US Congress Withholds Military Aid to the Philippines Due to Human Rights Abuses
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Helene Lustan
Nov 5, 2009, 7:51:19 PM11/5/09
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http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2009/11/05/us-congress-withholds-military-aid-to-the-philippines-due-to-human-rights-abuses/
US withholds ’09 military aid to RP over rights issue
By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo
11/06/2009
The government of the United States has decided to finally withhold $2 million worth of military aid to the Philippines this year out of concerns over the country’s lingering human rights problem which has been raised by human rights groups and churches in the United States.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares said the conditional aid was not released because of the failure of the administration of President Arroyo to account for the spate of human rights violations in the country.
“Members of the US Congress took the cue from the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that the Philippine government must address the long standing impunity for the killings, enforced disappearances, and other forms of human rights violations, and that extra-judicial executions and other human rights abuses do not form part of the policy of the military and the government,” Colmenares said.
“The release of the military aid was tied to the prosecution of human rights violators in the country including retired Gen. Jovito Palparan. Of course, it has always been our position that no country should give military aid to a repressive government,” he explained.
Officials from the US Department of State confirmed with Colmenares during their meeting in Washington DC on Oct. 27 that the conditioned amount has in fact been withheld.
State Department officials, whose responsibility includes US policy toward the Philippines, admitted that they were unable to report to the US Congress that the Philippine government had met the human rights conditions required for the release of the military aid.
As a result, the final $2 million in military assistance appropriated by the US Congress for the Philippine government was suspended.
Also, the US House of Representatives approved House Resolution 3081, withholding the same military aid for the Philippines next year on the basis of its not being able to meet the same three conditions.
The US Senate has approved the House spending bill which shall form part of the US 2010 national budget.
In 2008, following a hearing in the United States Senate on the human rights situation in the Philippines convened by Sen. Barabara Boxer (D), the US Congress voted to put a condition on the release of the full amount of 2009 military aid to whether the Philippine government was meeting three human rights conditions.
The conditions include the implementation of the recommendations of Prof. Philip Alston, the investigation and prosecution of military officials credibly alleged to be responsible for human rights violations, and that violence and intimidation of legal organizations should not form part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) policy.
“Instead of heeding the conditions, the Philippine government merely launched high-level lobbying efforts of the US Congress, led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President Arroyo’s Special Envoy Patricia Ann Paez and the Philippine Legislative Affairs Officer Ariel Penaranda. The failure of President Arroyo to investigate and prosecute Gen. Jovito Palparan defeated all their lobbying efforts,” Colmenares said.
The Filipino-American community and the US-based National Alliance on Filipino Concerns, which also met with US congressional officials, have similarly expressed outrage over the spending of their taxes to arm a repressive government.
Aside from the UN report, Colmenares said members of the US Congress are aware of the Supreme Court decision in Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro vs Manalo and the Melo Commission report implicating Gen. Palparan and other military officials in various human rights violations.
Colmenares also raised concerns with US State Department officials about progress on the US-Philippines Defense Reform Program, a large US funding for the modernization and reform of the AFP, citing the on-going impunity for human rights abuses. He called for the end to the funding considering the human rights record of the AFP and its cover up of the perpetrators of human rights abuses.
The Philippines Defense Reform Program began in 2003 in cooperation with the US military and is funded, in part, by the US Congress.
The State Department committed to inquire about the said funding from the Pentagon. The Pentagon has been criticized in the US for implementing aid projects, a purely civilian function.
Colmenares was invited to the US to give a talk at the National Convention of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also met with representatives from the office of influential Democrats Sen. Barbara Boxer from California, Rep. Nita Lowey, head of the House appropriation sub-committee on foreign operations, Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, and other offices of the US House of Representatives and Senate to express concern over the $ 30-million military aid to the Philippines.
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US withholds ’09 military aid to RP over rights issue
By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo
11/06/2009
The government of the United States has decided to finally withhold $2 million worth of military aid to the Philippines this year out of concerns over the country’s lingering human rights problem which has been raised by human rights groups and churches in the United States.
Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares said the conditional aid was not released because of the failure of the administration of President Arroyo to account for the spate of human rights violations in the country.
“Members of the US Congress took the cue from the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston that the Philippine government must address the long standing impunity for the killings, enforced disappearances, and other forms of human rights violations, and that extra-judicial executions and other human rights abuses do not form part of the policy of the military and the government,” Colmenares said.
“The release of the military aid was tied to the prosecution of human rights violators in the country including retired Gen. Jovito Palparan. Of course, it has always been our position that no country should give military aid to a repressive government,” he explained.
Officials from the US Department of State confirmed with Colmenares during their meeting in Washington DC on Oct. 27 that the conditioned amount has in fact been withheld.
State Department officials, whose responsibility includes US policy toward the Philippines, admitted that they were unable to report to the US Congress that the Philippine government had met the human rights conditions required for the release of the military aid.
As a result, the final $2 million in military assistance appropriated by the US Congress for the Philippine government was suspended.
Also, the US House of Representatives approved House Resolution 3081, withholding the same military aid for the Philippines next year on the basis of its not being able to meet the same three conditions.
The US Senate has approved the House spending bill which shall form part of the US 2010 national budget.
In 2008, following a hearing in the United States Senate on the human rights situation in the Philippines convened by Sen. Barabara Boxer (D), the US Congress voted to put a condition on the release of the full amount of 2009 military aid to whether the Philippine government was meeting three human rights conditions.
The conditions include the implementation of the recommendations of Prof. Philip Alston, the investigation and prosecution of military officials credibly alleged to be responsible for human rights violations, and that violence and intimidation of legal organizations should not form part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) policy.
“Instead of heeding the conditions, the Philippine government merely launched high-level lobbying efforts of the US Congress, led by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President Arroyo’s Special Envoy Patricia Ann Paez and the Philippine Legislative Affairs Officer Ariel Penaranda. The failure of President Arroyo to investigate and prosecute Gen. Jovito Palparan defeated all their lobbying efforts,” Colmenares said.
The Filipino-American community and the US-based National Alliance on Filipino Concerns, which also met with US congressional officials, have similarly expressed outrage over the spending of their taxes to arm a repressive government.
Aside from the UN report, Colmenares said members of the US Congress are aware of the Supreme Court decision in Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro vs Manalo and the Melo Commission report implicating Gen. Palparan and other military officials in various human rights violations.
Colmenares also raised concerns with US State Department officials about progress on the US-Philippines Defense Reform Program, a large US funding for the modernization and reform of the AFP, citing the on-going impunity for human rights abuses. He called for the end to the funding considering the human rights record of the AFP and its cover up of the perpetrators of human rights abuses.
The Philippines Defense Reform Program began in 2003 in cooperation with the US military and is funded, in part, by the US Congress.
The State Department committed to inquire about the said funding from the Pentagon. The Pentagon has been criticized in the US for implementing aid projects, a purely civilian function.
Colmenares was invited to the US to give a talk at the National Convention of the National Lawyers Guild.
He also met with representatives from the office of influential Democrats Sen. Barbara Boxer from California, Rep. Nita Lowey, head of the House appropriation sub-committee on foreign operations, Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, and other offices of the US House of Representatives and Senate to express concern over the $ 30-million military aid to the Philippines.
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