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Karapatan to Remulla: Why not invite more UN experts for greater compliance?

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Human rights group Karapatan urged Secretary of Justice Jesus Crispin Remulla to issue official invitations to more United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs to prove its compliance with the recommendations by other countries.

Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said that aside from the government’s “follow up invitation” to UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions Morris Tidball-Binz, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration should issue invitations for all UN Special Procedures.

Palabay said these must include invitations to special rapporteurs on human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, independence of lawyers and judges, and right to health to allow them to conduct official investigations on other human rights violations in the country.  

“While the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings is most welcome to provide support for capacity building activities on human rights, the most pressing need for an official visit by the mandate comes from the continuing reports of extrajudicial killings in the country and the dire lack of justice related to the drug war and counterinsurgency programs, as well as to the killings of journalists, lawyers and those in the legal profession. The Philippine government should heed the call of UN member states to issue standing invitations to all UN Special Procedures,” Palabay said in a statement.

3 UN experts to visit PH next year

Remulla on Monday announced government’s invitation to Tidball-Binz as part of its capacity building under the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines.

The justice secretary said they wish the UN representative to focus on the capacity building of more forensic pathologists in the country, noting that Tidball-Binz, a Chilean physician, is an expert on forensic science, human rights, and humanitarian action.

Remulla added that Tidball-Binz is expected to visit the Philippines early next year, aside from Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, Thought and Religion Irene Khan and Special Rapporteur on the Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of children Mama Fatima Singhate.

But Palabay reminded Remulla that in the last UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the human rights situation in the Philippines last week, at least four UN member States—Uruguay, Luxembourg, Uruguay, and Latvia – called on the Philippine government to issue standing invitations for all Special Procedures’ official visits to the country.

Ghana even recommended that the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings be granted unrestricted access to the country, she added.

“Such visits can hopefully provide more substantial and independent actions and recommendations on the killings, as well as on the root causes of policies and practices driving such violations,” Palabay said.

Culture of impunity

Karapatan also contradicted Remulla’s statement at the UN on the so-called non-existence of a culture of impunity in the Philippines, saying that the government has very little to show for cases of successful prosecution and final convictions of perpetrators of EJKs and other rights violations, especially among State actors. 

“Coupled with draconian policies, official pronouncements by government officials and continuing violations on the ground, Sec. Remulla’s claim is unsubstantiated. Several UN member states who have called for an end to the extrajudicial killings and for independent investigations during the last UPR clearly did not buy these claims,” Palabay said.

In his presentation before the fourth periodic review by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland last November 14, Remulla said 25 policemen have been charged with murder in connection with the government’s drug campaign.

Remulla’s claim was dismissed by 35 other governments, however, who recommended more investigations on summary executions under the Rodrigo Duterte and Marcos Jr. governments.

Civil society organizations present in Geneva also said that the number of charged police officers was a “mere drop in the bucket” considering the thousands killed under the government’s bloody war on drugs.

‘Remulla engaged in red-tagging himself’

Karapatan decried Remulla’s statements on civil society groups’ participation in the UPR as “somehow linked to the armed movement against government, linked to terrorism” and who “destroy the image of the country.” 

These statements, Palabay said, belie Remulla’s claims that red-tagging is not an official policy of the Philippine government.

“His pronouncements are proof that the Philippine government commits red- and terrorist-tagging of organizations, and that it continues the stigmatization of human rights defenders and our organizations,” she said. 

Karapatan said it and other organizations comprising the Philippine UPR Watch network that monitored the UPR in Geneva will conduct a report-back session before International Human Rights Day, December 10.

The group added it will monitor the 200 recommendations that the Philippine government reportedly accepted during the UPR, and urged UN member states to ensure time-bound and tangible actions especially on accountability issues, instead of mere promises on paper. 

The group noted that the Philippines publicly expressed rejection of recommendations pertaining to measures on sexual orientation, gender identity, expression equality, decriminalization of abortion and divorce.

The government also reportedly reserved responses to recommendations on State actors’ involvement in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and enforced disappearances; red-tagging and the enactment of the Human Rights Defenders’ Protection Bill; its rejoining the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; the impact of laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Cybercrime Prevention Act on the freedom of expression and association; the ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances and the Optional Protocols on the Convention on the Rights of Children; establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism against torture, among others. 

“The Philippines’ rejection of specific recommendations and those without immediate responses show that the government refuses to acknowledge the long-standing human rights issues and concerns in the country,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘FOR MY CHURCH AND MY PEOPLE’: Filipino Bishop bears cross in foreign lands

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By Raymund B. Villanueva

Nearly 650 bishops of the global Anglican Communion gathered at England’s Kent University last July 27 to August 8 for its Lambeth Conference that only happens once every 10 years. In one of his daily addresses to their most important gathering of leaders, Archbishop of Canterbury Justine Welby asked the nine Philippine Episcopal and Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) bishops in attendance to stand after a moving choral rendition of the Filipino song “Dulang ng Ama.”

Welby prayed: “Our Lord and Gracious God, unite Your church in the Philippines and give them strength with their new government. Bring their bishop in exile who has not seen his family for two years and may not see them for another four or five. Bring him back from exile. Transform government that it may be made in justice, may be able to hear criticism and change habits. Bless the Philippines with peace in places of war and struggle. Bring reconciliation. We pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Church of England’s supreme bishop Welby implored for IFI Bishop Chaplain in Europe Antonio Narcua Ablon, one of the most persecuted church leaders in the world today.

Red-tagged

Bishop Ablon’s persecution began in June 2018 when he joined a human rights fact-finding mission in Barangay Saad in Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur in June 2018. They received word that a Philippine Army unit has encamped in the indigenous Subanen community that resulted in harassments, intimidation and the arrest of two residents. On the mission’s second day, the soldiers told the bishop and his team to leave as “they did not coordinate with the military.” After returning to his diocese, a Col. Merlowe Patria paid Bishop Ablon a “friendly visit” to order him to seek permission from him and the mayor next time, “so as not to disrupt special projects in the area.” The military officer also warned the church leader not to publicize the information they gathered.

Barangay Saad suffered more harassments after the fact-finding mission. The soldiers went house to house soon after and organized a “mass surrender ceremony” of alleged New People’s Army (NPA) sympathizers  in August of that year. Unable to abandon his flock, Bishop Ablon facilitated another fact-finding mission, this time by the Commission on Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The retribution against the bishop started a month later. In September, their churches were defiled and painted with “IFI = NPA!” Throughout northern and western Mindanao, streamers and traffic barriers screamed allegations of the bishop’s connection with the underground revolutionary army, along with other groups such as the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Bayan Muna, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines and others.

An Iglesia Filipina Independiente Church in Zamboanga del Sur was defiled by red-taggers in September 2018. (Photo from Davao Today)

In response to increasing threats to his life, the Lutheran Church of Northern Germany and the Christian Catholic Church (also known as the Old Catholic Church, OCC) in Europe invited Bishop Ablon to a conference in Germany in May 2019. Before he could return to the Philippines, however, police officers barged into his Pagadian cathedral, looking for him. The armed men confronted his deacon and told him the bishop is being served with an arrest warrant. When the priest demanded to see the document, he was told it was merely a joke.

The OCC Bishop of Utrecht, the church’s traditional leader, asked Bishop Ablon to stay in Europe for three more months to give the situation a chance to “cool down.” It did not.

‘Seafarers’ pastor’

It was during the Bishop’s visit to Europe that the Iceland-sponsored resolution was passed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. The resolution expresses concern over allegations of human rights violations in the Philippines, particularly involving extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, as well as intimidation and persecution of human rights defenders and others critical of the government.

Bishop Ablon thought he could provide testament to the contents of the resolution. He spoke before churches and organizations throughout Europe to give witness to the human rights situation in the Philippines. He joined Filipino human rights alliance Ecuvoice representatives Atty. Edre Olalia and Cristina Palabay during the July 2019 adoption of the Iceland-led resolution at the UN Human Rights Council. In March 2020, Bishop Ablon once again joined a delegation of Ecuvoice at a UNHRC session in Geneva, Switzerland.

Seeing that the bishop’s safety remains a concern if he returns to the Philippines, the Hamburg Foundation for Politically-Persecuted Persons in November 2019 gave him a scholarship for a year to stay in Germany. When the scholarship concluded, the Lutheran Evangelical Church in Germany appointed him as  ecumenical co-worker to allow him to stay longer. He was then asked to serve as port chaplain in Hamburg and minister to seafarers, many of whom are Filipinos. He busied himself assisting sailors, particularly those quarantined due to the corona virus pandemic.

Bishop Antonio Ablon bringing assistance to a sailor at the Hamburg port.

The bishop’s hopes for his return to the Philippines before long was dashed when former President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the anti-terrorism bill in July 2020, however. He was convinced to apply for asylum and was granted an interview by the German government in December 2021. It was granted in just 16 days.

This month, Bishop Ablon returned to the United Nations in Geneva to attend the UNHRC’s fourth periodic review on the human rights situation in the Philippines. He spoke at the rally in front of the UN after the review and in a forum at the World Council of Churches headquarters in Geneva. In the Swiss capital of Bern last November 12, he attended as special guest the city’s Night of the Religions. The next day, he delivered a sermon at the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in a Mass celebrated by OCC Bern Bishop Harald Rein. In his homily, Bishop Ablon asked for solidarity by the churches and peoples of the world for the Filipino people’s quest for human rights and justice.

Bishop Antonio Ablon delivering his homily at the Bern Cathedral last November 13, the eve of the fourth Universal Periodic Review of the United Nations Human rights Council on the Philippines. (Photo by Koko Alviar, IFI)

“Tell the world”

Bishop Ablon has become a celebrity of sorts in Europe. He is welcomed by fellow bishops, priests and church members in many churches and across religions. He elicits greater admiration when they realize that he brings his bishop’s vestments in a simple and small backpack that he received as a loyal public transport passenger.

Bishop Ablon’s pectoral cross (second from top left) made headlines at the recent Lambeth Conference of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

His own pectoral cross, an intricate beadwork made especially for him by the Lumad, was cited as one of the most unique among hundreds at the Lambeth Conference.

But the church leader has more crosses to bear than being a church and diocese-less bishop in foreign land. He has not seen his wife and younger son for three years and makes do with just video calls. “In fact, when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became president, I thought of not seeing my family anytime soon,” he said.

“In my sermons and speeches, however, I always remember what the community leader of Barangay Saad begged of me,” Bishop Ablon said. He said it is what gives him strength. “In my last visit to Barangay Saad, the elder held my hand and begged me: ‘Tell the whole world of what we suffer and our dreams of a better life. We hope the persecution of us Lumads would stop,’” the bishop recalls.

“This is now my mission for my church and my people,” Ablon said. #

Lapid’s family hopes for mastermind’s identification after surrender of alleged gunman

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The family of slain broadcaster Percival Mabasa, popularly known as Percy Lapid, called for the identification of the mastermind behind his killing following the surrender of the alleged gunman.

Interior and local government secretary Benhur Abalos presented in a press briefing Tuesday 39-year-old Joel Salve Estorial who said he was the one who fired at and killed Mabasa last October 3.

Estorial said he surrendered out of fear for his life when the Philippine National Police (PNP) made public his likeness last week captured from closed circuit television footages.

The alleged gunman said orders came from inside the National Bilibod Prison and he and five cohorts were paid P550,000 for the job.

Estorial claimed that he was forced to fire the gun or he himself will be killed by those who ordered the killing.

The press briefing did not identify who ordered the assassination. Reporters were not allowed to ask questions during the briefing.

Mabasa’s family said that while they would like to thank the PNP, they hope the development would lead to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the mastermind.

“We hope Percy does not become part of the statistics and continue to clamor for justice for Percy and the nearly 200 journalists killed since 1986,” the family’s statement adds.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said it welcomes the arrest of the suspected gunman.

The media group described the surrender as a positive development towards accountability for his murder.

“Accountability in this case will help chip away at the culture of impunity around journalist killings that media, civil society and government agencies have been working to change,” the NUJP said.

“We join the Mabasa family, Ka Percy’s listeners and supporters, and the journalism community in monitoring developments in the case and in waiting for justice for his death,” the media group added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups denounce Remulla’s red-tagging justification before UN

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A network of church and human rights groups condemned justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s justification of government’s red-tagging of critics before the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), saying the practice is against the values of a democratic and civilized society.

The Philippine Universal Periodic Review Watch said they take strong exception to Remulla’s remark at the 136th session of the UNHRC in Geneva, Switzerland last Tuesday that red-tagging is “part of democracy.”

“It’s par for the course. If you can dish it out, you should be able to take it,” Remulla said.

“That, for me, is probably the essence of democracy. Are we not allowed to criticize our critics too? Is it a one-way street?” he added.

But the Philippine UPR Watch pointed out that Remulla made his remarks just as the UNHRC is discussing the dangers of red-tagging on the lives of people who raise legitimate issues on government policy.

“His remarks, while a brazen official admission of the practice, do not only encourage and normalize red-tagging but also brandish it as an institutionalized and orchestrated method of the government in dealing with perceived political critics,” Philippine UPR Watch said.

“Redtagging especially of State forces and their adjuncts has dire consequences on persons, families, organizations and communities,” the network said.

The network revealed that there were 801 political prisoners as well 442 human rights defenders who became victims of extra-judicial killings at the end of the Rodrigo Duterte government, most, if not all, were red tagging victims.

In Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s first 100 days in office, there have been 10 civilians killed while four have been abducted and forcibly disappeared, the network reported. At least 37 have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, it added.

 “Feigning ignorance on these consequences and packaging these threats as mere exercise of freedom of expression are clear signals of a policy of tolerance for human rights violations and impunity,” the network said.

Red tagging explained, again

Former UN special rapporteur Phillip Alston first called the world’s attention on the practice of red tagging by the Philippine government in 2007, describing it as a classification of a wide range of groups – including human rights advocates, labour union organizations, journalists,
teachers, unions, women’s groups, indigenous organizations, religious groups, student
groups, agrarian reform advocates and others –as ‘fronts’ and then as
enemies of the State’ that are accordingly considered to be legitimate targets.”

The practice is a continuation of the McCarthyist red-baiting strategy in the 1950s employed against United States of America government critics.

At least one Philippine Supreme Court Associate Justice, Marvic Leonen, has opined that red-tagging causes human rights violations.

“To make it easy for military and paramilitary units to silence or cause untold human rights abuses on vocal dissenters, government agents usually resort to stereotyping or caricaturing individuals. This is accomplished by providing witnesses who, under coercive and intimidating conditions, identify the leaders of organizations critical of the administration as masterminds of ordinary criminal acts. Not only does this make these leaders’ lives and liberties vulnerable, a chilling effect on dissent is also generated among similar-minded individuals,” Justice Leonen wrote.

In March 2021, then Senator Franklin Drilon proposed a law defining and penalizing red-tagging as “State’s malicious labeling and stereotyping of individuals or groups as communists or terrorists. It has not been passed.

Standing ground

Following Remulla’s apparent admission of the practice, the Philippine UPR Watch called on members of the UNHRC to further denounce government’s red-tagging.

The network also voiced fears that justice for victims of red-tagging will remain elusive and human rights violations continue during the Marcos government as under the past Duterte regime.

“[W]ith an administration that has not indicated any commitment, sincerity and political will to commit to justice and accountability, it is imperative to hold our ground, push back and demand for the protection of our rights,” the network said.

Philippine UPR Watch representatives are set to travel to Geneva in November to personally deliver their statements before the UNHRC assembly. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Philippine Army orders mass evacuation in Himamaylan City

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More than 15,000 residents of Barangays Carabalan and Cabadiangan of Himamaylan City have reportedly sought refuge in evacuation centers this morning following the imposition of a week-long lockdown by government forces starting last weekend.

The 303rd Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army (PA) ordered civilians to either vacate their homes or stay indoors as pursuit operations are being conducted against New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.

The evacuations were ordered after the 94th Infantry Brigade of the PA clashed with a unit of the NPA’s Mt. Cansermon Command last Thursday, September 6, at Sitio Sig-ang, Brgy. Carabalan, Himamaylan.

Those ordered to evacuate are residents of Sitios Palayan, Tongo and Guia of Barangay Cabadiangan as well as several sitios of Barangay Biao.

Earlier, the NPA said government troops bombed sitio Double Yarding of Barangay Mahalang last October 7 that lasted 20 minutes.

Sitios Cunalom, Casipungan, Cambulan, Pangi and Igaw of Barangay Carabalan were also bombed by the Philippine Army, the rebels said, adding government troops also destroyed houses and slaughtered farm animals.

Philippine Army justifies evacuations

Meanwhile, PA’s 94th IB announced on its Facebook page that two of its soldiers died while six others were injured in Thursday’s fire fight .

The Region 6 Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (RTF6-ELCAC) has justified the military’s evacuation orders but admitting to only 290 families or 1190 individuals evacuated in seven refugee centers in the city.

“The evacuation of these families is necessary so that they will not be use(d)…as human shields or as hostages to deter the pursuing army troopers,” RTF6-ELCAC spokesperson Flosemer Chris Gonzales said.

Gonzales also criticized local social media news outlets and “some ill-informed media outfits” for so-called “heavily slanted and heavily-biased news articles” of the October 6 clash.

‘Rights violations after defeat’

The NPA’s Apolinario Gatmaitan Command said the PA’s evacuation order on civilians is the result of its frustration over its October 6 defeat.

Juanito Magbanua, the Negros Island Regional NPA spokesperson added that the PA is also extending their pursuit operations to increase its expenses that “give way to their corruption and at the expense of “terrorized” civilians.

The National Democratic Front in Negros meanwhile called on the local government of Himamaylan City to protect its constituents.

“The local government unit (LGU) of Himamaylan City should not just standby and allow these attacks against its constituents. The LGU should assert civilian supremacy and demand an end to the militarization of Himamaylan City,” NDF-Negros spokesperson Bayani Obrero said in a separate statement.

Obrero also stressed “utmost urgency to demand respect for human rights and observance of international humanitarian law,” in the face of military-imposed forced evacuations, bombings, threats of airstrikes and militarization of Negros Island. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Rights group condemns conviction of peasant organizer

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By Joseph Cuevas

Political prisoners support group Kapatid condemned the conviction of a land rights advocate for rebellion.

Dionisio Almonte, long-time peasant organizer in Laguna, was sentenced to life imprisonment (10-17 years) by Branch 266 of the Taguig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) last September 16.

Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said, “The sentence amounts to cruel and unusual punishment for Almonte who has more than suffered enough because of a trumped-up case.”

Prior to his conviction by Judge Marivic C. Vitor, Lim said Almonte had already suffered eight years of imprisonment “for choosing to help the poorest yet most neglected class in society, the farmers.”

Arrested in January 2014 on murder and frustrated murder charges, Almonte is currently detained at the Metro Manila District Jail in Taguig.

A native of Laguna, Almonte is a member of PUMALAG (Peasant Alliance of Laguna) since the 1980s.

Almonte’s wife Gloria said their family was shocked and saddened about the conviction but hopes it will be overturned upon appeal.

Worsening health

Gloria added that Dioniso’s health condition has worsened while in detention, worsening his lumbar spondylosis (degeneration of disks of the vertebrae) diagnosed prior to his arrest.

He has since been diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension. In 2017, he also suffered tuberculosis and has undergone isolation in prison.

“Palala nang palala ang kalusugan ng asawa ko mula nang makulong siya,” Gloria said.

Gloria added that Almonte’s name was among those submitted by Kapatid to the Supreme Court for humanitarian release from crowded prisons when the coronavirus pandemic started, but was ignored.

2 farmer organizers walk free

Meanwhile, two peasant organizers in Isabela province were acquitted last October 5 by Branch 24 of the Echague RTC on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Solomon John Escopete and Danilo Estores were arrested in Jones, Isabela in April 2019, during the campaign period of the 2019 midterm elections.

Judge Michelle Gumpal-Videz said the prosecutors’ “[E]fforts (in presenting the evidence) resulted in a mediocre case that is nothing but lamentable” in acquitting the farmers. #

Gunmen kill broadcaster; murder earns swift condemnation

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Gunmen killed a broadcaster in Las Pinas City on Monday, the second media worker killed under the three month-old Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presidency.

Percival Mabasa, known in the broadcast industry as Percy Lapid, was declared dead on arrival at a local hospital after two gunmen aboard a motorcycle fired at least two gunshots at the victim.

Described as a hard-hitting broadcaster, he was a critic of several Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte government officials.

Mabasa’s family said they are deeply saddened and angered by what they described as a “brutal and brazen killing of fearless broadcaster, father and husband, brother and friend.”

“We strongly condemn this deplorable crime; it was committed not only against Percy, his family, and his profession, but against our country, his beloved Philippines, and the truth,” the family said.

They added that the victim was highly respected by his listeners as well as peers and foes alike.

“His bold and sharp commentaries cut through the barrage of fake news over the air waves and on social media,” they added.

Mabasa was host of Lapid Fire radio show that aired on DWBL. Previously, he was a broadcaster with radio station DWIZ.

On his YouTube channel, Mabasa commented on the dangers of red-tagging, including that of the recent harassment of Manila Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar who ruled against the government’s proscription of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist organizations.

Mabasa also recently commented on the security risks of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators and on historical distortion of Martial Law.

The victim is the second journalist to be killed under Marcos Jr. administration.

Radio broadcaster Rey Blanco was stabbed to death in Mabinay, Negros Oriental last September 18.

Immediate condemnation

Media and human rights organization also condemned the killing and joined Mabasa’s family in calling for justice.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said Mabasa’s murder shows that journalism remains a dangerous profession in the country.

“That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to protect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm,” the NUJP in a statement Tuesday said.

The Pinoy Media Center condemned Mabasa’s murder and called it another politically-motivated case of extrajudicial killing “to silence truth seekers and media practitioners.

The People’s Alternative Media Network also condemned the murder it said is part of a landscape of violence and intimidation against journalists and citizens.

The National Press Club and the organization of justice beat reporters also issued statements calling for justice for Mabasa.

Human rights group Karapatan joined in the calls for an independent investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Karapatan also said it will join the condemnation rally organized by the NUJP at the Boy Scouts monument in Quezon City at six o’clock tonight. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

PH among countries that persecute rights defenders—UN

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Human rights defenders in the Philippines face reprisals and intimidation for cooperating with the United Nations (UN) on human rights, a new report reveals.

 In an annual report presented Sunday, September 25, the office of the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said reprisals against human rights defenders may have even intensified despite the coronavirus pandemic.

“In March 2020, multiple statements were delivered by Government officials accusing civil society organizations engaging at the Human Rights Council of ‘masquerading as defenders of human rights,’ channelling ‘funding support … towards actors professing terrorism,’ and serving ‘hidden agendas of deceit and violence on the ground,’” the report says.

The report added that in June 2019, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) learned that a current member of the Philippine government-affiliated Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women had reprimanded Philippine civil society present at a Council meeting.

The report also mentioned former Senator Leila de Lima, the group Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights and its secretary general Cristina Palabay as among those who face reprisals from the government.

De Lima had been in jail for nearly six years for alleged drug trafficking but is considered as the Philippines’ most prominent political prisoner by a large portion of the international community.  

Karapatan, the country’s biggest and most active human rights group, meanwhile suffer continuing red-tagging by the Philippine military, police and counter-insurgency groups.

Palabay has been slapped with criminal charges and arrest warrants the Philippine National Police (PNP) once tried to serve with arresting officers in disguise, a violation of its own procedures.

The UN said it has already called upon the Philippine government as early as June 2019 to cooperate with the OHCHR and the Council’s mechanisms, including restraining itself from intimidation or retaliation.

“The High Commissioner called on the Government to ensure that there were no reprisals for cooperation with OHCHR for her Council-mandated report,” it says.

The report covers May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022.

Red-tagging as threat

The report’s first annex described the government’s red-tagging activities—labelling individuals and groups as communists or terrorists—as a persistent and powerful threat to civil society and freedom of expression.

It noted Philippine government’s response to UN’s concern by stressing the OHCHR’s data gathering and analysis methodology needs to be more transparent and should take into account so-called local political context.

The report said the Philippine government instead alleged that the “vibrant civil society in the country which is exploited by terrorist organizations purporting to be ‘human rights defenders,’ who are able to access funding to serve violent agendas in communities on the ground.”

It added that the Philippine government statement that it has no policy of censoring, interfering with, or monitoring the activities of independent human rights experts, human rights defenders, and civil society actors.

The UN however mentioned other forms of reprisals against human rights workers deemed critical of the Philippine government, such as the public stigmatization and calling for the resignation of the late Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson Chito Gascon.

The OHCHR also said it received information that the CHR continued to be the target of threats, intimidation and public questioning, given its engagement with the UN.

It also mentioned about the killing of at least two Karapatan members and the barrage of text messages to Palabay threatening death and rape from accounts of the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

“Despite positive developments, including pledges and shared commitments by Member States against reprisals, this report once again shows the extent to which people are pursued and persecuted for raising human rights concerns with the UN. And we know that, shocking though this number is, many cases of reprisals are not even reported,” Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris said.

 “The risks affecting women victims, as well as women human rights defenders and peace builders, who share testimony and cooperate with the UN remain daunting.  We will continue to work to ensure that all can safely engage with the UN,” Kehris stressed as she presented the report to the Council in Geneva.

Aside from the Philippines, the other 41 States referred to in the report are:

Afghanistan, Andorra, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Burundi, Cameroon, China,  Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Laos People’s Democratic Republic, Libya, Maldives, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, State of Palestine, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Viet Nam, and Yemen. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Rights defenders urge new CHR officials to uphold independence

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Groups urged the new appointees at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to uphold the mandate of the commission and maintain its independence, probity and transparency.

Following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s appointment of Atty. Richard Palpallatoc as new chairperson and Atty. Beda Epres as commissioner for full six-year terms, human rights group Karapatan and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the new officers should ensure that the commission would continue to conduct independent investigations on reported human rights violations.

“[The CHR should] provide prompt, responsive, accessible and excellent public service for the promotion and protection of human rights,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

“In particular, we expect members of the new commission en banc to address the recommendations by the previous commission during its public inquiry on the attacks and challenges against human rights defenders and its investigations in the drug war,” Palabay added.

In a separate statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. called on chairperson Palpallatoc to show independence despite close links with Presidential Chief of Staff and former executive secretary Vic Rodriguez.

Palpallatoc was formerly deputy executive secretary under Rodriguez and was also his former law partner.

“We hope that despite his (Palpallatoc) previous proximity to the halls of power as a Palace official, he will maintain the CHR’s independence from Malacanang,” Reyes said.

After two months in power, the Marcos administration finally filled up the two vacant positions at the CHR, a constitutional body tasked to protect citizens from human rights violations, particularly by State forces.

In a radio interview, Palpallatoc said he applied for the position because he wants to give particular attention to the rights of children, women and other marginalized sectors.

Prior to his new appointment, Epres for his part was a career official and investigator of the Office of the Ombudsman.

Atty. Jose Luis Martin Gascon, the last CHR chairperson, died in office in October 2021 while several commissioners have served their full terms this year.

The Rodrigo Duterte administration has deferred its appointment of replacements, choosing to let the incoming government to make the appointments.

‘Be like Diokno, de Lima and Gascon’

Reyes said that the new CHR chairperson can emulate some of his predecessors like Jose W. Diokno, Leila de Lima and Chito Gascon.

“The CHR is important amid efforts to hold the previous regime accountable before the ICC (International Criminal Court) for the failed drug war. There is also the upcoming Universal Periodic Review where the rights record of the Philippines will be scrutinized by the members of the UN Human Rights Council. There are also many human rights complaints by civil society groups that require the response of the CHR,” Reyes also pointed out.

Palabay for her part “strongly remind(s) the new appointees of the continuing immense challenges of upholding truth, justice and accountability for the thousands of victims of human rights violations during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s dictatorial rule, the very reason why the CHR was created by the 1986 Philippine Constitution.

Palabay also noted the lack of an open, transparent and independent process in the process of appointing the new CHR officials.

Both Bayan and Karapatan said they look forward to holding a dialogue with the new officials on the state of human rights in the country.

“[W]e will continue to engage with the incoming new members of the Commission especially in pursuing justice and accountability of the previous Duterte administration and in the continuing defense of people’s rights, welfare and dignity,” Palabay said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CA reverses conviction of KMU union organizer

/in /by

By Joseph Cuevas

The 10th Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) has reversed the decision of two trial courts in Rizal province convicting a labor union organizer of possession of illegal firearms.

In a 18-page decision released last September 15, the CA voided the conviction of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) labor organizer Marklen Maojo Maga by San Mateo Regional Trial Court Branches (RTC) 75 and 76, sentencing him from 8 to 14 years imprisonment.

The May 16, 2019 decision by San Mateo RTC 76 Judge Josephine Zarate-Fernandez and the January 21, 2020 resolution by San Mateo RTC 75 by Judge Maria Beatrice Cunanan are set aside for failure of the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt Maga’s guilt, Kapatid, families and supporters political prisoners, announced Saturday, September 18.

Maklen Maojo Maga (Kilusang Mayo Uno photo)

The appellate court ordered Maga’s immediate release in connection with the illegal firearms possession charge.

Arrested by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police on February 22, 2018, Maga was nabbed for his alleged involvement in a government soldier’s murder in March 2017.

The arrest warrant against the union organizer was issued by Branch 34 of the Cabadbaran RTC in Agusan del Norte.

In its decision, the CA said the prosecution failed to present absolute proof the bag containing a gun belonged to the accused.

The appellate court also said the Rizal courts took as gospel truths the testimonies of the arresting officers despite inconsistencies.

The higher court also said the RTCs denied Maga the right to present additional witnesses to corroborate his testimony.

Initial victory

Maga’s wife Eleanor de Guzman told Kodao that the CA decision is a hard-fought victory, but a bittersweet triumph as the labor organizer still faces a criminal charge in Cabadbaran City.

Maga remains detained at the Metro Manila District Jail Annex 4 in Taguig City.

In a message posted on Facebook by de Guzman, Maga said he warmly welcomes his exoneration and considers it as a victory for all activists persecuted by the government.

“Unionists and activists are charged with trumped-up cases and manufactured evidence so they can jail and silence us and prevent us from our advocacies. Our imprisonment is the result of abuse of power and wrongful conviction by some courts who fail to truly study the cases before them,” Maga wrote in Filipino.

Maga added that the CA decision would greatly help in his defense against the murder charge in Agusan del Norte, a province he has never set foot in. #