Ban mourns deaths of top UN officials in Haiti quake

Ban mourns deaths of top UN officials in Haiti quake

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Hukuman ng Mamamayan (Jury System)

Berteni C. Causing sent a message to the members of HUKUMAN NG MAMAMAYAN (JURY SYSTEM).

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Subject: Jury advocacy is born in Tuguegarao City!

I have just arrived from a trip to Tuguegarao City where I guested as a speaker on juryism.

The result: WE HAVE SUCCEEDED in converting more than 200 people there in actively campaigning for the installation of jury systems in the Philippines.  They have pledged to knock on doors to solicit signatures for the petition to install jury system in our beloved country!

The event held at Moon Garden Resort Convention Hall in Tuguegarao City was organized by another jury advocacy group from London named "Philippine Jury International," led by Daisy Brett-Holt. Visit her site at http://www.facebook.com/l/b35d1;philippinejury.com.

I credit Miss Daisy for organizing Katarungang Pangsambayanan Inc. headquartered in Ballesteros, Cagayan. This local group is under the umbrella of Philippine Jury International organized in United Kingdom. I supposed this is a group separate from Miss Ana Maravilla's. This Tuguegarao event was all paid for by Miss Daisy and her partner Miss Merle of Pangasinan.  They took advantage of their vacation to stage this event.

What Miss Daisy and Miss Merle advocated is "Trial by Jury."  I introduced all of them to the idea of having a Grand Jury in tandem with Trial Jury and they all attentively listened when I spoke broadly. All sorts of questions expected were asked during the open forum held in the afternoon of the event. I spoke with passion, sending them all in awe whenever I cite gory stories what could have not have happened if the jury system were already installed. No one was talking when I was talking. When I spoke, my tears were about to fall because the face of Vic del Fierro was in my mind as I was delivering my impassioned speech.  He was the first person who introduced jury idea to me. Then it was followed up by Sir Marlowe Camello and Ana Maravilla, who was passionate and persistent in convincing me into the idea. The rest became history.

After the event, everybody came to me and extended firm and warm handshake, pledging they will campaign all out for the jury establishment.

The group was composed of at least five barangay chairmen of Cagayan province and the members of the protestant congregation that hosted the place for the event.

In that event, I brought with me my partner, Atty. Cirilo P. Sabarre Jr. of Calbayog City, my earlier convert to juryism. I also brought with me the president of the Post Office union.

From that event, my heart grew drastically fonder for Jury establishment.

From that event, I also learned that it is now high time to shift to higher gear in the educational campaign for jury: by means of visiting all provinces for a jury talk and bringing along campaign materials to be distributed to them and data book to have all attendees sign their name and write their basic personal information and contact numbers.

With this, I now see the necessity of printing out at least 5 MILLION LEAFLETS to be handed out. I do not know how to finance this.  Of course, I would need transportation expenses in sorties to all provinces.

The HMMI Articles and By Laws are due for filing this Monday before the SEC.

By the way, I have forged an agreement with Ma'am Daisy that we will pool our strength and divide the work on geographical basis to be more effective. I am also looking forward to have a fairly long strategy-formation meeting with Ma'am Elvie Medina and Mama Cita on this. We need to focus on people we think we can have better chances of converting.

Please see the photos of the launch onhttp://www.facebook.com/l/b35d1;philjury.ning.com/photo/albums/jury-launch-in-tuguegarao-city.



Patriotically yours,


Toto Causing
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Secretary-General to travel to Haiti to show solidarity with quake victims

Secretary-General to travel to Haiti to show solidarity with quake victims

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Ban ‘heartened’ by scale of global response to help Haiti quake victims

Ban ‘heartened’ by scale of global response to help Haiti quake victims

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Islam and Human Rights

Islam and Human Rights

Thursday, December 31, 2009, 04:33 PM EST [General]

 I'm going to discuss human rights and Islam.  This is an issue that is not only important, but probably one of the most misunderstood topics that the world has about Islam today. Terrorist attacks, the media and the images of Islam shown on television give people a negative view of this peaceful religion. Muslims in general are looked at as terrorists, while Muslim women are seen as oppressed. 

When we speak about human rights in Islam, we really mean rights that were granted by God.  Therefore, when we speak about this topic we must first know what the Qu'ran says about human rights, because the Qu'ran is the word of God.  No government or legislative assembly on earth has the right to change or amend any of those rights conferred by God.  So, although Islam has already laid down these human rights for everyone to follow in the Qu'ran centuries ago, the United Nations did not develop a Universal Declaration of Human Rights until December of 1948. As Muslims who follow the Qu'ran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (saw), we know that this declaration of the United Nations is just recently discussing issues that were already set out for us to follow centuries ago.  If everyone followed the Qu'ran and it's commandments regarding human rights than stereotypes about true Islam such as oppression and terrorism would be erased and this declaration by the UN would not be necessary.  Issues such as slavery, racism and poverty would not be as much of an issue today if we were to follow these laws God had created for us. 

I will go over just a few of the 30 articles discussed in the UN declaration and show how these issues had been revealed by God to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) to bring to the world and for us to follow.

Article 1 of the UN Declaration: 

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.   

Before I get to what Islam teaches in the Qu'ran about this human right, I would like to share an incident that occurred when I had a training course for my job.  The course was on cultural competency, we discussed issues such as stereotypes and labels that are given to different races and cultures.  Each of us was asked to discuss a situation where we interacted with a different race or culture we weren't familiar with and how we handled it.  It was interesting because I heard stories of people who said they have never interacted with other cultures and some of them said their families would be upset if they bought someone of a different race home. 

One story I heard stood out more than others and when I was given this topic, it made me reflect about that day and the beauty of Islam.  This woman discussed how she had just moved and she was looking for a church to go to.  She found a church and walked in, not knowing everyone in the church was African-American.  When people noticed the "White lady" come in, she said it was almost as if everything stopped and everyone turned around to look at her.  After the service she said she was approached by the person who delivered the sermon, who said to her, we would appreciate if you didn't come back, you're a distraction.  When I heard this I was shocked but it also made me think about some places of worship today.  There are churches where the majority of the people who attend are White, there are Hispanic churches and there are Black churches, but there is only one mosque for every race, color and culture.  When you go to any place of worship, the sole focus should be the gaining nearness to God.  So regardless of your color, status or ethnicity, you shouldn't feel as if you don't belong. 

When it was my turn to present, I couldn't tell of a single incident because I have met people from all races and cultures when I attend the mosque.  At our annual conventions, each year I am able to interact with people from all over the world and no one feels as if they are better than the next person.  Every year millions of Muslims gather for the pilgrimage to Mecca and we see them all dressed in the same fashion.  The reason for this is to show the equality in Islam.  Islam doesn't care about your status or race and Arabs, Asians, Whites and Blacks are all united as brothers.  When I heard this lady speak of this incident, all I could think was this is not Islam.  Everyone who was in that room and so many more people in the world would benefit if they knew the true teachings of human rights in Islam.     

What The Qu'ran says:

 Islam teaches that human beings have a moral obligation to live in harmony with each other.  Islam recognizes the rights to equality for all human beings regardless of race, color, status or creed.  The Qu'ran says "O mankind, we have created you from male and female." (49:14).  This means all humans are brothers. We are descendants from one father and one mother.  The verse goes on to say "And we set you up as nations and tribes so that you may be able to recognize each other."  This simply means we were divided into nations, groups and races as a means of distinction so that those from one race or tribe may meet and become familiar to another tribe and co-operate with one another as brothers.  If there is any supremacy of one man over another, it is in regards only to his purity of character, God-consciousness and high morals.  It has nothing to do with race, nationality, color or language as the Holy Prophet (saw) said, "Indeed, the noblest among you before God are the most heedful of you."  Islam speaks volumes on brotherhood and I leave this first issue of equality by giving you an example of the way the Holy Prophet (saw) demonstrated this by saying in his farewell sermon, "No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, nor does a non-Arab have any superiority over a Black man, or the Black man any superiority over the White man.  You are all children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay."  The verses from the Qu'ran, and the teachings of the Holy Prophet (saw), show how Islam established equality regardless of the person's race, color, nationality or creed centuries ago. 

Article 3 of the UN Declaration:

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

What the Qu'ran says:         

Islam says that the first and foremost basic right for all mankind is the right to life.  It is said in the Qu'ran, "Whosoever kills a human being (without any reason like man-slaughter, or corruption on earth) it is as though he has killed all mankind." (5:33). The Holy Prophet (saw) stated "The greatest sins are to associate something with God and to kill human beings."  Security of person in Islam is shown in the Qu'ran and proven through the examples of the Holy Prophet (saw).  Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity never perished in Muslim states, but actually flourished as protected minority communities.  We know the importance of the right to life when we hear "And Whosoever saves a life it is as though he saved the lives of all mankind." (5:33).  Those living in a Muslim state, regardless of religion have the right to life, prosperity, security and honor because in Islam there in no compulsion in religion.  As the Holy Prophet (saw) said when it came to protecting non-Muslims in a Muslim state "one who kills a man under covenant will not even smell the fragrance of paradise."  Declarations in many countries say the right to life is only for citizens of that country, whereas in Islam this right has been given to mankind as a whole.

Article 4 of the UN Declaration:

No one shall be held in slavery; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms

What the Qu'ran says:

            The issue of slavery is one of the most important topics because it is something that this country was raised on.  Holding anyone against their will without a purpose is against the teachings of Islam.  Islam discussed this issue of slavery and tried to solve this problem in Arabia by encouraging people to set slaves free and being expiated from some of their sins.  If you freed a slave on your own will, it was an act of such great value that the limbs of the man who freed the slave would be protected from hell fire, one for each limb of the slave freed.  In 40 years at the time of the rightly guided Caliphs, slavery in Arabia was no more and slaves had been liberated.  After this the only slaves were those who were captured on the battlefield and they were all held until their own government agreed to receive them back in exchange for Muslim soldiers or paying a ransom.  As we hear in stories told of the Holy Prophet (saw), He would give up his own food and not eat to feed someone who was captured in war.  His great examples, the humane way he treated others, even those who fought against Him was the main reason many of these people eventually embraced Islam, not because they were forced by the sword as some are often misled to believe.  So, although slavery was abolished inArabia and in Islam, eventually it became an essential part of this countries growth and history and went on for hundreds of years.

So how is this the UN declaration when it has already been set out in the Qu'ran?

            These are just 3 of the things discussed in the UN declaration and I could review each one and show how the Qu'ran has already stated these human rights.  When I was reading the rest of the declaration, I thought to myself this isn't created by the UN this is the Qu'ran.  The only difference is that the Qu'ran had so many more things that were on human rights that need to be introduced to the world.  The right to a basic standard of life would eliminate homelessness and poverty but I saw this in the Qu'ran but did not see this mentioned in the Declaration by the UN.  The Qu'ran says "And in their wealth there is acknowledged right for the needy and destitute."  The obvious meaning of this is that anyone who asks for help or anyone who is suffering has a right to share in the property and wealth of a Muslim.  If one is in a position to help and a needy person asks for help, or we know one is in need, it is our duty to help him.  This is the beauty of Islam, it is our obligation as Muslims to help those in need.  So while we have people who can't afford a meal, we also have those who spend their wealth only on material things, not in the interest of those who need help. 

As Muslims we need to present ourselves in a manner taught in the Qu'ran and by the examples of The Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw).  Unfortunately, there are some Muslims in the world who are not following the teachings of the Qu'ran and are killing people in the name of Islam.  This is what we see on television and today we live in a society where people are more inclined to learn about Islam from what they see on the news and television, rather than to learn about the truth for themselves.  The good thing about this is that regardless of what they see on television, they can't deny the truth about Islam when they see the way we as Ahmadis model true Islam by the way we carry ourselves everyday.  So despite the false things we hear, we know Islam is not about terrorism or oppression because we know the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) said "God has no mercy on one who shows no mercy to others."  But we do know Islam is about peace, prosperity and human rights.

    

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Only jury justice can save Philippines

Only jury justice can save Philippines


By TOTO CAUSING


By the nature of the culture and traditions politics have become in the Philippines, there is no more hope to this country to become better, contributing reasons for the brains to drain further to other countries.

Every election, those elected in office have become less and less intelligent yet more and more immoral.

Actually, even those intelligent ones become victims of retrogression of morality. Of course, how can you say that there is an honest politician when we know he or she spent millions of pesos in order to win?

Many political clans no longer bother to have their children educated because their children’s future as successors is assured by the political foundations laid down by force, intimidation and money.

Fewer and fewer lawyers and doctors get elected. And if we found some, chances are they are already consumed by greed or apathy or even boldness to do even the most heinous crimes if only to achieve their purpose. This is the reason killings have become ordinary among candidates or political enemies. This is the reason that a few brave hearts among the journalists are killed in the provinces.

The lack of quality of our leaders has spelled the decadence, the collapse of decency, and the breakdown of morality.

For how can we have conscience-stricken leaders when no one can win an election without investing tens or hundreds of millions of pesos in order to win?

This alone is a very clear proof that we have started from a wrong footing for a very fundamental process of our political body. No political structure can stand on a weak foundation.

This problem has been here for over a hundred of years yet nothing or so little has been done about it.

We love to copy from Americans but we never copied their laws prohibiting candidates from spending more than the limit for their own respective campaigns: that even if you are a millionaire you are prohibited from using your money beyond the limit, say $2,500, for a president of the US. We also never copied the limit to how much one person can contribute. Anyway, no matter the laws we have now, the system has totally broken down that they cannot be implemented by the Commission on Elections.

These limitations on how much one can spend for his own campaign have compelled the candidates in the US to come to the voters and ask for money; instead of our system where voters line up to ask for “help” from candidates.

Actually, the breakdown of the systems has erased the distinctions between professionals and college dropouts among elective and appointive officials. Pardon me, all of them are corrupt.

Almost all appointments have become for sale or for the highest bidders in terms of quota of money that can be given to the appointing authority every month. And it is the Office of the President that profits the most from the hidden perks that go with appointments: such as in the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the Immigration Bureau, the Department of Public Works and Highways.

We have this procurement laws but the loopholes are plenty to offer opportunity for machinations in the bidding.

You apply your son for a position of PO1 in the police force and he cannot be taken in unless you give P50,000 to P150,000. So that when he starts serving, he will recoup the expenses.

You serve a boss in any department and he will require you to do dirty jobs for him to earn and if you refuse you would be placed in a floating status. The boss must earn because he, too, has a quota to be given to the one who caused his appointment.

Gambling does not stop because police officers earn from protection rackets. Proof for this is the admission of Chavit Singson that he collected gambling protection monies from jueteng lords to be given to Estrada. Other proofs are the testimonies of Sandra Cam and others who detailed how jueteng monies come to the hands of the First Gentleman, his brother Iggy and son Mikee. It was around this time that Mikee bought that luxurious house worth 63.7 million pesos in Foster City, San Mateo County, California, USA.

Of course, all of us are to blame. How can you say that there is an honest politician when we know he or she spent millions of pesos in order to win?

We all know this is wrong but we have not done anything to stop them.

To the contrary, we keep on voting for these kinds of leaders all because they give dole outs during campaigns, give money for the funeral expenses of our relatives, give something for the tuition of our children, recommended our kids to work, and what else.

So that we can see here that while our leaders are consumed by greed for power and money, our people are stuck in apathy and cynicism in the firm belief that nothing can be done to cure them. General Danilo Lim calls this as: “Dissent without action is consent.”

All of us, including the conscientious and the churches that receive funds from corrupt officials have resigned to fate.

With these circumstances we are in, do we still have a chance?

Yes, we still have our chance, actually the last chance!

During the reign of King John in the late 1100s and early 1200s, the Englishmen suffered much more tyranny, oppression and discrimination by the royalty against the commoners, barons and even vassals of the king.

Because of his extreme despotism, he has been labeled in history as “Bad King John,” portrayed as a villain in the legendary Robinhood stories, and was a character in Shakespeare’s play, the Life and Death of King John.

The nobles, the barons and the vassals combined their forces with Prince Louis of France to rebel against King John, promising to the French the throne once they win.

On June 15, 1215, King John was compelled by the rebels to sign the Magna Carta. This was the first and in fact the only significant objective of rebellion. As if, the people of England was interested only in establishing a system where the king shall be stripped of the right to decide who shall be imprisoned or who shall be punished.

So what is the Magna Carta?

It is actually a very important statement which became a law in England when signed by King John.

When it was signed, the jury system was born in England along with all other fundamental rights, which system was adapted from Norman invaders who introduced the idea to the Britons.

The Magna Carta's jury clause was written in Latin but its exact English equivalent is this: “No freeman shall be arrested, or imprisoned or deprived of his freehold, or his liberties, or free customs, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, nor will he (the king) pass upon him, nor condemn him unless by the judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.”

Since then, the kings who succeeded became benevolent for they were stripped of the power to judge upon their subjects. For at least four centuries, peace and justice reigned again in England.

But in the 1600s, the story became different. Because of the benevolence of the kings who reigned after the Magna Carta, the people gave less importance to the jury system.

This paved the way for the kings during this 17th century to circumvent the Magna Carta to gain control over the judicial powers exercised by the people. They established the Star Chamber through the parliament by deceiving the members of congress that it would only serve as the appellate courts for cases decided by the juries, particularly those cases where the accused were nobles who cannot be punished by the lower courts.

But the true intention was that the kings wanted their honor and throne protected.

So that it turned out later that it became a tool of repression to hit hard on the enemies of the kings. These enemies are usually the nobles and the barons. The cases then tried by the Star Chamber included only political crimes such as libel against the throne and those writings and speeches that instigated rebellion.

So that this libel law now punishing reporters in the Philippines has no reason to exist here. It is very clear this crime was designed to protect the kings. In our case, the theory is that the king is the people. If it is so, the people can be served only be informing them of what shenanigans are doing.

In 1641, the clamor to abolish the Star Chamber bore fruit because of the severe treatment suffered by the dissenters against the archbishop and the king.

Since then, the jury system has become strong that it still exists until now in England.

This jury devise became embedded in the society. For this, the people have been feeling they are already assured of no despotism from the kings. In fact, they have not changed the king or queen anymore.

Later, the strong existence of the jury system resulted in the stripping of the king and queen of the executive power. Today, the head of the monarch, in the person of Queen Elizabeth, becomes only the symbol of power of England.

Since then, England has seen the rise of populist ideas such as that of John Stuart Mill, who espoused the continuing clash of ideas as necessary for the never-ending search for truth. The former punishment of stripping the ear of a person convicted of libel has been considered as a heinous act. Mill cited that during the time of Jesus Christ, nobody believed in him. But now, more than a billion people believe in his words as the truth. Mill espoused the idea that in governments based on the popular will of the people, libel has no reason to exist.

This jury principle spread to almost all of Europe, modifying only in form but the substance is the same. And the substance is: to preclude abuse by the powers that be, whoever would rein at any given time.

This jury system was then adopted 221 years ago by George Washington when they founded the United States of America in Philadelphia.

What is in the substance that makes it compelling for these governments?

It is the fact that the members of the jury who would adjudge an accused, usually 12 persons, are too difficult to be influenced by the powerful and influential men as against one man as a judge.

The jurors composing the jury are sometimes empanelled, or kept in a secret place, depending on the dangers posed by the accused.

Then, the US followed the grand jury scheme to have the power to determine who should be hailed to trial in court.

This grand jury also composed by people secretly raffled from the voters’ list has been made so powerful that it can indict even the President of the US. It can secretly initiate a criminal investigation. It can subpoena witnesses who are afraid or bought and call in law enforcers to find evidence and witnesses. All those who refuse its order can be jailed in contempt until the witness agrees to speak and the law enforcer agrees to work.

Thus, all those involved in the Watergate scandal, particularly the attorney general of President Nixon, were tried. Nixon was lucky for he was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford, even before trial can begin.

Thus, we can clearly see that with this kind of people’s justice system the powerful politicians and wealthy violators of law cannot anymore continue their corrupt, abusive and discriminatory ways.

We can say that with the jury system, we can now curb corruption and killings of journalists and political enemies. Those who now believe they can always get away with killing enemies and stealing public funds will have fear of doing it again if the justice system in the Philippines is under the jury system.

We can also say that we can slowly resolve rebellions because the jury can now implement laws on discrimination that serve as the root of these revolts. For example, it can punish Christian Filipinos for racial slurs or deeds, or vice versa.

In my last column, I discussed how 300 years of discrimination by the Christian Filipinos against the Muslim Filipinos made the latter decide to separate from the Philippines for they feel that they have not been treated as brothers anyway.

If England succeeded in removing despotism by the kings and queens, the US has succeeded in uniting the Blacks and the Whites after installing Jury Systems 221 years ago.

This success is proven by the fact that black entertainers and singers have actually established records no Whites have reached.

Michael Jackson became the greatest American musician of all time, besting even Elvis Presley and the Beatles by far margins.

Oprah Winfrey is one of the most popular television hosts. Many emerged as stars in basketball and other sports arenas. Of course, no one can forget Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time.

Lately, this success of overcoming racial discrimination is evidenced further by the election of Black President Barack Hussein Obama in a country where the Black voters constitute only 15%.

If the USA succeeded in uniting its people where it is harder to unite two colors, Black and White, because of the continuous functioning of the jury systems and if England united their Catholic Ireland and Protestant Englishmen, how much more success would come to the Philippines where the color of our skin is only one: Brown?

With this, I strongly believe that the only way to save the Philippines is to establish jury systems, whereby each man has the right to be adjudged only by his fellows whether he should be accused, arrested or jailed.

So, please join us in the Jury Movement to give this nation a chance to be great again. Please register your names at http://philjury.ning.com.

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