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One of the groups, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, or Bayan, the largest assembly of progressive and human rights organizations in the Philippines, said while it praised the U.S. Senate decision to impose human rights-related conditions, it also lamented the fact that the U.S. lawmaking body still granted an increase in military assistance to the Arroyo administration, from US$11 million to $30 million.
Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. said the U.S. Senate decision is a de facto recognition that the Philippine government is committing human rights violations. He urged Washington to confirm compliance by the Arroyo administration.
The same view was shared by the left-leaning fisherfolk alliance Pamalakaya, which stressed that the conditions set by the U.S. Senate merit the immediate resignations of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez.
Pamalakaya National Chairman Fernando Hicap said that aside from these two resignations, the conditions also implied that Arroyo should order investigations and prosecutions of controversial cases such as that of retired Army Major Gen. Jovito Palparan and other military officials implicated in extrajudicial killings from 2001 to the present.
"It is a deal or no deal for Mrs. Arroyo and the military establishment, nothing more, nothing less," the Pamalakaya leader said. But he added that the U.S. Senate could have given teeth to its resolution by not increasing Washington's military aid to the Philippines.
According to the human rights watchdog Karapatan, a total of 888 left-leaning activists were summarily executed and 188 political activists were abducted since Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001. All the killings and enforced disappearances were attributed to agents of the state and were directly connected to the implementation of counter-insurgency programs Oplan Bantay Laya I and Oplan Bantay Laya II from 2001 to the present.
But this report was consistently denied by the Philippine military. The armed forces chief of staff has denied allegations that the military was behind most of the killings, saying a police task force has found 14 soldiers were involved in six cases, and that the other cases apparently did not involve the military.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo thanked the U.S. Senate for approving an increase in regular military funding to the Philippines from US$11 million to $30 million. The Senate, he said, also set conditions for an additional $2 million in military assistance.
According to Romulo the Senate wanted assurances from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Philippine government would implement the recommendations of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings and summary or arbitrary executions.
The U.S. Senate has told the Manila government that before it approves the hike in military aid to the Philippines the Arroyo administration must adopt a working policy of promoting military personnel who demonstrate professionalism and respect for human rights. It must also investigate and prosecute military personnel involved in political killings and other violations of human rights. Also, the Philippine military must not engage in acts of intimidation or violence against legal organizations that advocate human rights.
Human rights groups and leftwing organizations said the Senate action was an indictment of Arroyo and the ruling military-civilian junta in relation to the government's involvement in the seemingly unstoppable murders and abductions of political activists in the country.
The U.S. lawmakers' action should inspire their counterparts in the Philippines. As a concrete proposal, Philippine Senate President Manuel Villar and House Speaker Jose de Venecia should rally senators and congressmen to make human rights-related conditions before approving the defense and military budget for 2008, which is more or less 60 billion pesos (about US$1.4 billion) as of the last deliberation on the national budget.
The U.S. Senate action should also rally the powerful European Union to legislate a fresh law calling on all European governments to stop if not slash EU aid to the Philippines and monitor funds granted to the Philippine government.
The question now is, will the Philippine government carry out the recommendations of the U.S. Senate? The attitude of the Arroyo administration on this development, which affects U.S.-Philippine diplomatic relations and is closely tied to the military's respect for human rights, will be revealed by the immediate and future actions of the administration.
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(Gerry Albert Corpuz is a correspondent of Bulatlat.com, an alternative Philippine online news site. He is also the head of the information department of Pamalakaya, a national federation of small fisherfolk organizations in the Philippines. His website is www.gerryalbertcorpuz.motime.com, and he can be contacted at themanager98@yahoo.com. ©Copyright Gerry Albert Corpuz.)
