students (LFS)

Bicol University - University Student Council (BU-USC)

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, eserve neither Liberty nor safety.” -- Benjamin Franklin