UN Special Rapporteur on political killings in the Philippines

Here's some footage of today's press conference by UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston. His statement is quite strong and made a big impact in the media. Read this front page article from the Philippine Daily Inquirer for example. The government's reaction was pathetic, if not utterly silly. Or should we call this anything else but disgusting?

STK on tour

I wish I were in San Francisco for the Stop the killings benefit show. It's a wonderful idea to generate interest for the campaign among the youth. Moreover, they have some really great bands out there.

Did you know that some of the most exciting hip hop is made by Filipino-Americans? They still have the attitude, amazing beats and powerful lyrics, unlike many of those mainstream hip hop wannabes. Blue scholars is hands-down the best of the pack. One MC (Geo, the son of Filipino migrants) and one DJ (Sabzi, with Iranian roots) is all you need when you're oozing with talent like these Seattle-based kids. And if you have doubts about their political commitment... They're co-founders of Mass Line Media. Another favorite of mine is Native Guns from LA. One of their songs, Hammer, has been the tune on my myspace page for a couple of months now.

Anyway, check them out on the Internet and hopefully we'll be able to bring the STK tour to Europe one day!

Who's the terrorist?

The arbitrary terrorist listing of some dissidents by the US and the EU was an issue on the popular Dutch TV channel RTL4. They used the example of Jose Maria Sison, a Philippine revolutionary who is living in the Netherlands, to illustrate the consequences of these policies.

When soldiers get in way of people’s health

Dani Beltran, of our Philippine partner organization the Council for Health Development (CHD), testified in a newspaper article about the state of the people's health in Mindanao. According to him, the health status worsened not only because of government neglect but also because of “militarization” in many parts of the island. This was apparent in the research conducted by CHD in 38 communities in eight cities and 16 provinces of Mindanao from July to September last year. "In far-flung villages of the island, one can see more soldiers with rifles than government doctors with stethoscopes," Dani observed.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines immediately cried foul and responded in the same newspaper. Interestingly, their spokesperson admitted that "basic services, like health and education are hardly felt in communist-influenced areas," and that the army disallowed NGOs from going inside areas where there is fighting "for their own protection."

Relief in Bicol

When Bicol, in the southern part of Luzon (Philippines), was devastated by typhoon Reming late last year, we in MATW immediately started to raise funds for the relief operations. Two weeks ago we were already able to post some updates on our site. Now there's even an animated slide show on youtube that documents relief operations by progressive networks.

Interview op Radio Centraal

Een commissie, voorgezeten door ex voorzitter van het Filippijns hooggerechtshof Jose Melo, oordeelde vorige week dat militairen verantwoordelijk zijn voor honderden politieke moorden die plaatsgrepen sedert het aantreden van presidente Arroyo in 2001. Slachtoffers zijn geen gewapend verzet, laat staan verdachten van terrorisme, maar mensen uit de bloeiende Filippijnse volksbeweging.

Een interview op Radio Centraal is te beluisteren op hun website.

More graphs and stats on the web

While we're at it with graphs and statistics: here's an older site that visualizes global health and development statistics. Gapminder provides a fascinating interactive presentation of the 2005 human development report's statistical data. Google also hosts a version of this tool.

The world according to worlmapper

Did you ever wonder what the world would look like if countries' surface area would be proportionate to their wealth? To their population's alcohol consumption or unemployment? Maybe it doesn't seem to be very useful but still it makes you think about global inequities and inequalities. You can find tens of these interesting maps on worldmapper.com.

Een kwart miljoen mensen tegen de farmagigant: “Gezondheid gaat boven winst!”

De farmaceutische multinational Novartis daagt de Indische overheid voor de rechter om delen van de Indische patentwetgeving te laten schrappen die het recht op gezondheid beschermen. Een kwart miljoen mensen hebben daar al protest tegen aangetekend en de wereldwijde verontwaardiging neemt toe.

Novartis is één van de grootste farmaceutische firma's ter wereld en bouwde de laatste jaren al een weinig benijdenswaardige reputatie op. Toen Brazilië de idee opperde om op een volstrekt wettelijke manier het patent op een AIDS-medicijn te omzeilen, reisde Novartis topman Vallesa zelf naar het land om er zijn beklag te doen bij president Lula. In een interview met de lokale pers dreigde hij er zelfs mee om alle producten van Novartis van de Braziliaanse markt te halen als het land tot de maatregel zou overgaan. En dat terwijl de Braziliaanse regering enkel patiënten met HIV/AIDS van goedkopere medicijnen wou voorzien.

Toen Channel 4 in Groot-Brittannië een documentaire uitzond over de praktijken van de farmaceutische industrie, legde Novartis klacht neer met de bedoeling om andere zenders te intimideren. De documentaire klaagde onder andere aan dat het bedrijf haar medicijn tegen leukemie, Gleevec, aan woekerprijzen op de markt brengt, hoewel het onderzoek grotendeels gefinancierd werd door overheden en donoren.

Momenteel is de Indische overheid de kop van jut. India moest in 2005 haar patentwetgeving aanpassen aan de voorschriften van de Wereldhandelsorganisatie (WTO). Daardoor kunnen pillenfabrikanten er, zoals in andere WTO lidstaten, voor een periode van 20 jaar het alleenrecht verkrijgen op de productie en verkoop van bepaalde medicijnen.

India voorzag echter enkele slimme maatregelen in de wetgeving die ervoor zorgen dat bepaalde wanpraktijken aan banden gelegd worden. Zo staat de wet niet toe dat een patent wordt genomen op een gewijzigde vorm van een medicijn, tenzij dat het product significant efficiënter maakt. In de wereld van de farmagiganten is dat een veel toegepaste truc om een patent te verlengen: men wijzigt de vorm van een bepaald product wanneer het patent verstrijkt zodat men meteen een nieuw patent kan aanvragen voor het gewijzigde product.

Een Indische consumentenorganisatie die het opneemt voor kankerpatiënten diende in september 2005 klacht in tegen Novartis' patent op Gleevec omdat het geen duidelijke verbetering was van een gelijkaardig product. In januari 2006 gaf het patentenbureau van Chennai de organisatie gelijk en werd het patent op Gleevec verbroken.

Het onmiddellijke resultaat was opmerkelijk. Dankzij de competitie van lokaal geproduceerde versies van het medicijn, die tot tien keer goedkoper waren, duikelde de prijs ervan spectaculair naar omlaag. Bovendien was de zaak een riem onder het hart van andere Indische patiëntenorganisaties die met succes ook andere zaken aanhangig maakten.

Novartis liet het daar niet bij. De firma diende een klacht in bij het Hoog Gerechtshof van Chennai, niet alleen om de ban op het patent ongedaan te maken, maar ook om de patentwetgeving zelf te wijzigen. Volgens de Novartis is de betrokken maatregel in strijd met de WTO-voorschriften, hoewel dat volgens internationale experten klinkklare onzin is.

Het spreekt voor zich dat de Indische gezondheidsactivisten dat niet over hun kant konden laten gaan. Dokter Amit Sengupta van de People's Health Movement India, een internationaal netwerk waarvan intal lid is, is verontwaardigd: “Hier in India hebben we strijd gevoerd voor een wetgeving die de volksgezondheid voorrang geeft op het winstbejag maar nu wil Novartis onze wetten aanpassen ook al worden mensen die lijden aan levensbedreigende aandoeningen daar het slachtoffer van.”

Gezondheidsactivisten uit de hele wereld startten meteen een campagne tegen de juridische acties van Novartis. Het belang van de zaak overschrijdt immers die van de 24.000 Indische patiënten met leukemie die Gleevec nodig hebben. Vele arme landen kopen goedkope medicijnen in India, dankzij de relatief progressieve patentwetgeving. Als Novartis zijn zin zou krijgen, dan zou die wetgeving uitgehold worden in het voordeel van de farmareuzen en zou de beschikbaarheid van goedkope nieuwe medicijnen, ook voor andere aandoeningen, in het gedrang komen.

“Novartis probeert de apotheek van de ontwikkelingslanden te sluiten,” zegt dokter Unni Karunakara, van Artsen Zonder Grenzen. Meer dan 80% van de AIDS-medicijnen die AZG wereldwijd gebruikt komt uit India. De organisatie heeft dan ook het voortouw genomen in een wereldwijde campagne die al de steun kreeg van een kwart miljoen mensen.

Toen het Hoog Gerechtshof op 29 januari een eerste hoorzitting hield, werd de zaak verdaagd tot 15 februari. Het is dus nog niet te laat om de campagne te steunen via http://www.msf.org/petition_india/international.html.

Report condemns Philippine mining

Former British Minster for International Development, Clare Short, launched a report about destructive mining practices in the Philippines. She said that she was “deeply shocked by the negative impact of mining in the Philippines,” and feels that “the Government of the Philippines and the mining companies have failed to comply with national law and international standards”. The complete report can be found on the website of the Columban fathers. This Irish religious order was one of the organizers of the fact-finding mission that went to the Philippines last year in order to examine the impact of mining on the environment and people’s livelihoods. Its findings and recommendations are now made public through the report.

Interestingly, Frank Nally, a Catholic priest of the Missionary Society of St. Columban, who has long campaigned against corporate logging and mining in the Philippines, was denied entry at Manila airport on January 6. He was entering the country to make the final preparations for the Manila-based report launch. A member of the July/August 2006 fact-finding team and one of the authors of the report, he was told he is ‘blacklisted’ from entering the Philippines. That's how Manila deals with foreign critics these days.

Friends from China

Tang and Sung left after a visit of 3 days in Brussels. They're both Taiwanese activists who are active in the labor movement. I met Tang first in the Philippines in 2002 when we were room mates during a fact-finding mission. He invited me to Taipei one year later and I spent a wonderful week in that city, integrating with the activist community of China's breakaway province--a place where nobody would expect much activist activity whatsoever. I discovered the true meaning of hospitality, as well as a world of incredible courage and persistence. I also discovered friendship that brought Tang all the way to Brussels. They proceeded to the UK now but Tang will soon go back to Taipei to resume his organizing work. One day I hope to pay him a return visit. In the meantime: good luck to Tang and the other labor organizers and peace activists over there!

Punx not dead

Bush is sending 21,500 extra troops to Iraq. He'll probably need more money for his war machine. Look what he's up to:



And here's the anti-flag's answer:



I like this chorus:

Protest!... Against!... Injustice!... State terror!...
On the streets of the world for the disempowered!


Apparently the old slogan still holds true: Punx not dead!

Just another war

So the US bombed Somalia? It hardly gets a mention in the newspaper. Another year, another war, another salvo of US air strikes on a sovereign country. Aren't we getting used to it too easily? Fortunately, some people, like Mohamed Hassan, who knows the region like the palm of his hand, provide some background. Read an interview on globalresearch.ca.

Tugboat

Galaxie 500 is one of my favorite bands ever and their first LP "Today" is still on heavy rotation. Somebody pointed me to their video of Tugboat, one of the songs on that album. It's an intriguing video for a timeless song with great guitars.

Whose assistance framework?

This afternoon I attended a meeting at our ministry of foreign affairs on the assistance to the health sector in Congo. I left with mixed feelings. Sure, Congo's health system needs aid, large amounts of it. Moreover, the focus on 'horizontal', primary care is definitely a positive aspect of the plan. But then, accessibility-or 'health for all'-doesn't seem to be properly addressed, considering that Congo's population is so poor. The plans raise more questions but one question is evident: Why are the plans once more written in Brussels and not in Kinshasa?

Raf Custers wrote on the Country Assistance Framework in Indymedia (Dutch).

1000 x Stop the killings

We targeted 750. We were 1000 last Monday to say "Stop the political killings in the Philippines" in front of the Philippine embassy in Brussels.

There's plenty of pictures on our website as well as on indymedia.be: 1, 2, 3

Stop the killings in the Cordillera

Our "stop the killings in the Philippines" campaign is in full swing now. Tomorrow is the big day as we're expecting almost 800 people to represent every victim of political killings since 2001. I hope it will be adequately covered by the media because we've been working very hard these past few weeks.

Meanwhile we had some build-up activities, including an action in Gent focusing on the victims from the Cordillera region. As you can see in the pictures, it was quite a success. Moreover, the atmosphere was just right and made it not only a protest action but also a fitting tribute to the martyrs of the Cordillera. Unfortunately, not a single journalist deemed it important enough to cover. That's why I posted my own report on indymedia.

Rainy Sunday afternoon

Nothing can bring me to tears, except music on a rainy Sunday. When I went to buy bread this morning in the drizzle I was looking forward to try that out again with the new Joanna Newsom album. I was in for another teary-eyed afternoon.

Joanna Newsom is different. She grew up in a family of musicians that counted Terry Riley as a neighbour and became a harpist. When she sings it is with a voice that has been compared to Björk's as well as to fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. Her lyrics are made up of dense, archaic verses that sound like anachronistic poetry. A song about het sister Emily, a weird fairy-tale about a monkey and a bear and 17-minute love song,... it's not exactly what you're used to.

"I wasn't born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight
no, I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright"

Or is it?

And... Steve Albini recorded the album. Let it sink in please, Steve "king of noise" Albini recorded an album of a harpist/singer. According to Joanna, Albini recorded the harp "in an insane and never-before-done manner". We are not surprised. More surprising is the collaboration with producer Van Dyke Parks (who wrote ans recorded the arrangements) and Jim O'Rourke who mixed it all together. The result is amazing and most unusual. Does it really sound like Björk? To me it sounds more like a soundtrack for Bambi. Who cares? Ys is definitely one of the best albums of 2006.

Remembering Hacienda Luisita Massacre

Two years after the Hacienda Luisita massacre it is fit to commemorate the martyrs with this video made by LA-based Phil-Ams.

Anniversary of Martial Law