MPs' group monitors Philippines

by Jonathan Petre
MOUNTING concern over human rights violations on a large Philippine palm oil plantation which received a substantial grant from the British Government's Commonwealth Development Corporation has prompted a parliamentary delegation to visit the Philippines later this month.
The two member delegation, of Mr Alf Dubs, MP for Battersea, and Mr Colin Moynihan, MP for Lewisham East, will visit Manila and the island of Mindanao from September 22 to October 1.
CDC funds of £6.4 million were granted to the plantation earlier this year after controversy had erupted over the employment of members of the notorious Lost Command, a paramilitary unit known for its brutal methods, as security guards by the Guthrie Corporation, the plantation owners.
The decision was criticised at the time by Catholic MP David Alton It has recently emerged that, although the Lost Command were supposed to have been replaced as security guards by June, many members have now been re-employed in a new unit calling itself the Civilian Home Defence Force.