Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances

in the Philippines
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This article needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect
recent events or newly available information. (September 2017)

Demonstrator reenacts what the (alleged) extrajudicial killing looked like 2,000 people dead . Writings on the
cardboard placed on the body were rampant during the early phase of war on drugs implemented by
President Rodrigo Duterte.

Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines are illegal executions –

unlawful or felonious killings – and forced disappearances in the Philippines.[1] These are forms
of extrajudicial punishment, and include extrajudicial executions, summary executions, arbitrary
arrest and detentions, and failed prosecutions due to political activities of leading political, trade
union members, dissident and/or social figures, left-wing political parties, non-governmental
organizations, political journalists, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, agricultural reform
activists, members of organizations that are allied or legal fronts of the communist movement like
"Bayan group" or suspected supporters of the NPA and its political wing, the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP).[2][3]
Extrajudicial killings are most commonly referred to as "salvaging" in Philippine English.[4][5][6] The
word is believed to be a direct Anglicization of Tagalog salbahe ("cruel", "barbaric"),
from Spanish salvaje ("wild", "savage").[7]
Extrajudicial killings (EJKs) is also synonymous with the term "extralegal killings" (ELKs).
Extrajudicial/ extralegal killings (EJKs/ ELKs) and enforced disappearances (EDs) are unique in the
Philippines in as much as it is publicly and commonly known to be committed also by non-state
armed groups (NAGs) such as the New Peoples Army (NPA) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
(MILF). Although cases have been well documented with conservative estimates of EJKs/ ELKs and
EDs committed by the NPAs numbering to about 900-1,000 victims based on the discovery of
numerous mass grave sites all over country, legal mechanisms for accountability of non-state actors
have been weak if not wholly non-existent. [citation needed]

Contents

 1Nature
 2Background
o 2.1Marcos regime
 3Remedies
o 3.1Malacañang's peace summit and Puno's killings summit
o 3.2Promulgation of Writs of Amparo and Habeas Data
o 3.3International groups' 2006 and 2008 probe of killings
o 3.4International criticism
o 3.5"Desaparecidos" law
 4International reports - the root cause of killings
o 4.1Alston UN report
 o 4.2Failed investigations and prosecutions
o 4.3Eric G. John and G. Eugene Martin testimonies
o 4.4FIDH report
o 4.52008 US Department of State report
o 4.6Judicial corruption
o 4.7Maguindanao massacre
o 4.8Duterte's War on Drugs
 5Events
 6In popular culture
 7See also
o 7.1Monitoring organizations
 8References
 9External links

Nature[edit]
This section needs to be updated. Please update this article to reflect
recent events or newly available information.
Last update: January 1, 2018 (January 2018)

Philippine extrajudicial killings are politically motivated murders committed by government officers,
punished by local and international law or convention. They include assassinations; deaths due to
strafing or indiscriminate firing; massacre; summary execution is done if the victim becomes passive
before the moment of death (i.e., abduction leading to death); assassination means forthwith or
instant killing while massacre is akin to genocide or mass extermination; thus, killings occurred in
many regions or places throughout the Philippines in different times - 136 killings in Southern
Tagalog region were recorded by human rights group Karapatan from 2001 to May 19, 2006.[8][9][10]
A forced disappearance (desaparecidos), on the other hand, as form of extrajudicial punishment is
perpetrated by government officers, when any of its public officers abducts an individual, to vanish
from public view, resulting to murder or plain sequestration. The victim is first kidnapped, then
illegally detained in concentration camps, often tortured, and finally executed and the corpse hidden.
In Spanish and Portuguese, "disappeared people" are called desaparecidos, a term which
specifically refers to the mostly South American victims of state terrorism during the 1970s and the
1980s, in particular concerning Operation Condor. In the International Convention for the Protection
of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, "Enforced disappearance" is defined in Article 2 of
the United Nations Convention Against Torture as "the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form
of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the
authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the
deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which
place such a person outside the protection of the law." [11][12]
Even if Philippine Republic Act No. 7438 [13] provides for the rights of persons arrested, detained, it
does not punish acts of enforced disappearances. Thus, on August 27, Bayan Muna (People
First), Gabriela Women's Party (GWP), and Anakpawis (Toiling Masses) filed House Bill 2263 – "An
act defining and penalizing the crime of enforced or involuntary disappearance." Sen. Jinggoy
Estrada also filed last June 30, 2007, Senate Bill No. 7 – "An Act Penalizing the Commission of Acts
of Torture and Involuntary Disappearance of Persons Arrested, Detained or Under Custodial
Investigation, and Granting Jurisdiction to the Commission on Human Rights to Conduct Preliminary
Investigation for Violation of the Custodial Rights of the Accused, Amending for this Purpose
Sections 2, 3 and 4 of RA 7438, and for Other Purposes." [14][15][16]

Background[edit]
Marcos regime[edit]
In 1995, 10,000 Filipinos won a U.S. class-suit against the Ferdinand Marcos estate. The charges
were filed by victims or their surviving relatives for torture, execution and disappearances. [17] Human
rights groups placed the number of victims of extrajudicial killings under martial law [18] at 1500 and
over 800 abductions; Karapatan (a local human rights group's) records show 759 involuntarily
disappeared (their bodies never found). Military historian Alfred McCoy in his book "Closer than
Brothers: Manhood at the Philippine Military Academy" and in his speech "Dark Legacy" cites 3,257
extrajudicial killings, 35,000 torture victims, and 70,000 incarcerated during the Marcos years. [19]
[20]
 The newspaper "Bulatlat" places the number of victims of arbitrary arrest and detention at
120,000.[21][22][23]
The New People's Army (NPA) groups known as "Sparrow Units" were active in the mid-1980s,
killing government officials, police personnel, military members, and anyone else they targeted for
elimination. They were also part of an NPA operation called "Agaw Armas" (Filipino for "Stealing
Weapons"), where they raided government armories as well as stealing weapons from slain military
and police personnel. A low level civil war with south Muslims, Al-Qaeda sympathizers
and communist insurgents has led to a general break down of law and order. The Philippines
government has promised to curb the killings, but is itself implicated in many of the killings. [24][25][26]
Since 1975, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) was deeply concerned in politics. Because of
the armed conflict, the military continued its campaign versus the New People's Army of
the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Since 1969 it aimed to establish a Marxist regime
with armed rebellion against the government. On top of all these chaos, left-wing non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) were/are critical of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration. The members
who associated with the CPP and NPA had been targeted as victims in the spate of political
killings. Human Rights Watch investigated extrajudicial murders in the Philippines in September
2007.[19][27][28] Three major investigation groups were commissioned and their final reports had been
submitted and published: the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo government-appointed bodies: a) Task Force
Usig created by her on August; as a special police body, it was assigned to solve 10 cases of
killings; it claimed having solved 21 cases, by initiating court cases, but only 12 suspects were
arrested; b) the Melo Commission (chaired by Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo) with
members National Bureau of Investigation Director Nestor Mantaring, Chief State Prosecutor
Jovencito Zuño, Bishop Juan de dios Pueblos, and Nelia Torres Gonzales; its final report states:
"There is no official or sanctioned policy on the part of the military or its civilian superiors to resort to
what other countries euphemistically call "alternative procedures" – meaning illegal executions.
However, there is certainly evidence pointing the finger of suspicion at some elements and
personalities in the armed forces, in particular General Jovito Palparan, as responsible for an
undetermined number of killings, by allowing, tolerating, and even encouraging the killings." (Melo
Commission report, p. 53),[29] and c) Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
Extrajudicial Executions (February 12 to 21, 2007)

Remedies[edit]
Malacañang's peace summit and Puno's killings summit[edit]

 Because of the magnitude of Philippine killings and desaparecidos, 22nd Chief

Justice Reynato Puno of the Supreme Court of the Philippines called a National Consultative
Summit on extrajudicial killings on July 16 and 17, 2007 at the Manila Hotel. Invited
representatives from the branches of the government participated (including the Armed Forces
of the Philippines, the PNP, Commission on Human Rights (Philippines), media, academe, civil
society and other stakeholders). On the other hand, the Malacañang-sponsored "Mindanao
Peace and Security Summit" (July 8–10, 2007 at Cagayan de Oro City) concentrated on the
anti-terror law, or the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007, to make it more acceptable to the
public.[30][31] At the July 16 summit, Reynato Puno stated that the Commission on Human Rights
reported the number of victims at 403 from 2001 to May 31, 2007, while Karapatan reported 863
deaths[32] until 2007, and more than 900 as of May, 2008, and most of them were members of left
wing groups. Karapatan further officially placed the number of victims of human rights violations:
forced evacuations or displacement at 7,442, by indiscriminate firing with 5,459 victims, and food
and economic blockade with 3,042. [33] The rights group Desparecidos officially reported as of
May 15, 2008, 194 victims of enforced disappearances under the Arroyo administration, with the
latest abduction of National Democratic Front political consultant for Cagayan Valley, activist
Randy Felix Malayao, 39, a volunteer worker.[34]
 Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL), Philippines, a lawyers’ organization stated
that since 2001, 26 lawyers and 10 judges were killed due to their professions; 755 civilians had
been killed extrajudicially, while 359 survived attacks, but 184 persons were still missing. [35]
 Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez stated that on the CBCP/Catholic Church's count, the number of
victims of extrajudicial killings is 778, while survivors of "political assassinations" reached 370;
203 "massacre" were victims, 186, missing or involuntarily disappeared, 502, tortured, or illegally
arrested. Iñiguez denounced the government's implementation of its Oplan Bantay Laya I and II.
[36][37][38][39][40]

Promulgation of Writs of Amparo and Habeas Data[edit]

Because of the inefficacy and insufficiency of the Philippines Writ of Habeas Corpus, on September
25, 2007, Chief Justice Reynato Puno signed and released the Writ of Amparo: "This rule will
provide the victims of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances the protection they need and
the promise of vindication for their rights. This rule empowers our courts to issue reliefs that may be
granted through judicial orders of protection, production, inspection and other relief to safeguard
one's life and liberty The writ of amparo shall hold public authorities, those who took their oath to
defend the constitution and enforce our laws, to a high standard of official conduct and hold them
accountable to our people. The sovereign Filipino people should be assured that if their right to life
and liberty is threatened or violated, they will find vindication in our courts of justice'." [41][42][43][44] Puno
explained the interim reliefs under amparo: temporary protection order (TPO), inspection order (IO),
production order (PO), and witness protection order (WPO, RA 6981). [45] As supplement to Amparo,
on August 30, 2007, Puno (at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental) promised to
release also the writ of habeas data (“you should have the idea” or “you should have the data”)
another new legal remedy to solve the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. Puno
explained that the writ of amparo denies to authorities defense of simple denial, and habeas
data can find out what information is held by the officer, rectify or even the destroy erroneous data
gathered. Brazil used the writ, followed by Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Argentina and Ecuador.[46]

 On December 3, 2007, Reynato S. Puno stated that the writ released only three victims
(including Luisito Bustamante, Davao City), since amparo was enforced on October 24: "I would
like to think that after the enactment and effectivity (of the writ), the number of extrajudicial
killings and disappearances have gone down."[47]
 On December 17, 2007, Iloilo regional trial court Judge Narciso Aguilar granted a writ of
amparo against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and 9 military and police officials to release
Nilo Arado and Maria Luisa Posa-Dominado activists abducted on April 12. [48]
 On December 19, 2007, Dra. Edita Burgos petitioned the Philippine Court of Appeals to
issue a writ of amparo against Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr and Army
chief Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano regarding her son Jonas's abduction on April 28. [49]
 On December 27, 2007, the 2nd Division, Court of Appeals 30-page decision penned by
Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin granted the writ of amparo filed by Reynaldo and Raymond
Manalo, abducted activists.[50]
 Center for International Law (CenterLaw) filed a petition for a writ of amparo on behalf of
families of victims of the drug war of the government of the Philippines in October 2017. [51] The
Supreme Court (SC) of the Philippines granted the writ and ordered the police to turn over
documents relating to their investigations on the drug war. [52] In the same month, the Free Legal
Assistance Group (FLAG), on behalf of families and a survivor of an alleged execution by local
police, filed for a writ of amparo before the SC.[52] After hearings on a motion for reconsideration
by the Office of the Solicitor General, the SC on April 3, 2018, upheld its earlier decision and
ordered the solicitor general and the Philippine National Police to submit data related to the
government's war on drugs.[53][54]
For other legal remedies see also Writ of Amparo and Habeas Data (Philippines)
International groups' 2006 and 2008 probe of killings [edit]
In 2006, the Dutch Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation and Lawyers without Borders with the
support of the Netherlands Bar Association, the Amsterdam Bar Association and the
International Association of Democratic Lawyers created a fact-finding mission in different parts
of the Philippines. The international groups conducted interviews of various legal sectors from
June 15 to June 20, 2006.
From November 4–12, 2008, the Dutch Lawyers for Lawyers Foundation will conduct a follow-up
verification and fact finding mission (IVFFM) in Manila and Mindanao, with the National Host
Committee, National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) and the Counsels for the Defense of
Liberties (CODAL). This team is composed of 8 judges and lawyers
from Belgium and Netherlands, who had dialogue with Reynato Puno on the probe of killings.[55][56]
[57]

International criticism[edit]
On September 28, 2007, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) criticized the Writ of
Amparo and Habeas Data (Philippines) for being insufficient: "Though it responds to practical
areas it is still necessary that further action must be taken in addition to this. The legislative
bodies, House of Representatives and Senate, should also initiate its own actions promptly and
without delay. They must enact laws which ensure protection of rights—laws against torture
and enforced disappearance and laws to afford adequate legal remedies to victims." AHRC
objected since the writ failed to protect non-witnesses, even if they too face threats or risk to
their lives.[58]
"Desaparecidos" law[edit]
The Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012 was signed into law by
President Benigno Aquino III on December 21, 2012.[59] The law's principal author
in Congress was Rep. Edcel Lagman.[60]
The law is the first law in Asia that makes the crime of enforced disappearance punishable by
life imprisonment.[60] It was hailed as a milestone law by Human Rights Watch, which called the
law "a testament to the thousands of 'disappearance' victims since the Marcos dictatorship,
whose long-suffering families are still searching for justice." [61]
The law treats enforced disappearances as a violation of human rights and a crime separate
from kidnapping, serious illegal detention, and murder. [62] Under the law, those guilty of enforced
disappearances before the law was passed can still be prosecuted if they continue refusing to
disclose the whereabouts of the victim, according to Rep. Neri Colmenares.[60]

International reports - the root cause of killings[edit]

Alston UN report[edit]

 Philip Alston submitted his final report on the killings; he found that the Armed Forces of the
Philippines killed left-wing activists to get rid of communist insurgents: "the executions had
"eliminated civil society leaders, including human rights defenders, trade unionists and land
reform advocates, intimidated a vast number of civil society actors, and narrowed the
country’s political discourse." Alston denied for lack of merit the government's claim that
killings were perpetrated by communists to exterminate spies and to make negative
propaganda versus government. Alston, in February 2007 stated that the military made
alibis or denials on its role about 800 deaths of activists and journalists since 2001. Alston
blamed "impunity" which caused the executions of journalists and leftist activists: "the
priorities of the criminal justice system had been "distorted," and had "increasingly focused
on prosecuting civil society leaders rather than their killers." But Alston noted the
government's creation of – special courts to try extrajudicial killings, the Melo Commission
and the Philippine National Police's Task Force Usig.[63][64] In the November U.N. Alston report
- the killings in 2007 was only 68, huge drop from the 209 murdered in 2006. Karapatan
published its report however, listing 830 victims of extrajudicial killings since 2001, under
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.[65] On March 1, 2007, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued
Administrative Order No. 25-2007, which created by designation 99 regional trial courts to
try cases of killings and desaparecidos.[66]
Failed investigations and prosecutions[edit]

 The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Execution found that just on paper
trails, cases are filed; but Alston officially concluded that “there is a passivity, bordering on
an abdication of responsibility, which affects the way in which key institutions and actors
approach their responsibilities in relation to such human rights concerns; prosecutors
refused to take a role in gathering evidence, and instead being purely passive, waiting for
the police to present them with a file; the Ombudsman’s office did almost nothing in recent
years in this regard, failing to act in any of the 44 complaints alleging extrajudicial
executions attributed to State agents submitted from 2002 to 2006." (“Preliminary note on
the visit of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip
Alston, to the Philippines (12–21 February 2007),” A/HRC/4/20/Add.3, March 22, 2007, p. 4.,
etc.)[67][68]
Eric G. John and G. Eugene Martin testimonies[edit]

 On March 14, 2007, Eric G. John, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs testified before the USA Senate Subcommittee on Foreign Relations at Washington,
D.C. John submitted his written statement: a) the increase in extrajudicial killings, b) the
“Huk Rebellion” in the 1940s and 50s causing thousands of murdered victims; c) the
communist New People's Army (NPA), which was listed in the U.S. State Department list of
Foreign Terrorist Organizations campaigned to overthrow the government since 1968; d)
Extrajudicial killings by the security forces, the NPA, etc. during the Marcos regime, were
less; and e) noted the report of UN Special Rapporteur Alston which submitted the
Philippine Government's recognition of the gravity of the problem, expresses concern about
the views of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) regarding the problem, but much
had to submitted that the reforms made did not and will not resolve the killings. Mr. Alston's
March report stated that "the question of resources or technical expertise will partly resolve
the killings but the strong risk is that these measures will treat only some of the symptoms of
 the crisis, and will fail to address meaningfully two of the most important underlying causes
of a great many of the killings." (A/HRC/4/20/Add.3, March 22, 2007) Alston named two root
causes of the killings: (1) 'vilification', 'labeling’, or 'guilt by association' – "characterization of
most groups on the left of the political spectrum as ‘front organizations’ for armed groups
whose aim is to destroy democracy" making the groups "considered to be legitimate targets;
and (2) the Government’s counter-insurgency strategy's extent of facilitating killings of
activists and others.[69][70] G. Eugene Martin specifically expanded the 2 causes of the
violence and killings: a) weak political and social institutions, corrupt and ineffective judicial
system, resulting to failure to obtain justice from corrupt Philippine courts; and b) the legacy
of the Ferdinand Marcos regime; Martial law caused the corrupt system where soldiers,
police, judges and prosecutors became principals of offenses like extralegal arrest,
detention, incarceration, disappearances and killings (salvaging), all permitted or allowed.
He traced the spate of violence and killings to political instability of President Arroyo
government; while she created the Independent Commission to Address Media and Activist
Killings, Melo Commission, she had no capability to end the killings, due to her political
lameness because of the 2004 election controversy.[70][70][71]
FIDH report[edit]

 Three experts from the International Federation for Human Rights (abbreviated FIDH), Mr.

Nabeel Rajab (Bahrain), Mr. Mouloud Boumghar (France) and Mr. Frédéric Ceuppens
(Belgium), came to the Philippines on August 13 to 23, 2007. Their FIDH mission report
stated that torture and ill-treatment was widespread versus suspected "terrorists". The
Filipino government is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), and the UN Convention against Torture (CAT). The FIDH dismissed the
Philippines government's claim doubts that mechanisms were placed to stop the killings, as
it questioned the efficiency of – the corrupt judiciary, the government “Witness Protection
Programme” ; also, judges and lawyers were victims themselves of killings. It also found the
Philippine anti-terrorism law ( “Human Security Act”) to result in more torture and
extrajudicial killings as a fight against terrorism.[72]
2008 US Department of State report[edit]
On March 11, 2008, the US Department of State reported that "arbitrary, unlawful arrests and
extrajudicial and political killings continued to be a major problem in the Philippines in 2007.
[73]
 Washington stated that "many of these killings went unsolved and unpunished despite
intensified efforts of the government to investigate and prosecute these cases." [74]
Judicial corruption[edit]
On January 25, 2005, and on December 10, 2006, Philippines Social Weather Stations released
the results of its two surveys on corruption in the judiciary; it published that: a) like 1995, 1/4 of
lawyers said many/very many judges are corrupt. But (49%) stated that a judges received
bribes, just 8% of lawyers admitted they reported the bribery, because they could not prove it.
[Tables 8-9]; judges, however, said, just 7% call many/very many judges as corrupt[Tables 10-
11];b) "Judges see some corruption; proportions who said - many/very many corrupt judges or
justices: 17% in reference to RTC judges, 14% to MTC judges, 12% to Court of Appeals
justices, 4% i to Shari'a Court judges, 4% to Sandiganbayan justices and 2% in reference to
Supreme Court justices [Table 15].[75][76]
Maguindanao massacre[edit]

Symbolic 'Impuni-tree' planted for 3rd anniversary of Maguindanao massacre (University of the

Philippines College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman).

In the Maguindanao massacre in the Philippines on November 23, 2009, 57 people were killed
while en route to file an electoral certificate of candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu, vice mayor
of Buluan town, in upcoming gubernatorial elections for Maguindanao province.[77] The dead
included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who
were witnesses. At least 198 suspects were charged with murder, including incumbent
governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., and his son, Andal Ampatuan Jr. who was to be a candidate to
succeed him.[78] On November 16, 2010, the international non-governmental organization Human
Rights Watch issued a 96 page report titled "They Own the People," charting the Ampatuans’
rise to power, including their use of violence to expand their control and eliminate threats to the
family's rule.[79]
Duterte's War on Drugs[edit]
Main article: Philippine Drug War
On July 2, 2016, the Communist Party of the Philippines stated that it "reiterates its standing
order for the NPA to carry out operations to disarm and arrest the chieftains of the biggest drug
syndicates, as well as other criminal syndicates involved in human rights violations and
destruction of the environment" after its political wing Bagong Alyansang Makabayan accepted
Cabinet posts in the new government.[80][81] On July 3, the Philippine National Police said they had
killed 30 alleged drug dealers since Duterte was sworn in as president on June 30. [82][83] They
later stated they had killed 103 suspects between May 10 and July 7.[84]
On August 26, 2016, the official death total reached 2,000. [85] Official records from the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency give the number of deaths from July 2016 to November 2018 from
the anti-drug campaign as 5,050. [86] Human rights groups have put the number of killings at
20,000, including vigilante-style killings.[86]

Events[edit]
In February, 2007, The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines has broken her silence and called on
Manila to end extrajudicial killings. On Feb. 27, Kristie Kenney U.S. ambassador to the
Philippines alerted Mrs. Arroyo as she voiced her call to end these killings: "Let's beef up the
human rights in the Armed Forces of the Philippines and make every effort to investigate,
prosecute those responsible, [and] exonerate the innocent." [87] In August, 2007, the International
Day of the Disappeared, Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) ranked the Philippines
among the top eight countries in Asia where forced disappearances of activists are not just
rampant but are done with impunity. Sri Lanka heads the list (statement posted on its website
(www.ahrchk.net)). The activists took part in the recent Human Rights School Session of the
AHRC for 2007. The AHRC listed the other countries where forced disappearances take place
with impunity: Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines and parts of India.
[88]
 In September, 2007, Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Karapatan secretary-general, formally petitioned
the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to direct the Philippine government to stop
the extrajudicial killings. She filed the report on 60 cases killings have been recorded by
Karapatan from January to June, 2007, alone, with 17 cases of disappearances, 12 of torture
and 113, of illegal arrests.[89][90] On October 3, 2007 at Tarlac City, 69-year-old Bishop Alberto
Ramento of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), or Philippine Independent Church, and a
vocal critic of killings under the Arroyo government, was stabbed 7 times and killed. [91] The
December 11, 2006 Philippines National Police's Task Force Usig submitted 115 cases of “slain
party list /militant members” since 2001, and 26 cases of “mediamen”. The Philippine Daily
Inquirer published 299 killings from October 2001 and April 2007 (See e.g. Alcuin Papa, “3 US
solons to PNP: Respect human rights,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 18, 2007) [92]
The December 2007 year end report of Karapatan (Alliance for the Advance of People's Rights)
noted only 68 extrajudicial killings vis-a-vis year 2006 209 victims. Karapatan also reported
16,307 human rights violations just for 2007 (which include killings to forcible displacement of
communities). Therefore, aside from the 887 killings since 2001 under Mrs. Arroyo, Karapatan,
just for 2007, underscored 35 victims of political killings; 26, of enforced or involuntary
disappearance; 8, of abduction; 29, of torture; 129, of illegal arrest; 116, of illegal detention; 330,
of threat, harassment and intimidation; 7,542, of forcible evacuation or displacement, 3,600, of
“hamletting”, interalia. As only solution, it petitioned the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo. [93] (with 356
left-wing activists murdered). The Philippines armed forces battled the Communists since 1969,
with about 40,000 victims killed, and it had to ward off killings by Muslim radicals. [94] However,
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, head of Task Force on Political Violence
contradicted Karapatan's submission only on the number of killings. PNP's Task Force Usig,
according to Blancaflor noted only 141 cases, of which, only 114 are party list members or leftist
activists.[95]
On December 13, 2007, Philippine Human Rights Commissioner Dominador Calamba II, at the
Philippine Working Group for an Asean Human Rights Mechanism forum denounced the failure
of the government in its treaty reporting to the United Nations, due to "13 reports overdue"
(reports due on implementation of international covenants signed by the Philippines to solve
discrimination, forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings). Calamba reported 383 killings
filed with the CHR, of which 145 were extrajudicial or political in form. [96]
On January 1, 2008, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) paid tribute to 171 journalists killed
in 2007. Citing data published by International Federation of Journalists: Iraq was number one,
with 65 deaths; in the Philippines, 6 journalists killed in 2007 were Hernani Pastolero (Sultan
Kudarat), Carmelito Palacios (Nueva Ecija), Dodie Nunez (Cavite), Geruncio "Oscar" Mondejar
(Mandaue), Vicente Sumalpong (Tawi-Tawi) and Fernando "Batman" Lintuan (Davao City); 54
journalists were murdered under the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In
2006, INSI stated that the Philippines was the 2nd most dangerous country for journalists, next
to Iraq, listing 15 work-related journalists murdered. [97] On January 4, 2008, the International
Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Asia-Pacific director Jacqueline Park denounced the murders of
broadcasters Fernando Lintuan in Davao City and former journalist Romelito Oval, Jr. It
petitioned the Philippine government to fully investigate 2007 journalists' killings: "5 journalists
as well as Oval were killed in the Philippines in 2007, which is shocking and reveals the extreme
dangers that journalists face every day in trying to carry out their work. There will be no press
freedom in the Philippines until this (situation) changes." [98] On January 4,
2008, Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran filed House Resolution 299 with the House of
Representatives of the Philippines to investigate the murders and harassment of trade
union/labor leaders in the Philippines. He cited the 2007 annual Survey of Trade Union Rights
Violations of the International Trade Union Confederation: "33 of the total 144 cases of trade
union killings worldwide happened in the Philippines; and 800 cases of beatings and torture of
trade unionists in the country."[99][100] On January 9, 2008, PNP Task Force Usig announced that 3
policemen, 11 soldiers and 3 militiamen had been arrested or named suspects in killings of
media men and militants since 2001. Director Jefferson P. Soriano submitted the report with the
17 names to PNP chief Avelino Razon. As of December 10, TF Usig prosecuted 113 killings
cases of party-list members, leftist activists and 27 journalists. [101]
Twin horrible deaths happened on/circa the same day last year, January 15, 2007, that
the Supreme Court of the Philippines' (logo or seal) was mysteriously burned into halves by an
almost one hour afternoon fire.[102][103] Despite different appeals by local and international groups,
the spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines continued. On January 15, 2008, Reynato
Puno condemned the murder of Judge Roberto Navidad, Regional Trial Court, Branch
32, Calbayog City, Samar, the 15th judge to be ambushed since July 20, 1999, the 14th under
the Arroyo government. Just starting his engine, black Nissan Patrol SUV (TPL-911), Natividad
was shot in the face/left eye, at 7:10 p.m. Monday, by a lone gunman, 5'4" tall and medium-built,
wearing black jacket, using a 45 caliber pistol.[104] On Tuesday, Catholic missionary Rey Roda,
Oblates of Marry Immaculate (OMI), 54, was shot dead at 8:30 p.m., when he resisted abduction
attempt by unidentified 10 armed men in a chapel at ikud Tabawan village, South Ubian, Tawi-
Tawi, South Ubian. In February 1997, another OMI leader, Bishop Benjamin de Jesus was shot
dead in front of the Jolo cathedral.[105] In 2006, the Asian Human Rights Commission stated that
there had been 26 priests, pastors, and churchmen who were executed or were victims of
violence under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration since 2001.[106] This includes 3 priests
who were reported killed just in 2007: Basilio Bautista of the Iglesia Filipina Reform Group,
in Surigao del Sur, Indonesian priest Fransiskus Madhu, in Kalinga province, and Catholic priest
Florante Rigonan, in Ilocos Norte.[107] On January 19, 2008, the Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines (quoting from a letter of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarciso Bertone),
announced that Pope Benedict XVI "praised the courage of, and was saddened over the brutal
and tragic killing of Fr. Reynaldo Roda in his ministry as head of Notre Dame School." The Pope
wrote Jolo Bishop Angelito Lampon: "calls upon the perpetrators to renounce the ways of
violence and to play their part in building a just and peaceful society, where all can live together
in harmony."[108]
On January 16, 2008, the New York-based international democracy watchdog Freedom
House dropped or relegated the "freedom status" of the Philippines to partially free from a list of
totally free countries. It based its Philippine status downgrade on the spate of political killings,
"specifically targeting left-wing political activists in the country, freedom in the sloped
downward."[109] On January 18, 2008, the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), led by KMP
chairman Rafael "Ka Paeng" Mariano (president of the Anakpawis), condemned the January
12 kidnapping and January 16 extrajudicial killing and torture of their farmer and local leader
Teldo Rebamonte, 45, Masbate People's Organization (who was supposed to join the
commemoration of the Mendiola Massacre) in Barangay Nabasagan, Concepcion in Claveria,
Burias Island, Masbate.[110] On January 23, Karapatan announced that the two latest victims of
extrajudicial killings were: Tildo Rebamonte, 45, a Claveria, Masbate carpenter, who was
gunned down on January 16, four days after he was allegedly kidnapped by the Philippine
National Police’s Regional Mobile Group; and ex-political prisoner Ronald Sendrijas, 35, who
was shot dead in Tagbilaran City, Bohol on January 17.[111] On January 23, 2008, (or in just nine
days after the murder of a priest) Pastor Felicisimo Catambis, 60, of the United Church of Christ
in the Philippines (UCCP) in Catugan, Barangay (village) Balucawe, Leyte town was shot dead
by a still unknown assailant.[112]
On March 14, 2008, Filipino lawyer Edre Olalia (lead officer of the National Union of Peoples’
Lawyers and the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties) brought the Philippine case and
appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), in its 7th Geneva session "to
stop the extrajudicial killings and abductions in the Philippines". Philippines killings will be
examined in the first UNHRC session, periodic review from April 7 to 18, along with those in 15
others of 192 member-countries.[113]
Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a statement at
Canada's House of Commons, commended "the laudable role of the Supreme Court in the
preservation of human rights and in the pursuit of justice." Canadian Ambassador Robert
Desjanis sent the document to Chief Justice Reynato Puno "to underline the value that the
government of Canada attaches to your efforts in this regard as well as to our continued
collaboration in the Justice Reform Initiatives Support Project." [114] In the March, 2008 US
Department of State, 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the US found that
extrajudicial and political killings, including those of journalists, by members of the military,
police, Communist rebels and other terrorist groups / perpetrators continue to be a major
problem in the Philippines. The report added that "despite intensified efforts by the Philippine
government to investigate and prosecute these cases, many went unsolved and
unpunished."[115] The delegates to the 6th Congress of the National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP), led by chairman Jose Torres Jr. renewed calls to an end to unabated media
killing. It reported that the list of journalists murdered swelled from 60 in 2001 to 96 in 2008. The
most recent victims were gunned down local radio broadcasters of Radio Mindanao Network,
Dennis Cuesta from General Santos City, and Martin Roxas of Roxas City, Capiz.[116] The NUJP
declared August 20, a "National Day of Mourning" as journalists wore black in protest, as they
paid tribute to slain media practitioners at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani in Quezon City.[117]
On August 18, 2014, after Major General Jovito Palparan is charged for kidnapping and serious
illegal detention, angry relatives of forced disappearance victims gathered at the Bulacan
Provincial Jail where Palparan will be detained here. A tension rises when some militant
members tried to approach and even whip Palparan with the protest banner. [118]

In popular culture[edit]
In June 2019, Watch List (Maria), a thriller directed by Ben Rekhi about a single mother and
recovering drug addict who makes a devil's bargain with a police death squad in Manila,
premiered and was nominated for a jury prize at the Seattle International Film Festival.[119][120][121][122]
[123][124]

See also[edit]
 Corruption in the Philippines
 Marlene Garcia-Esperat
 Davao death squads
General:

 Arbitrary arrest and detention

 Summary execution
 Selective assassination
Monitoring organizations[edit]

 icaed.org, International campaign for UN Convention to protect all persons from enforced
disappearance
 Desaparecidos.org www.desaparecidos.org  (in English & Spanish)
 "The Commissar Vanishes" – Nikolai Yezhov airbrushed out of a picture with Joseph Stalin;
 www.ic-mp.org, The International Commission on Missing Persons
 www2.ohchr.org, Official website
 news.bbc.co.uk, BBC News Special on Special Rapporteurs
 Amnesty International
 Human Rights Watch
 www.gmanews.tv, Priest, judge slain, as spate of RP killings remains unsolved
 www.manilatimes.net, Puno condemns killing of judge in Calbayog  (archived from the
original on 2009-06-30)
 I-TEAM REPORT - ‘Political killings not official but an unintended policy’
 supremecourt.gov.ph, National Summit on Extra Judicial Killings
 omct.org, World Organization Against Torture[dead link]
 List of Issues arising from the Initial-Fourth Periodic Report of the Philippines to the
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Philippines
 extrajudicialexecutions.org/ extrajudicialexecutions.org, Philippines: Editorial on the Davao
Death Squad and Killing of Journalists
 Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
 extrajudicialexecutions.org, About the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions
 newsbreak.com.ph/index, Karapatan's 2007 Year-end Report on the HR Situation  (archived
from the original on 2011-07-23)
 extrajudicialexecutions.org, Special Rapporteur’s report on the Philippines  (archived from the
original on 2008-08-13)
 stopthekillings.org, Dangerous, Regime, Defiant People - KARAPATAN 2007 Human Rights
Report
 stopthekillings.org, KARAPATAN 2007 Human Rights Report
 List of Extrajudicial Killings as of April 25, 2006, Karapatan Documentation Committee
 pnp.gov.ph, REBUTTALS TO ALLEGATIONS MADE BY WITNESSES DURING THE U.S.
SENATE SUB-COMMITTEE ON EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS‛“HEARING ON
VIOLENCE RELATED TO EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS IN THE PHILIPPINES” HELD ON
14 MARCH 2007 (archived from the original on 2008-07-06)
 US Department of State, Philippines, International Religious Freedom Report 2007 ,
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
 2007 International Religious Freedom Report
 US Department of State, Philippines, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2007 ,
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 11, 2008
 Journalists condemn unsolved media killings, May 3, 2008
 RP, others top 'Impunity Index' for slain journalists, May 3, 2008

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External links[edit]
 Ang Pangako - Interactive Philippine Drug War Victim Map (click on Victims panel toggle
button at upper left)
 Summary and Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines.pdf  , A Submission to the United
Nations Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines (3rd
Cycle, 27th Session, 2017), (Ateneo Human Rights Center)
 Case Unclosed: Desaparecidos