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TITLE: THE PHILIPPINES HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995
THE PHILIPPINES
The Philippines is a democratic republic with an elected
President, a fully functioning political party system, a
bicameral legislature, a free press, and an independent
judiciary. Fidel Ramos was elected President in a closely
contested but generally fair election in May 1992. This was
the first constitutional transfer of power since 1965.
In 1993 the Government continued a program of national
reconciliation that included peace talks with the three main
insurgent groups. In 1994 it promulgated regulations
governing implementation of an amnesty to those who applied for
it. The program was an important factor in reducing the level
of violence, although fighting continues on a reduced scale.
The Department of National Defense controls the Armed Forces of
the Philippines (AFP) and the Department of Interior and Local
Government supervises the civilian Philippine National Police
(PNP). The two forces share responsibility for fighting a
declining Communist insurgency and radical Muslim separatists.
According to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), an
independent government agency, the police continued to be the
leading abusers of human rights. Military forces, including
local civilian militias, the Communist New People's Army (NPA)
and Muslim insurgent groups also committed human rights abuses
(see Section 1.a.).
The Government is implementing a far-reaching reform program
("Philippines 2000") to convert its agrarian-based
paternalistic economy into an industrial market-driven one,
with key reforms already underway in foreign investment,
banking, and trade. Export-led growth (dominated by textiles,
electronics, agricultural products, and copper) and foreign
investment contributed to the 5 percent increase in gross
national product in 1994, up strongly from the 2.2 percent
increase of the year before. While the Government has
accelerated market reforms, glaring income disparities and
widespread poverty remain, the result of years of mismanagement
under previous governments. In addition, an entrenched
oligarchical elite continues to dominate the economy and
politics and, at times, thwart reformist efforts.
Human rights abuses continued in 1994, although the number of
violations reported in the first half of the year decreased
significantly in most categories. The decline in abuses
primarily reflected a reduction in the number of military
encounters between government and insurgent forces, at a time
when the Government has been discussing a limited accommodation
with, Communist insurgents and Muslim separatists.
Despite greater government and nongovernmental organization
(NGO) commitment to improving human rights, human rights
violations continue. These included extrajudicial killings,
disappearances, arbitrary arrests, torture, and harassment of
civil rights activists and suspected insurgents and their
supporters. Many of these abuses, which were widely reported
in the press, are perpetuated within the context of police and
military involvement in illegal activities such as protection
rackets, political gangsterism, kidnap for ransom syndicates,
and assistance to illegal loggers. The Government has taken
some steps to curb these abuses, although not always
successfully.
Violence and discrimination against women and children continue
to be serious problems. Legislation enacted to deal with these
problems has been well intentioned but largely ineffective due
to budget constraints and the Government's failure to set
implementing guidelines. The justice system remains largely
ineffective in dealing with human rights abuses. There was
little observable progress in trying, convicting, and punishing
perpetrators of these abuses.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
The CHR reported 57 incidents of political or extrajudicial
killing during the first half of 1994. It reported 254 such
killings for 1993. Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
(TFDP), a prominent NGO (see Section 4), reported 27 people
killed extrajudicially in the first half of 1994 as compared to
75 for all of 1993. The numbers given by CHR are higher, in
part, because the CHR includes violations by both the
Government and insurgent groups, including the Communist Party
of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People's Army
(CPP/NPA), while the TFDP lists only offenses attributed to
government authorities.
Both CHR and TFDP attribute the majority of human rights
abuses, including extrajudicial killings, to the police and
military forces, including civilian militia units. The CHR
reported that in the first half of 1994 the PNP was the target
of complaints in 251 out of 586 cases it received. In April
two Manila policemen were implicated in the case of a suspected
thief who was taken at night from his cell and found dead the
next morning. In December a Manila policeman was charged with
murder for killing a tricycle driver who reportedly refused to
come inside the police station for questioning.
Police sometimes kill alleged criminals in staged shootouts.
This may have been the case in the death of Abundio Lagunday, a
suspect in the particularly brutal rape and killing of a
7-year-old girl, Angel Alquiza, a few days after his arrest.
Police alleged that enroute to the scene of the crime,
Lagunday, in handcuffs, grabbed the gun of one of his escorts.
In the ensuing scuffle, the police fatally shot Lagunday. The
authorities promised an investigation, but there was no report
released by year's end. The public and private consensus was
that Lagunday was executed.
In a September encounter with members of the Red Scorpion Group
kidnap gang, police operatives shot dead six alleged members of
the gang. Although one police officer suffered a gunshot
wound, questions were raised as to whether the deaths were
executions. In February a leading member of the Presidential
Anticrime Commission (PACC) reported that it regularly receives
requests from relatives of victims of heinous crimes to kill
the suspects extrajudicially.
In late February, approximately 10 victims of "salvaging" (the
local term for extrajudicial killing) were found in Manila.
Most of the victims were alleged drug dealers or misfits.
Public sentiment pointed to police or local citizens
(vigilantes) as the perpetrators. Real or suspected police
involvement also discouraged potential witnesses from
testifying about the killings.
In an effort reform the police force, President Ramos and the
PNP leadership in March dismissed 1,145 police officers and
suspended another 1,020.
Civilian militia units or citizens armed forces geographical
units (CAFGU's) also committed extrajudicial killings.
Organized by the police and the AFP to secure areas cleared of
insurgents, these nonprofessional units are often inadequately
trained, poorly supervised, and prone to violence. However,
reflecting the further reduction in antiinsurgency activity,
both the TFDP and CHR attribute only about 5 percent of human
rights violations in the first half of 1994 to CAFGU's.
In a case that attracted wide attention in February 1993, two
CAFGU personnel were charged with killing Chris Batan, a TFDP
worker, in Mountain province. The authorities arrested one
suspect, who remains in jail. Police have not arrested the
second suspect even though he has reportedly been seen
regularly in public. In a case of a successful prosecution, in
September the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of two CAFGU
members for the 1990 killing of a policeman and two other
people.
As part of its continuing effort to disband CAFGU's, the
military reduced the 72,000-member CAFGU'S by about 6,000 men
in 1994. The military announced that in 1995 CAFGU forces
would be reduced further to about 58,000. The Government plans
to cut the CAFGU budget by around 10 percent in 1995. However,
the Government is hesitant to reduce CAFGU levels more rapidly
because it fears that dismissed CAFGU members without
employment prospects will resort to banditry and other criminal
activities.
AFP violations of human rights continue to decline, reflecting
the overall decline in counterinsurgeny activities. The CHR
reported that in the first half of 1994, 12 percent of all
violations were committed by military forces. The TFDP, which
does not include nongovernment abuses, attributes 45 percent of
violations in the same period to the military. In March the
Department of National Defense relieved several members of a
special forces unit for allegedly killing a policeman in
Laguna. In September two soldiers were sentenced to 14 years
in prison for the attempted murder of a state prosecutor in
November 1993.
The NPA too was responsible for extrajudicial killings
throughout the country. The most notable case was that of
Hector Mabilangan, a former NPA leader in the Central Luzon
region. Mabilangan, who had given up his rebel status, was
shot by gunmen believed to be part of his old command in
retaliation for what the murderers said were his "criminal and
antirevolutionary activities." In January the Alex Boncayao
Brigade (ABB), a notorious Communist hit squad controlled by
the Manila-Rizal Regional Committee of the CPP (MRRC), publicly
threatened to kill over 300 of the "most notorious elements of
crime syndicates and corrupt government officials." The ABB
released a hit list which included numerous high-ranking
police, military, and political figures. In May one person on
the list, Timoteo Zarcal, was killed for "crimes against
society." In December another person on the list, Jose Pring,
was killed. Zarcal and Pring, both former police chief
inspectors (major rank), had been relieved of duty because of
their alleged involvement in kidnap-for-ransom activities.
Members of their families, however, doubted the ABB's claim of
responsibility for the two killings and pointed instead to the
police as the perpetrators. In October four suspected ABB
members shot and critically wounded a traffic policeman as he
was issuing a citation to a jeepney driver. The ABB also
renewed threats to impose the death penalty on policemen who do
not observe the law.
Muslim extremists such as the Abu Sayaf Group (ASG) carried out
other politically motivated murders. On June 8, for example,
ASG members abducted 72 civilian bus passengers on the
outskirts of a town in Basilan province. The group set free 37
known Muslims and killed 15 Christians. Other hostages were
subsequently released. Muslim extremists were also implicated
in a series of terrorist bombings, in Zamboanga and General
Santos cities, which injured or killed innocent bystanders.
Private security forces maintained by local landowners and
other influential figures also committed extrajudicial
killings. In 1993 the arrest of the mayor of a town near
Manila and a number of his associates (some of whom were
policemen) on charges of raping and murdering a University of
the Philippines coed and killing her boyfriend focused national
attention on this longstanding problem. The trial continued
through the fall, with no end in sight. The publicity
generated by the case inspired the Ramos administration to
undertake a nationwide campaign to dismantle "private armies."
Although some arms were confiscated, critics charge that most
of these were old and of little practical use, and that the
campaign did not target private armies controlled by
politically powerful individuals. In August the PNP leadership
admitted the campaign had so far failed and promised to renew
the drive in an effort to disband these groups before the May
1995 elections.
Poll violence was a problem in the May barangay (the smallest
local political unit) elections. The Department of Interior
and Local Government (DILG) reported over 40 deaths in
election-related violence, mostly attributable to clan and
ethnic rivalries. Most of the victims were incumbent barangay
officials, candidates, and their active supporters. The number
of deaths represented a decrease from previous elections.
b. Disappearance
The CHR cited 5 cases of disappearance in the first half of
1994 compared with 16 cases for all of 1993. The TFDP reported
no disappearances for the first half of 1994 compared with 12
cases for all of 1993. Because disappearances most commonly
involve alleged insurgents or informants, the decline is
largely attributable to the continued decrease in insurgent
activity.
Active duty military and police officers are often implicated
in kidnapings, especially of wealthy Filipino-Chinese, for
ransom. As a result, many victims paid the ransoms quietly and
did not report the cases. Kidnap victims have also refused to
identify their captors for fear of retribution.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits torture, and evidence obtained
through its use is inadmissible in court. Guidelines issued by
the CHR in 1988 direct all law enforcement agencies and
military elements to avoid unnecessary force during
investigation, arrest, detention, interrogation, and other
activities. Nonetheless, abuses continued.
The CHR reported two cases of torture in the first half of
1994, compared with five cases in 1993. The TFDP cites 25
cases in the first half of 1994, compared to 39 for all of
1993. The CHR also cites an improved human rights awareness in
the military, which it attributes to its human rights training
programs for military officers and its practice of providing
AFP promotion panels with "certificates of clearance" on
officers' human rights performance. However, the statistics
generally exclude incidents of torture involving common
criminals or others outside the context of counterinsurgency
activities. In addition, many cases go unreported because the
victims fear reprisal if they seek redress.
Although prohibited by law, physical punishment continues to
occur in jails and prisons. Police forces commit most such
offenses, and abuse of prisoners most commonly occurs during
arrest and interrogation. A CHR report on jail facilities
throughout the country indicates that of 613 jails visited,
only 64 were found to have adequate facilities and be in good
condition. Prisoners at some 410 jails were kept in
substandard conditions and subjected to human rights abuses,
including physical and sexual harassment.
International monitoring groups, including the International
Committee of the Red Cross and foreign embassy officials, are
allowed free access to jails and prisons.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Although the Constitution requires a judicial determination of
probable cause before issuance of an arrest warrant, and
prohibits holding prisoners incommunicado or in secret places
of detention, the authorities continue to make illegal arrests
and hold people in detention. Detainees have the right to a
judicial review of the legality of their detention and, except
for offenses punishable by a life sentence or death, a right to
bail. Authorities are required to file charges within 12 to 36
hours of arrest, depending on the seriousness of the crime.
The CHR listed 54 cases of illegal arrest and detention for the
first half of 1994 compared with 139 for all of 1993. The TFDP
found that 362 persons were arrested illegally in the first
half of 1994 compared with 882 such arrests in the previous
year.
This decline is attributable in part to the Government's effort
to promote the domestic peace process involving talks with
Communist, Muslim, and military rebels. The Government
declared an amnesty program which offered former rebels and
government security forces a chance to apply for amnesty, in
the case of rebels for crimes they had committed in pursuit of
political beliefs, and, in the case of government forces, for
crimes they committed in the performance of their duties.
Government security forces who committed serious human rights
violations (arson, torture, extrajudicial killings, massacres,
rape and robbery) were excluded from the amnesty program.
Under the program, the National Amnesty Commission (NAC), a
quasi-judicial body whose decisions are final, subject to a
review by the Court of Appeals, reviews all amnesty
applications. Most rebel groups rejected the amnesty offer,
noting that it should have resulted from peace negotiations and
not by arbitrary action of the Government.
Despite the overall decline in illegal arrests and detentions,
the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), a
leading NGO network, contends that such violations against
human rights workers are increasing. The PAHRA cites the case
of Wilfredo and Mila Sibayan, both NGO human rights workers,
the former with PAHRA's Manila office. Accused by military
intelligence of being a leader of the NPA, Mr. Sibayan was
arrested without a warrant outside his Manila home on March 28;
no one was informed of his arrest. He was transferred several
times, eventually to the northern town of Abra, where he was
charged with murdering a government soldier in an earlier
shootout, despite his claim that he was in Manila at the time
of the encounter. He was refused legal counsel during his
interrogation. When Mrs. Sibayan finally located him in Abra,
she too was arrested and detained. Local church leaders were
able to secure the Sibayans' release, and charges are pending.
The Sibayans' experience is echoed in a study on administrative
detention by the Human Rights Committee of the NGO LAWASIA. A
majority of the detainees LAWASIA interviewed were arrested
without warrant; they were merely "invited" for questioning
and subsequently held. The study cited numerous violations of
constitutional and human rights, such as lack of access to
counsel during investigation and interrogation and physical
maltreatment during detention.
The TFDP claims that there are still about 276 political
prisoners being held illegally, two-thirds of whom have yet to
be convicted of any offense. The Government disputes this
charge, contending that it has released all political prisoners
and that all of the alleged "political" prisoners are actually
being held for common crimes. It is likely that some of the
300 prisoners in question have committed common crimes, the
most common charge being illegal possession of firearms, in the
pursuit of their political beliefs. It is also possible that a
few are actual or suspected Communists who were framed for
common crimes. Proving this is difficult, however, and the
onus of proof is placed on the prisoner.
The NPA is responsible for some extrajudicial arrests and
detentions, often in connection with "courts" set up to try
civilians and local politicians for "crimes against the
people." Many defendants in such trials are tortured and/or
summarily executed. In April a spokesman for the Melito Glor
Command of the NPA announced that four former breakaway leaders
of the CPP, including former NPA Chieftan Romulo Kintanar,
would stand trial before a "people's court" for criminal and
"antipeople's activities" committed while they were still
active party leaders.
Forced exile is not legal and not practiced.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution calls for an independent judiciary and
provides that those accused of crimes shall be informed of
charges against them and have the right to counsel. Trials are
public. Defendants are presumed innocent and have the right to
confront witnesses against them, to present evidence, and to
appeal their convictions. The authorities generally respect
the right of defendants to be represented by a lawyer. There
is no jury system under Philippine law; all cases are heard by
judges. Despite these safeguards and guarantees, the pace of
justice continues to be slow. Moreover, the Philippine
judiciary is plagued with problems, susceptible to corruption,
and biased in favor of the rich and influential. Corruption
also reaches into the jails and prisons, allowing suspects to
escape. While the Government, in particular the Justice
Department, acknowledged the system's weaknesses and pledged to
clean it up, there was little visible progress.
A study by ALTERLAW, a coalition of alternative law
organizations, comprising various legal groups, identified
personal connections, patronage, influence peddling, and
bribery as some of the most common "unorthodox" methods used in
the practice of law in the Philippines. Legal experts in and
outside of the justice system make the same observations as the
ALTERLAW, pointing to the personal and professional
relationships between judges and the individuals and
corporations whose cases they are assigned. The poor can
languish in jails for years without formal charges being filed
while the wealthy and powerful can use money and influence to
affect their cases. Many leading law firms, known in the trade
as case fixers, gain the favor of judges and other court
officials. Witnesses are easily paid off. While it is
technically illegal to settle criminal cases out of court, the
practice of reaching an "amicable settlement" is routine;
without key victims or witnesses to testify, the authorities
are forced to abandon their case. The Government has been
unable, for the most part, to take effective action to
intervene in these situations.
There is a widely recognized need for more prosecutors, judges,
and courtrooms. The limit for hearing a trial is 90 days and
that for deciding of cases is 45. However, the period only
begins after a case is brought to trial. As a result, suspects
can wait in jail for years before their cases are brought to
trial and the countdown begun. Because of numerous technical
delays and frequent failures of judges and prosecutors to
appear, even the 90-day limit is often not met. In June the
Justice Department reported that during the first quarter of
the year, the prosecution was able to resolve only 4 percent of
the criminal cases it had pending.
At times there are flagrant violations of the right to an
expeditious trial. For example, in February a Manila court
sentenced three men to 17 years in prison for the 1975 murder
and robbery of a priest. The prisoners were immediately
released because they had already spent 18 years in jail. In
June and August the CHR was able to secure the release of eight
civilian prisoners who were sentenced by military courts when
martial law was in place. The prisoners had remained in
custody despite a 1988 Supreme Court decision nullifying
convictions of civilians by military courts.
Some human rights cases never go to trial because victims do
not pursue their cases or crucial witnesses remain silent.
Lawyers representing victims of human rights violations are
also harassed and are labeled as leftist sympathizers if the
accused is assumed to be a leftist rebel. Human rights groups
report that the many former military officers serving as judges
at the municipal and local level greatly diminish the chance of
a fair trial for human rights victims. The case of the accused
killers of Chris Batan (see Section 1.a.) is typical of the
problems involved in attempting to identify and convict
perpetrators of human rights violations.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The Constitution provides that search warrants may be issued by
a judge on a finding of probable cause. Restrictions on search
and seizure are generally observed, although raids without
search warrants on private homes are occasionally reported. In
the past, judges have thrown out evidence obtained illegally.
The Government does not interfere with the free personal use of
the mails or other public communications except upon issuance
of a court order in the course of an investigation.
Some human rights NGO's are increasingly concerned about the
Government's forced resettlement of tenant farmers to make way
for development projects. These resettlement schemes are
designed to clear the land for industrial, agroindustrial, and
tourism projects. In urban settings, squatters are moved to
make way for infrastructure, commercial, and housing projects.
The Government has made efforts to resettle squatters, as
required by law, but NGO's contend that in both rural and urban
settings, those being relocated are sometimes given little or
no notice and are violently ejected. Land rights issues are
made more difficult by the slow process of the Government's
exercise of eminent domain and complex zoning regulations.
g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
Law in Internal Conflicts
Although the frequency of clashes between government and
insurgent forces declined, they continued to inflict hardships
on civilians, particularly in remote areas which were the scene
of most fighting. According to TFDP figures, in the first half
of 1994 there were 7 forced evacuations, 1 food blockade, 9
"violent dispersals" (i.e., forced evacuations in which
violence was used), and 54 houses demolished. Most of these
categories showed declines over 1993.
In June the military launched a major campaign against the
Muslim Abu Sayaf Group in Sulu and Basilian provinces. The
local office of the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) reported that over 22,000 civilians were
displaced in the two provinces. Over 20 evacuation centers
were set up to assist the families. A factfinding report by a
group of human rights NGOs and church groups reported the
military operation resulted in several civilian deaths as well
as in extensive looting and destruction of property.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
There are virtually no legal restrictions on freedom of
expression or speech. The Government generally respects
freedom of the press, and courts are consistent in their
protection of the media. There are some 25 privately owned
newspapers in Manila and many more in the provinces that cover
the political spectrum and freely criticize the Government.
(Most are owned or controlled by politicians and prominent
businessmen.) Radio and television also enjoy considerable
freedom. Communist publications became legal with the repeal
of the Antisubversion Law in 1992. Journalists were able
without legal penalty to meet and interview both Communist
insurgents and military rebels.
The press, however, continues to face hazards in reporting on
gambling, illegal logging, governmental corruption, and the
drug trade. The dangers are greatest outside Manila where
powerful vested interests involved in such activities sometimes
employ violence to discourage media exposes. The journalists
at risk are primarily radio broadcasters whose public affairs
programs reach a much wider audience than either newspapers or
televisions. The Philippine Movement for Press Freedom (PMPF),
an NGO, reported that in the first 8 months of 1994 three
journalists, two of them radio broadcasters, were killed. The
PMPF also reported several cases of journalists being assaulted
or harassed, usually by local police or employees of local
politicians.
The Government respects academic freedom in theory and
practice. It does not censor subject matter in classes,
university publications, or conferences.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The law requires permits from local authorities for outdoor
demonstrations in public places and these are routinely
issued. Nevertheless, rallies and marches are often held
without permits. Some of them are forcefully broken up when
they interfere with traffic or are otherwise disruptive.
Private, professional, religious, social, charitable, labor,
and political organizations are permitted to affiliate with
recognized international bodies in their fields.
An exception to this rule was the Asia Pacific Conference on
East Timor held in late May at the University of the
Philippines. In an unsuccessful effort to lower the profile of
the Conference, particularly after Indonesian expressions of
concern, the Government banned over 30 conference delegates
from entering the country, including a Nobel laureate and the
wife of the French President. The conference was nearly
canceled when a trial court ruling by a military judge banned
it. However, the Conference, minus the banned delegates, was
held after a last minute decision by the Supreme Court that
cited constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and
assembly.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Government respects freedom of religion and does not
discriminate against any religious group or its members.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Filipinos enjoy the freedom to change their place of residence
and employment within the Philippines. Movement within the
country is largely unimpeded. With rare exceptions, such as
pending court cases, Filipinos are allowed to travel and work
abroad.
The Government for years provided first asylum to Indochinese
boat people, allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) immediate access, and managed the refugee
status determination process (screening) in accordance with the
Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) agreed on in Geneva in
1989. As a result of completion of the screening process and
the June CPA steering committee meeting held in Bangkok, the
Government announced the closure of all refugee and asylum
seeker camps in the Philippines by the end of 1994. This
decision was made in compliance with a resolution of the CPA
meeting calling for termination of the CPA and repatriation of
the estimated 48,000 nonrefugees in the region by the end of
1995.
By October 1, there were approximately 4,500 Vietnamese asylum
seekers remaining in the Philippines, of whom only about 1,500
had been determined to be "refugees" pending resettlement in
third countries. The Government stated that it screened out
individuals (nonrefugees) who did not choose to accept
voluntary repatriation and would be considered for "nonobjector
orderly return" (the repatriation of individuals who have not
previously volunteered but who will not necessarily object if
notified that they must return to Vietnam) beginning October 1.
The Government does not practice forcible repatriation.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
Citizens have this right and exercised it in 1992. The
Philippines has a multiparty political system with periodic
free elections based on universal suffrage for citizens. In
the legislature, both the House of Representatives and the
Senate are controlled by a loose progovernment coalition, which
does not always vote en bloc on contentious issues.
Many irregularities in the voting and election process mar
political freedoms. Multiple registrations of the same voter,
nonexistent or dead voters, intimidation of voters, and
extrajudicial killings of candidates and their supporters (see
Section 1.a.), as well as vote-buying, all occur. These
problems are more acute at the local level, as are political
dynasties, which use some or all of the above methods to
maintain their grip on power.
The estimated 2 to 3 million overseas contract workers (OCW's)
represent a significant block of voters that is effectively
disenfranchised. Advocates of the rights of OCW's in 1994
began an effort to institute an absentee balloting program.
There are no restrictions in law or practice on participation
by women and minorities in politics. Twenty-three women serve
in the 215-seat House, 4 in the 24-member Senate, and 3 in the
Cabinet.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
The Philippines has an active and effective nongovernment
organization community. There are many domestic human rights
NGO's, including the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
(TFDP), the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and the
Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA). The
latter organization represents numerous NGO's that monitor
human rights conditions among various social and occupational
groups. While these groups operate without government
restriction, they are often viewed with suspicion by the
military and police. Some local civilian officials also have
been uncooperative. Employees of human rights groups in the
field have encountered harassment (see Section 1.d.). A few
have been killed in previous years, but there were no such
killings reported in 1994.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent
government organization and the largest human rights
organization in the Philippines. In 1994 the CHR chaired 747
public information and education activities, many of which were
designed for audiences of military, police, and other public
officials. Although it lacks prosecutory powers, it is
constitutionally mandated to investigate all alleged violations
of human rights. However, a January Supreme Court decision
limited the CHR's powers to investigate civil and political
rights. The CHR itself recognizes that it has an outdated
organizational structure, budgetary constraints, and a need for
more field offices. The CHR has been criticized for its
lengthy and cumbersome procedures, its inefficiency, and its
practice of placing the burden of proof on complainants,
despite the risk they may face of reprisals or their lack of
resources.
Representatives of international human rights groups are free
to travel in the Philippines and investigate alleged abuses.
Government officials routinely meet and discuss human rights
problems with foreign governmental and nongovernment
organizations.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination against women,
children and minority groups. Implementation of all
constitutional guarantees is at times hindered by lack of
implementing legislation and by budgetary constraints.
Women
In law but not in practice, women have most of the rights and
protections accorded men. The Women in Development and Nation
Building Act in 1992 terminated previous restrictions on
women's rights to buy and sell property. However, the
Government does not fully enforce this legislation.
The Filipino people are overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. The law
does not allow divorce and women's rights advocates view this
as a major barrier to achieving the empowerment of women.
Annulment of marriages is now fairly easy to achieve due to
changes in the Legal Code, and the practice has become more
common. However, the cost of hiring a lawyer familiar with the
new Code precludes this option for many women. The practice of
"unofficial divorce" (permanent separation) is common among the
lower classes; in these cases, the wife is usually left with
the children, but the husband provides little or no support for
them.
Women and girls in the lower economic strata are particularly
vulnerable to exploitation by unethical operators who promise
employment overseas or arranged marriages with foreign men.
Some of these women end up working as prostitutes or suffering
abuse at the hands of their foreign employers or husbands.
While in years past the focus of attention was on abused
Filipino maids in Kuwait and other Gulf states, in 1994 the
condition of Filipino "entertainers" in Japan and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands generated
considerable press attention. Either through international
trafficking syndicates or individual employers, Filipino women
were often recruited to work abroad as maids, entertainers, or
models and required to participate in public shows or dances
where nudity and the prospect of sex was the principal
attraction. Others, facing bleak employment prospects at home,
accepted questionable jobs in the knowledge that they would be
required to engage in prostitution. In order to curb such
abuses, the Government campaigned to end illegal recruiting and
raised the minimum age and educational standards for young
women seeking jobs abroad. It also expanded its labor attache
corps in countries with large overseas contract worker
communities and worked with foreign governments and NGO's to
provide more effective protection for Filipino workers at risk
for sexual or economic exploitation.
Violence against women, particularly domestic violence, is a
serious problem. The Women's Crisis Center, an NGO assisting
abused and battered women, reported that it receives over 100
calls a week from battered women in the metropolitan Manila
area. Women's advocates point to poverty, double standards of
morality, lack of laws on domestic violence, and a traditional
societal reluctance to discuss private family affairs, as some
of the reasons for the prevalence of domestic violence. No
divorce rights and the lack of job opportunities combine to
limit the ability of women to escape destructive relationships.
Rape continues to be a major problem; its frequency is
estimated as high as one every 6 minutes. The incidence of
reported rape, however, is estimated by the Philippine National
Police to be 20 percent or lower. Police said that reported
rape cases in the first quarter of 1994 increased 17 percent
over the same period in 1993. Women's groups charge that
accused rapists are dealt with leniently by the male-dominated
law enforcement and judicial systems. According to women's
groups, many women accept rape as part of the culture. Many
rape victims are minors, who accept incestuous relationships,
rather than subject the family to public embarrassment.
Proposed House legislation seeks to change the definition of
rape (classifying it as a crime against a person, i.e., a
public offense, rather than a crime against chastity, i.e., a
private offense) and to expand the circumstances and conditions
in which rape is considered to have been committed. The
proposed laws, which face resistance in the House, would make
marital rape a crime. They would also allow a rape victim's
family or the state to file a complaint on her behalf. The
laws do not, however, seek to increase the severity of the
penalties for this crime.
In response to these problems, the PNP started the PNP Women's
Desk program designed to protect women against, and encourage
the reporting of, crimes against women. PNP stations include
female officers trained in dealing with victims of sexual
crimes and domestic violence.
In June a high profile case of sexual harassment involving two
senior government officials focused attention on sexual
harassment in the workplace. A 1993 survey by the Institute of
Labor Studies found workplace sexual harassment to be
widespread, yet the problem is underreported due to victims'
reticence and fears of losing their jobs. In September the
Supreme Court upheld a decision that found sexual harassment
was "valid cause for separation from service."
Prostitution is illegal but widespread and a fact of life for
many poorer Filipinos with limited access to a more acceptable
career or standard of living. Penalties for prostitution are
light.
Women also face discrimination in employment. Among
administrative, executive, and managerial workers, the average
woman's salary was only one-third of that of her male
counterparts.
Children
Several government agencies have programs devoted to the
education, welfare, and development of children.
In 1994 the Commission on Human Rights opened its Child Rights
Center designed to monitor and investigate violations of
children's rights. Sweeping legislation was passed in 1992 to
protect children's rights, but the Government has not
implemented it due to lack of funding and its failure to
coordinate enforcement among the many agencies involved.
Societal values that define children as extensions and property
of the parents are a key factor in limiting children's rights.
Courts tend to give precedence to parental authority over the
rights of a child.
Many Filipino children face serious problems stemming from
widespread poverty and the Government's inability to eradicate
organized abuses involving child labor and child prostitution.
One children's rights organization estimates that there are up
to 100,000 child prostitutes in the Philippines. Although the
authorities have staged some successful raids on brothels and
massage parlors, freeing underaged girls forced to work as
prostitutes, the problem remains a large scale one.
Street begging and truancy are common in large cities. The CHR
estimates the number of street orphans in metropolitan Manila
at fewer than 1,000, but up to 100,000 destitute children spend
most of their waking hours on the streets.
The rates of child abuse and beatings and child rape alarm the
authorities; several men have been sentenced to death for the
rape of their daughters. Many children have been orphaned or
otherwise adversely affected by the ongoing insurgencies.
Indigenous People
Indigenous peoples live throughout the Philippines but
primarily in the mountainous areas of Northern Luzon and
Mindanao. They account for 10 to 15 percent of the
population. Although no specific laws discriminate against
indigenous peoples, the remoteness of the areas they inhabit
and a cultural bias against them tend to prevent their full
integration into Philippine society. Their ability to
participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lands,
cultures, traditions, and the allocation of natural resources
is minimal. Because they inhabit mountainous areas favored by
guerrillas, indigenous peoples suffer disproportionately from
counterinsurgency operations. Indigenous children suffer
disproportionately from lack of basic services, such as health
and education facilities.
Although the 1987 Constitution calls for the protection of the
ancestral lands and culture of indigenous peoples, the
Government has not pushed for legislation to enforce these
rights. What indigenous peoples regard as "development
aggression"--the utilization of their lands for hydroelectric
dams, mining operations, and other large-scale development
projects--often forces their relocation and the destruction of
farming and hunting lands they have used for centuries. The
Government does little to secure indigenous peoples' claims to
such lands. Nonetheless, in June the Government granted land
rights for 108,000 hectares of land to 3,000 Bugkalot families
in Quirino province. In addition, a Philippine Senator has
proposed the creation of a commission on ancestral domains to
conserve the lands for the benefit of cultural minorities.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Although people of Chinese ancestry have extensively
intermarried with other Filipinos and are relatively well
assimilated, there is a distinct Filipino-Chinese community
numbering perhaps 1 to 2 percent of the population. This
minority plays a prominent role in the national economy and is
the object of some resentment by the general population. As
noted in Section 1.b., the Chinese have been a primary target
of kidnaping for ransom. In 1994 Filipino-Chinese businessmen
were also the targets of an extortion scheme involving judges
and customs officials. The judges issued false search warrants
to the customs officials who, upon serving the warrants,
offered to accept bribes to fix the matter.
Religious Minorities
Muslims, who comprise about 5 percent of the total population
and are reside principally in Mindanao and adjacent islands,
constitute the largest minority group in the country. They
historically have been alienated from the dominant Christian
majority, and efforts to integrate Muslims into the political
and economic fabric of the country have met with only limited
success.
Philippine culture, with its emphasis on familial, tribal, and
regional loyalties, creates informal barriers whereby access to
jobs or resources is provided first to those of one's own
family or group. Many Muslims claim that they continue to be
underrepresented in senior civilian and military positions.
There are one Muslim Supreme Court justice, one Muslim Senator
(a woman), and eight Muslim Congressmen.
The Government inaugurated the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) in November 1990 to meet the demands of Muslims
for local autonomy in areas where they hold a majority or are a
substantial minority. However, the ARMM is limited to the four
provinces which elected to join; it is regarded as an arbitrary
creation of the Government and as falling short of representing
the aspirations of all Muslims in the region, including the
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC). The ARMM Government is hobbled
by an inadequate tax base, poor performance, and a continued
shortfall in promised central government assistance.
People with Disabilities
A 1983 law provides for equal physical access for the disabled
to all public buildings and establishments, and a law passed in
1992 provides for "the rehabilitation, self-development, and
self-reliance of disabled persons and their integration into
the mainstream of society." Advocates of the handicapped
maintain that these laws are not enforced fully, citing
inadequate government funding, widespread evasion, and
lingering prejudice against the handicapped among many
Filipinos.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution and legislation provide for the right of
workers, including public employees, to form and join trade
unions and this right is exercised in practice. Trade unions
are independent of the Government and generally free of
political party control. Unions have the right to form or join
federations or other labor groupings, and several have
affiliated with international trade union confederations and
trade secretariats. The largest federation, the Trade Union
Congress of the Philippines is affiliated with the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions. Unions
oppose government efforts to loosen prohibitions against "labor
only" subcontracting, which they claim allows employers to
evade obligations to their employees and helps them to break
unions.
Subject to certain procedural restrictions, strikes in the
private sector are legal. However, a 1989 law stipulates that
all means of reconciliation must be exhausted and that the
strike issue has to be relevant to the labor contract or the
law.
The Committee of Experts of the International Labor
Organization (ILO) has expressed concern that certain
provisions of the Labor Code (authorizing the Secretary of
Labor to order compulsory arbitration to avert strikes in
industries deemed indispensable to the national interest) are
not in conformity with the ILO Convention on Freedom of
Association. In 1994, however, the ILO noted that the
Government sought its assistance in reforming the Labor Code.
International criticism also has focused on the Code's ban on
unfair practices' strikes during the term of a collective
bargaining agreement.
According to the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights
(CTUHR), an organization which publicizes security force
violations, the rights of striking workers continued to be a
problem in 1994. The CTUHR counted some 70 incidents by
September, involving over 900 alleged victims. The CTUHR said
police were involved in nearly all these cases, and there also
were instances in which military personnel were involved in
dispersing strikers and dismantling picket lines in their area
of jurisdiction.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution provides for the right to organize and bargain
collectively. The Labor Code provides for this right for
private sector employees and for employees of government-owned
or controlled corporations, but it provided only limited rights
for certain government workers. Although unions claim to have
organized almost 11 percent of the total work force of 27
million, only 600,000 workers (2 percent) are covered by
collective bargaining agreements.
Under the law, dismissal of a union official or worker trying
to organize a union is considered an unfair labor practice.
Nevertheless, employers sometimes attempt to intimidate workers
with threats of firing or factory closure. Allegations of
intimidation and discrimination in connection with union
activities are grounds for review as possible unfair labor
practices before the National Labor Relations Commission
(NLRC). The CTUHR and many trade unions have filed complaints
before the NLRC alleging workers were dismissed solely to get
rid of union members. The NLRC and the National Conciliation
and Mediation Board (NCMB) provide the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE) with quasi-judicial mechanisms for hearing
and adjudicating workers' claims. The process has been slow.
There were several dozen strikes during the year, fewer than in
previous years.
Labor law and practice are uniform throughout the country,
including in export processing zones (EPZ's). Except for the
Bataan EPZ, unions have not been able to organize zone
workers--some labor sources attribute this failure to employer
resistance and antiunion discrimination by EPZ authorities.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Forced labor is prohibited, and the Government effectively
enforces this prohibition. The Government investigates and
attempts to act upon reports of abuse of Philippine workers
overseas.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The Child Protection Act of 1992 prohibits the employment of
children below age 15, except under the direct and sole
responsibility of parents or guardians or where employment in
cinema, theater, radio, or television is essential. The Labor
Code allows employment for those between the ages of 15 and 18
for such hours and periods of the day as are determined by the
Secretary of Labor but forbids employment of persons under 18
years of age in hazardous or deleterious work. However, a
significant number of children are employed in the informal
sector of the urban economy or as field laborers in rural
areas. The most serious, industrywide violations of child
labor law occur in clothing related production, much of which
is exported.
Children continue to be employed in a dangerous form of coral
reef fishing, which exposes them to shark and needlefish
attacks and increases their vulnerability to disease. The
Government has investigated and attempted to reduce violations
of child labor laws outside the agricultural sector through
well-publicized raids on reported violators. Relying on tips
provided by concerned NGO's (especially the Kamalayan
Development Center), officials of the DOLE and the National
Bureau of Investigation carried out a number of successful
raids on factories and farms. The DOLE succeeded in forcing
employers to pay back wages, but court prosecutions encountered
well-known delays. Secretary of Labor Confesor used radio
programs to warn parents in rural provinces of the danger of
allowing recruiters to lure their children with promises of
"good jobs" in Manila.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
Under the Minimum Wage Act of 1989, tripartite regional wage
boards set minimum wages. Rates were last revised in late
1993, with the highest in Manila and lowest in rural regions.
The minimum wage for workers in the national capital region
(NCR) was approximately $5.60 (P145) per day. This amount is
insufficient to provide a worker and his family in the NCR with
a decent standard of living. Unless at least two family
members are working, this minimum wage will not raise a
family's income above the Government's "poverty threshold."
Wage boards outside the NCR, in addition to establishing lower
minimum levels, also exempted employers according to such
factors as establishment size, industry sector, involvement
with exports, and level of capitalization. This excludes
substantial numbers of workers (especially in agriculture,
domestics, laborers, janitors, messengers, and drivers) from
coverage under the law. Although unions have called for a
nation-wide increase, the Ramos administration favors leaving
responsibility for minimum wage adjustments with the regional
wage boards. DOLE surveys showed that in the first half of
1994, 25 percent of the inspected establishments violated the
minimum wage law. Given the difficulty of prosecuting cases
through the courts, the DOLE relies on administrative
procedures and moral suasion to encourage voluntary employer
correction of violations (see Section 1.e.)
The standard legal workweek before overtime is 48 hours for
most categories of industrial workers and 40 hours for
government workers, with an 8 hour per day limit. An overtime
rate of 125 percent of the hourly rate is mandated. The law
mandates a full day of rest weekly. The enforcement of
workweek hours is managed through periodic standards
inspections by the DOLE.
A comprehensive set of occupational safety and health (OSH)
standards exists in law. Although policy formulation and
review of these standards is the responsibility of the DOLE,
actual enforcement is carried out by 14 regional offices.
Statistics on actual work-related accidents and illnesses are
incomplete, as incidents (especially in regard to agriculture)
are underreported. Workers do not have a legally protected
right to remove themselves from dangerous work situations
without jeopardy to continued employment.
(###)
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