Mr. Speaker, I rise on a matter of personal and collective privilege.

Today, peoples the world over commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR). This historic declaration in 1948 spells out the Philippines’ commitment as a UDHR signatory to promote, protect and uphold human rights in all forms, including the very basic rights to life and liberty.

But a great section  of the Filipino people commemorate this day not in jubilation. They mark this day to hold accountable a government that has miserably failed to end, and has in fact abetted and tolerated, a vicious campaign of brutality and suppression against political and social activists.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President, is right in saying that today’s  observance of International Human Rights Day “gives us a feeling of shame and embarrassment because of the innumerable human rights violations that have remained unexamined, unexplained and unsolved or covered up by events.” That shame, however, should fall squarely not on the Filipino people, but on the government.

The Arroyo government’s virtual policy of annihilation is embodied in a counter-insurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL), which has mostly targeted members of legal and progressive groups. Since 2001,  a total of 927 victims of extrajudicial killings, 339 victims of frustrated killings, 194 victims of enforced disappearances and 1,010 victims of torture have been documented by the human rights organization Karapatan. From January to October this year, 50 have been extrajudicially killed.  Of the 927 victims of extrajudicial killings,  134 were members of my party, Bayan Muna.

The killings and abductions are on a resurgence especially in Mindanao. This year alone, at least 19 extrajudicial slays were documented in the island. Last month, I took the floor to denounce the killings of and demand justice for three Bayan Muna members in Mindanao.

Apart from the outright attacks, legal offensives are also employed by the Arroyo government against its perceived critics, including this representation. Executive Order 493 created the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) which is tasked with the build-up and filing of spurious charges including rebellion and murder. The trumped-up rebellion charges against the Batasan 6, which included the late Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, and the latest cases against leaders and members of people’s organizations in Southern Tagalog are all the handiwork of IALAG.

I continue to be a victim of IALAG’s fabricated cases with the various murder charges against me for the so-called mass graves in Leyte.  I am supposed to have executed the act while under military detention 24 years ago. It is outrightly ridiculous were it not for the grave implication these cases have on my person, my party Bayan Muna, and the other leaders slapped with the same frivolous charge.

The report of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Prof. Philip Alston in 2007 specifically recommended the removal of extrajudicial killings from the government’s counter-insurgency program and the abolishment of IALAG, among others. Government has chosen to ignore the recommendations. Last March 11, 2007, Mrs. Arroyo herself announced the continued implementation of Oplan Bantay Laya through OBL II.

The two-pronged approach against government critics through armed attacks and legal offensives were carried out under the close watch of the Cabinet Oversight Committee on Internal Security (COCIS). On May 12, 2006, the COCIS was replaced by the National Security Council Cabinet Group (NSCCG) through Administrative Order 150. The NSCCG is composed of the National Security Adviser, the secretaries of the departments of Foreign Affairs, National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Justice, the Press Secretary, Presidential Chief-of- Staff, and the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, among others. Its task is to coordinate and oversee government’s scorched earth policy against so-called enemies of the state.

The pervading climate of impunity surrounding the wanton human rights abuses is unmistakable. The perpetrators and their masterminds remain at large. The notorious retired Gen. Jovito Palparan, Jr. who figured in numerous cases of  human rights violations especially in Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas and Central Luzon and has been recommended for investigation and prosecution even by the government created Melo Commission has yet to be brought before the bar of justice.

Despite survivor-witness Raymond Manalo’s compelling testimony, - affirmed as credible by the Supreme Court in October -  that he had personally seen Palparan in a safehouse wherein killings and abductions took place in Central Luzon in 2006, the retired military officer has never been put to task.

Last year the progressive party-list representatives of Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women’s Party filed the House Bill 3259 or the Command Responsibility Bill marking International Human Rights Day. The bill has been pending before the Committee on Justice since last year. Yesterday the progressive party-list bloc and Committee on Human Rights Chair Lorenzo Tañada III filed House Bill 5600  or Human Rights Defenders Act in order to protect the lives of those who are in the frontlines of defending human rights. Thirty-three Karapatan human rights workers have been slain since 2001.

I urge the passage of these measures in the interest of promoting human rights. I likewise urge the immediate passage of equally significant human rights measures:  the Marcos Human Rights Victims Compensation Act, the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Bill and the Anti-Torture Bill. The Supreme Court’s landmark initiatives on the guidelines for the Writs of Amparo and Habeas  Data can and should be complemented by these human rights bills. Under an Executive that has shown no qualms in violating basic rights as seen even in Proclamation 1017, Executive Order 464 and the Calibrated Pre-emptive Response (CPR) Policy, a strong people’s movement is vital in fighting for the people’s rights and welfare.

The eight years of relentless attacks against the people under Mrs. Arroyo must end. The painstaking work of the surviving victims and their families, human rights and church groups in exposing and opposing the grim human rights record of the Arroyo government must be rewarded by passing measures to enable the victims to hold the Arroyo government accountable for its crimes.

Thank you.#