BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR
MALACAÑANG yesterday said it considers as "constructive
criticism" the 2006 United States Country Report on Human Rights Practices which
cited the Philippines for the "climate of impunity" in the murder of
journalists, churchmen and political activists.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Philippines continues
to uphold democracy and human rights.
The report prepared by the State department’s Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said many of the killings "went unsolved and
unpunished, contributing to a climate of impunity, despite intensified
government efforts during the year (2006) to investigate and prosecute these
cases."
The report also said "members of the security services
committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees,
and there were instances of torture."
It also said the "climate of impunity" in the Philippines was
bred in part by "widely held and accurate public perception" that the
115,000-man PNP was corrupt.
It noted policemen were regularly accused of torture, of
soliciting bribes, and of other illegal acts, although there are efforts to
reform the institution to "counter a widespread impression of official
impunity."
"The Philippine government is carrying the agenda of
President Arroyo on unexplained killings forward by setting up special courts,
fielding special prosecutors, protecting witnesses, and instituting strict
internal controls within the military and police," Bunye said.
He added that the government has also intensified and
strengthened its "legal, counterpropaganda and operational measures" against
members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army "to end the
trail of mass murder and mayhem the revolutionary left has inflicted upon our
people."
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita earlier said the report
was merely an attempt to call the attention of the Philippines to the human
rights issue.
The defense department disputed the report.
Defense Undersecretary Ernesto Caroliona said the killings
are not happening with impunity.
Carolina said some soldiers have been involved in
extra-judicial killings in the 1980s "but they (soldiers) did it out of the
chain of command. They did it on their own."
"We are not saying it’s zero but it is not on a scale that is
being painted by the Left. It (extra judicial killings) is not with impunity and
it is not a policy, a national policy and defense police," he said.
Carolina noted the defense and military establishments have been stressing,
through verbal and written communications, to the officers and men, to abide by
the provisions of the human rights and international humanitarian law.
