SUSTAINING PASSION AND DIGNITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES ANNUAL REVIEW 2015 Annual Review 2015 1
MOVEMEN
PUTTING A STOP TO TORTURE
One of Amnesty International’s (AI) priority countries for the Global Campaign to Stop Torture is the Philippines. The movement sought impact on the Philippine government’s implementation of its policies against the use of torture by the Philippine National Police (PNP), and at the same time, paved way to create new laws and programs within the peace and order bureaucracy to further prevent the use of torture. The Philippines, as a country focus, also gave way to Filipino Individuals-atRisk (IAR) to be part of the AI’s priority cases. This resulted to a worldwide action on the cases of Alfreda Disbarro, a single mother tortured in Parañaque City for expressing the desire to leave the life of a police informant; Jerryme Corre, a jeepney driver who was tortured in Angeles City in a mistaken identity case; and, Dave Enriquez, a baker’s assistant with learning disability tortured in Tanauan, Batangas as punishment for allegedly stealing two chickens. AI also gave focus to the infamous “wheel of torture” discovered by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Laguna and likewise continued working on the case of Darius Evangelista, whose ordeals while being tortured by the police before he went missing was uploaded in YouTube and went viral in 2013.
Thousands of letters and signatures from all over the world poured in the Philippines addressing the government, PNP and DOJ of their concerns regarding the continued use of torture, particularly by the police, and the hindrances faced by those seeking justice and those asking for accountability. These actions from the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific prompted the government to further investigate, act and file administrative and criminal cases on those forwarded by Amnesty International.
Similarly, thousands of letters of support and solidarity were received by the victims and their families. The letters were personally received by Jerryme, Alfreda and the family of Darius Evangelista. A High Level Mission (HLM) led by Salil Shetty, AI’s Secretary General, held in December 2014 for the launch of “Above the Law” report on torture committed by members of the PNP gave the media traction that was carried over until 2015. The
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highly publicized mission was considered an additional and important push by civil society organizations campaigning against torture in the country.
A joint hearing between the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights and the Committee on Public Order, which took place in January, announced immediately after the launch of the report and the HLM was a direct result of lobbying meetings conducted during Shetty’s visit in the Philippines. Senate Resolution 661 directing the committee to conduct an inquiry,
Both committee hearings, chaired by Senator Koko Pimentel from the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, was attended by members of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of National Defense (DND) with AI Southeast Asia Program Team, Director Richard Bennet in January and Deputy Director Josef Roy Benedict in December.
The National Prevention Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, or NPM, also finally made movement in both houses
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WORKING FOR
Part of the mission was the public actions and materials that were developed by the AI’s International Secretariat (IS) together with AI Philippines (AIPh). Stop Torture billboards were set up in Manila along EDSA-Guadalupe, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro City to inform the public of their right not to be tortured and at the same time gather support for the global campaign. Videos produced for the campaign included the “Wheel of Torture” parody, the Alfreda Disbarro testimonial featuring Aiza Seguerra, the Jerryme Corre testimonial featuring Nicco Manalo, the “Discrimination Leads to Torture” call to action featuring Aiza Seguerra and Liza Diño, and the call to stop torture featuring Dingdong Dantes.
in aid of legislation, on the “Above the Law” report stating that torture and human rights violations is a serious problem in the Philippines. The resolution, if approved by both committees and adopted by the plenary, will result to a Senate Inquiry on the allegations of torture conducted by the members of the PNP against criminal suspects. Such an inquiry, hopefully, will end with the Senate upholding AI’s policy recommendations to help end the use of torture in the country.
HUMAN
of Congress. The proposed law was also endorsed and supported by all government agencies considered to be stakeholders to torture prevention in the country. The section also continued its engagements with the government to ensure that both Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and government sides are updated with each other’s work. AIPh continued on calling the attention of the government in different meetings to raise the bar of government actions on torture cases and to ensure programs are implemented. AIPh has also been involved in the continuing ‘Freedom from Torture’ training and education of the PNP, AFP, and jail personnel from the Bureau of Corrections (BOC) and Bureau of jail Management and Penology (BJMP).
torture in their communities and at the same time, demand justice for the victims of torture. At the National Secretariat (NS), the Basta Run Against Torture (BRAT) gained a new lease on life as the partnership between the CSOs and different government agencies gathered more than 900 runners for its annual run.
Aside from public actions and mobilizations against torture from the NS and the regions, ‘Freedom from Torture’ trainings were also conducted at the community level for members and supporters to enable them to gather local support for AI’s work, cases and policy recommendations. These enabled members to engage community leaders, providing for vigilance at the local level. Peer Educators Trainings were also developed for the Stop Torture Project rolled out in September. The members also took frontline action on the Global Campaign Against Torture continuing work on the memorialization of the abuses done during the Martial Law Era through Stop Torture markers, fora and community discussions centering on ensuring human rights protection. Public actions and mobilizations continue to be AIPh membership’s most utilized tactic. The regions called on the local authorities to stop the use of
OPEN DOOR POLICY AIPh launched its Stop Torture Infographic Posters Project through Operation Dikit in December in the headquarters of the PNP and AFP, with the aim of constantly informing the detained and their familes of their right not to be tortured and at the same time remind custodial personnel and officers of their obligation and responsibility to uphold these rights.
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The AIPh delegation presented the posters and discussion guide to the officials of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO), PNP Internal Affairs Services (IAS) and the AFP Human Rights Office (HRO). One of the concrete outcomes of the visits to these offices was an agreement for them to endorse these posters to be placed in police community precincts and baranggay detention centers.
ties to act on human rights violations. Together with its partners, AIPh has constant presence in policy advocacy meetings concerning the implementation of AO 35 - the government superbody tasked to resolve cases of torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings, the amendments to the Witness Protection Program, the speedy resolution to the Maguindanao Massacre addressing violations done to indigenous peoples in the context of development aggression, strengthening the Commission on Human Rights Charter, the effective implementation of the Magna Carta of Women, the full implementation of the Anti Enforces Disappearance Act, the popularization of the Respect for International Humanitarian Law Act, the ratification of the International Arms Trade Treaty, the passage of the Protection of the Internally Displaced People Bill and the enactment of a Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law. AIPh also continued its solidarity work on people at risk of executions in the Asia-Pacific Region and for the protection of migrant workers in Qatar, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South Korea.
This will enable AIPh members to easily conduct Operation Dikit activities in detention facilities within their respective communities. The aforementioned offices also promised to keep their partnership doors open to various human rights activities that AIPh groups would like to conduct in the future.
CONTINUING THE HUMAN RIGHTS AGENDA AIPh continued to be involved in working against impunity and discrimination in the country by constantly engaging the government and the authori
HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK CELEBRATION AIPh celebrated Human Rights Week by bringing back public engagement with highly relevant, longstanding human rights issues to the forefront of its work while taking on emerging ones as well. At the same time, AIPh added to the public discourse on the upcoming 2016 Philippine National Elections through the “Sagot Mo Ba Ako?” (SMBA) project, now on its third phase, as a means to discuss electoral concerns using human rights as the yardstick for choosing candidates.
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RIGHTS
With this project, AIPh geared towards bringing back ‘Freedom from Torture’ campaigning at the community level using human rights education targeting local duty-bearers such as the police and barangay officials, those detained in police precincts and barangay detention centers and people visiting these places.
PROGRES
FACING NEW CHALLENGES
years. Although it’s not the first time for AIPh to be involved in campaigning for climate or other development-related issues, joining the global movement for climate justice enabled AIPh to solidify its public support to dialogues, actions and campaigns that puts human rights at the core of sustainable development and environmental protection.
OLDIES BUT GOODIES
AIPh kicked off its human rights week celebration by joining the International Climate Justice March organized by different organizations coming from the environment, development, grassroots, indigenous peoples, social, political and human rights sector. The event, gathering more than 10,000 participants from different parts of the Philippines who converged at the Quezon Memorial Circle, demanded the Philippine Government and different nations participating in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France to uphold responsible climate action pertaining to energy transformation, right to food, land and water, justice and reparations for affected peoples, protection of “our common home” and just transition to sustainable and renewable energy. The march was one of the 2,500 actions registered from 60 countries all over the world that urged states to act immediately and prioritize climate-related problems that has become a global challenge throughout the
While AIPh has expanded its antidiscrimination work to include on-theground work with indigenous peoples since 2008 and legislative work on older people and persons with disabilities in the last two years, it has always stood at the forefront of LGBT rights advocacy since the 1990s. Demanding for the passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Law in order to immediately end all acts of discrimination in the country, AIPH members and supporters joined the Quezon City Pride March and Baguio City Pride March.
The Quezon City Pride March was joined by almost 2,000 participants from different national, city and provincial LGBT organizations in the country. AIPh, joined by its youth members and individual members from Metro Manila, donned colorful face paints and carried the rainbow banner to publicly show its
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continuing and unwavering support to champion LGBT rights in the country and, at the same time to celebrate its years of support to the LGBT Pride movement.
WE’RE BACK! The “Sagot Mo Ba Ako?” Project was relaunched for the 2016 National Elections during human rights week. SMBA is a nationwide venture highlighting AIPh’s electoral agenda while demanding local and national candidates to make human rights the center of their plan of action.
PARTNER FOR CHANGE AIPh co-organized the human rights day mobilization led by the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) joined by different organizations representing the grassroots, political, labor, women, children, students, indigenous peoples, environment and human rights sector. Highlighting the failures of the Aquino Administration in upholding and protecting the rights of the Filipino people, more than 600 people marched from the University of Sto Tomas in España to Mendiola in Manila to demand action and justice from the government. The highlight of the event was a ‘die-in’ done by representatives of different organizations and sectors to symbolize the “roadkill” victims of the government’s supposed “Tuwid na Daan”.
The hour-long program that ensued after the march demanded for the Aquino Administration to utilize its remaining 6-months in government to immediately act on human rights programs and policies that has been found wanting in the areas of protection and fulfillment. Those who joined the mass
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AT T H E
The successful press conference held at the Quezon City Circle to publicize AIPh’s critical approach to the platforms of the 2016 Presidential aspirants and the lack of human rights in their electoral agenda made headlines in various local and international media including a front page banner story in the Philippine Daily Inquirer and a feature in ABSCBN’s primetime and late night news. For more than two weeks, AIPh’s position on human rights policies such as ending summary killings and its opposition to the reinstatement of the death penalty as viable policies for peace and order were the subjects of much debate and discourse in different TV and radio news programs, newspapers and online news. The continued reference to AIPh and its uncompromising
position on human rights proved yet again of its relevance in the country ,especially in the upcoming 2016 elections where human rights tend to be at the lowest strata of the concerns of candidates and voters alike.
action believed that despite government pronouncements, many continue to suffer human rights abuses due to the prevailing impunity and injustice that the government has failed to effectively address.
IGNITE
was a letter (or four) to the 2015 Letter Writing Marathon cases from Myanmar, Mexico, Burkina Fasso and Malaysia – of which the attendees were more than happy to take part in. AIPh gathered more than a thousand hand written letters for the four cases on all Write for Rights events throughout the country.
COMMUNITY
To put a fitting end to more than two weeks of action to celebrate human rights, AIPh hosted a night of celebration toasting to those who, over the years, made enabling change and overcoming challenges possible – the activists: activists who form its membership; activists who comprise its supporters; and, activists who are its partners.
A traditional candle lighting ceremony also became one of the night’s highlights - not just to remember those who we were not able to save, but also, to remember those who fought the good fight, those who continue to fight, and the actions and principles that binds everyone in the activism community. In the end, the multiple toasts to celebrate human rights and the resolve in the human spirit also became toasts to friendship and camaraderie built over the years of working in partnership and solidarity as showcased, every now and then, during the night’s rhymes and melodies.
MY BODY MY RIGHTS & KARAPATANA
Poetry, music and merriment filled the night as activists, poets, musicians and everyone in between joined AIPh to celebrate human rights day. The only ticket needed to be part of the celebration
AIPh’s main focus for the My Body My Rights (MBMR) Campaign was to bring sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) to the community. This was done through a series of human rights education activities in schools, universities and
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LEVEL
localities where AIPh members from NCR, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro have presence. Dubbed as the ‘Adventure of Karapatana’, the new project for MBMR campaigning, to run until 2016, uses innovative multimedia materials as well as HRE modules in target barangays and schools as its main platform to teach and inform the youth and women of their SRHR. The concept came from AIPh’s tradition of using popular characters for HRE projects and activities. Karapatana is the human rights heroine who, despite her super powers and abilities, came face to face with an adversary like no other – dealing with problems related to her sexual and reproductive health and rights.
The project started with an intensive trainors training of young key SRHR educators. The training included knowledge and skills building, module development, gender sensitivity, facilitating techniques, popular education, campaigning, policy advocacy and strategic planning for the project roll out. The key activists targeted three areas or barangays from their regions where they trained SRHR trainers and delivered supporting materials used to inform and educate their stakeholders. As an accompaniment to the community and school trainings, the Section, to start the project, produced the Adventures of Karapatana posters and comics featuring
our super heroine for mass education and educational posters to be strategically placed in health centers in the communities. Both materials discussed the information, products and services on sexual and reproductive health that community members can avail from health stations. While the trainings are being rolled out, the Section also produced the Adventures of Karapatana video series. These short videos, starring AIPh youth members, volunteers and interns, tackled some SRHR issues that the youth may face in their lives - like sex, teenage preganancy, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), contraceptives, gender issues and more. The rights-based resolution they can resort to when dealing with these. AIPh is also highly involved in collecting Amnesty International’s My Body My Rights Manifesto from its members and supporters to be delivered to the March 2016 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Meeting. This was done together with numerous membership activities - exhibits, public actions, symposiums, and fora throughout the country.
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PROMOTIN
EDUCATION - EMPOWERMENT - JUSTICE In February, fifteen project participants joined the training on Methodology held in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, CARAGA region. The women trainees explored ways to facilitate HRE and identified a variety of creative learning activities. They went through sessions on participatory and empowering framework; the Activity-Discussion-InputDeepening-Synthesis (ADIDS) methodology and the values and attitude of a human rights educator in the present context. Re-echo session were facilitated by the indigenous women themselves. A total of 184 indigenous women were reached and participated in the conversations from the communities of FETREMTCO in Trento, Agusan del Sur, KATRIMMA in Cortes, Surigao del Sur, and CADT134 in Santiago, Agusan del Norte. During preparations for the respective re-echo activities, the project participants expressed more confidence in discussing the topics and the highlights of their learning as they have been equipped already as facilitators. The three local facilitators said that the
Facilitators’ Training - Context, Content and Methodology, helped them in organizing their ideas, preparation, tasking and actual facilitation of the re-echo sessions. Finally, the end-line evaluation done in two parts where the first phase was conducted in the three project communities involving the IP leaders, the local facilitators, the project participants and the IP women that have participated in the re-echo sessions. The second phase, meanwhile, involved the project partner, LILAK, three local facilitators, three IP leaders and three project participants. Community end-line evaluation were facilitated in April at the Indigenous People Training Center in Cabugaw, Jabongga, Agusan del Norte for CADT 134, at Purok 8, Mabahin, Lubcon, Cortez, Surigao del Norte for KATRIMMA and for FETREMTCO at Purok Jordan, Sta. Maria, Trento, Agusan del Sur. Collectively, the local facilitators, IP leaders and LILAK convened for the second part of the Year 2 end-line evaluations in May held in Butuan City. The project participants were satisfied with the HRE
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Problems encountered during the implementation of the project were also raised in the discussion. Those that were related to violence were resolved through a paralegal training on Volence Against Women and their Children (VAWC). This training helped the IP women cope with
their problems and take appropriate action to resolve the issue. Despite such challenges, the IP women leaders committed to pursue their participation with the EEJ project. The leaders and the project participants expressed support for the continuation of the project towards Year 3. Some activities on Corporation and Human Rights were delivered yet for Year 2. Year 3 which officially started in October 2015 was led by a new set of project staff who started conducting activities since June. Seventeen (17) local women facilitators from the three communities attended the Facilitating Basic Human and Indigenous Peoples Rights Training held in October at San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. The training prepared the local facilitators on Basic Human Rights and IP Rights. It provided a refresher on human rights concepts and principles as well as the application of skills and knowledge learned during the Facilitators Training in Year 2. A Trainers Training Module written in
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ACCOUNTABILITY
trainings that were facilitated and the short-term effects are observable in their articulation, how they expressed their thoughts and the way they use the learning tools, and how they manage the focus group discussions in their communities. The same observation was expressed by the re-echo participants about the improvement of facilitation skills of the project participants. All were appreciative of the learning, the community visit to the mining affected area in Claver, Surigao del Sur. The discussion and sharing of experiences made a profound impression on them and helped them realize their ancestral domain is more important than money; that they really need to defend their human rights and not allow mining corporations to take control of their land or risk losing their security to food and water resources.
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Annual Review 2015 13
NDIGENOUS
the vernacular was an output of the said activity culled from the experiences of the participants. It will be used by the women as a facilitation guide during community trainings in the next phase of the project. Two community discussions on the Indigenous Peoples’ Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Revised Guidelines of 2012 and other Related Processes in relation to projects and operations of corporations in IP’s ancestral domain was conducted in November The activities aimed to bridge the awareness gap on the FPIC Revised Guidelines between the IP communities and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). Considering that IP communities have had questions on the FPIC implementation allegedly involving the said agency, the project purposely invited NCIP representatives from the province as resource persons during discussions. Queries particularly on mandatory representation in the local government, were tackled, along with organizational issues on the legality of newly elected officers in one community. The role of women was raised on the possibility of getting them selected as a mandatory representative of their community. A total of 87 project participants, 50 of whom were female, attended the activity. The remaining Community Corporate Accountability Discussions - NCIP FPIC Revised Guidelines for CADT 134 was conducted on December 22, 2015 in Butuan City. The NCIP Provincial Director was invited as resource person for the said activity joined by 30 participants coming from three municipalities of Agusan del Norte. The issue of mining was raised as CADT Annual Review 2015 14
WOMEN’S RIGHTS
134 is a potential target for extractive ventures. The presentation on the FPIC process was reiterated in the activity to avoid unclear agreements between the investor and key leaders without the knowledge of the community as well as to help the IPs understand the type
of agreement being offered. The “Learning Tree” workshop during the year-end evaluation conducted in December allowed the participants to reflect on their over-all assessment of the project’s first three years.
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STRENGTHENING
For the period of September 2014 until 2015, Amnesty International Philippines members focused their activism mainly on the Global Campaign to Stop Torture and My Body, My Rights Campaign. Local groups held human rights education talks, discussions and workshops, exhibits on devices used to torture and ‘Tatak Tshirt’ to raise awareness on human rights and torture and the Anti Torture Law in order to generate support for victims of torture, especially Jerryme Corre, Alfreda Disbarro and Dave Enriquez. WMSU Pagadian group engaged students and young skate boarders on the streets with the Torture Guessing Game as their start off point to raising awareness about human rights. Encouragement and greetings through letters and cards poured for Jerryme Corre and Alfreda Disbarro sent by members in NCR, Davao and WMSU Zamboanga. Young people were at the forefront of the My Body, My Rights Campaign on Sexual and Reproductive Rights. Youth members from UP Baguio, Tondo in Manila, Iloilo and Cagayan de Oro raised awareness among young people and barangay health stations about goods and services stated in the Reproductive Health Law which everyone must have access to. Young members on social media were also able to raise awareness by sharing the Adventures of Karapatana comics and video conceptualized and produced with a crew of young people from director to the actors. Work on LGBT rights by lobbying for legislation at the municipal level were supported by members and local groups in NCR and Cagayan de Oro. Aside from joining Pride mobilizations, members conducted educational activities in
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schools to raise awareness on discrimination of LGBTs and the need for a national, municipal and even school specific policies that will protect the rights of LGBTs. We strengthened Amnesty’s supporter base by providing more avenues to engage new audiences, and by innovating on supporter development. In NCR, a monthly gathering for human rights discussions and skillshare called “Talakarapatan” has joined together students, youth activists and professionals from private and NGO sectors.
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LOCAL
Amnesty’s 54th anniversary was celebrated in partnership with the artists of Drunken Poetry Night and White Wall Poetry where we celebrated human rights and rekindled activism through the spoken word. Engagements with schools and universities were also expanded through partnerships with organizations, colleges, and departments. For Luzon, we have worked with the Arts and Letters Student Council and the Political Science Forum (TPSF) in the University of Santo Tomas; the Department of Psychology and the Center for Public Administration and Governance in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Manila; the Bedan Advocacy and Consciousness Enhancement Society (BACES); the Debate Society of De La Salle University Manila; the International Studies Department of the Far Eastern University Manila; the UP Praxis, the UP Anthropological Society, the UP Childrens’ Rights Advocates League, the UP School of Economics Student Council, and other various organizations in the University of the Philippines Diliman, and the Lorma College in La Union. For Visayas, our partners were the Center for Legal Aid Work (CLAW) and the Science Education Students’ Organization (SESO) of the University of San Carlos Cebu.
PRESENCET H R O U G H
For Mindanao, there is the Santiago National High School in Agusan del Norte, the Sta. Josefa National High School, and the Matanog National High School. Work with these partners began and were sustained through joint activities and events on Amnesty’s global campaigns, and on each institution’s shared advocacy with AI. The Stop Torture Campaign was introduced to Purok Lubcon in Surigao del Sur and to the community of Sta. Maria, Agusan Del Sur in partnership with Education, Empowerment, Justice Program partners. To sustain the eagerness and energy of our supporters in enriching their human rights advocacy with Amnesty, we endeavored to develop them into multipliers by guiding them in conducting and managing their own activities with fellow supporters in their own schools and communities. Resources were also developed such as activism toolkits and guides on the global campaigns to assist members and supporters on their actions. We maintained the SMS and email blasts to supporters as a means of introducing them further into the human rights work of Amnesty. Alongside this, we
have improved the data capture for activists, members and supporters to enable AIPh to communicate and to coordinate activism better. These efforts are guided by the supporter journey currently being developed—a tool derived from AIPh’s activ ism pathway. AIPh kept its presence and activism through the local groups and individual members in Region 1 – La Union, Region 2 – Nueva Vizcaya, Region 3 – Pampanga and Bataan, CAR – Baguio City, NCR – Caloocan, Manila and Quezon City, Region 6 – Iloilo City, Region 9
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THROUGH
– Pagadian and Zamboanga, Region 10 – Cagayan de Oro, Bukidnon, Ozamiz, Jimenez, Plaridel and Tudela, Region 11 – Davao City, Region 12 – General Santos and Kabacan, Region 13 – Sta. Josefa, Tandag, CADT 134 and Trento and ARMM – Marawi City and Matanog. New groups are being formed in Region 1 – Lorma (La Union) and Pangasinan, Region 4 – Quezon, Region 10 – La Salle Ozamiz, Sapang Dalaga, Oroquieta, Baliangao and Lopez Jaena, Region 11 – LGBT Davao. Local groups were revived in Cebu City and PUP Manila. Majority of the local groups are based in Mindanao. For 2015 (data as of mid-January 2016), we have 1,658 members out of the 2,500 target with 65.92% new, 29.49% renew and 4.58% reactivated. We are now targeting to reactivate members who had been inactive for more than a year by sending invitations via SMS and email and through local groups near their areas. The local group with the most members for the second year in a row is Jimenez while Region 10-B has the most active Regional Officers. Recruitment activities
are tied with AIPh’s priority campaigns for Stop Torture and My Body, My Rights, however, the local groups are able to recruit more members by conducting general human rights orientations. The peak month of recruitment is March 2015.
AIPh kept its online visibility for opportunities for activism through the website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Each channel is harnessed for promoting key campaigns and events on human rights and AIPh. The same message for each medium were communicated and translated also into SMS and email blasts for members and supporters. Local groups
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Capacity building and support services for activism of local groups and individual members were done through local group visits by the Membership Development Coordinator wherein needs-based trainings specific to the local group were conducted. We also conducted local group exchanges cum training to expose activists and leaders to other local groups while undergoing practical skills development. The Peer Educators Training for the Stop Torture Campaign and My Body, My Rights were also held specific to local groups who are active in the said campaigns. The Member-in-Training (MIT) program track for high school is now being tested with the Kalayaan National High School Group. The MIT program ensures that new AIPh members entering a school-based group are exposed to participatory and experiencebased learning on human rights, activism and Amnesty International. This is geared towards increased activism and retention in local groups and enables
leaders to flourish by taking on mentoring roles with new members. Similar to the MIT program are the Davao and UP Baguio groups’ teambuilding activities for their new members as part of their induction into the AI group. Also groups and members shared skills and best practices to other local groups who are in need of support. These included different styles on recruiting, campaigning and data capture. New members from La Union and Pangasinan benefited from skills shared by UP Baguio. Activism 360 of AI-UK also added to UP Baguio’s group experiences. They conducted group ‘twinning’ sessions via Skype with AI members from Yale University and other UK members. Meanwhile, members of Bestlink College and Kalayaan National High School also joined an activity called ‘Asia-Pacific Challenge’ aimed at gathering signatures for the case of Malaysian activist, Zunar, which will still continue in 2016.
Waived
Unremitted
Withdrawn
Reactivated
0
4
160
5
0
0
13
1676
253
10
0
0
36
2524
899
535
6
0
0
71
1511
0
1410
466
96
0
0
62
2034
5
1107
468
16
4
1
76
1671
Sub Total
0
Unremitted
0
Waived
141
Paid
Paid
Based on membership numbers from our database management, total members as of 27 January 2016 is 1,671. Following are our membership numbers from 2010 to 2015 which reflects a 24.97% average annual growth rate over the period of five years: New Renew Start of Membership Coverage
ACTIVIS
promoted their activities and AIPh’s campaigns online mostly through Facebook.
CY2010
657
46
0
703
CY2011
1301
197
0
1498
CY2012
1983
242
0
2225
CY2013
731
168
0
CY2014
1034
376
CY2015
970
132
Annual Review 2015 20
Grand Total
848
TAKING INJUSTICE PERSONALLY The 29th Annual General Meeting (AGM) took place in October and was attended by 101 participants with 82 voting members representing 11 regions. Rolando Borja served as AGM Chairperson and Zenith Lopina as his alternate.
Two major agenda for the year’s AGM were the discussion of the National Startegic Plan for 2016 - 2019 and the election of the new set of Board of Trustees and Finance Control Committee. The agenda also included the By-Laws amendments, but, due to unforseen circumstances, it has been postponed to the 2017 AGM since the 2012 Constitution and By Laws were only approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2014, thereby disallowing any amendment within a period of three years upon approval.
The AGM adopted the movement’s five Strategic Goals with the theme “Taking Injustice Personally” through the National Startegic Plan (NSP) which was developed by the NSP committee headed by
Pines Arcega and enhanced by the National Secretariat and the Board of Trustees. Working parties during the AGM complemented the NSP with local relevance based on member perspective and experiences on the ground. Resolutions were also put forward by groups during Regional Assemblies and were given due attention by the AGM committee. The AGM chairperson also allowed resolutions to be submitted during the AGM. A total of 16 Decisions were adopted. Some of which are directing the Board of Trustees and other pertinent committees to respond to issues on AGM elections, NSP, impact reporting, By-Laws amendments, structural changes and indigenous peoples work among others.
The outgoing Board of Trustees were given tokens of appreciation for their commitment to AIPh governance. The AGM then welcomed the new set of Board of Trustees headed by Ritz Lee Santos III from Cagayan de Oro as Chairperson, Atty. Romeo ‘Meong’ Cabarde from Davao as Vice Chairperson, Youth Representative and Secretary, Ray Andrew Villafuerte from Baguio, Sr. Maria Vida Cordero, former Chairperson and now Treasurer from NCR and Members-At-Large, Jerrick Gerard Go from Zamboanga, Brahim ‘Bong’ Balimbingan from Pagadian and returning Board Member, Veronica ‘Derek‘ Cabe from Bataan.
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FINANCE
A
mnesty International Philippines raised Php16,780,331.13 for 2014, 74.6% of which came from the Resource Allocation Mechanism (RAM) of Amnesty International. The Education, Empowerment and Justice Programme (EEJ) of AI Norway provided 16.6% of the total budget and is designated for the EEJ Project being implemented on its second year in 3 areas in Caraga. Locally raised funds remain at 1.7% of the total budget where membership fees declined to Php76,300.00 compared to Php123,050.00 in 2013 although membership is higher by 24% for 2014; however, 25.3% of the members came from public high schools whose membership fees are waived by AIPh’s policy and 67.1% of the membership is in the paying bracket of Php50. Locally generated donations slightly increased with the trial of a telemarketing and direct selling project of Stop Torture Shirts. However, income from registration fees decreased because no Bike for Rights event was held in 2014. The budget allocated by RAM was spent on General Operations, Maternal Health – Sexual and Reproductive Rights Campaign, Migrant Worker’s Rights Campaign, Philippine Human Rights Agenda, Enhancing Innovative Growth and Governance. Majority of AIPh’s spending is on campaigning and activism work. Around Php580,000.00 were spent by members and local groups for activism and growth in their local areas. The budget for local groups was allocated according to campaign priorities and targets for growth in activism, members and supporters. Region 10, having the highest membership recruitment received 34.5% of the budget for localized actions, followed by Region 3 with 21.2% and ARMM with 12.7%. Projects of members on growth account for 48.5% of the expenses mainly on conducting recruitment activities, orientations, teambuilding activities, group and regional meetings while 28.5% were used by the members for the Stop Torture Campaign.
Annual Review 2015 22
AUDITED REPORT 2014 Revenue Revenue PhP16,734,284.39
Revenue Grants Received Grants Received
16,496,462.22 - 98.6%
Membership Fees Membership Fees Grants Received 76,300.00 Membership Fees
Donations Donations Donations
- 0.46%
78,883.37 - 0.47%
Registration Fees Registration Fees Registration Fees Other Income 71,450.00
Other Income Other Income
- 0.43%
11,188.80 - 0.07%
Expenditures
Expenditures PhP13,438,105.48 Governance & Internal Democracy Governance & Internal Demo 2,390,190.98 - 17.79% General Operations General Operations 2,366,955.83 17.61% Governance &- Internal Demo Maternal Health SRR- SRR Maternal Health General Operations 820,039.69 - 6.10% Maternal Health - SRR Migrant Workers’ RightsRights Migrant Workers' Migrant Workers' Rights 571,456.95 - 4.25% Stop Torture Campaign StopStop Torture Campaign Torture Campaign 1,059,980.06 - 7.89% Phil Human Rights Agenda Philippine Human RightsAgenda Agenda Phil Human Rights EEJ - Year 1 - 6.69% 898,729.73 EEJ --EEJ Year 1 12 EEJ Year - Year 1,288,061.98 - 9.59% Enhancing Innovative Growth EEJ Year 2 EEJ -Other Year 2 Organizational Matters 1,248,347.87 - 9.29% Enhancing Innovative GrowthGrowth Enhancing Innovative 1,703,299.49 - 12.68% Other Organizational Matters Other Organizational Matters 1,091,042.90 - 8.12%
Expenditures
Annual Review 2015 23
A
mnesty International is a global movement of 7 million supporters, members and activists in more than 150 countries and territories.
We campaign for internationally recognized human rights to be respected and protected for everyone. Amnesty International received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 and the United Nations Human Rights Award in 1978. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. We are financed largely by contributions from our membership and donations Countless individuals have worked with Amnesty International for change since 1961. 50 years of human rights campaigning with people like you uniting with million others in common action, we have changed minds, changed laws and changed lives.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINES NATIONAL SECRETARIAT 18-A Marunong Street Barangay Central, Quezon City 1100 Philippines T (632) 3764342 F (632) 4338100 E section@amnesty.org.ph www.amnesty.org.ph Follow @amnestyph on Twitter @amnesty_ph on Instagram amnestyph.tumblr.com Like us on www.facebook.com/amnestyph Subscribe toAnnual www.issuu.com/amnestyph Review 2015 24