U.S. Congress Withholds Military Aid to the Philippines Due to Human Rights Abuses
Published on November 5, 2009
By RONALYN OLEA
Human Rights WatchBulatlat.com
The United States Congress has withheld the US$2-million military aid to the Philippines in 2010 due to human rights concerns.
The
US House of Representatives recently adopted House Resolution 3081
stating that the US$2-million Foreign Military Financing Program for
the Philippines may not be released until three conditions have been
met by the Philippine government. These include taking effective steps
in implementing the recommendations of United Nations Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions;
investigation and prosecution of military personnel who have been
credibly alleged to have violated human rights.
A digital copy
of the said resolution was provided to Bulatlat by the office of Bayan
Muna Representative Neri Javier Colmenares.
UN Special
Rapporteur Philip Alston visited the Philippines in February 2007 and
has recommended, among others, the elimination of extrajudicial
killings in the counter-insurgency program of the Philippine
government, the abolition of the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group
(IALAG), which was tasked with filing trumped-up charges against
activists and the prosecution of human rights violators.
The US
House resolution also states that the Armed Forces of the Philippines
must not have ‘a policy of, and are not engaging in, acts of
intimidation or violence against members of legal organizations who
advocate for human rights.’
The US Senate also adopted a similar resolution, October 26.
In
2008, following a hearing conducted by the United States Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific
Affairs convened by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) regarding the human rights
situation in the Philippines, the US Congress voted to set conditions
for the release of the full amount of 2009 military aid. The conditions
are the same as stated in the recent resolution.
Colmenares met
with officials from the US Department of State in Washington DC on
October 27. The State Department officials, whose responsibility
includes US policy towards the Philippines, confirmed with Colmenares
that the conditioned amount has in fact been withheld.
“The
release of the military aid was tied to the prosecution of human rights
violators in the country including retired General Jovito Palparan. Of
course, it has always been our position that no country should give
military aid to a repressive government,” he said.
Colmenares
added that State Department officials admitted that they were unable to
report to the US Congress that Philippine government had met the human
rights conditions required for the release of the military aid.
But
Colmenares disagreed. “Instead of heeding the conditions, the
Philippine government merely launched high-level lobbying efforts at
the US Congress, led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President
Arroyo’s Special Envoy Patricia Ann Paez and the Philippine Legislative
Affairs Officer Ariel Penaranda. The failure of Pres. Arroyo to
investigate and prosecute Gen. Jovito Palparan defeated all their
lobbying efforts.”
To this date, not one perpetrator of
extrajudicial killings has been prosecuted. Despite recommendations
from Alston and other international organizations, summary executions
continue with impunity.
Even as the Arroyo government abolished the IALAG, activists continue to face fabricated charges.
In
his meeting with US State Department officials, the human rights
lawyer-legislator also raised concerns regarding the progress of the
US-Philippines Defense Reform Program, a large US funding for the
modernization and reform of the AFP. The Philippines Defense Reform
Program began in 2003 in cooperation with the US military and is
funded, in part, by the US Congress.
Colmenares said the State
Department said they would look into the said funding from the
Pentagon. The Pentagon has been criticized in the US for implementing
aid projects, a purely civilian function. Colmenares called for an end
to the funding considering the human rights record of the AFP.
Colmenares
also met with representatives from the office of Senator Boxer,
Representative Nita Lowey, head of the House Appropriation
Sub-committee on Foreign Operations, Rep. Howard Berman, Chairman of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and other offices of the US House
of Representatives and Senate to express concern over the continuing US
military aid to the Philippines.
(Bulatlat.com)