By HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Aquino’s first year and human rights

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today said that the call made by US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney to punish human rights violators was “hollow and hypocritical.” The group instead demanded an end to US aid for human rights violators in the Philippines.

Malacanang’s confirmation that notorious retired general Jovito Palparan is being considered for an appointive position in government continues to draw flak from cause-oriented groups and human rights advocate.
Over the weekend, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita confirmed that Palparan is being considered for a stint in the Dangerous Drug Board or the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Another retired general, PDEA chief …

Senator Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. today dared the Arroyo administration to prosecute retired Army Gen. Jovito Palparan for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings and disappearances of political activists, instead of tapping him in the campaign against illegal drugs.

The clamor for justice over the massacre in Mendiola Bridge that led to the murder of 13 farmers and injury of 39 others twenty two years ago still echoes today in the streets.

HUMAN RIGHTS  By Alan Davis and Ma. Cecilia L. Rodriguez  |  In his radio broadcasts, Aresio Padrigao attacked city hall, the local government and, too, the local police and the local Department of Environment and Natural Resources office for what he saw was a failure to catch illegal loggers. On Nov. 17, he was shot dead.

HUMAN RIGHTS   By Ronalyn V. Olea |  The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded that the Philippine government violated the rights of Eden Marcellana, then secretary general of Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, and Eddie Gumanoy, a peasant leader, who were allegedly murdered by state security forces in Mindoro in 2003.

The third quarter of 2008 saw a surge in abductions and disappearances, arrests and the use of torture. Extrajudicial killings continued, with Mindanao suffering the most number of civilian casualties. These are among the findings of the human rights group Karapatan in its latest quarterly report. Download the document here (PDF, 500mb)

Reporters Without Borders called today for more police to investigate the killings of five journalists in the Philippines this year, including the latest victim, former radio presenter Rolando Anjo Julia, in the central province of Camarines Sur.
“Until the motives for these crimes have been discovered and their authors punished, people will continue to doubt the ability of the authorities to …