RP government’s report to the UPR inconsequential to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances

A Press Statement by Philippine UPR Watch
April 25, 2008

We, the members of the Philippine UPR Watch, return to the country hopeful that we have fulfilled our mission to thwart the Philippine government’s brazen attempt to conceal the truth through a deceptive report at the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

We felt duty-bound to lobby with foreign missions to inform them that the extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance and political repression are caused by a national policy as was the findings of UN Special Rapporteur Professor Philip Alston. This policy is continuously wreaking havoc on the lives of Filipinos notwithstanding the Philippine National Report (PNR).

It is reassuring that the world continues to be vigilant on the human rights situation in the Philippines as indicated by the concerns and questions raised by at least sixteen countries during the review.

The Arroyo government has inundated its Philippine National Report to the UPR with measures taken purportedly to promote human rights. But these measures are inconsequential to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.  At the end of the day, what matters to most Filipinos and to the world is that: (a) Jonas Burgos and many others remain missing; (b) justice has yet to be served to the victims and relatives of extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations; (c) perpetrators have yet to be prosecuted; and, (d) extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances still go on with impunity.  All these in the name of national security.

The political persecution being launched against the Batasan 6 remains to be one of the examples of the Arroyo government’s continuing repression against principled dissent.  Secretary Ermita has boasted of a vibrant democracy in the Philippines in his UN Report, citing the partylist system as one feature. Yet, a trumped-up murder charge against Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño, a member of the Philippine UPR Watch delegation, and his fellow party-list lawmakers, has been resurrected and all are threatened with arrest.  Many of the trumped-up charges against known oppositionists and leaders are orchestrated by the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG), a Malacañang creation which Prof. Alston said should be abolished.

Finally, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve our people, especially the victims of this tyrannical regime.  We are grateful to the national and international organizations that supported the Philippine UPR Watch in this endeavor. We likewise thank the Missions who have raised the most essential issues that were surreptitiously obscured in the Philippine National Report.