INTRODUCTION
It is said that only the Creator has the right to take away life and that humans must never
intervene with the natural movement of Earthly events. Yet, humans defy the intended order. Man
eventually learned to kill his own kind for no particular or irrational reasons. A human being is granted
the divine right to life and existence and the constitutional right to life, liberty and property and an
assurance to not be deprived of these without due process of law. However, reviewing Philippine history,
there have been numerous accounts of extralegal killings, or executions without due process of law,
without legal safeguards or judicial proceedings, and enforced disappearances, or the arrest, abduction
or detention due to refusal to acknowledge or give information or the intention of removing someone
from the protection of the law.
These acts, which are not only illegal and unconstitutional but also inhumane, unjust and most
of the time gruesome, are very difficult to ignore. As a media studies student of the Ateneo de Naga
University, it is even harder for me to discuss accounts of previous cases of extralegal killings and forced
disappearances in the Philippines since those who are often victims of these crimes are media
practitioners including journalists, editors and writers for newspapers, radio commentators and some
television personalities and crew – careers where, most probably, most media studies students, including
myself, are heading after graduation.
This issue is significant not only to media scholars and practitioners but also to the general
public. Only a portion of the victims of such crimes, as aforementioned, are people in media. Therefore,
the rest of the people that are killed and abducted without due process of law belong to other sectors of
the society such as the school and the church, some activists and union members and workers. Also, it
should not be forgotten that even sometimes, even average, innocent people are victims of these
crimes. Their “averageness”, in the Philippine judiciary scene, make their cases forgettable and
uninteresting not unless they were killed or abducted alongside other reputable people or those that are
in position.
The most recent and probably the most gruesome of all extralegal killing cases is the
Maguindanao Massacre (a.k.a. Ampatuan Massacre) last November 23, 2009 in the town
of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao where 57 people, including at least
34 journalists, were kidnapped and brutally killed. The massacre was targeted primarily at Esmael
Mangudadatu, who was to file his certificate of candidacy for the gubernatorial elections in
Maguindanao as part of the 2010 National Elections, his family members and his supporters. Sadly,
others that were killed were either witnesses or were just mistaken to be part of the convoy.
This massacre was dubbed by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as the single deadliest
event for journalists in history (since 1992 when CPJ started keeping detailed records on journalist
deaths).
To paraphrase an old saying, however, numbers tend to numb. In this case, one is led to think
that three journalists killed in less than a week is irrelevant or a non-issue especially when comparing
the sheer number of journalists killed in the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
Case after case, these killings and disappearances has evoked fear and has created waves that
troubled the sense of security of every Filipino just because anyone may be abducted anytime and may
never be seen again.
Each time a media practitioner is killed human rights groups and media communities look to the
government for solutions and the much desired action. Behind every condemnation of journalist killings
is an appeal to government authorities to do what it can in bringing perpetrators to justice.
NATURE
In the Philippines, EXTRALEGAL KILLINGS are often politically-motivated committed by
government officials. Included under ELKs are assassinations, deaths due to strafing or indiscriminate
firing, massacre, salvage (premeditated murder) and summary execution.
An ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE (desaparecidos) is defined in Article 2 of the United Nations
Convention Against Torture as "the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of
liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or
acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by
concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside
the protection of the law." In the Philippines, it is a form of extrajudicial punishment indirectly
perpetrated by government officers when any of its public officials abducts an individual to vanish from
public view often leading to murder. The victim is first kidnapped and then detained. Since there was no
due process for the person to be taken away and detained, the action if therefore illegal. Then, often
torture follows. Finally, the individual is executed, then his corpse hidden.
RECORDS
Human rights group KARAPATAN (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights) published a
report showing sthat from 2001 to 2010, the number of extra-judicial killings reached 1,190 and the
number of enforced disappearances, 205. This means that for a period of nine years under the
Macapagal-Arroyo administration, an average of 132 activists were killed every year. Those who
disappeared, on the other hand, reached about 23 annually.
The NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES (NUJP) on the other hand records
104 journalist killings since 1986, 67 of which happened during the time of President Gloria Arroyo.
Many of these journalists were silenced because of the controversial stories they were pursuing, mostly
exposes of corrupt government officials or offices. Since Aquino assumed office last June 30, six media
persons have been killed.
The New-York based COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS (CPJ) said in its year-end report
that the election-related slaughter of at least 30 journalists in the southern Philippine province
accounted for almost half of 2009’s record, and marked the single deadliest event for the media
profession in the 28-year history of the organization. For this year, the CPJ said the Philippines accounted
for at least 32 of the total 68 cases of journalists worldwide killed for their work.
From 1996 to 2008, Belgium-based INTERNATIONAL NEWS SAFETY INSTITUTE (INSI) records
show 76 journalists have been killed in the Philippines already. In 2009 alone (the year barely over) INSI
has already recorded 4 deaths, excluding this week’s gruesome killings in Maguindanao.
In a study conducted by the CENTER FOR MEDIA FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY (CMFR) in
2005 and 2006, Prof. Luis Teodoro, deputy director, said they have documented 33 killings of journalists
that were “in the line of duty” while there were 20 other cases of killings “for reasons not connected
with their work.” Except for a few, Teodoro noted that all victims were community journalists or
provincial radio block timers who were not working for big media establishments. Of the said cases, only
27 have been brought to court. Eleven are pending investigation, five are under trial, five have been
dismissed, four are pending prosecution while only two have been successfully investigated. Court
records would show that some of the suspects are connected with the police, military or the local
government.
INVESTIGATIONS
The Gloria Macapagal – Arroyo administration appointed three bodies to investigate on the root
causes of the extralegal killings and enforced disappearances under her administration. The final reports
were submitted and were published.
a. TASK FORCE USIG
created by PGMA on August
as a special police body, it was assigned to solve 10 cases of killings
it claimed having solved 21 cases, by initiating court cases, but only 12 suspects
were arrested
b. THE MELO COMMISSION
chaired by Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo with members National
Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring, Chief State Prosecutor
Jovencito Zuño, Bishop Juan de dios Pueblos, and Nelia Torres Gonzales
its final report states: "There is no official or sanctioned policy on the part of the
military or its civilian superiors to resort to what other countries euphemistically
call “alternative procedures”—meaning illegal liquidations. However, there is
certainly evidence pointing the finger of suspicion at some elements and
personalities in the armed forces, in particular General Jovito Palparan, as
responsible for an undetermined number of killings, by allowing, tolerating, and
even encouraging the killings." (Melo Commission report, p. 53)
c. THE UNITED NATIONS SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON EXTRAJUDICIAL EXECUTIONS (February 12 to 21, 2007)
Philip Alston met with government officials, civil society representatives, witnesses of extrajudicial killings, and the family members of victims
He found that the Armed Forces of the Philippines killed left-wing activists to get rid of communist insurgents
"the executions had eliminated civil society leaders, including human rights defenders, trade unionists and land reform advocates, intimidated a vast number of civil society actors, and narrowed the country’s political discourse.”
Alston denied for lack of merit the government's claim that killings were perpetrated by communists to exterminate spies and to make negative propaganda versus government.
Alston, on February, 2007 stated that the military made alibis or denials on its role about 800 deaths of activists and journalists since 2001.
Alston blamed “IMPUNITY” which caused the executions of journalists and leftist activists: “the priorities of the criminal justice system had been “distorted,” and had “increasingly focused on prosecuting civil society leaders rather than their killers.”
But Alston noted the government's creation of - special courts to try extrajudicial killings, the Melo Commission and the Philippine National Police’s Task Force Usig.
In the November U.N. Alston report - the killings in 2007 was only 68, huge drop from the 209 murdered in 2006.
WORST CASE SCENARIO
November 23, 2009 was a dark day for the media community, civil society and the Philippine
nation as a whole. Along a deserted highway, the group of Esmael Mangudadatu, who was to file his
certificate of candidacy for the gubernatorial elections in Maguindanao as part of the 2010 National
Elections, his family members and his supporters along with media people to cover the filing, was
flagged by armed men and subsequently killed in the most savage of ways. Many of the women
journalists were also allegedly raped before they were killed. There are unconfirmed accounts that some
of the victims were run over by vehicles to finish them off, while a pre-dug grave site was waiting for the
unceremonial burial bodies. 57 people, including at least 34 journalists, were kidnapped and brutally
killed. Even before the Maguindanao massacre, the CPJ had labeled the Philippines the second most
dangerous country for journalists, second only to Iraq.
Andal Ampatuan, Sr., the alleged mastermind of the heinous massacre, first came into
prominence in 1986 when President Corazon Aquino appointed him as Officer-in-Charge of then
Maganoy (now Shariff Aguak) following the People Power Revolution. In 1988, he won the local
elections and served for ten (10) years. In 1998, he was elected governor. He was elected governor twice
more after that, unopposed. Eighteen of the mayors in Maguindanao belong to the clan. During
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term, Andal Sr. was considered a major ally in the Mindanao. In
the 2004 presidential elections, Arroyo won 69% of Maguindanao's vote.
Tension was building up between the Mangudadatus and the Ampatuans, both members of the
Lakas-Kampi CMD Party. To prevent election-related violence, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the
head of the party, mediated between the two clans. Three meetings were held in mid-2009 in order to
settle the tension. In one meeting, then Secretary of National Defense and now chairman of the party
Gilberto Teodoro presided. Gabriel Claudio, PGMA’s adviser for political affairs, reported that an
agreement has been made that no one from the Mangundadatu clan will run against Andal Ampatuan
Jr. in the gubernatorial race.
However, Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael "Toto" Mangudadatu wanted to disobey the agreement.
He invited 37 journalists to cover his filing of Certificate of Candidacy at the Comission on Elections in
Shariff Aguak. Threats have reached him that once he files his candidacy for the gubernatorial race, his
body will be chopped off in pieces. He thought than inviting media men to cover the filing would
dissuade the attack.
He was wrong. A convoy of 6 vehicles left Buluan at 9:00 in the morning of November 23, 2009.
Another convoy was supposed to follow but lagged behind when they sensed that something was going
to happen. Ten kilometers before reaching Shariff Aguak, the convoy was blocked by 100 armed men
including Andal Jr. who abducted and later killed most of the people in the convoy. It was reported that
out of at least 5 female victims, 4 of them journalists, were raped before executed by firing bullets into
their genitals according to Secretary of Justice Agnes Devanadera. Esmael Mangundadatu said that his
wife’s "private parts were slashed four times, after which they fired a bullet into it." In addition, he said
that "They speared both of her eyes, shot both her breasts, cut off her feet, fired into her mouth."
As confirmed by Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna of the Philippine National Police, as of
November 25, the death toll had risen to 57. Reporters Without Borders considered this the deadliest
such incident in the history of news media as they first announced that at least 12 of the victims were
journalists. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines then originally estimated that a total of
20 journalists were killed. The Philippine Daily Inquirer later updated the number of journalists killed to
34. On December 4, 2009, through Proclamation No. 1959, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has
officially placed Maguindanao province under a state of martial law.
The mediamen slaughter in Maguindanao only amplifies a nasty truth that press freedom is
continuously violated in a country like the Philippines which Belgium-based International News Safety
Institute (INSI) describes as the “deadliest nation on earth for news media”.
OTHER RECENT KILLINGS AND DISAPPEARANCES
Under the presidency of Benigno Aquino III, one former journalist was killed in Tabuk City,
Kalinga province last July 3, 2010. Seventy-five year old JOSE DAGUIO was shot dead in his home.
At around 5:30 a.m. of Monday, February 23, Misamis Occidental broadcaster ERNIE ROLLIN
became the first journalist in the country murdered for 2009, the 99th since the supposed restoration of
democratic institutions in 1986 and the 63rd since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo came to power in
2001.
A report from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in Ozamiz City said Rollin was
parking his motorcycle at a gasoline station in Oroquieta City before commuting to work in Ozamiz City
when two men on a motorcycle, their faces hidden by ski masks, drove up and shot him several times.
The report quoted Rollin’s partner, Ligaya, who was waiting for him to join her at a waiting shed,
said she hear three gunshots and, when she looked at where the shots had come from, saw the
broadcaster lying face down on the ground.
When Ligaya rushed over to help Rollin, one of the gunmen stopped her and pumped another
bullet into the nape of the fallen journalist. Colleagues said Rollin, who was in his mid-40s, was known
for his hard hitting commentaries.
INTERNATIONAL LAW
International law provides legal instruments to oblige the Philippines to protect people in its
territory from extrajudicial killings and investigate alleged human rights violations to prevent future
crimes.
1. RIGHT TO LIFE (ICCPR)
Under international law, states have a duty to respect the right to life.
The Philippines is legally bound by the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (herein after ICCPR) as a member state, which provides the right as follows:
“every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by
law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life.” (Article 6).
The ICCPR provides that no derogation from Article 6 may be made under this
provision even in case of state emergency.
The right to life cannot be derogated in any circumstances.
The United Nations Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-
Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions articulates that internal political instability
and any public emergency including a state of war and a threat of war may not be
invoked as a justification of extrajudicial executions.
Obligation to Ensure Right to Life As a State party to the ICCPR, the State of the Philippines has a legal duty to
ensure the right to life.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights held in Velásquez Rodríguez v.
Honduras as follows:
“The State has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent human rights
violations and to use the means at its disposal to carry out a serious
investigation of violations committed within its jurisdiction, to identify those
responsible, to impose the appropriate punishment and to ensure the victim
adequate compensation.”
2. RIGHT TO AN EFFECTIVE REMEDY
Both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law provide
the right to an effective remedy.
In 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Extrajudicial, Summary
or Arbitrary Execution which provides state obligation to compensate victims of
extrajudicial killings.
The UN “reiterates the obligation of all Governments to grant adequate
compensation within a reasonable time to the victims or their families”
Article 2 of the ICCPR also obliged state parties to ensure the right to effective
remedy to individuals whose Covenant rights have been violated.
The scope of obligation includes, for the first place, cessation of the ongoing
violation, and investigation of human rights violation.
The Human Rights Committee General Comment 31 stated, “a failure by a State
Party to investigate allegations of violations could in and of itself give rise to a
separate breach of the Covenant. Cessation of an ongoing violation is an essential
element of the right to an effective remedy.” (Paragraph 15)
In this regard, the Philippines government should take all necessary measure to
cease all acts of extrajudicial killings and investigate all the case to sweep impunity.
The state of the Philippines should realize compensation, restitution, rehabilitation,
satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition for all victims of human rights
violations.
GOVERNMENT ACTIONS
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a bill that would penalize those responsible for
enforced or involuntary disappearances. SENATE BILL 1455 seeks to impose penalties against
perpetrators of enforced or involuntary disappearances and provide compensation and rehabilitation to
the victims and their families.
"Cases of involuntary disappearances are usually filed under kidnapping, murder, or serious
illegal detention. They are some of the cruelest forms of human rights violations and our laws should
recognize this distinction from other offenses," Santiago said in a statement released Friday.
Santiago explained that enforced or involuntary disappearances involve the deprivation of
liberty by agents of the state, the refusal to acknowledge this, and the concealment of information
regarding a missing victim.
The EUROPEAN UNION has made a stronger push for human rights in the country as it started a
3.9-million-euro (about P250 million), 15-month project with the Philippine government to stop and
solve extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances of activists, farmers representatives, trade
unionists, and journalists. At the launch of the EU-PHILIPPINE JUSTICE SUPPORT PROGRAM (EPJUST) on
February 11, EU Ambassador to the country Alistair MacDonald said the amount will cover the cost of
technical assistance services, advice, and training intended to strengthen the criminal justice system
(investigation, prosecution, and judiciary).
Because of the inefficacy and insufficiency of the Philippines Writ of Habeas Corpus, on
September 25, 2007, Chief Justice Reynato Puno signed and released the WRIT OF AMPARO: "This rule
will provide the victims of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances the protection they need and
the promise of vindication for their rights. This rule empowers our courts to issue reliefs that may be
granted through judicial orders of protection, production, inspection and other relief to safeguard one's
life and liberty The writ of amparo shall hold public authorities, those who took their oath to defend the
constitution and enforce our laws, to a high standard of official conduct and hold them accountable to
our people. The sovereign Filipino people should be assured that if their right to life and liberty is
threatened or violated, they will find vindication in our courts of justice'."
Puno explained the interim reliefs under amparo: temporary protection order (TPO), inspection
order (IO), production order (PO), and witness protection order (WPO, RA 6981). As supplement to
Amparo, on August 30, 2007, Puno promised to release also the WRIT OF HABEAS DATA, another new
legal remedy to solve the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Puno explained that
the writ of amparo denies to authorities defense of simple denial, and habeas data can find out what
information is held by the officer, rectify or even the destroy erroneous data gathered.
The implementation of RA 9372, euphemistically called the HUMAN SECURITY ACT OF 2007,
brings more terror than security to the populace. Among the most dangerous provisions is the detention
without charges for up to-- and even beyond-- 72 hours. Section 18 of the law states that a suspect may
be detained for three calendar days without warrant. Section 19 stipulates that in the event of actual or
imminent terrorist attack, suspects may be detained beyond 72 hours without warrant. The provision
merely requires a police officer to obtain a written approval from a human rights officer within a period
of five days.
On March 1, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO.
25-2007, which created by designation 99 regional trial courts to try cases of killings and desaparecidos.
Enforced disappearances are not punishable under Philippine laws. There are no existing
Philippine laws that criminalize enforced disappearances. The Philippines has also not ratified the United
Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Even if
PHILIPPINE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7438 (An Act Defining Certain Rights of Person Arrested, Detained or
Under Custodial Investigation as well as the Duties of the Arresting, Detaining and Investigating Officers,
and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof) provides for the rights of persons arrested, detained, it
does not punish acts of enforced disappearances. Thus, on August 27, Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women's
Party (GWP), and Anakpawis filed HOUSE BILL 2263 - “An act defining and penalizing the crime of
enforced or involuntary disappearance.”
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also filed last June 30, 2007, SENATE BILL NO. 7 - “An Act Penalizing the
Commission of Acts of Torture and Involuntary Disappearance of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under
Custodial Investigation, and Granting Jurisdiction to the Commission on Human Rights to Conduct
Preliminary Investigation for Violation of the Custodial Rights of the Accused, Amending for this Purpose
Sections 2, 3 and 4 of RA 7438, and for Other Purposes.”
The counter-insurgency program of the Arroyo regime OPLAN BANTAY LAYA (OBL -- Operation
Freedom Watch) has been the framework for these attacks. The OBL does not distinguish between
combatants and civilians. For the Arroyo regime, the unarmed activists in the cities are no different from
the revolutionary elements of the New People's Army (NPA). The regime labels the people's
organizations and political parties as fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). This skewed
belief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and some ranking cabinet security officials has been
expounded in the power point presentation Knowing the Enemy and in the published textbook Trinity of
War.
By 2006, the Arroyo government intensified the implementation of OPLAN BANTAY LAYA
through its Enhanced National Internal Security Plan (NISP) which was aimed at decisively defeating the
communist insurgency in 2010, the same year Arroyo will be finishing her term. To expedite its
implementation, the Arroyo government allotted an additional P1 billion for counterinsurgency in June
2006.
RECOMMENDATIONS
(By HUMAN RIGHTS NOW on their REPORT ON EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS AND ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES IN THE PHILIPPINES, April 2008)Note: Select recommendations only. Many not included.
As a party to the ICCPR, the Philippine government is obliged to protect the human rights of all
who live within its jurisdiction. Accordingly, the government should protect its people from human
rights violations by taking appropriate measures including the investigation and prosecution of human
rights violators.
TO THE PRESIDENT
1. End the current counterinsurgency policy
a. The President should put an end to the counterinsurgency policy which include tagging
legitimate civil society organizations and activists as “enemies of the state” as well as
targeting them for neutralization.
b. The President should publicly denounce and declare the abandonment of the above
counterinsurgency policy which resulted in extrajudicial killings.
c. The President should order all governmental organs, in particular AFP and PNP, to
officially cease counter-insurgency operations targeting any civil society group for
neutralization.
d. The President should direct all military and police personnel to cease any practice linking
political and other civil society groups to armed insurgent groups in the course of their
activities.
2. Disclosure
a. The President should disclose all documents and information prepared and gathered in
the course of counter-insurgency operations towards civilians possessed by the AFP,
PNP and any other governmental organs including Oplan Bantay Laya, Order of Battle
and information related to legitimate organizations and individual activists.
b. The President should officially abandon all such documents. The President should nullify
Administrative Order No. 197.
3. Investigation
a. The President should order the AFP/PNP to cooperate with the investigation conducted
by the Commission on Human Rights, Congress, Courts, PNP and DOJ.
b. The President should make efforts to enhance the functions of the Commission on
Human Rights by the means of increasing its budget and human resources.
c. The President should order the Department of Justice to establish a witness protection
program which is independent from the military and police in order to enable the
victims to testify in safe circumstances.
d. The President should conduct a transparent and thorough investigation on extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances, with the full participation of the victims/families,
under monitoring and technical assistance by the international community, and identify
and prosecute the persons responsible for the human rights violations. The investigation
should include inquiries into allegations concerning high-ranking military and police
officers.
e. Based on the above investigation, the President should make an official apology and
offer reparations, including compensation, restitution, and rehabilitation for the victims
and relatives of the victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
To the Armed Force of Philippines (AFP)
4. End targeting civilians
a. The AFP should cease any practice linking political and other civil society groups to
armed insurgency groups in the course of their activities, in particular, villifying them as
“ enemies of state”, involving surveillance and harassment of them and attacking them.
b. AFP should take all necessary measures to ensure that all personnel in the military and
the CAFGU cease in engaging in the above-mentioned practice.
5. Cooperation to the Investigation
a. The AFP should be cooperative with any truth-seeking effort made by the judicial branch
and other governmental organs regarding the disclosure of their operational documents
as well as whereabouts of the people in military custody.
b. The AFP should faithfully obey and not undermine judicial orders such as writs of
amparo and writs of habeas data.
To the Philippine National Police(PNP)
6. Investigation
a. The PNP, in particular the Task Force USIG should investigate extrajudicial killings and
enforced disappearances in order to identify the criminals, especially military personnel
and police officials. The PNP should resume investigation of all the cases that local
human rights groups and victims’ families claim in good faith as extrajudicial killings.
b. The Task Force USIG should issue monthly reports of the status of the cases.
c. The Task Force USIG should recognize its jurisdiction over former/ incumbent high-
ranking military officials and conduct thorough investigation on them as necessary.
d. The PNP should improve their investigative methods and put an end to the negligence in
the investigation of the cases of extrajudicial killings. The PNP should utilize forensic
science—mainly material evidence, with appropriate technical assistance from
international experts.
To the Department of Justice (DOJ)
7. Prosecution
a. The DOJ should achieve a significant number of prosecutions of extrajudicial killing cases
in cooperating with the PNP.
8. Protection of the victims and witnesses
a. The DOJ should clarify the names, the way he/she was arrested, the place, and the
condition of the subjects’ health for all those who were arrested without judicial
authority by governmental organizations, and guarantee their access to lawyers.
b. The DOJ should establish a witness protection program which is independent from the
military and police in order to enable the victims to testify in safe circumstances.
To the Commission on Human Rights( CHR)
9. Strengthen the Mechanism
The capabilities and powers of the Commission on Human Rights should be increased as
appropriate to make it more effective. In order to achieve the below, the budget of the CHR
should be at least doubled.
a. The CHR should hire more experts and allocate more resources to investigate the cases
of extrajudicial killings.
b. The CHR should establish its own witness protection program to secure witnesses’
safety.
c. The CHR should be empowered to conduct ad hoc visits to any military camp to release
the victims of abductions.
SOURCES
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memo-extra-judicial-killingss. PNP mulls another body to look into media killings -
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100705-279332/PNP-mulls-another-body-to-look-into-media-killings
t. Barangay Officials abducted and victims of enforced disappearance in Nueva Ecija, Philippines - http://stopthekillings.org/stknpv1/?q=node/48
u. International Human Rights Law - http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/Pages/InternationalLaw.aspx
v. OPLAN BANTAY LAYA PRIMER - http://stopthekillings.org/stknpv1/files/OBL%20ENGLISH%20BOOKLET.pdf
EXTRALEGAL KILLINGS AND FORCED DISAPPEARANCES OF MEDIA PRACTITIONERS
IN THE PHILIPPINESA Research Paper
ABIAS, Leonard Paul B.PSCS001 - N2
September 2010
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