Ramon A. Carandang: Corruption and conflict retreating under Aquino

5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 24, 2012

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III. Photo / AP

Writing in the Herald last Friday, Murray Horton of the Philippines Solidarity Network urges Prime Minister John Key to raise the issue of human rights in the Philippines and calls on him to tell President Benigno S. Aquino III to make the country an "actual" democracy.

Mr Horton then claims that nothing has changed under the administration of President Aquino.

Mr Horton's views resemble misinformation commonly being disseminated by a number of individuals and organisations with ties to extreme leftist elements in the Philippines.

The truth is, President Aquino has done much to battle corruption in the country, including revitalising important government institutions that fight corruption such as the Department of Justice, the Commission on Audit, Office of the Ombudsman, and the Philippine Supreme Court.

In the case of the Ombudsman and the Supreme Court, this involved the impeachment, trial, and removal from office of the Ombudsman and the Chief Justice - both of whom were appointed by President Aquino's predecessor Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - who is now herself in government custody and awaiting trial for various charges of corruption.

There has also been a significant improvement in the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Private armies are being dismantled, as in the case in the province of Abra where local armed groups have surrendered to the Philippine National Police. In the Northern Philippines, the Cordillera People's Liberation Army laid down their arms and signed an agreement that ended 25 years of insurgency in 2011.

Then there is the case of General Jovito Palparan, an Armed Forces officer who had been widely accused of summary executions during the term of Arroyo, and was publicly extolled by the former president during her 2006 state of the nation address before Congress.

Under President Aquino, General Palparan has been charged for human rights abuses and is now a fugitive from the law. Meanwhile, land reform is also being undertaken by the Department of Agrarian Reform, which is in the process of distributing large tracts of land, including an estate owned by the family of the President. And just last week President Aquino's administration signed an historic agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to end one of the world's longest running internal conflicts.

The changes in the Philippines under President Aquino are undeniable to the objective observer. We suggest that human rights groups take a closer and a more objective look at what is happening to our country.

*Ramon A. Carandang is secretary of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office in Manila.

Russell Wang () | 08:38AM Thursday, 25 Oct 2012

The US State Department releases the Human Rights record of the Philippines. Yes it shows a drop in reports of abuses but shows an increase in journalists death / harassment since Aquino took over:

http:/shar.es/cGNtx

Pingu () | 08:39AM Thursday, 25 Oct 2012

Despite the assertion of Mr Carandang, criticism of the Aquino Administration's response to extrajudicial killings has not just come from the 'extreme left'. Human Rights Watch has announced its disappointment that no soldiers or police responsible for killings and torture of civilians have been successfully prosecuted yet, even though Aquino has been in power for two and a half years.

General 'Butcher' Palparan, who has been charged with the kidnapping and torture of two young female university students, has yet to be captured. Human Rights Watch and a number of Filipino human rights groups believe he is being sheltered by elements in the Armed Forces. Last year the President also made a directive allowing mining firms to employ paramilitary forces. Amnesty International has called for these paramilitaries to be disbanded because they have engaged in human rights abuses against local residents.

Many people would take President Aquino's commitment to human rights more seriously if there were some successful prosecutions of those soldiers who had killed and tortured civilians and the directive allowing mining companies to employ private armies was reversed.

fifty-eight (New Zealand) | 08:39AM Thursday, 25 Oct 2012

When one is under one's government payroll, one tends to write in favour of the government. How about looking at independent or objective writers, groups or organizations not aligned with any government or faction? Why not get feedback from international organizations that put many governments under the microscope in terms of corruption, services, accomplishments, etc - those that won't be blamed as "leftists" or "mis-informationalists"?

Take the World Bank 2013 Ease of Doing Business Report, for example. How about the travel website Sleeping In Airports? I hope that with the present Philippine government many years into its administration, it won't keep blaming the previous government. Prosecuting corrupt officials both past - and specially present - will set a true example.

But more importantly, implementing programs that will create local jobs and stable futures then seeing these through would be exemplary. That way, many Filipinos will never have to leave the country to earn a living. Political power seems to have always corruption many of its beneficiaries and allies. History is filled with lessons. I hope this or a similar situation won't happen in New Zealand - ever.