The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today called on Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff. Gen. Delfin Bangit to strictly comply with an order of the Commission on Human Rights to the AFP to bring the 43 detained health workers to a public hearing on March 18. The CHR order dated February 26, also directed the AFP to strictly comply with RA 7438 on the rights of the persons detained.
Bayan made the call a few days after the United States State Department came out with its 2009 report saying that human rights abuses persist in the Philippines. The State Department report acknowledged that “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.”
The report also said that during the previous year “members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees” and that “leftist and human rights activists often were subject to harassment by local security forces.”
“On March 18, all eyes will be on the AFP, if it will show respect to a civilian institution like the CHR and present the 43 health workers for the hearing. We do not wish a repeat of what happened to the Court of Appeals hearing last February 12 when the AFP defied a Supreme Court order by failing to bring the 43 to court,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“There can be no justifying the AFP’s refusal to bring the 43 to the CHR hearing. The notice was sent more than two weeks ago. All logistical preparations should have been made in advance. We call on Gen. Bangit to personally commit that the AFP will present the 43 to the CHR,” Reyes said.
Local and international pressure to release the 43 health workers continues to mount as legal luminaries, medical professionals and unions and social activists continue to add their names to the growing list of advocates and supporters. Former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark has signed a statement calling for the release of the 43.
“Other civilian institutions such as Congress should also put their support behind the CHR during this very crucial period. We cannot allow the AFP to simply disregard the mandate of civilian authorities seeking to exercise oversight functions on issues such as human rights,” Reyes added.
US can’t ignore rights abuses
“The US State Department report affirms what many groups have been saying all along: that the human rights situation is not at all well in the Philippines, despite claims to the contrary by the Arroyo government. The situation is so bad even the US can’t ignore it. The present case of the 43 health workers clearly shows the climate of impunity still prevalent in our country,” Reyes said.
“The upcoming elections also raises more concerns about human rights since election violence is expected to escalate. Government has done little to address this, with hardly any results in the so-called campaign to eliminate private armies,” Reyes added.
Bayan said that given the report, the US government should not have increased military aid to the Philippines. “If despite the report, miliary aid to continues to increase, then clearly the US is directly supporting human rights abuses in the Philippines. ###
