Seven of our gallant Marines were killed and two of them were beheaded by members of the Abu Sayyaf Group. Twenty-six other Marines were wounded.
But where’s the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)? It is known to be the protector of the people’s rights. But as a human rights advocate, I think this atrocious incident has put the credibility of the CHR in doubt. When the news about it came out, the CHR, particularly its chairman Etta Rosales, didn’t say anything about the barbaric way the rights of the soldiers were violated.
In contrast, when a video footage showing an Abu Sayyaf member supposedly tortured by some Marines, the CHR came out as fast as the wind, lambasting the soldiers and filing cases against them for human rights violation.
Isn’t this so unfair to our soldiers who have died just to protect our country from terrorists—or risking, or even laying down, their lives for our country in exchange for a small salary hardly enough to feed their children? I don’t think it is right for the CHR to accuse anyone of human rights violation just on the basis of a simple video footage showing a crying lady claiming somebody being tortured. Why doesn’t it look for harder evidence of the alleged torture instead of grandstanding in media to impress the public that it is haling to court suspects of a human rights violation.
The CHR should not be biased in filing cases of human rights violations. I hope it also would first hear out our soldiers and take into account their sacrifices and the dangers they face before filing cases against them.
—GABRIEL Y. ARROYO,
La Union