Media Releases

In a letter of allegation submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial/Summary or Arbitrary Executions Ms. Agnes Callamard yesterday, April 10, 2017, Karapatan submitted documentation on forty-seven (47) victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines under the Duterte administration, in line with the continuing counter-insurgency program of the government.

As they expressed their support for the continuation of the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, more than 200 Canadian trade unions, churches, ecumenical organizations, solidarity and human rights organizations, academics, journalists and individuals in Canada also called for the release of all political prisoners in the Philippines. 

“The military’s refusal to suspend all military operations and pull-out from communities, despite overwhelming clamor of peasants and national minorities, and the poisonous duet of warmongers Delfin Lorenzana and Eduardo Ano to sabotage the continuing peace talks reveal their disdain for free land distribution and genuine agrarian reform,” said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan Secretary General, after the fourth round of talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in The Netherlands on April 3 to 6, 2017. 

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has further exposed themselves as lying, desperate fascist dogs. In the military’s malicious attempts to justify its dirty war and rights violations against the people, meanwhile sabotaging efforts for a just and lasting peace, it is resorting to laughable narratives, ridiculous plot twists, and raw dishonesty,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay during a mass action of peasants and Lumad at the Department on National Defense (DND), Quezon City, on April 7, 2017 to call for an end to AFP’s all-out-war and the pull-out of troops in communities.

“The mass arrest of 58 individuals, 17 of them minors and 8 are elderly, is a testament to how the urban poor are easily dismissed in favor of private individuals and businesses. We call on the attention of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista for such hypocrisy in his own backyard when he is among the designated panel advisers in the peace talks between the GRP and the NDFP,” said Karapatan deputy secretary general Jigs Clamor on the arrest of 58 urban poor residents in Apollo, Tandang Sora, QC, on April 3, 2017.

“How are we to make the police accountable for their crimes against the Filipino people if the President himself has seemingly made impunity a State policy? The President shrugs off the death of poor Filipinos in his drug war while at the same time, celebrates these violations and their violators. Military and police generals known for rights abuses are still being promoted,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said on recent pronouncements by the President to grant pardon for cops convicted in the course of the drug war and the promotion, and assignment of Police Senior Supt. Alexander Tagum as acting Davao police director. 

“Of the 46 victims of political killings under Duterte, majority are from the peasants – leaders and members of local peasant organizations who have been targeted by State security forces and/or private armies of the landed elite for asserting their rights,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay on the continuing political killings. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today led a nationwide mass action against the spate of extrajudicial killings of peasants.

"The Marine Battalion Landing Team 2 (MBLT 2), in cahoots with the private guards of David M. Consunji, Inc. (DMCI), a mining and logging company, have been wreaking havoc in communities in Sultan Kudarat. The MBLT 2 and DMCI tandem is a match made in hell, responsible for heinous crimes against the people, including the disappearance of two indigenous people in November 2016 and the recent evacuation of residents in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat," said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.

“We condemn in strongest possible terms the recent killing of four more farmers, adding to the 42 political killings under the Duterte administration. To say that there are no extra-judicial killings in the country, whether perpetrated through counter-insurgency programs or through the war on drugs, is covering up State accountability when its official policies sanctioned the sufferings of the poor majority of Filipino people,” said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay on the killing of four farmers in Compostela Valley, as well as recent statements by the Philippine National Police that there are no extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. 

“Despite laws that prohibit the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, such methods are still being employed by State security forces. Under the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, or RA 9745, there has only been one recorded conviction. This is regardless of the 248 torture incidents recorded by Karapatan under the BS Aquino regime, and 18 incidents under Duterte. This is only possible when the military and the police operate with impunity, sanctioned by the State to commit violations against the people,’ said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay on the continuing use of torture, most recently involving a peasant organizer in Nueva Ecija.