Not to mention that the Philippines was ranked as the 6th among 14 countries where journalists have been killed, said the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in its 2009 Global Impunity Index. Media killings remained unsolved and the judicial system here has been ineffective in bringing justice, the group said.
One could not help but ask: couldn’t our legislators see, feel or hear the urgency in doing something for human rights now? Couldn’t they know that the pattern of impunity continues in our land – alarming ironically the international community, not our leaders who still deny that we have a deplorable human rights situation in the country – mainly because we score poorly in bringing the perpetrators (from the masterminds down to the triggermen) to justice?
It is seemingly only because of an increase in foreign funding that the CHR is able to do its mandate. It has consistently received support from the European Union, the United Nations, the US government, and other international donors.
The Congress’ decision actually mocks the Philippine government’s cheerleading attempt to establish a human rights body within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The European Commission reportedly even “lauded” the government for this and granted PhP 57 million (USD 1.18 million) for a human rights website.
For all the concern about the New People’s Army propaganda victories, the administration missed a perfect PR opportunity of its own – they could have shown they were ‘deadly’ serious about addressing human rights by agreeing to the CHR budget request.
Now the shame turns into rage when we see what parts in our trillion-peso budget got the biggest shares:
· The Department of Public Works and Highways, which got the second biggest share in the budget, amounting to PhP130 billion (USD 2.7 billion). The budget even increased by more than a fourth from its 2008 budget despite recent World Bank reports of corruption in road projects.
· The Department of Agriculture, which got the 4th biggest share in the budget, amounting to PhP 41 billion (USD 854 million). The department allegedly released in 2004 and 2007 funds to bankroll Arroyo’s presidential campaign kitty and support her political allies, respectively.
· 24 senators who would get PhP 200 million (USD 4.1 million) each, and 238 House members, PhP 70 million (USD 1.4 million) each, as Priority Development Assistance Fund, also known as ‘pork barrel.’ This brings to a total of PhP 21.4 billion (USD 446 million).
As of this writing, families of the disappeared continue to search for their loved ones. Colleagues of slain journalists continue to report on the unsolved murders among their ranks. Communities of land reform and anti-mining activists continue to fear for retaliation from opposing companies or landlords and their agents. And the mothers and spouse of victims of extrajudicial killings try to find answers to their kin’s senseless deaths.
Let us hope not that our country’s leaders find the urgency of pouring support for human rights only when their own son, daughter, husband or wife experiences the same fate. Philippine Human Rights Reporting/Posted by Bulatlat.com
