Palace encouraged by US State Department report on rights

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has expressed elation over the positive assessment it got from the US State Department on some aspects of the Philippine government’s handling of human rights cases but it acknowledged that much more could be done to prevent abuses by state forces.

On Sunday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokesman said the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines have been given until April 1 to submit a report to Mrs. Arroyo regarding allegations of abuse they committed in a recently released US State Department 2009 report on the human rights situation in the Philippines.

“The Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines should submit to the President by April 1 their reports on how they will address specific allegations of abuse in the report,” President Arroyo’s spokesperson Ricardo Saludo said.

Saludo was referring to the US State Department 2009 Human Rights Report on the Philippines, which noted that while civilian authorities generally maintained control of the police and military, there were instances when government forces acted independently.

“Arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings by elements of the security services and political killings, including killings of journalists, by a variety of actors continued to be major problems. Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture,” said the report.

Interviewed over government station dzRB radio, deputy presidential spokesperson Gary Olivar said the report cited “individual cases of violations from the AFP and PNP” and that the two organizations should explain to the President what they were doing to address this problem.

Olivar underscored the need for the AFP and PNP to air their side as he pointed out these individual cases of violations were giving a “black eye” not only to these organizations but the government and the country as well.

But both Saludo and Olivar said the US State Department had also highlighted the fact that the communist New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf had committed human rights violations as they were involved in several killings, bombings and other atrocities.

Saludo said the police and the military also “risk life and limb to keep our people safe from terrorism.”

The same report also highlighted other positive aspects which included what Saludo said would “augur well for the 2010 elections” as he said the report had noted that the 2007 elections in the Philippines were “generally free and fair.”

“This year we expect automation to enhance fairness even more,” Saludo said.

Saludo also extended the Palace commendation to the police for expanding their rights training and community outreach programs and maintaining its networks of 1, 841 rights desks at national, provincial, city and municipal levels.

Saludo pointed out that the US report called the prosecution of suspects in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre as “swift” and acknowledged the immediate relief and transfer of some 1, 000 police from the province.

“The President’s declaration of martial law and deployment of more than 4, 000 troops were reported as effecting the arrest of massacre suspects and the breakup for armed groups,” the presidential spokesperson said in his statement.

He quoted the report as saying how martial law was lifted eight days after it was imposed by President Arroyo and that the Commission on Human Rights observers had reported no human rights abuses by soldiers during that period. –Christine Avendaño, Philippine Daily Inquirer