Edfu "Aram" dela Cruz is a twelve-year old orphan.

Last March 12, 2000, a patrol team of the 43rd Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army massacred Edfu's mother, Angelita, his father Aniceto and his older sister, Deceree. Edfu, who left their makeshift hut about an
hour earlier, was spared from the incident and was found near the area, and taken by the AFP, minutes before they chanced upon the rest of Edfu's family.

Edfu, his sister, and his mother were merely visiting Aniceto, a member of the New People's Army when the incident occurred. They were neither combatants nor members of the NPA.

This twelve year-old boy has since been in the AFP's custody, exposed to the media, and used by the Department of National Defense (DND) and the
AFP in its psychological warfare. Upon the military's watch and instructions, Edfu dismantled an armalite rifle and raised his fists for the media to feast upon. He was showcased by the AFP as "the young NPA".

Further violating his rights and adding to the trauma, Edfu was subjected to five days of interrogation, military camp and detachment hopping by his family's murderers before he was turned over to the Department of Social
Welfare and Development's custody. But even then, Edfu has been prevented from conferring with his legal counsel, and his immediate relatives have repeatedly been rejected and given only very limited visitation rights. Likewise, Edfu has expressed his desire to be reunited with his immediate family, but has been barred from doing so.

Furthermore, Edfu's paternal grandmother, Mrs. Concepcion Dela Cruz, has appealed for Edfu's custody. Edfu, as well as his three other siblings, has originally been in fact in her care prior to the incident. She has been the children's guardian since Edfu's father has joined the NPA.

These events clearly demonstrate the various violations that the AFP and evidently, the DSWD, has committed against Edfu's and his family's basic human rights. It is Edfu's wish, as much as it is his right, to be reunited with his family. Edfu's grandmother, as well as his two other
siblings await his safe and immediate return.

Let us demand that the DSWD immediately release Edfu and grant custody to his grandmother, Concepcion. The DSWD should cease taking on a military function. It has transformed itself into the AFP's juvenile detention
center.

Let us condemn the massacres and the killings, the abduction of children and the displacement of families, and demand that the AFP stop the rampant violation of human rights, as it implements with vigor, Estrada's anti-
insurgency campaign, Oplan Makabayan.

Let us demand that the AFP-DSWD and the Estrada regime stop to taking children hostage, using them as pawns in desperate moves to push forward Oplan Makabayan. Let us urge the Estrada regime to sincerely resume the peace negotiations and cease its drunken macho-fascist approach to the peace process that has trampled upon and killed our children in the countryside.

Write letters of support demanding Edfu's release to the DSWD, the DND and the AFP. Let us help in making Edfu's plight known by writing letters to the senate, congress and members of the media.

	VPres Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Office of the Secretary Dept. of Social Welfare and Development Batasan Complex, Quezon City Philippines
	Secretary Orlando Mercado Office of the Secretary Department of National Defense Camp Aguinaldo, EDSA, Quezon City Philippines
	Gen. Angelo Reyes Chief of Staff Armed Forces of the Philippines Camp Aguinaldo EDSA, Quezon City Philippines

Let us support Edfu and his family, and join the millions of women and children who stand against fascism and militarization in the countryside.