Dizon conferred
Korean
Justice and Peace Award
VETERAN street parliamentarian Fr. Jose
"Joe" Dizon, who is an active leader of protest actions
against President Arroyo, last week received South Korea’s
most prestigious human rights award in ceremonies held in
Seoul.
Dizon received the Tji Hak-Soon Justice and
Peace Award on behalf of the Workers Assistance Center (WAC)
which he serves as executive director and which he co-founded in
1994. WAC became the first Philippine recipient of the citation,
which is the only international and publicly-funded human rights
award in South Korea.
The award "commemorates the life, works and
beliefs of the late Bishop Daniel Tji Hak-soon" who is referred
to by South Koreans as "an icon of the anti-dictatorship
movement."
"We were very impressed by your organization
that has been continuously fighting for the rights and welfare
of [day] laborers, no matter what hardships your organization
has undergone," Tji Hak Soon Foundation chair Msgr. Kim Byung-San
said in a letter to the WAC.
Kwangju Archbishop Yoon Konghee chaired the
jury that chose WAC.
Dizon has been a mainstay of street protests
since the Marcos dictatorship which jailed him only to release
him after uproar from the global community. As spokesperson of
the church-based group Solidarity Philippines, he hosted
interfaith prayers in three recent anti-Arroyo rallies.
The WAC has assisted about 10,000 workers
"who mostly complained of illegal dismissal, delayed salaries,
forced overtime, non-provision of their benefits, and
non-remittance of their Social Security System contributions."
Several of its members and leaders have been killed since
2001, including Gerry Cristobal who was shot last March 10 in
Imus, Cavite. WAC members Cris Abad and Jesus Servida were
killed in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Former Philippine
Independent Church Supreme Bishop Alberto Ramento was WAC chair
when he was assassinated in 2006. – Anthony Ian Cruz
