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CHR accuses gov’t of backtracking on commitment to divulge info on drug killings

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The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said President Rodrigo Duterte is again backtracking on his government’s commitment to divulge all information related to the war on drugs and other complaints of human rights violations.

Reacting to the President’s address last May 31, the human rights agency said the government is again regressing on its promise to grant full and unqualified access to cases involving alleged extrajudicial killings related to its anti-drug and insurgency campaigns.

Duterte on Monday night said all information related to the war on drugs and insurgency are confidential in nature and cannot be divulged.

“The new statement from the government is a setback just when the Philippine National Police (PNP) has already agreed to open around 7,000 cases to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for investigations,” CHR executive director and spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline de Guia said.

“The recent developments made by DOJ and PNP would have been a start in demonstrating a functional justice system if not for this new roadblock,” she added.

In his address, Duterte warned the CHR to be careful in assessing drug-related killings and deaths of communist rebels since members of the New People’s Army and drug lords also know how to kill.

“You remember that. It’s not [only] that we killed bad people. But how about the good ones? The working soldiers and policemen? They also get killed and in numbers,” the President said.

The CHR however pointed out that the President’s new position is a deviation from his government’s commitments to the United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The CHR recalled that in June 2020, justice secretary Menardo Guevarra promised before the UNHRC that the Duterte government is “quietly conducting a judicious review” of 5,655 anti-illegal drugs operations where death occurred.

”This remark by the Philippine government has been the basis of the UNHRC resolution calling for a technical assistance and capacity building on human rights in the Philippines, despite the report of the High Commissioner of Human Rights Michelle Bachelet of a ‘widespread and systematic’ killings linked to the government’s anti-drug operations,” de Guia said.

Guevarra promised in the same statement that CHR “will be involved in its capacity as an independent monitoring body.

De Guia however lamented the CHR it is uncertain if the case files of the around 7,000 cases in question, as well as other government records pertaining to rights violations, will be shared to the CHR for its own independent probe.

READ: Groups cynical of gov’t promises to UN rights body

READ: Gov’t snubs CHR in review of anti-drug war list of victims

“CHR remains hopeful that government will return to the course of openness and cooperation in improving the human rights situation in the country. And, in this instance, genuine and straightforward investigations will be the first step in demonstrating sincere commitment to the protection of human rights and the dignity of all,” de Guia said.

In a separate statement, human rights group Karapatan also slammed Duterte’s decision to block access to records of police killings in the drug war.

“[It is] a clear and undeniable pronouncement that this government openly encourages impunity — and that is not intent on pursuing any form of justice for the victims of State violence and human rights abuses,” Karapatan said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Kill-kill-kill mindset’ caused police officer to kill grandmother, rights groups say

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Human rights groups expressed alarm at the spate of killings of civilians by police officers, with Karapatan calling for a system change within State security forces.

Following the killing of a 52-year old grandmother by a police sergeant in Fairview, Quezon City Monday night, Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said a dangerous mindset ails many among security forces in the country.

“How many more should die, before it is acknowledged that the system that drives State security forces to kill civilians needs to be changed?” Palabay asked.

Palabay added there are more than enough recent cases to indicate that the public killings by police officers are not isolated incidents.

Kaparatan listed the following cases involving police officers, military men and even community security personnel in the last three months:

-On May 31, 2021, a drunk Police Master Sergeant Hensie Zinampan shot 59-year old Lilibeth Valdez in Brgy. Greater Fairview in Quezon City.

-On May 29, 2021, National Democratic Front of the Philippines consultant Reynaldo Bocala, 75, and his 60-year old companion Wilfredo Epago were killed during a police and military raid in Pavia, Iloilo.

-On May 23, 2021, police shot Edwin Arnigo, an 18-year old with autism, during a raid of an illegal cockfighting game in Valenzuela City. Arnigo happened to just pass by the area when executed by a police officer.

-On May 11, 2021, peasant leader Joseph Canlas died after contracting COVID-19 inside a prison in Pampanga. Canlas was arbitrarily arrested during a questionable police and military raid on March 30, 2021.

-On April 19, 2021, 35-year old Retchie Nepomuceno was killed along a road in Cebu City, after accusing a police staff sergeant of raping her while in police custody.

-On April 9, 2021, Ernanie Jimenez died after being beaten by barangay tanod for allegedly violating curfew rules in Calamba City, Laguna.

-On April 2, 2021, 21-year old Darren Manaog Penaredondo died, after being forced to do 300 rounds of pumping exercise in General Trias, Cavite for allegedly violating community quarantine policies.

-On March 7, 2021, nine activists in Southern Tagalog – a fisherfolk couple, a trade union leader, four indigenous farmers, an urban poor activist and a youth leader – were killed in simultaneous police and military raids in three provinces.

Karapatan said police claims that the incidents are “isolated incidents” are simply not true.

“What is clear and apparent is that these violations are brazenly conducted, at many times in full view of an audience. What is clear and apparent is that a governance driven by a kill-kill-kill policy is fostering a environment of insecurity,” she said.

Palabay added that the dangerous mindset of normalizing such killings is deeply ingrained among State forces.

Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said it shall be conducting a motu propio investigation into the shooting of Valdez.

PMSgt,Henzie Zinampan in front of a church building. (Facebook photo)

In a video circulating online, an allegedly drunk PMSgt. Zinampan can be seen grabbing the victim’s hair and eventually shooting her through the neck.

Ironically, in a standard declaration among police officers, Zinampan has condemned fellow PMSgt. Jonel Nuezca who was also caught on video shooting and killing mother and son Sonia and Frank Gregorio during an altercation in Paniqui, Tarlac Province last December 21.

“This incident is gravely concerning as we expect our police to ‘serve and protect,’ and not be at the frontlines of violating rights, let alone arbitrarily curtailing one’s right to life,” CHR executive director and spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia said.

De Guia also said the CHR urged the PNP to translate commitments of internal cleansing into actual reduction of cases of human rights violations on the ground after a string of recent deaths and killings attributed to police officers.

“One death is one too many. We urge the government to address these violations with the larger view that the protection of human rights is primarily a State obligation,” de Guia said.

Newly-installed Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar has ordered the Quezon City Police District to file murder and administrative cases against Zinampan. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Genuine revolutionary, loving father and patient husband,’ Concha says of slain husband

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National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant Concha Araneta-Bocala called her late husband Reynaldo a genuine revolutionary who gave five decades of his life serving the masses of Panay Island.

In a loving tribute to her life-long partner and fellow NDFP consultant, Concha said she grieves for Reynaldo and companion Willy “Ka Ramon” Arguelles, killed in what the Philippine National Police (PNP) said was a simple service of arrest warrants that turned bloody.

“I grieve for my comrade and my husband Ka Reynaldo Bocala, more lovingly known as Ka Hans, Ka Bading and Ka Minoy to the masses in the countryside of Panay. I also grieve for Ka Ramon his trusted and reliable companion. We all grieve for them. Unarmed, they were traitorously and brutally murdered by the fascist mercenaries of the tyrant Duterte,” Concha said.

Herself in hiding as among those listed as terrorists by the Rodrigo Duterte government, Concha said she is torn by the killing of her husband of 50 years but she is proud and happy that he had lived to his pledge of serving the people and the Party (Communist Party of the Philippines) “until his last breath.”

Concha credited Reynaldo as a key figure in the consolidation and upsurge of the underground revolutionary movement in Central Panay and in the anti-fascist struggle south of the island related to the downfall of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in 1986.

She said Reynaldo also organized the island’s indigenous Tumandok to fight for their right to their ancestral lands.

“Ka Minoy (Reynaldo) gave 50 years of his life in the revolutionary struggle. He was well-loved by the masses for his wit and humor, sharing stories and laughing with them, his down-to-earth style when giving lessons to the masses and practicality in guiding them on how to organize and mobilize their fellow peasants,” she said.

Reynaldo and Willy were killed by a team of police and military operatives in Providence Subdivision, Brgy. Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo City on Tuesday, May 29.

A Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees document of identification, ensuring his protection against surveillance, arrest, detention and assassination, was discovered among his possessions after the incident.

Patient husband, loving father

In her tribute, Concha said her husband was a loving father to their four children.

“[Y]our father, tatay loved you so much, too much. You know that and you can feel that,” she said.

Concha said she and Reynaldo met 50 years ago, got married and had two daughters and two sons.

While her husband failed to see their revolution succeed, Concha said she hopes their children, grandchildren and succeeding generations will see its inevitable victory.

“His life and work as a revolutionary may have taken his time away from you but his work was also for you and for all later generations that you may live decently as hard working people, enjoy genuine freedom and live full and happy lives,” she said.

Concha also revealed Reynaldo had been a patient husband to her, a headstrong woman born of privilege.

“To my comrade and husband, thanks for all the love you showered me even as I’m not easy to deal with, impatient, [lovingly] irritating almost always, and prickly as I may have inadequacies [as lover and wife],” she wrote in Hiligaynon.

“I give you my love admiration and respect,” she ended. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

CHR: Democracy needs a free press

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The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) underscored the role of a free press in a democracy, even as it noted the Philippines’ steady decline in the World Press Freedom Index in the last four years.

In her keynote message for a journalists and human rights defenders’ project Friday, May 28, CHR executive director Jacqueline Ann de Guia said democracy needs a free press to thrive and survive.

“It is the power of a free and independent media—to be a watchdog, to promote transparency and accountability, and to amplify the voices of the weak, disadvantaged, and marginalized—that put pressure on government to be responsive to the needs of the people,” de Guia said.

De Guia however expressed alarm at the state of press freedom in the country, adding that international group Reporters Without Borders has noted continuing attacks against mass media, journalists and other human rights defenders in the past four years.

“The state of press freedom in the country is a cause for concern for CHR. In the past four years, data from the World Press Freedom Index shows a continuous decline of the Philippines from 133rd out of 180 countries in 2018; to 134th in 2019; 136th in 2020; and 138th in 2021,” de Guia said.

De Guia spoke at the project launch of Safeguarding Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines by various media groups led by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and the International Media Service.

Other attendees included members of the Journalists Safety Advisory Group (JSAG) that crafted the Philippine Plan of Action for the Safety of Journalists (PPASJ) last November 2019 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Ampatuan Massacre.

The JSAG included the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Center for Community Journalism and Development, and the Philippine Press Institute.

Commission on Human Rights executive director and spokesperson Atty. Jacqueline Ann de Guia. (AIJC photo)

In her address, de Guia said the press must maintain its ability to expose corruption, demand redress of grievances, and call out lies and propaganda in favor of truth.

She added that the press must equally allow the people to decide better and demand more from the government that bears the obligation to uphold and protect the human rights of all.

The last four years have seen journalists, media workers, and media organisations being repeatedly confronted by a dangerous and hostile climate marked by episodes of harassment, silencing, and even death.

“And with the closure of ABS-CBN, we have greatly felt the gap in delivering critical information in hard-to-reach communities to help them cope and survive disasters, calamities, and this current Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

De Guia said that the CHR’s Task Force on Media-Related EJKs (extrajudicial killings), with regional desks in its Bicol, Cotabato and Cebu regional offices, is ready to investigate attacks against the press.

“Thus far, 21 media killings have been docketed for investigation in different CHR regional offices covering July 2016 to May 2021. We are also investigating 7 cases involving 20 victims of other alleged human rights violations, including unlawful/arbitrary arrest/detention, frustrated killings, and red-tagging,” she said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Out of order

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Cartoon by Crisby Delgado, PUP/Kodao

At last week’s hearing by the House of Representatives hearing on the raid conducted by the police and the social work department on the Bakwit School at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City last February, Presidential Communications Operations Office undersecretary and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict co-spokesperson Lorraine Badoy showed ignorance of parliamentary procedures and attempted to interrogate other resource persons. She was promptly told that she told that she could not ask questions as she is not a member of Congress. #

CPP: Murderers of NDFP consultants must be punished

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The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned what it called the coordinated murder of two National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultants in the Visayas Friday night.

In a statement, CPP information officer Marco Valbuena blamed the Rodrigo Duterte government, particularly the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for the killing of what it described as senior NDFP consultants.

“The (CPP) condemns in the strongest terms the (PNP) and the (AFP) for the coordinated killings last night of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants for the Visayas region,” Valbuena said.

Reynaldo Bocala, a known CPP and New People’s Army leader in Panay Island, and companion Willy Arguelles were killed in Iloilo City by the police while former Roman Catholic Priest and NDFP-Cebu negotiator Rustico Tan was killed in his sleep in Camotes Island, Cebu Province.

Valbuena said the killing of Bocala and Arguelles in Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo City was a “[t]okhang-style liquidation operation purportedly to serve warrants of arrests.”

The CPP said Bocala and Arguelles were unarmed when the police-military raid happened.

The PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group however said both victims put up a fight as the operatives were serving four warrants of arrest against Bocala for alleged murder.

The police issued the same claims in the killing of other NDFP consultants Julius Giron in Benguet Province, couple Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio in Rizal Province as well as other suspected elderly and sick New People’s Army fighters throughout the country.

All the killings happened either at night or before dawn.

The killings and arrests of NDFP consultants as well as suspected CPP and NPA members went into overdrive after Duterte cancelled peace negotiations with the underground Left in mid-2017.

“Stories by police and military officials of firearms recovered from the scene are all made-up to make the crime a legitimate police and military operation. This modus operandi, used against the wave of drug killings since 2016, is now being used by the military and police in the series of killings against activists and revolutionaries,” Valbuena said.

The killing of Tan is similar to the assassination of NDFP consultant Randy Felix Malayao who was also asleep when killed by two bullets on his head in Nueva Vizcaya.

Masterminded by Duterte

Valbuena said the CPP holds Duterte and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as masterminds of the killings of Bocala, Arguelles and Tan.

The massacre of the three was coordinated at a high level with the aim of driving terror into the hearts of the people and their revolutionary forces, Valbuena said.

The CPP spokesperson said the Duterte government perpetrates coordinated killings by the AFP and the PNP against NDFP peace consultants and suspected leaders of the Party and NPA.

“They are being summarily executed in line with Duterte’s the ‘take no prisoners’ fascist policy in the vain hope of making the people and their revolutionary forces surrender to his terrorist regime,” Valbuena said.

“It is an outrage that the fascists are targetting NDFP peace consultants who are in their senior years. Bocala was 75 years old, while Fr. Tan was 80,” he added.

Valbuena said the NPA must do its utmost to punish the perpetrators of the murders, “[i]n line with the (CPP’s) directives.” # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Another Bloody Friday: Police kill NDFP consultant in Iloilo; gunmen murder former priest and NDFP negotiator in Cebu

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Police killed a National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultant In Iloilo City while a retired NDFP leader and former priest was also gunned down in Camotes Island in Cebu province Friday evening.

Reynaldo Bocala, a known Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and new People’s Army (NPA) leader in Panay Island, was killed in a raid conducted by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) last night at Providence Subdivision, Brgy. Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo.

Local alternative media outfit Panay Today reported that the PNP-CIDG conducted the raid to purportedly serve four warrants of arrests against Bocala.

Pavia, Iloilo City where Bocala was killed by the police.

Bocala was the husband of NDFP peace consultant Concha Araneta-Bocala.

Also killed in the operation was a certain Willy Arguelles who was with Bocala at the time of the incident.

Iloilo police initially announced the incident was an illegal drugs buy-bust operation, local radio reports said.

Panay Today said a Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) Document of Identification was found on Bocala by the members of the operating team.

A Kodao source confirmed Bocala was a JASIG Document of Identification holder.

A JASIG Document of Identification supposedly protects its bearer from surveillance, harassment, threat, arrest and killing as participants in the peace process between the NDFP and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).

State agents however have killed and arrested several JASIG-protected peace process participants, especially after formal NDFP-GRP peace negotiations were cancelled by GRP President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017.

Killed in his sleep

In Cebu province, former Roman Catholic priest and NDFP consultant for Cebu Rustico Luna Tan was killed in Purok Caimito, Brgy. Upper Poblacion, Pilar, Camotes Island, Cebu.

Tan was asleep on his hammock when shot on his face and torso by unidentified assailants.

He was 80-years old.

Rustico Luna Tan as a political detainee. (Karapatan Central Visayas photo)

A former political detainee, Tan was abducted in 2017 by the PNP detained in Tagbilaran City, Bohol for alleged 14 counts of murder.

The charges were dismissed by the Tagbilaran Regional Trial Court in 2019.

The former priest was again slapped with murder charges in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental soon after but was freed in March 2020 by release on recognizance.

Tan had been active since in community organic farming initiatives in Camotes Island until his death yesterday.

Tan was also arrested with 14 others from the Visayas and detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City in 1989 on charges of illegal possession of firearms and rebellion. He was eventually cleared of the charges.

Tan first gained prominence as NDFP peace negotiator for Cebu Province between 1986 and 1987 in the first ever NDFP-GRP peace talks.

Ordained as a priest under the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart congregation, Tan served in various parishes in Surigao and Lapu-Lapu cities.

He later joined the NDFP-allied Christians for National Liberation.

Tan was among the many priests from all over the country who joined the CPP-led revolutionary movement during the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Canadian Parliament denounces attacks on Karapatan’s Palabay

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Canadian parliamentarians called on the Philippines government to stop its officials from harassing and threatening the lives of human rights defenders.

In a statement, the Canadian House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights said it is appalled that Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay was harassed and threatened by a top intelligence official after appearing as a resource person in its hearing earlier this month.

“After sharing her traumatic experiences defending human rights in the Philippines, Cristina Palabay’s life was threatened by agents of the Philippines government as a direct result of her appearance before the Subcommittee,” it said from Ottawa.

“The Subcommittee is appalled by the situation Ms. Palabay finds herself in,” the Subcommittee added.

Palabay and Rappler executive editor Maria Ressa narrated human rights abuses by the Rodrigo Duterte government in a hearing conducted by the Subcommittee last May 4.

The Canadian parliamentarians said Palabay’s “brave” testimony described the crumbling state of human rights in the Philippines, for which is continuously being persecuted.

Immediately after, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Alex Paul Monteagudo posted images online alleging Palabay’s connections with the underground Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

Just last month, Monteagudo earned the ire of Philippine Senators and the employees union of the Philippine Senate for his “malicious, baseless and dangerous” red-tagging activities of public sector unionists.

The Subcommittee said it will take “additional measures” to mitigate risks Palabay and other resource persons face.

“The personal safety and wellbeing of all those who appear before the Subcommittee are of the utmost concern to its members,” the Subcommittee said.

Red-tagging memes posted by NICA director general Alex Paul Monteagudo. (Karapatan-supplied images)

It also called on the Canadian government to denounce the attacks, especially against human rights defenders such as Palabay.

“The Subcommittee reminds states that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, such as the Philippines, that when attacking human rights defenders, they are violating their international human rights obligations,” it said.

Palabay also denounced the attacks, saying Monteagudo’s posts show the Duterte government’s “disdain for independent justice-seeking efforts.”

Palabay said reprisals by government officials against defenders who provide testimonies and information to governmental or inter-governmental bodies on the human rights situation in the Philippines should stop. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

‘Cockwomble’

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Cartoon by Crisby Delgado, PUP/Kodao

Never has there been a Philippine President that scandalized the country by his statements and public behavior as much as Rodrigo Duterte. He is on record to have ordered mass killings, rape, shooting women in the vagina, cussing the Pope, dismissing the occupation of Philippine territory by foreign countries, among many others. He also sexually harassed overseas workers, journalists, and fellow government officials in public. All the while, his apologists dismiss these as mere “jokes”. #

Group lauds impending passage of bill vs child marriage in PH

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An international humanitarian and development group lauded the impending passage of a bill seeking to end child marriage in the Philippines.

In a statement, Oxfam Pilipinas said it welcomes the House of Representatives Committee on Women and Gender Equality’s (CWGE) decision to approve in principle a proposed bill seeking to end child marriage in the country. 

In a hearing Wednesday, May 19, the committee approved House Bills nos. 1486, 3899, 5670 & 7922 and directed its secretariat to draft a unified version of the proposed laws for possible approval at its next hearing.

The bills seek to address the legal loopholes that allow child marriage in the Philippines and would strengthen child protection mechanisms to prevent further acts of violence and abuse, Oxfam Pilipinas said.

Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, an author of one of the bills, said there is an urgent need for a national law to prohibit child marriage.

“[This is to] ensure that all Filipino children have the opportunity to grow and develop to their full potential,” Herrera-Dy said.

CWGE chairperson Malou Acosta-Alba acknowledged that 12 million girls from all over the world are married before the age of 18 every year.

“That’s 23 girls every minute,” she said.

Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas also lauded the development, saying her party supports the CWGE in pushing for the “inalienable rights of women and girls and in registering the essence of consent.”

The Senate unanimously passed a similar measure called Senate Bill No. 1373 or the “Girls Not Brides” bill last November 9.

The “Girls Not Brides” bill seeks to prohibit marriage between minors – persons below 18 years old – as well as between a minor and an adult.

Any person who causes, fixes, facilitates or arranges a child marriage shall be fined at least P40,000 and face a prison sentence between 8 years and a day and 10 years, the Senate Bill proposes.

Grave human rights violation

Oxfam Pilipinas Gender Justice Program Manager Jeanette Dulawan said child marriage is a grave violation of human rights and a serious public health issue. 

“As with other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, child marriage is rooted in gender inequality and poverty. Early marriage is seen as a way to ‘sanction’ girls for premarital sexual activity and pregnancy outside marriage,” Dulawan said.

The United Nations Children’s Fund said the Philippines has the 12th highest absolute number of child brides in the world at 726,000.

An estimated 15% of Filipina girls are married before the legally-allowable age of 18, the agency said.

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) also explained that child marriage is practiced by some religions and cultures in the country.

Some allow the marriage of a female at the age of puberty, which is presumed upon reaching the age of fifteen, the PCW said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)