PNoy urged to sign human rights action plan vs extralegal killings

Various organizations advocating the protection of human rights in the country on Wednesday urged President Benigno Aquino III to sign a national human rights action plan to stop extrajudicial killings in the country. Non-government groups led by the Asian Foundation trooped to the House of Representatives to ask for support in the call to have a binding commitment for the protection of human rights from the Philippine government. “Kaya namin hinihakayat ang Presidente dahil bilang executive, kailangang gumanda ang imbestigasyon at prosecution para magkaroon ng hustisya sa ating bansa," Asian Foundation consultant Al Pareño said in an interview. He added that the plan should include “re-education" in the military and the police, whose members are linked in most incidents of extralegal killings and forced disappearances in the country. "Mababaw kasi minsan ang pananaw ng ilang sundalo sa kalayaan o paghahayag. Sinasabi nila kaagad na komunista o kalaban ng estado. May kailangang ayusin," he said. Pareño likewise said that reforms should also be made in the justice system to expedite the resolution of cases related to extrajudicial killing and to immediately punish their perpetrators. According to Department of Justice records, around 10 to 12 confirmed cases of extrajudicial killings have occurred under the year-old Aquino administration. None of the persons responsible for these killings have been convicted. The human rights group Karapatan, however, pegged the number of extrajudicial killings during Aquino's first year to 48. The same group reported that a total of 1,205 incidents of extralegal slays during the nine-year administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Info campaign The groups also launched a new campaign called "Tukayo" (namesake) on Wednesday to increase public awareness on extralegal killings. The campaign encourages Filipinos to find out about a victim of extrajudicial slay who happens to be their namesake. "Ang publiko kapag sinabi na extrajudicial killings, parang bale wala sa kanila. Iniisip nila problema ng gobyerno iyan, pero problema nating lahat ito, ang kawalan ng hustisya," Pareño said. He added that a signature drive will also be launched in school campuses and train stations to solicit public support for a national human rights plan. DIWA party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay, vice chairperson of the House committee on human rights, for her part expressed support on the groups’ endeavors to make the public aware on the human rights situation in the country. "Dagdagan po natin ang nag-iingay... Let us not allow that their lives [the victims’] were lost for none," she said. — RSJ, GMA News