PH, ‘deadliest’ country —London watchdog

Maituturing na “deadliest” country ang Pilipinas para sa land at environmental defenders, ayon sa inilabas na taunang ulat ng London-based watchdog nitong Martes.

Ayon sa Global Witness, Pilipinas ang nanguna sa mga bansa na may pinakamalaking bilang ng namamatay kaugnay ng pagtatanggol sa kapaligiran na may 30, na sinusundan ng Colombia (24), India (23), at Brazil (20). Nitong nakaraang taon, Brazil ang nanguna para sa environmental defenders.

Kabilang sa mga nabanggit sa Global Witness report ang tumataas na pagkaalarma sa “criminalization of aggressive civil cases are being used to stifle environmental activism land rights defense.”

Ayon kay Alice Harrison, senior campaigner ng Global Witness, “it is a brutal irony that while judicial systems routinely allow the killers of defenders to walk free, they are also being used to brand the activists themselves as terrorists, spies or dangerous criminals.”

“Both tactics send a clear message to other activists: the stakes for defending their rights are punishingly high for them, their families and their communities,” aniya.

Binigyang-diin din ng Global Witness ang pagtaas ng mga pagpatay sa Guatemala, dahilan upang maging “bloodiest countries per capita,” ang bansa.

Pagmimina naman ang itinuturing na deadliest sector, kung saan 43 ang napatay sa paprotesta laban sa mineral extraction sa lupain, kabuhayan at kapaligiran.

Nagkaroon din ng pagtaas ng bilang ng namamatay laban sa pagpoprotekta ng water sources, tumaas ito mula apat noong 2017 hanggang 17 noong 2018.

“The ecological agriculture that landless farm workers have painstakingly carved out of the vast monoculture plantations of Negros sugar barons have been irrigated with blood and bullets. Since 2017 to date, at least 87 land and environment defenders have been murdered by military, paramilitary troops, and other state forces for carrying out land occupation and cultivation campaigns across the island,” pahayag ni Leon Dulce, national coordinator ng Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), na isa sa mga lokal na katuwang ng Global Witness sa bansa.

“The killing fields of Negros is the single biggest driver of environmental defenders in 2018. Scores more are being killed by the military rampage as we speak,” dagdag ni Dulce.