Only 4 of 305 cases of unexplained killings resulted in convictions

MANILA, Philippines – Only four of the 305 reported cases of unexplained killings in the country have resulted in convictions since 2001, a study by a human rights lawyer showed.

In his study titled “Report on the Philippine Extrajudicial Killings (2001-August 2010),” Al Parreño of Diaz, Parreño and Caringal law firm noted the figure translates to a “dismal” conviction rate of one percent.

The report said of the 305 incidents of killings, only 161 involving 390 persons have been filed by the prosecution.

The study said most victims (32 percent) were officers and members of activist groups like Bayan Muna and Anakpawis.

Elected officials constitute 15 percent of the victims while journalists and farmers comprise 15 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Communist rebels make up eight percent of the victims, while the rest were lawyers, judges, and members of religious groups and other sectors.

The bulk of the suspects or 57 percent were unidentified armed men while 19 percent belong to the military. Communist rebels constitute 12 percent while policemen make up nine percent.

The rest of the suspects were militiamen, public officers, or government officials.

“A majority of the cases have not been successfully prosecuted because most of the suspects are still unidentified,” Parreño said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. maintained that the government does not tolerate such killings.

“It (killings) is never sanctioned by the state, much more the Armed Forces of the Philippines. With this report, we look at it with an open mind so we can use this to better our human rights efforts,” he said.

“We will open our resources for whatever inquiries and investigations that will be conducted specifically by the CHR (Commission on Human Rights),” Mabanta said.

The study showed that Pampanga had the most number of killings with 37, followed by Negros Occidental with 25.

Killings were also reported in Leyte, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Quezon and Davao del Sur.

The report cited the need to come up with an independent watchdog that will monitor killings nationwide.

“The killings… have a chilling effect on the activism of the general public by intimidating essential civil society actors… Thus, we need a proper monitoring agency to look at this looming human rights disaster,” it said.

The study also stressed the need to institutionalize respect for human rights in the military and the police, review the witness protection program, and create a task force to focus on curbing the killings. –Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star)