MANILA, Philippines - Philippine human rights officials admitted Thursday that the culture of impunity was a major factor behind a scathing Amnesty International report on the human rights situation in the country.
Worse, new Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairwoman Leila de Lima admitted her agency has very limited powers to act against human rights violations.
In a radio interview, De Lima said the culture of impunity is supported by the slow prosecution of human rights violators and the lack of results in human rights cases.
"Ang perception diyan is because of the culture of impunity na walang nakikitang resulta ang nagiging investigation at saka ang kasong supposed to be for prosecution na at sa korte na. Wala tayong nakikita medyo sensational or high-profile cases ilang taon na rin since 2001, walang nakikitang resulta (The perception is because of the culture of impunity, they see no result in investigations of cases of rights violations. Those cases should have been prosecuted or in court. We have not seen sensational or high-profile cases since 2001, we are not seeing results)," De Lima said in an interview on dzXL radio.
While De Lima did not identify specific cases that she said are perceived to be "not moving" and remains unresolved, she said AI was not alone in criticizing the culture of impunity in the country.
Under a culture of impunity, De Lima said those behind killings and human rights violations are emboldened to act because they are not being punished. "Ang culture of impunity binabatikos ng human rights groups na tumututok sa atin (Other groups watching our human rights situation are also criticizing the culture of impunity)," De Lima said.
On Wednesday, AI said the Arroyo government is failing in respecting and protecting human rights, adding corruption is playing a role because it drains the nation's resources.
It said that in the Philippines, there must be concerted efforts by the three branches of government, to end impunity especially for disappearances and extra-judicial executions.
"The link between the military and political killings was further established by international and national institutions," the AI report said.
In the interview, De Lima admitted the CHR will need much upgrading, although it is studying its options. She said the CHR's present mandate limits her agency to monitoring and investigating human rights violations.
De Lima noted that CHR presently has no prosecutorial powers.
"Tingnan namin anong improvement pa dapat, either sa batas, or sa internal rules para maging matibay ang aming pagsagawa ng mandating mag-investigate (We want to study our options for improvement, either in the law or in our internal rules, so we can be more effective in investigating rights violations)," De Lima said.
De Lima said there are bills seeking to grant the CHR prosecution powers, but she said this may make the CHR clash with agencies with prosecutorial powers like the Justice Department and Deputy Ombudsman for the military. - GMANews.TV