Killings, corruption remain 'major' problems in RP - US

MANILA, Philippines - Despite "intensified" government efforts to address the problem, extrajudicial killings especially of activists and journalists remain a "major problem" in the Philippines in 2007, the United States said Wednesday. In a country report on the Philippines' human rights practices for 2007, the US State Department also noted impunity in killings as members of the security services were tagged in some cases. "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 a major problem. Despite intensified government efforts to investigate and prosecute these cases, many went unsolved and unpunished. Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture," it said. The report also chided the Arroyo administration for failing to curb corruption. On the other hand, it said arbitrary or warrantless arrests and detentions were common, while trials were delayed and procedures were prolonged. Prisoners awaiting trial and those already convicted were often held under primitive conditions. "Corruption was a problem in all the institutions making up the criminal justice system, including police, prosecutorial, and judicial organs. In addition to the killings mentioned above, left-wing and human rights activists were often subject to harassment by local security forces. Problems such as violence against women and abuse of children, child prostitution, trafficking in persons, child labor, and ineffective enforcement of worker rights were common," it said. Land mines, child warriors But the US report also said the communist New People's Army (NPA) was also involved in several rights violations, killing local government officials and ordinary civilians. It said the NPA would use land mines, along with child soldiers in combat roles. "Terrorist groups committed bombings that caused civilian casualties; these groups also used child soldiers," it added. The US report said the government took steps to invigorate the investigation and prosecution of cases of arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings, while the military instituted a command responsibility directive holding officers accountable for not taking preventive or corrective actions. For its part, the Supreme Court issued rules on "amparo," which provides citizens with the courts' protection, while the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the AFP created human rights offices to provide guidance and training to their personnel and to coordinate with other government human rights organizations. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered "cooperation and coordination" between prosecutors and police from the outset of a political or media killing "until the termination of cases in court." "The full results of these reforms in terms of indictments and convictions were not yet visible, but government agencies, human rights nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and even some of the government's critics noted a significant decrease in the number of killings. Moreover, seven local police chiefs were relieved of their commands for suspected involvement or failure to pursue cases of unlawful killings," it said. On government corruption and transparency, the US report said that while the law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, "the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity." It said both the government and the private sector have established a number of anti-corruption bodies, including an ombudsman's office and an anti-corruption court. Government efforts to prosecute acts of corruption significantly improved during the year with the number of convictions in the anti-graft court rising by 169 percent compared with 2006 (94 convictions in 2007 compared to 35 in 2006). Conviction rates for cases brought to trial or resolved through plea bargains increased to 55 percent (94 convictions out of 171 cases) from approximately 19 percent (35 out of 188). Cases were opened against mid-level officials in the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Bureau of Customs, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. During the year the ombudsman ordered the dismissal and suspension of several elected officials, including the governors of Iloilo and Batangas, and the mayors of Pasay City and Jaen, Nueva Ecija, on corruption-related charges. "However, denial of such information often occurred when the information related to an anomaly or irregularity in government transactions. Much government information was not available electronically and was difficult to retrieve," it said. The US report also noted immigration authorities prevented two foreign women's rights activists from boarding their international flight because they were on a "watch list" of foreign citizens suspected of planning violent demonstrations and barred from entering the country prior to and during the Asean Summit in February and the Asean Ministerial Meetings in August last year. The report said rape continued to be a problem, with most cases unreported. During the year the PNP reported 879 rape cases. Violence against women remained a serious problem, it added. Trafficking Sex tourism and trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation and forced labor were serious problems it added. "The law prohibits sexual harassment. However, sexual harassment in the workplace was thought to be widespread and underreported due to victims' fear of losing their jobs. Female employees in special economic zones (SEZs) were particularly at risk; most were economic migrants who had no independent workers' organization to assist with filing complaints. Women in the retail industry worked on three- to five-month contracts and were often reluctant to report sexual harassment for fear their contracts would not be renewed," it said. Also, the report said child prostitution continued to be a serious problem. In 2006 the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) ordered the closure of four establishments for allegedly prostituting minors. Trafficking in persons also remained a problem in the country in 2007, it said. "The country was a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. A significant number of men and women who migrate abroad for work were subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude. Women and children were also trafficked within the country, primarily from rural areas to urban areas for forced labor as domestic workers and factory workers and for sexual exploitation. A smaller number of women were occasionally trafficked from China, South Korea, Japan, and Russia to the country for sexual exploitation," it said. "Both adults and children were trafficked domestically from poor, rural, areas in the southern and central parts of the country to major urban centers, especially Metro Manila and Cebu, but also increasingly to cities in Mindanao. A significant percentage of the victims of internal trafficking were from Mindanao and were fleeing the poverty and violence in their home areas," it added. Meanwhile, the report said violation of minimum wage standards and the use of contract employees to avoid the payment of required benefits were common, including in the government-designated SEZs, where tax benefits were used to encourage the growth of export industries. "Many firms hired employees for less than the minimum apprentice rates, even if there was no approved training in their production-line work," it said. - GMANews.TV