Humanitarian Mission Statement

(KARAPATAN, GABRIELA, Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, Health Action for Human Rights, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Children’s Rehabilitation Center)

July 2-4, 2003, Malaybalay, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro City

 

The continuing armed conflicts throughout the Philippine archipelago have once again brought to the fore the vulnerability of women and children, who now rank among the political prisoners suffering in various detention centers in the country. Such is the case of Zenaida Llesis and her ailing four-month old baby girl.

 

Zenaida was three months pregnant and had vaginal bleeding when she was arrested by elements of the 8^th IB on August 5, 2002. While the military itself has accused her of being a high-ranking member of both the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Communist party of the Philippines (CPP), she has been charged with a common crime.

 

Despite her condition of high-risk pregnancy, there was no let-up in the harassment Zenaida suffered at the hands of the AFP.  She spent the rest of her pregnancy in prison and almost gave birth there had it not been for her insistence on adequate medical and obstetrical care.  On February 19, 2003 she gave birth to a baby girl who had multiple congenital anomalies, or what ordinary folks call “birth defects”.

 

The plight of both the mother and the child continues to this day, hence, a humanitarian mission was conducted from July 2-4, 2003.  Representatives from various human rights groups visited Zenaida and her baby girl to assess and validate initial reports as to their condition. This mission included KARAPATAN, Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP), GABRIELA, Health Action for Human Rights (HAHR) and their local counterpart organizations, as well as individual advocates of human rights.

 

The mission findings only highlight the sense of urgency in providing definitive care for Zenaida’s baby, Gabriela Llesis.  Her ailments include a hole in her heart that needs to be plugged before the damage becomes irreversible and life threatening. She also has a growing tumor in her liver that drains the scant nutrition she receives daily.  And while she is currently “ medically stable”, the best that the Bukidnon Provincial Hospital – where they are detained right now - can offer is still not enough to provide the definitive treatment that will save her life.

 

Unfortunately, the condition of Gabriela Llesis is inextricably linked with the release of her mother, Zenaida, whose nurturing care she requires to keep her going. The military establishment has continuously obstructed Zenaida’s uphill struggle for provisional freedom.  Aside from the violations of her rights as a political prisoner, she was wrongfully charged with a common crime. Further, when the courts granted Zenaida the right to post bail, two other common crime cases were discovered filed against her.  It appears that the fragile, life-and-death existence of Gabriela Llesis is inconsequential to the military and the permanent detention of Zenaida is of utmost importance to them.

 

The mission therefore calls for the immediate facilitation of Baby Gabriela’s medical referral and treatment to a more competent health institution like the Philippine Heart Center of the Philippines and the Children’s Medical Center in Manila AND the temporary release from detention of the mother, Zenaida Llesis, so that she may be able to accompany and care for her child, an arrangement most apt for the welfare of both mother and baby.

 

The mission also calls to task Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose growing militarist tendency clouds her judgement as a woman and as a mother.  Her unabated calls for the intensification of military operations in the countryside has only put thousands of women and children in danger of dislocation, hunger, disease and death. Her military machinery, the AFP and the PNP, will see to it that this is done.