IPON Coordinator and Martin Patzelt in the House of Representatives while human rights defenders could speak up for their cases.
Two days ago, IPON project coordinator Dominik Hammann and Mr. Patzelt from the German Parliament had the chance to visit the House of Representatives and the Senate in Manila.
At the Congress they had the chance to meet congresswoman Cheryl Deloso-Montalla and other representatives of the of the Human Rights Committee in order to discuss the effects of the possible ratification of the House Bill Number 1 („Restoration of the Death Penalty) and House Bill Number 2… („Lowering of the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility“) in regards of human rights.
Later on Mr. Patzelt and Dominik Hamman also had the chance to meet the senators Leila de Lima and Risa Hontiveros to talk about the importance of independant human rights advocacy and to discuss the latest alarming developments in regards to President Duterte’s War on Drugs and Extrajudicial killings.
On the same day our partner Evangeline Silva had to attend a court hearing in Calauan where she could speak up for her case and her work as human rights defender. The hearing was also attended by Aileen Chua, member of the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) and accompanied by human rights defender Zara Alvarez and IPON members.
On the following day, Mr. Patzelt was able to attend a meeting in the Foreign Ministry in Manila in order to discuss the current human rights situation in the Philippines.
Our partners Cocoy Tulawie and Maryann had the chance to visit the Supreme Court in order to do some follow ups.
Last but not least the rest of the participants of our Delegation Trip attended a protest walk in Manila which was organized by farmers and Indigineous People (IP) from Mindananao.
The aim of the protest walk was to claim the right of the farmers and the IPs in terms of land redistribution, the demilitarisation of regions, the restitution of ancestral land and the non-interference of foreign investors in the mining sector.
