Human Rights

The culture of impunity in cases of extra-judicial killings has never gone away, even with a new leadership in government.

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines  – The Philippines ranked third in the annual impunity index report released by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) yesterday.

CAMP EMILIO F. AGUINALDO, Quezon City — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and other participating agencies and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) have agreed to adopt and incorporate the measures on how the national monitoring mechanism will operate as proposed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during the meeting held at the CHR building…

MANILA, Philippines – The military is confident that it can help improve the country’s standing in the Global Peace Index (GPI) through a more vigorous implementation of its Bayanihan security plan, which focuses on community development programs and on greater civilian involvement in addressing security concerns. “Despite the country being included in the 20 nations…

Negros Occidental accounts for more than 50 percent of the cases of human rights violations in Western Visayas, with policemen still the number one violators, records of the Commission on Human Rights show.

POLICE investigators have linked a leftist underground movement to the murder of radio broadcaster Marlina Sumera who was gunned down in Malabon City on March 24 by four unidentified suspects.

Manila, Philippines – Malacañang defended yesterday its record in solving unexplained killings and ensuring that the human rights in the country are safeguarded.

Human rights abuses persist under the administration of President Aquino while hundreds of cases of rights violations committed under the previous administration remain unresolved, London-based Amnesty International (AI) said in its latest Report 2011.

MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino administration is taking steps to curb human rights violations, Malacañang said on Saturday.

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The Philippine National Police (PNP) has filed murder charges before the Malabon City Prosecutors Office against a leader and three members of the leftist group Partisano-Armado Operatiba ng Marxista-Leninista ng Pilipinas who said to be behind in the murder of Merlin Sumera, a journalist, near her house last March 22.

The Army leadership yesterday expressed vindication over the kidnapping and torture allegation of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebel Melissa Roxas against the military after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) found insufficient grounds to support the accusation.

Malacañang yesterday passed on to the judiciary the “pressure” it is receiving from various media and other press-oriented organizations concerning the resolution of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and other political killings involving journalists that happened during the Arroyo administration.

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Unidentified gunmen shot dead a militant leader who heads a group of small scale miners in the southern Philippines, local human rights groups said Friday.

DOJ ISSUES ADVISORY OPINION ON RULES ON MILITARY/POLICE CHECKPOINTS 24 March 2011 The Department of Justice (DOJ) released today the first Advisory Opinion summarizing the basic rights of citizens in military/police checkpoints.

ASHINGTON – As many soldiers and police were killed last year in the Philippines as communist rebels and Muslim insurgents, the US State Department said.

MANILA, Philippines –  The military yesterday branded as “unfair” a US State Department report blaming Philippine security forces for a spate of unlawful killings in 2010.

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MANILA, Philippines – Proposals for a national identification (ID) system never got to see the light of day, so to speak, due to stiff opposition from sectors who fear it may infringe on the rights of citizens.

MANILA, Philippines – President Aquino has signed and endorsed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said.

A FEW more pushes and a significant feature will be added to the Philippines’ history as a democratic nation. A few more steps and the Philippines will stand side by side with great democratic nations that have ratified the Rome Statute and joined the International Criminal Court (ICC).

UNITED NATIONS – Hundreds of thousands of protesters have thronged public squares; slogans have been chanted, banners waved and security forces cowed into inaction; the reviled despot has stepped down or fled abroad.

A hard-hitting radio commentator was shot dead in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, yesterday morning, police said, becoming the second journalist to be murdered in the eight-month-old Aquino administration.

MANILA, Philippines (PNA) – A human rights advocate from the Federal Republic of Germany signified his support to the stringent efforts of the Aquino administration in pushing tangible developments for the country and the common goal of improving programs in the field of human rights.

HONG KONG—In some of 2010’s most compelling images, Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from her home after years in detention and an empty chair marked the absence of Liu Xiaobo from his Nobel prize ceremony.

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court has affirmed with finality the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 9372, also known as the Human Security Act of 2007, which was crafted by Congress to give teeth to the government’s anti-terrorism drive.

MANILA, Philippines – Peasant groups and rights advocates condemned the new year’s first extra-judicial killing of a peasant leader in Santa Rosa town, Nueva Ecija last Sunday (Jan. 2).

Students will be required to learn about human rights while in school, if Senator Manuel Villar’s bill is passed into law.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO) in Camp Crame launched the PNP human rights desk operations manual shortly before Christmas.

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine National Police announced the strengthening of its human rights arm through the release of a human rights manual that is meant as a guide to every policemen on the field.