Media, HR groups hit PNoys human rights remarks as arrogant

DAVAO CITY Filipino media and human rights groups described as arrogant the remarks of President Benigno Aquino before a Belgian audience on the state of the countrys human rights in the course of the government counterinsurgency campaign.

These are themselves blanket statements.The general consensus among the Philippines and international human rights groups is that most cases of human rights violations are not investigated, much less prosecuted., Luis Teodoro, deputy director of Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) said.

Teodoro cited the 2014 Human Rights Watch Report which he said has argued that the findings and conclusions of human rights groups are based on in-depth research and documentation.

Teodoro reacted to Aquinos reply to a question fielded by a Belgium national who asked that governments counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan may have endangered the lives of some people.

Aquinos reply carried by Filipino newspapers quoted him as saying that the statement was, well, those are blanket statements and we dont necessarily agree with them. It is not our policy to encourage or even abet any transgressions of the law. And towards that end, we have been investigating all of these allegations.

The human rights group Karapatan in Southern Mindanao said the arrogant statement of Aquino is a blatant disregard of accountability.

It seems that he is afraid of the truth that he is guilty and accountable for the worsening human rights violations in the country. He feared the truth that he is a successor of [former strongman, Ferdinand] Marcos for being a tyrant and fascist, said Hanimay Suazo, regional secretary general of Karapatan-SMR.

Oplan Bayanihan is nothing but a killing machine of government. It is a fact that they [government] must accept first before stating a recycled alibi and apparently the state of impunity continues because until now justice remains elusive to victims of human rights violations, Suazo said.

The group said it documented 200 cases of extrajudicial killings in the country, of which 33 victims are from Southern Mindanao.

Sheena Duazo of Bayan-SMR said Aquinos Oplan Bayanihan is bloodstained with human rights violations comparable to Oplan Bantay Laya 1 & 2 of former President, and now Pampanga Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

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Media, HR groups hit PNoys human rights remarks as arrogant