Posts

Gov’t fumes, but rights groups applaud ICC probe continuation on drug war killings

The government fumed, but human rights advocates applauded the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) announcement to resume its investigations the bloody war on drugs in the Philippines.

Human rights group Karapatan said the ICC announcement is welcome news, adding it hopes it would result in the conviction of former President Rodrigo Duterte it says is accountable for the deaths of thousands.

“With the help of international mechanisms provided by bodies like the ICC, we can make a dent on the culture of impunity that has stymied the quest for justice for so long,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

“This should also serve as a warning to the current regime for essentially continuing Duterte’s policies on the drug war,” Palabay added.

Palabay also said the ICC decision should strongly spur an independent investigation by the United Nations Human Rights Council on the human rights situation in the Philippines.

In a separate statement, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said the ICC is correct in its observation that there has been no thorough investigation conducted on complaints of extrajudicial killings in the government’s anti-drug war.

“The ICC correctly observed that the various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court’s investigation,” Reyes said.

“This observation is consistent with the views echoed during the United Nations Universal Periodic Review where UN member-states pressed the Philippines for accountability of police personnel involved in the drug war killings,” he added.

Done waiting

In an announcement in The Netherlands last Thursday, January 26, the ICC said its pre-trial chamber has decided to resume the investigation into killings under the Duterte administration.

The development ended its 14 months suspension of the probe that gave the Philippine government a chance to prove its prosecution of police personnel accused of killing suspected drug personalities.

Prosecutor Karim Khan said the ICC was not satisfied with the Philippine government’s efforts, thus the international chamber’s approval to finally move the process of investigations.

“Following a careful analysis of the materials provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations on the basis of the complementarity principle,” the ICC said in its report.

“Moreover, the number of cases reviewed by the DOJ Panel (302 as of last count) is very low when compared with the estimated number of killings that allegedly occurred in the context of ‘war on drugs’ operations,” the ICC added.

Insult?

Justice secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla maintained a combative posture in his reply to the announcement, saying the chamber’s decision is an “insult” to the Philippines, which is no longer a member of the ICC.

After repeatedly daring the international community to indict him on his bloody record on the government’s war on drugs, Duterte made an about face in March 2018 and ordered the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute of 1998 creating the ICC.

“[W]hen they come in here trying to assert jurisdiction in a country that is not even a member of the ICC, it really begs the question, it behooves us to think what good they think they are in a country that is sovereign and free,” Remulla fumed in a press briefing last Friday.  

Remulla added that the Philippines is unlike other failed states that have no functioning judiciary and strong military where the ICC are expected to be.

In earlier public pronouncements, including repeated appearances at the UN in Geneva late last year, Remulla said the Marcos government sees no urgency in rejoining the ICC.

‘Stop stonewalling’

Bayan’s Reyes however urged the Marcos government to quit its resistance to the ICC probe.

“[It] should show full cooperation so that justice can be rendered to the thousands of victims of Duterte’s failed drug war,” Reyes said.

Reyes pointed out that there have been admissions that many top police officials are actually involved in the illegal drug trade makes the drug war a sham.

“Street-level pushers were executed while police officials recycled and re-sold the illegal drugs,” Reyes said. 

“It is time for the Philippines to cooperate with the ICC and stop its stonewalling tactics. Mr. Marcos cannot wash of this bloody stain on the Philippines rights record no matter how frequent his foreign trips may be. Only true justice can put a decisive close to this horrific chapter in our history,” he added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Groups ask Court to reduce Tondo 3 bail amount

P1.41 million ‘excessive’, ‘humongous’

Lawyers and human rights groups asked the court to reduce the bail amount for three Tondo activists arrested in November 2019 to allow them to spend Christmas with their respective families.

In a joint motion, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) asked Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 47 Judge Paulino Gallegos to reduce the amount by half for each of them: From ₱420,000 imposed on Reina Mae Nasino and Alma Moran to ₱210,000 each, and from ₱570,000 to ₱285,000 for Ram Carlo Bautista.

The joint motion notes that it is “within the sound discretion” of the Judge to adjust the bail amount it originally set as the 2018 New Bail Bond Guide of the National Prosecution Service are merely recommendatory to assist the courts.

The motion added the three are full-time human rights workers, “earning only what was necessary for daily sustenance,” and they come from low-income, working-class families.

“Nakakalula. Hindi namin po kakayanin yon,” appealed Nasino’s mother, Marites Asis, who accompanied the filing of the petition on Wednesday, December 14.

Judge Gallegos ordered the provisional release of the three activists last Monday, December 12, citing the failure of the prosecution to prove strong guilt against the three activists on charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The 12th Division of the Court of Appeals earlier said that the search warrant used in their arrest failed meet the standards of a valid search warrant, rendering all evidence gathered by the police raid “inadmissible.”

Political prisoner support group Kapatid said it is ironic that the poor and innocent have to stay in jail longer because they don’t have the money to pay for their freedom.

“But the rich and powerful like Imelda Marcos get a lower amount of bail though convicted for stealing 10.5 billion pesos of public funds,” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said, citing the former First Lady’s bail amount of P411,000 upon her conviction in November 2018.

Rights group Karapatan said that while it welcome’s the Court order for the temporary release of the three activists, it found the P1.4 million cumulative amount as “excessive.”

“[T]he humongous amount being demanded by the court is tantamount to depriving them of the liberty they deserve,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

“In the interest of justice, we urge the court to reduce the Tondo 3’s bail considerably and allow them to spend Christmas with their families,” Palabay added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

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

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)

Gunmen kill broadcaster; murder earns swift condemnation

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)

Rights defenders urge new CHR officials to uphold independence

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)

Groups tell UN: PH human rights situation in crisis

The human rights situation in the country has since spiraled into a crisis a decade since the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) conducted a review on the Philippines in 2012, human rights organizations revealed.

In a joint report to the international treaty body, Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said they documented and witnessed gross violations on the right to life and civil liberties of Filipinos as well as deeper and pervasive climate of impunity in the country.

They also told the UNHRC about the lack of effective domestic mechanisms for redress and accountability as well as the ongoing constriction of civic and democratic spaces.

The groups submitted an alternative report to the UNHRC weeks before the Philippines undergoes a fifth periodic review on its compliance to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in Geneva, Switzerland in October.

Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said the Philippine government failed to meet its obligations to core international human rights instruments such as the ICCPR under the Benigno Aquino and Rodrigo Duterte administrations.

The groups cited that the Philippine government failed to make soldiers and police accused of killing activists accountable as it failed to stop enforced disappearances and other forms of human rights violations against citizens.

The alternative report also included complaints of how the Philippine government refused to protect human rights defenders but has persecuted them instead.

Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said that UNHRC’s many recommendations to the Philippine government in its past four periodic reviews on the country have gone unheeded.

[READ KARAPATAN AND TANGGOL BAYI’S REPORT HERE]

Impunity likely to continue under Marcos

In their 29-page report, the groups also expressed fears that impunity seems likely to continue under the new Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government because of his family’s refusal to acknowledge “acts of gross human rights violations and massive corruption” under the Marcos Sr. regime.

The failure of succeeding governments to make the Marcoses fully accountable impedes efforts towards truth and justice, Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi said.

“Marcos Jr.’s recent defense of his dictator-father’s martial law glosses over their family’s rapacious intent to monopolize political power and prolong their rule by suppressing political dissent and pocketing billions from the nation’s coffers. Clearly, Marcos Jr.’s presidency seeks to erase all the crimes of the Marcoses against the Filipino people, to enable them to keep their massive loot from public funds, and to further their political ambitions,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay, reacting to Marcos Jr.’s recent interview defending his father’s imposition of martial law.

 “Marcos Jr. continues the draconian and repressive policies of the Duterte administration, wielding and foisting the anti-terror law and other repressive policies against those who uphold and defend human and people’s rights,” Palabay added.

Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi announced their participation to the 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Universal Periodic Review in the next two months that will scrutinize the Philippine government’s human rights record. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Karapatan slams Tolentino’s ‘witch-hunt proposal,’ lauds Legarda’s peace call

A senator’s proposal to require government personnel to disclose relatives allegedly connected with criminal or so-called terrorist groups will only result in crackdowns on public officials, employees and their kin, a human right group said.

Reacting to Senator Francis Tolentino’s privilege speech on Tuesday, rights group Karapatan said that the legislator’s proposal will open the floodgates for possible violations on the right to due process, freedom of thought or opinion, privacy and threats to life and security and liberty of government workers and their families.

“What Sen. Tolentino is suggesting is a crackdown on officials and employees in the public sector and their relatives, based on the much-questioned, vague and arbitrary definition of terrorism under our laws,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

In his speech, Tolentino proposed amendments to the filing of Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALN) by public officials and employees to include relatives who may be involved in criminal and underground activities.

“I think it is right that when one enters the government to perhaps declare that you have a relative who is a member of a terrorist organization or criminal syndicate up to the fourth degree of consanguinity,” Tolentino said.

The senator’s proposal came after higher education commissioner Prospero de Vera III’s admission that an elder sister is a member of an underground revolutionary organization.

Poet Adora Faye de Vera was arrested in Quezon City last August 24. Her supporters however have only described her as a martial law survivor who suffered torture and rape in the hands of government soldiers.

Karapatan said Tolentino’s proposal is way off mark while the Senate was deliberating on government efficiency in the midst of an economic crisis.

The group said “the senator’s proposal of a witch-hunt and pointless red-tagging in the public sector workforce is a huge disservice to the public.”

“Isn’t it more important to check government officials and agencies that engage in influence peddling, graft and corruption for self-serving interests rather than make proposals on irrelevant issues?” Palabay asked.

Group lauds Legarda

Meanwhile, Karapatan lauded Senate Pro Tempore Loren Legarda’s reply to Tolentino, pointing out that having political beliefs different from the status quo does not make one a subversive or a terrorist.

“Apart from her assertion of the fact that the anti-subversion law has been repealed, what can be gleaned from Sen. Legarda’s comments is the irony in a so-called democratic state, where the prevalent practice of government officials and State security forces remains to be that of intolerance for progressive beliefs, persecution and dangerous red-tagging,” Palabay said.

Karapatan said Legarda is correct in calling for a review of the Anti-Terrorism Law and the resumption of peace talks between the Manila government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

“[T]he common goal of leaders of our country, whether we are elected in the Senate, or even working with a grassroots organization deemed subversive or Left by the government, but not really proven, can work together towards more equity, peace and authentic real reforms in the countryside,” Legarda said during Tuesday’s hearing.

Legarda added said she would like the Anti-Terror Law to be reviewed, pointing out that she voted against it at the House of Representatives. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Abducted activist found, regional human rights group announces

Abducted activist Stephen “Steve” Tauli had been found Sunday evening after a search by his organization, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) announced.

“After the search initiated by [the] CPA (Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance) in Kalinga, including persistent calls made to the local government units, PNP (Philippine National Police), and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), Steve Tauli was found at around 10 pm today,” CHRA said in an update Sunday evening.

The group has yet to disclose exactly where Tauli is and who was responsible in his disappearance for more than 24 hours since he was reportedly beaten up and abducted by five men along five men along Ag-a Road in Tabuk City.

National human rights group Karapatan said CCTV footage showed the abductors entering and leaving the CPA-Kalinga office prior to the assault Saturday evening between 6 to 9 in the evening.

“He is still in shock and needs to recover to be able to state the full accounts of what took place since the assault on him yesterday (Saturday evening), CHRA said.

Tauli is a CPA regional council member and husband to CPA vice chairperson Jill Cariño.

He, along with several other CPA leaders and members, had been victims to red-tagging, surveillance and harassment by government agents, the group added.

Last week, alleged drug personality turned government anti-insurgency spokesperson Jeffry Celis reportedly red-tagged the CPA in a forum at the Kalinga State University, the CHRA said.

A Kankanaey indigenous activist in the Cordilleras, Tauli is a staunch defender of the indigenous people’s right to ancestral domain and self-determination proven by his years of involvement in many land rights campaigns against destructive energy and mining projects, the CHRA said.

Tauli is also connected with farmers’ group Timpuyog Dagiti Mannalon ti Kalinga, the group said.

“At present, Steve is active in the Kalinga peoples’ struggle against the proposed two big hydropower projects of JBD Water Power Inc. (JWPI)- the 49 MW Saltan D and 45 MW Saltan E Dams along the Saltan River,” CHRA said.

Prior to becoming a full-time activist, Tauli graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Forestry degree from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños and was active in the university’s Green Mountain Circle.

The 63-year old activist is also a member of the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity.

Tauli had been an activist since the Cordillera peoples’ struggle against the Chico Dam project during the Ferdinand Marcos Sr. government and has “persistently campaigned against dams, mines, and other forms of development aggression against the Cordillera peoples,” Karapatan said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Karapatan lauds affirmation of Palparan’s conviction

Human rights group Karapatan welcomed the affirmation of retired Major General Jovito Palparan’s conviction for the kidnapping of University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno by the Court of Appeals last Tuesday.

“This recent legal victory affirms the need to pursue justice and accountability through and through — despite threats, harassment, reprisals, and patronage by those in power of these human rights violators,” the group in a statement said.

In a decision promulgated last May 31 by Court of Appeals (CA) First Division, the appellate court said Palparan and cohorts Lieutenant Colonel Felipe Anotado and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio are sentenced to life imprisonment without eligibility of parole.

The three were also ordered to pay the families of the victims P300,000 in civil indemnity and moral damages, subject to six percent interest per year from the date of finality of the decision until full payment.

The CA affirmed Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 15’s decision of September 2018 saying Palparan, Anotado and Osorio were responsible for the disappearance and serious illegal detention of the victims.

MUST READ: Abandoned Mount Samat Military Camp Yields Bones, Evidences, Quest for Justice Continues

Cadapan and Empeno remain missing to this day. Palparan meanwhile has started serving his 40-year imprisonment at the National Penitentiary in Muntinlupa City.

Karapatan said the affirmation of Palparan’s conviction could not have been possible without the strength and perseverance of the victim’s parents and the witnesses, as well as their lawyers and various local and international support groups.

“Sadly, Karen and She, along with many other desaparecidos remain missing, and Palparan should be made to divulge their whereabouts. This struggle for justice is for them and many other victims of State terrorism,” Karapatan said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Human rights stalwart Marie Hilao-Enriquez passes away

Karapatan’s chairperson emeritus Amaryllis Hilao-Enriquez has died on April 24 in California, USA, the human rights icon’s family announced.

Hilao-Enriquez’s daughter Andrea said her mother died at 12 noon Sunday (California time). She was 68.

 “My mother, Amaryllis Hilao-Enriquez, passed away at 12 noon today. She is reunited with her sister, Liliosa, who died under martial law in the Philippines,” Andrea wrote on Facebook.

 “My mother dedicated her life to fighting for justice and human rights. She was a beautiful person, funny, intelligent, brave, and strong. She was loved and will be greatly missed,” she added.

Karapatan also announced her death, adding it mourns with her family along with human rights violations victims, their families and communities.

Hilao-Enriquez was also a former chairperson of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensiyon at Aresto (SELDA) and former convernor of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA).

Hilao-Enriquez had long been suffering from various illnesses.

Martial law survivor

Fondly-called Marie by the Philippine human rights community, Hilao-Enriquez was a scholar at the College of Medicine at the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) taking up occupational therapy when she first became involved in activism.

She eventually joined the Kamuning chapter of the youth organization Kabataang Makabayan (Patriotic Youth).

Karapatan further described its former long-time chairperson as a stalwart in the anti-Marcos dictatorship struggle and in the relentless advocacy for justice and accountability of the Marcoses.

“[S]he and her family endured gross human rights violations during that dark period of our nation’s history. Her sister, student journalist and activist Liliosa, was the first reported case of killing under military detention after Marcos’s martial law was imposed,” Karapatan said.

After Liliosa’s death, Marie went underground and continued her work as community organizer.

In 1974, Hilao-Enriquez was arrested, tortured and was detained for two years. She became part of the Kapisanan para sa Pagpapalaya at Amnestiya ng mga Detenidong Pulitikal sa Pilipinas or Kapatid after she was released from prison and as she campaigned for the release of her detained husband, Karapatan said.

After the late dictator was ousted in 1986, she joined SELDA and helped in the filing of the historic class action suit against Marcos in Hawaii.

Hilao-Enriquez helped in consolidating the data and finding the lead plaintiffs for the class suit. Her mother and younger sister were two of the ten named plaintiffs in the case.

She led campaigns for justice and reparations of human rights violations victims against the Marcoses, including in the advocacy for the enactment of Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013.

She led the formation of CARMMA in 2016, having campaigned against what Karapatan said are historical lies of the Marcoses throughout decades.

Hilao-Enriquez continued in leading the campaigns for people’s rights as the founding secretary general of Karapatan in its establishment in 1995 and became its chairperson in 2009.

“She worked for the release of political prisoners and the dismissal of trumped up charges against those detained, in pursuing justice for victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture, and in working for the signing and implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),” Karapatan said.

“Hilao-Enriquez mentored numerous activists and human rights workers throughout decades. We are deeply indebted to her brilliant, selfless and passionate work as among the foremost human rights defenders in the Philippines. We vow to strive to honor her legacy of service to the Filipino people in every possible way that we can and as long as tyrants and dictators remain in our midst,” it added.

READ: Marie Hilao-Enriquez: An Icon of Human Rights Activism in the Philippines

Marie Hilao-Enriquez (Photo from Andrea Enriquez’s announcement)

‘From Manila to the world’

National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia said he is very sad at the news of Hilao-Enriquez’s passing.

“Tita Marie (Hilao-Enriquez) was very dear to me. We walked together in many a journey to defend, protect and promote human rights. From Manila to Geneva, from Utrecht to Oslo to New York, she was a partner, aunt, comrade, and friend,” Olalia said.

The lawyer added that Hilao-Enriquez was “unique, indefatigable, funny, thoughtful and selfless, even as she was naughty and sometimes pesky in her own adorable way. I got only the fondest, funniest and feistiest of memories of her.”

To say that Hilao-Enriquez is an icon of the human rights struggle is an understatement, Olalia said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)