Analysis

Arroyo is Engaging in Double Speak and Cover-ups

The directives issued by President Arroyo, in response to the report of the Melo Commission, were not meant to get to the bottom of the killings but to continue with the cover-up. Only the recommendation to seek the involvement of foreign investigators is worth noting. But then again, under what framework will these investigators work? 

BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
Bulatlat

Once again, the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been called to task for the spate of political killings, which up to now has remained unabated. Last week, the Melo Commission submitted its report to President Arroyo. The supposed crux of the findings, as revealed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo to the media, is that it found retired Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan and other unnamed commanding officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) guilty of command responsibility for the extrajudicial killings which have claimed the lives of so many activists. 

As of the last count of Karapatan, the Philippines’ leading human rights watchdog, the victims of political killings have numbered 830 including members of militant organizations who were assassinated and ordinary peasants who have been killed in the course of military operations. Contrary to the report of a major TV station, Karapatan’s data does not include those who were killed in armed encounters or those who were rendered hors d’ combat but were killed anyway.  The latter case is recorded as a violation of international humanitarian law.

The commission’s finding is nothing new, however.  The responsibility of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration and the AFP on the spate of political killings has already been pointed out last year by Amnesty International (AI) and by the constitutionally-mandated Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Both groups concluded that the circumstances surrounding the political killings point to the involvement of state agents and hence, at the very least, the government should be held accountable for its failure to protect the rights of the Filipino people. 

Double talk

Once again, the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has engaged in double talk. President Arroyo declared that it had “no tolerance for human rights violations.” She issued a six-point directive for:

1. The Melo Commission to continue with its work and “submit supplemental reports from time to time”;

2. The Department of National Defense (DND) and the AFP to come up with an updated document on command responsibility;

3. The DND and the Department of Justice (DoJ) to link up with the CHR in forming a fact-finding body to “delve deeper into the matter of involvement of military personnel in unexplained killings, file the corresponding charges against, and prosecute culpable parties”;

4. The DoJ to broaden and enhance its Witness Protection Program to cover all witnesses to the killings;

5. The presidential chief legal counsel, Sergio Apostol, to draft a letter to the Supreme Court (SC) seeking the creation of special courts for the trial of cases involving extrajudicial killings; and,

6. The Department of Foreign Affairs to submit a formal proposal to the European Union (EU) to send investigators to assist the commission in its work.

While appearing determined to get to the bottom of the killings, Mrs. Arroyo immediately absolved the AFP by declaring that 99.9 percent of the military as “good, hardworking, and patriotic Filipinos.”  Does she mean that less than one percent of the military is able to systematically kill 830 people nationwide, without the knowledge of their superiors?  Her statements, of course, are consistent: that the killings were done mostly by New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas and by a few soldiers. 

She is again echoing the line of the government that most of these cases were a result of “purges” by the NPA.  She even tried to discredit Karapatan and people’s organization s by calling them as “front organizations of the communists,” and accusing them of bloating the figures, harping on two cases, out of the 830, of listed victims allegedly turning out to be alive.

Another cover-up

The directives issued by Mrs. Arroyo were not meant to get to the bottom of the killings but to continue with the cover-up.

Instead of forming a truly-independent body, as called for by people’s organizations, or expanding the membership of the Melo Commission to include representatives from human rights organizations and persons known for their independence and integrity, as recommended by AI, it merely asked the commission to continue with its work.

Second, what is the purpose of asking the AFP and DND to define command responsibility? Is it to render as inutile the recommendation to hold Palparan and other unnamed generals accountable under the principle of command responsibility?

Third, the directive for the DND, DoJ, and the CHR to “delve deeper into the matter of involvement of military personnel in unexplained killings, file the corresponding charges against, and prosecute culpable parties” is at most perfunctory.  The DoJ has been sitting on about 400 cases concerning extrajudicial killings submitted by the CHR for prosecution.

Fourth, how can witnesses trust the DoJ and the Philippine National Police (PNP) with their lives when the DoJ has been bending the law to prosecute those who oppose the administration, and the PNP has been accused of covering up the killings?  Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez was even heaping praises on Palparan.

Fifth, how long will it take to create special courts and to define their rules on procedures and evidence? Meantime, the body count of victims of extrajudicial executions keeps on mounting.

Only the recommendation to seek the involvement of foreign investigators is worth noting. But then again, under what framework will these investigators work?  Will they form an independent body or will they be part of one?  Will they be merely working within the framework of the toothless Melo Commission, the findings of which were deemed by the government as “hardly a comprehensive report?” Investigators are only as good as the authority they hold, their access to information, and their freedom of movement.     

Will they be working under the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security, the AFP and PNP? If yes, then it will not be difficult to predict the results.

International involvement

Many statements of concern from various human rights, church and lawyers institutions in the country and abroad as well as some foreign governments regarding the spate of extrajudicial executions have been issued. But the response of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has always been the same.  The usual fare is that the government declares adherence to human rights, forms an investigative body, absolves the AFP, and declares that the extrajudicial executions are both the handiwork of communists and being used by communists for propaganda purposes.  Meanwhile, the killings continue at an alarming rate.

There is no local venue left for the Filipino people to seek redress for the spate of political killings.  Nothing less than the action of the international community coupled with the movement of the Filipino people can put a stop to the extrajudicial executions.

The Arroyo administration should show proof that it adheres to human rights principles and international humanitarian law. First, it should allow the United Nations a free hand in conducting investigation and access to information when it sends its special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings and summary executions, Philip Alston, this month.

Second, the government can ratify the Rome Statute of 1998 and submit itself to the International Criminal Court (ICC).  The ICC tries crimes against humanity. 

If the Arroyo government is not party to the killings, as it claims, then it has nothing to fear. But if the political killings are part of a counter-insurgency strategy, such as Oplan Bantay Laya 1 and 2, then the Filipino people cannot expect the government to voluntarily submit itself to an honest investigation from local or international groups. It will only continue to engage in double speak and cover-up while the killings continue. Bulatlat       

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