Good evening, I welcome specifically Mrs Bataclan, Ambassador of the Philippines, Albert De Smet, the provincial registrar, and the colleagues of the provincial council.
When I bring a message of solidarity here tonight, then it is not out of duty, as something I was asked to do as the deputy for development work.
This evening means a lot to me.
Together we have watched a film fragment from the documentary ‘Taxi Filipino’ by Roel Nollet. It is not the first time I’ve watched it, and I know the situation in the Cordillera, but still it gets to me. It remains confrontational.
First I would like to address the partnership with the Philippines. As a province in solidarity, the Province of East-Flanders wants to work together for a just world with less poverty, a world where we carefully manage our natural resources and where a healthy environment is guaranteed for the present and the following generations.
We do this by supporting many North-South initiatives but also by engaging ourselves in a limited number of long term intensive partnerships.Since 1994 we have such partnerships in a region in Ecuador, in the Philippines and in Rwanda. There, we want to support sustainable processes of change . In the Philippines we work together with Bevrijde Wereld (an NGO) in the northern Cordillera region.
Our partners over there, organized in the Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera, advocate for a development with a just distribution of wealth, a development in balance with the environment, a development that takes the future generations into account.
Our partners are organizations of indigenous peoples who knew the importance of sustainable development long before RIO. Our partners are also NGO’s that support them on the technical, social and organizational level. Together they implement concrete projects on food security and health, and build up the indigenous social movement .
I myself have visited the Philippines twice. We visited projects in the most remote areas of the region. I had the opportunity to exchange thoughts with the people. We talked about the importance of collaboration between the local organizations and with us as a partner.
They made it clear to me that the partnership with Bevrijde Wereld and our province is more than only about financial support. Through our partnership, they feel strengthened in their work..
They asked me questions about the history of the social movement in Belgium, which is a history that I know well. Interesting talks that made me realize they still have a long and hard road to travel.
But it would be unacceptable this day and age that their fight for emancipation would also take a hundred years!
Because they stand up for a sustainable development of their region, they collide against neoliberal laws where profit is a main incentive,. For example, for years they are facing a very polluting large scale mining industry.
The mining industry lobby is strong and is seemingly given free rein. A strongly organized civil society is necessary to change this. But someone who engages himself for a just society risks being in danger.
Our partners also are being threatened in a very repressive manner, and are put on a black list. And do not be mistaken, these are not guerilla fighters, these are farmers, nurses, educators, lawyers.
What does the universal declaration of human rights mean if the right to freedom of speech, the right to freedom of assembly and the right to defend oneself are trampled upon?
Aren’t human rights a basic condition to speak of a democratic society? Are they not conditions for society building and development cooperation?- where we start from equality and dialogue.
The recognition and application of the universal human rights are fundamental to me.
Human rights should be the basis, and the starting point of every policy.
The essence is that every person born in this world has the right to a dignified life. But we all know we do not live in a world of ideas.
Our world is steered by other laws.
Rights don’t come by themselves!
The generations before us fought for them.
Humans rights today are also not self-evident.
They have to be defended day by day.
Therefore it is important that the right to assembly and to freedom of speech are respected. People should be able to defend their rights, and to let their voices be heard.
Today we have come together to give this message.
A sign of solidarity with the organizations in the Philippines that stand up for human rights.
Let this also be an appeal for human rights everywhere in the world.
We must not remain indifferent.
Our support is important.
I want to end with a sincere word of gratitude to all the organizations and especially the many volunteers who made this initiative possible.
People and organizations are brought here together through the common drive for human rights.
Together we give a token of solidarity with the organizations in the Philippines, a token for human rights.
As the responsible deputy, I also want to thank our embassy in Manila for the active role they play in the Cordillera. Our Ministry of foreign affairs also played its part. And also Victoria Bataclan, ambassador of the Philippines in Belgium, played her part.
But the counterforces are persistent, they have a lot to defend.
We have to remain vigilant and together express our indignation!