2 months ago
24
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
(Front, left) Salai Za UK Ling, Executive Director of the Chin Human Rights Office (CHRO); Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David; Michael Howard, also of CHRO. (Back, rightmost) Lawyer Romel Bagares and other members of CHRO.
Romel Bagares
MANILA, Philippines — The bishops in the Philippines support the call of Myanmar Bishops for a ceasefire in Myanmar, Kalookan Bishop Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said.
David said that the Philippine bishops support the Myanmar church’s call for a cessation in fighting between the military junta and rebels to enable humanitarian assistance to reach the country in the wake of the recent earthquake.
“The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Myanmar headed by Cardinal Charles Bo has called for a ceasefire in order to allow humanitarian aid to enter Myanmar in a state of national disaster,” David, the President of the CBCP, told Philstar.com.
“The Philippine bishops are backing it up,” he added.
On March 28, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand.
According to reports, the death toll has reached over 3000.
Following the earthquake, on March 29, Yangon Archbishop Cardinal Charles Bo called for a ceasefire in the country.
What is happening to the Chin community? Despite the damages brought by the earthquake, the ethic Chin community in Myanmar has received continued harassment from its military junta.
According to Salai Za Uk Ling, the Executive Director of the Chin Human Rights Organization, the military junta has taken advantage of the disaster by attacking non-military targets through airstrikes.
“They are attacking in mid-air, bombing communities, even people at the epicentre…so they’re bombing everywhere,” Ling said during a meeting with David on Thursday, April 3.
“They are taking advantage of the situation. By attacking civilians, they are weakening the opposition,” he added.
However, according to Ling, these indiscriminate attacks from the junta also show its vulnerability following the disaster after the junta’s admission that their resources are already depleting.
“They kind of admitted that they have nothing in their coffers because they’re bombing everywhere because they’re receding territories…more territories have been occupied by the resistance,” he said in a separate interview with Philstar.com.
Invoking “universal jurisdiction” on war crimes, the Chin community, through their lawyer Romel Bagares, filed war crimes charges against officials of the junta before the Department of Justice (DOJ) in October 2023.
However, the justice department returned the complaint to the layers of the Chin community, citing lack of jurisdiction.
On April 2, Bagares said they have filed a motion to resolve before the DOJ, citing the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
They said that Duterte’s arrest is evidence that the Philippines “recognizes the demands of international justice." — with reports from Agence France-Presse and Cristina Chi
