COLUMNIST: DANILO REYES
Point of Action
Danilo Reyes is a staff member of the Asian Human Rights Commission, a regional human rights NGO in Hong Kong. He is responsible for the organization's work related to human rights issues in the Philippines and also assists its urgent appeals program. Previously, he worked as a journalist for regional and community newspapers in his hometown in Mindanao. After spending years in the media, he joined a local human rights organization whose work involved documenting cases and providing legal assistance to victims in conflict areas in Mindanao. He also worked for a Philippine labor NGO that organized workers and provided assistance to them and briefly coordinated a national campaign to abolish the death penalty in the Philippines.
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November 24, 2009Hong Kong, China — Two graves were ripped open and the bodies stolen within hours of each other in the Philippines province of Bataan earlier this month, in an apparent attempt to destroy evidence and frustrate an ongoing investigation into how these two men died. Their families believe they were killed by policemen.
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November 10, 2009Hong Kong, China — Not only is the Filipino electorate likely to have to choose between “evil and lesser evil” in the country’s general elections next May; as the names of contestants are being announced it appears they might end up choosing from a list of convicts, coup plotters, lawbreakers and human rights violators.
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October 27, 2009Hong Kong, China — There is a debate in the Philippines as to whether producers of a popular reality show discriminated against non-Tagalog-speaking competitors by preventing them from speaking in their native dialect. The Philippine government would argue that discrimination based on race is nonexistent in the country.
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October 13, 2009Hong Kong, China — Three years ago, when over 300 people were buried alive in a mudslide in Leyte, central Philippines, foreign aid poured in to help victims. But most of it ended up being used for purposes they were not intended for. This is a common practice where aid is diverted leaving little or nothing for victims.
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September 29, 2009Hong Kong, China — It is common knowledge that some corrupt policemen in the Philippines extort money on the pretext of enforcing their duties. But one incident, involving three police units that squabbled in open court over the custody of a detainee in order to claim the reward for his capture, stands out as exceptional.
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September 15, 2009Hong Kong, China — Philippines’ prison facilities are not only places of detention for those who break the law. They also house many people who fought and struggled to have the law effectively implemented, but ended up being thrown into prison to suffer and die. The plight of 19 workers currently in detention is one example.
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September 01, 2009Hong Kong, China — It seems that Filipino policemen take their profession seriously when it comes to journalists facing threats. If a journalist receives a death threat, they will proactively pay him or her a visit, register the complaint – and offer a weapon for self-defense.
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July 07, 2009Hong Kong, China — The murder of another Filipino journalist, Jonathan Petalvero, inside a restaurant in Bayugan on the southern island of Mindanao on June 27, was once again condemned by local and international journalists’ associations. But strangely, his murder failed to make a strong impression on the Filipino people.
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June 23, 2009Hong Kong, China — Investigating crime is the responsibility of the police, not of members of the Senate or House of Representatives. Strangely, in the Philippines lawmakers take it upon themselves to investigate even ordinary crimes, effectively usurping police jurisdiction under the pretext of “aiding legislation.”
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June 09, 2009Hong Kong, China — Thirteen years ago on June 13, gunmen shot dead an influential police colonel, Rolando Abadilla, in Quezon City in the Philippines. For 13 years five men accused of killing him have struggled to exonerate themselves, after confessing to the murder under severe torture.
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April 28, 2009Hong Kong, China — The framers of the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution tried to ensure that marginalized sectors of society would be represented in Congress. Yet these efforts have been undermined by appointments to seats in Congress reserved for the marginalized of people who are neither marginalized nor underrepresented.
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April 14, 2009Hong Kong, China — The principle of regular prison visits by judicial authorities, as a mechanism to prevent torture, is well established in the Philippines’ rules of criminal procedure. However, the judges responsible for implementing it do not take this rule seriously, thereby abdicating their power to protect prisoners.
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March 31, 2009Hong Kong, China — A journalist in Hong Kong who described the Philippines as a “nation of servants” in his column may have written his article as a satire, and perhaps his insults were “not intentional,” but the Filipinos’ reaction demonstrates they could not take it lightly. Such comments are deeply hurtful.
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March 17, 2009Hong Kong, China — Even before concerns were raised over the negative impact should a proposed “right to reply” bill be enacted, press freedom and editorial independence had long been threatened in the Philippines. The bill would compel media organizations to publish or air a rebuttal from anyone they criticize.
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March 03, 2009Hong Kong, China — When an overseas Filipino worker falls ill or meets with an accident, obtaining assistance from the Philippine government is impractical, if not impossible. A country that “exports” labor should be responsible for ensuring the welfare of its overseas workers.
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February 17, 2009Hong Kong, China — There is an ongoing debate in the Philippines over pending legislation that would give people the right to respond to criticism in the media, but could also impose penalties on media for printing or airing such criticism. The debatable issue is whether the bill restricts the freedom of the press.
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February 03, 2009Cotabato, Philippines — Nearly six months after renewed fighting broke out in Philippine’s second largest island Mindanao, outsiders know little about how people living there and caught between sparring factions in the decades-old conflict struggle to survive by adopting a false sense of normalcy.
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January 20, 2009Hong Kong, China — Two important recent developments have struck at the heart of justice in the Philippines – first, the reported threats to impeach Chief Justice Reynato Puno, and second, the enforced order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo requiring public prosecutors accused of wrongdoing to go on leave.
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January 06, 2009Hong Kong, China — Throughout Asia, adequate protection for domestic helpers is one of the most neglected areas of legal systems and social policy. This lack of protection of their rights and welfare makes both foreign and local domestic helpers extremely vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
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December 09, 2008Manila, Philippines — Landless farmers in the Philippines, seeking to take ownership of the land they cultivate from influential landlords under a land reform law, are attempting to assert their rights and draw public attention to their plight by going on hunger strikes, running long distances and walking for days.
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November 25, 2008Hong Kong, China — Three decades ago, no one would have thought the once-hated man who orchestrated martial rule in the Philippines would become its third most powerful leader. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, the 84-year-old martial law administrator under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was elected Senate president last week.
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November 12, 2008Hong Kong, China — With renewed conflict in central Mindanao following a failed peace deal between the Philippine government and local Muslim separatists, the government has again stressed the need to arm civilians to protect their lives and communities. Predictably, this has led to a terrible outcome.
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November 11, 2008Hong Kong, China — Four activists, including a labor lawyer, were arrested and detained in the Philippines in October and November. Irregularities in charging them and handling their cases suggest that public prosecutors are acting as political tools to stop criticism of the government.
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September 24, 2008Hong Kong, China — Mario Marigon, a porter who became a union leader at a local firm in southern Philippines, had been working for 15 years in the company until he received a letter terminating him from work. His termination was a result of exposing the company's unfair labor practices.
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August 13, 2008Hong Kong, China — The Philippine police have found an odd way to provide protection to people facing threats. After being criticized for failing to protect journalists, witnesses and activists, the police have decided to issue them guns for their own protection. But this failed to protect slain journalist Dennis Cuestra.
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July 02, 2008Hong Kong, China — Twelve days after a ferry sank off the Philippine coast, scores of corpses retrieved from the capsized ship have yet to be identified. The country lacks skilled forensics experts capable of doing this job – which also hinders its ability to properly investigate crimes.
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May 21, 2008Hong Kong, China — Apart from killing human rights and social activists, gunmen in the southern Philippines are carrying out the systematic slaughter of persons accused of involvement in criminal activities and even some who have been the victims of crimes. Dozens have died in such incidents.
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April 11, 2008Hong Kong, China — Spraying red paint on the homes of suspected illegal drug pushers and openly endorsing the killing of alleged criminals are practices of the mayor of Manila, Alfredo Lim, earning him the reputation of being a "Dirty Harry." When his son got into trouble with drugs, however, things were different.
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February 27, 2008Manila, Philippines — Ideally, one needs to study at least four years, spend money and expend considerable effort to complete a university degree. In the Philippines, however, there is an easier way. For a small price and an hour's wait, you can get a transcript and diploma from the university of your choice. So cheap, so quick.
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January 16, 2008Hong Kong, China — Stories of people being beaten up by policemen, of individuals committing suicide due to abject poverty and of deaths due to hunger are common in the Philippines. Although the media often report these cases, remedial action is not taken. The poor face prejudice, discrimination and often subhuman treatment.
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December 05, 2007Hong Kong, China — The short-lived revolt in Manila last week, led by a soldier-turned-senator, will be added to the Philippines' history of dozens of coup attempts since democracy was restored in 1986. All of these military-led attempted coups were crushed.Unlike the rec
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October 03, 2007Hong Kong, China — In 1986, religious leaders -- bishops, clergy members and nuns -- played a significant role in the non-violent struggle during the EDSA revolution to restore democracy in the Philippines. Historical images of priests and nuns in tears carrying rosaries an
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September 12, 2007Hong Kong, China — In recent times, disposed corpses and mutilated body parts in urban areas of Manila have noticeably increased. Committing murders and dumping dead bodies in public places is shocking but treating them as ordinary occurrences is alarming.
