US on Human Rights in Philippines: Unsolved Cases, Unpunished Perpetrators

Elections and Political Participation

On May 14, midterm elections were held for senators, representatives, provincial governors, and local government officials. Voter turnout was high, with approximately 73 percent of eligible voters participating; however, incidents of violence and allegations of fraud in certain localities marred the generally free and fair conduct of elections. Vote buying in certain areas was common, and many residents accepted bribes to vote in a certain way or to act as “flying voters,” voting in several precincts. The Bantay Eleksyon (Election Watch), a coalition of local civil society election monitors, found the May mid-term elections “generally in consonance with international criteria for free and fair elections” but expressed concern regarding election administration, enforcement of election laws, prosecution of election offenders, and other related areas. There were reports that local politicians and their supporters engaged in vote buying and that conditions did not ensure that balloting was secret. Allegations of election fraud were particularly prevalent in the ARMM, where civil society groups and the media reported violence, intimidation of voters and poll workers, and other irregularities. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) suspended the tabulation of votes in Maguindanao Province because of allegations of fraud and declared a failure of elections in 13 towns of Lanao del Sur because of the threat of violence. On May 26, the COMELEC, under tight security, supervised special elections in the 13 towns in Lanao del Sur. In June the COMELEC resumed tabulation of the Maguindanao vote. However, a senatorial candidate filed a protest alleging fraud, which remained pending at year’s end.

The NPA reportedly extorted money from candidates refusing permission to campaign in certain areas.

Approximately 81,700 of 504,000 registered overseas voters, or 16 percent, voted, a small portion of the millions of Filipinos working overseas. Election NGOs attributed the low rate of registration and turnout of overseas voters to lack of information about the procedures, inaccessible registration centers, strict employers who did not allow overseas workers to take a day off, and the requirement that voters execute an affidavit to return to the country to reside within three years.

There were no restrictions in law or practice on participation by women and members of minorities in politics. Many women, including the president, held positions of leadership and authority. There were four women in the 24-seat Senate and 26 women in the 240-seat House of Representatives. There were two women in the 23-member Cabinet, five female associate justices on the 15-member Supreme Court, and 16 women among the 79 governors.

Along with many other citizens, Muslims argued that electing senators from a nationwide list favored established political figures from the Manila area, to the disadvantage of Muslims. Election of senators by region would require a constitutional amendment, which many Muslims and members of other groups underrepresented in the national legislature favored. There were no Muslim senators and one Muslim cabinet member. There were 11 Muslim members in the 240-seat House of Representatives, mostly elected from Muslim-majority provinces.

Government Corruption and Transparency

The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption; however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity. Both the government and the private sector have established a number of anticorruption bodies, including an ombudsman’s office and an anticorruption court. Government efforts to prosecute acts of corruption significantly improved during the year with the number of convictions in the antigraft 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. On March 5, the antigraft court filed graft charges against the governor of Samar Province and several other officials of the provincial government. The governor posted bail and trial was pending at year’s end.

On September 12, the antigraft court found former president Joseph Estrada guilty of plunder for accepting millions of dollars in bribes while in office and sentenced him to up to 40 years in prison. On October 25, President Arroyo pardoned Estrada and restored his civil and political liberties. The forfeiture of assets in the court’s decision remained in effect. Estrada accepted the pardon and was released from house arrest on October 26.

The law provides for the right to information on matters of public concern. 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.

Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights

A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials were somewhat cooperative and responsive to their views. The CHR and, to some extent, the PNP responded to and investigated cases of human rights abuses, as requested by NGOs. Human rights activists continued to encounter occasional harassment, mainly from security forces or local officials from the area in which incidents under investigation took place.

On August 5, 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. On August 14, the government lifted the entire watch list order and allowed the two activists to depart.

In February the government invited the UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to visit. The special rapporteur without restrictions met with government officials, human rights groups, and families of victims of unlawful killings.