SONA: Prexy's silence on killings hit by lawmakers

While mounting cases of extrajudicial killings are recognized as one of the country’s most serious problems —not only by the opposition and the Supreme Court, but by the international community as well — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address failed to highlight and address this major hindrance to human rights, critics said on Monday. "Walang masyadong bagay na binaggit do’n sa extrajudicial killings,‘yong resulta ng summit. Sana sa mga bagay na ito pinagbigyan n’ya ng account na talagang humihingi ng solusyon sa problemang ito (The President did not talk much about extrajudicial killings, she did not dwell on the results of the summit on extrajudicial killings initiated by the Supreme Court. She could have delved about it, because this problem really needs immediate solution)", San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora told reporters in an interview. Also, neophyte Taguig-Pateros Rep. Laarni Cayetano expressed her disappointment over the failure of Mrs Arroyo to focus on solving the killings. "Nalungkot ako dahil hindi pinagtuunan ng pansin ang extrajudicial killing. (I was frustrated because the President failed to give attention to solving extrajudicial killings)." Cayetano also said she was “expecting" Mrs Arroyo to talk more about the lives of poor people and how to directly address poverty and lack of education. She said that while the President said something about these issues “these were just mentioned in passing." Leftist Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo said it was obvious that Mrs Arroyo “skipped" the issue on the killings. “Kapansin pansin na silent siya roon sa recommendation ng summit kung ano ang dapat gawin ng executive branch tungkol sa extrajudicial killings." Ocampo said the proposal from the SC summit to solve the killings was addressed to all three branches of the government. There was also a “specific call" to the President to put a stop on the killings. “Pero wala siyang comment on that." Lawyer Marlon Manuel, convenor of the Alternative Law Groups (ALG) echoed the lawamakers’ position saying that Mrs Arroyo failed to take responsibility for the problem. "Are the legislature and the judiciary the only ones to solve the problem? What about the executive? What will it do? I didn’t hear the President directly taking part to solve the problem." The ALG is composed of 18 law groups nationwide that cater to the legal needs of the poor and marginalized sectors of society. - FIDEL JIMENEZ, GMANews.TV