REPORT ALSO CITES ALLEGATIONS OF GOV’T TORTURE

Corruption in gov’t, judiciary widespread — US State Dep’t

By Michaela P. del Callar

02/27/2009

The US State Department cited widespread corruption in the Philippine government, including the judiciary, as a major obstacle to human rights and criticized President Arroyo’s administration for its lack of political will to resolve the problem.

In its 2008 Human Rights Report, the State Department said that amid the existence of anti-corruption bodies, corrupt practices among government officials remain pervasive.

“The law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, however, the government did not implement the law effectively, and officials often engaged in corrupt practices with impunity,” the report issued on February 25 said.

The report noted that both the government and the private sector have established a number of anti-corruption bodies, including an Ombudsman’s office and an anti-corruption court, and public officials were subject to financial disclosure laws.

It also cited the lack if not absence of transparency in the Arroyo administration.

“The law provides for the right to information on matters of public concern. However, denial of such information often occurred when the information related

to an anomaly or irregularity in government transactions. Much government information was not available electronically and was difficult to retrieve,” the report noted.

It also noted that corruption was a problem throughout the criminal justice system.

The report said while the law provides for an independent judiciary, the judicial system “suffered from corruption and inefficiency.”

Personal ties and sometimes bribery resulted in impunity for some wealthy or influential offenders and contributed to widespread skepticism that the judicial process could ensure due process and equal justice, it noted.

“The Supreme Court continued efforts to ensure speedier trials, sanction judicial malfeasance, increase judicial branch efficiency, and raise public confidence in the judiciary. In September the Supreme Court dismissed one justice at a court of appeals and disciplined four others for their roles in a bribery scandal. In October the high court denied the motions for reconsideration filed by these justices,” according to the report.

The national court system consists of four levels: local and regional trial courts, a national court of appeals divided into 17 divisions, a 15-member Supreme Court, and an informal local system for arbitrating or mediating certain disputes outside the formal court system. The Sandiganbayan, the government’s anticorruption court, hears criminal cases brought against senior officials. A Shari’a (Islamic law) court system, with jurisdiction over domestic and contractual relations among Muslim citizens, operates in some Mindanao provinces. The courts-martial, each composed of at least five active-duty military officers, hear cases against military personnel accused of violating the Philippine Articles of War. The president, the chief of staff of the armed forces, or a military unit commander may appoint the members of a court-martial. Military or security tribunals cannot try civilians.

It also noted reports of widespread corruption among prison guards and, to some extent, at higher levels of authority within the prison system.

The report also cited allegations that state forces practice torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Constitution prohibits torture, and evidence obtained through its use is inadmissible in court; however, members of the security forces and police were alleged to have routinely abused and sometimes tortured suspects and detainees, according to the report.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) provided the police with mandatory human rights training. The CHR noted that senior PNP officials appeared receptive to respecting the human rights of detainees, but rank-and-file awareness of the rights of detainees remained inadequate, the report said.

Human rights groups, including the CHR, noted that excessive force and torture remained an ingrained part of the arrest and detention process. Common forms of abuse during arrest and interrogation reportedly included electric shock, cigarette burns, or suffocation, it said.

Through year’s end the TFDP documented 12 cases of torture involving 16 victims. For the same period, the CHR investigated 23 cases of alleged torture. Most of the suspects in these cases were members of the AFP.

The CHR continued to observe greater sensitivity within the AFP to the need to prevent human rights violations. The CHR is required to determine whether an AFP officer or a PNP officer at the senior superintendent level being considered for promotion had a history of human rights violations; however, a negative CHR finding does not preclude promotion. In some instances promotions were withheld indefinitely when the CHR uncovered a record of human rights abuses. The AFP stated that it withheld some promotions on human rights grounds during the year.

There were reports that prison guards physically abused inmates. The CHR and TFDP reported that abuse by prison guards and other inmates was common, but prisoners, fearing retaliation, refused to lodge formal complaints. Women in police custody were particularly vulnerable to sexual and physical assault by police and prison officials. Human rights activists believe suspected ASG and NPA members in captivity were particular targets for abuse.

Recently, the World Bank aborted funding for the $33-million road project in the country after discovering that a cartel of seven local and foreign construction firms, along with some politicians and First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, were involved in the anomalous deal.

On human rights, the State Department said arbitrary, unlawful, and extrajudicial killings of activists and journalists by Philippine security forces continue to be a major problem.

The physical abuse of suspects and detainees are also a concern, as did police, prosecutorial, and judicial corruption, it said.

“Concerns about impunity persisted. Members of the security services committed acts of physical and psychological abuse on suspects and detainees, and there were instances of torture. Prisoners awaiting trial and those already convicted were often held under primitive conditions,” the report said.

Although civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces, there were some instances where they acted independently, the report said.

It said that leftwing and human rights activists often were subject to harassment by local security forces.

Moreover, problems such as violence against women, abuse of children, child prostitution, trafficking in persons, child labor, and ineffective enforcement of worker rights were common.

The State Department also lashed back at the New People’s Army (NPA), the military wing of the Communist Party, for engaging in arbitrary killing of local government officials and ordinary civilians.

It also accused the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the NPA and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) of using child soldiers in combat or auxiliary roles.

The US State Department report is published annually and makes an assessment of the state of human rights in more than 80 countries.

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