Aquino admin’s dismal rights record

People around the world mark Dec. 10 of every year as International Human Rights Day, to commemorate the adoption and proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The yearly celebration also provides an opportunity to look more closely into the performance of states as parties to international human rights conventions.

With 304 victims of extrajudicial killings and 324 victims of frustrated killings from July 2010 to November 2015 (as documented by the human rights organization Karapatan), the Aquino administration’s human rights record is, beyond question, dismal.

On socioeconomic rights, the Philippines’ performance is as dismal. More than half of the country’s population lives below the poverty line, according to Ibon Data Bank. Backward agriculture and insufficient local industry swell the ranks of the unemployed, resulting in a growing number of people experiencing constant or recurring hunger. With a government serving the interests of the so-called “haves,” it is no surprise that the trickle-down benefits from a much-hyped economic growth have not eased the grinding poverty of ordinary Filipinos. Inadequate access to basic needs and essential social services, forced displacement, widespread landlessness and unemployment continue to plague the majority.

With most Filipinos ever struggling for survival, dissent and political upheaval are not only expected; they are just and moral. Meanwhile, the very fabric of our democracy is slowly being torn apart by violations of civil and political rights. Detention of political prisoners, abductions and enforced disappearances, summary executions, extrajudicial killings, hamletting and forced displacement and other forms of political persecution go on unabated.

Unresolved killings of even church people—e.g., Rabenio Sungit, Benjamin Bayles, Bro. Wilhelm Geertman, Datu Jimmy Liguyan and Fr. Fausto Tentorio—are a testament to the state’s negligence and its tolerance of the prevailing culture of impunity. Their falling martyrs to state terror now characterize the Aquino administration.

Whether by his action or failure to act, President Aquino has made clear that his administration has no intention to fulfill its mandate to prioritize the wellbeing of the Filipino people. Culpable for gross human rights violations under Operation Bayanihan, Mr. Aquino will continue to ignore and downplay extrajudicial killings and all other human rights violations committed against the Filipino people—never mind that among the 304 victims of extrajudicial killings during his presidency, 80 were members of indigenous tribes and 28 were children.

Also, by his action or failure to act, President Aquino tolerated, or may even have encouraged the proliferation of paramilitary groups. As the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which is likewise accused of human rights violations, he bears command responsibility and must be held to account for the dismal state of human rights under his presidency.

—NARDY SABINO, general secretary, Promotion of Church People’s Response, [email protected]