Human rights alliance Karapatan expressed its support for House Bill (HB) 240, filed by the Makabayan Bloc, as the House of Representatives Committee on Human Rights held its first deliberation under the 18th Congress on bills seeking to enact the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act.
The Kabataan Party-list also raised their support for HB 240 to ensure the protection of human rights workers and defenders. This act could ensure the defining freedom of human rights defenders and declare the state’s responsibilities in instituting effective mechanisms for the protection and promotion of the aforementioned rights and freedoms.
“How many more defenders must perish before Congress takes action on the proposed legislation? The Duterte administration’s outright vilification and red-flagging of human rights advocates should be enough to drive our legislators to act,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabaysaid.
Karapatan has documented 215 extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders from July 2016 to August 2021, and 828 since 2001, including 70 Karapatan human rights workers who have been monitoring and assisting victims of human rights violations committed by government forces in counterinsurgency campaigns. Many more have been subjected to judicial harassment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, monitoring, threats, intimidation, and harassment both online and offline, as well as other abuses.
Recently, Steve Abua, a 34-year-old peasant activist, was reportedly kidnapped by unidentified assailants last November 6, Saturday, in Sta. Cruz, Lubao, Pampanga. Abua’s whereabouts are still unclear.
Karapatan added that with such unusual circumstances, Palabay asserted that they “merit specific and immediate measures in order to not only deliver justice for those killed and violated but also to ensure that such violations are not repeated and that rights and fundamental freedoms are upheld and given the highest priority by the State as the primary duty bearer of rights.”
Meanwhile, Ayuda Network and Student Aid Network (SAN), alongside other groups, held a protest action outside the Senate in Pasay, clamoring for the P10,000 Cash Aid for Filipino Families and students.
“The 10k student aid call being forwarded by the Student Aid Network and other organizations is essential in bridging the gap between underprivileged students to fulfill their right to quality and accessible education. This is the step that will ensure that no one is being left behind as we collectively fight for a safe, accessible, and inclusive education,” Georjette Calica, Lead Convenor-SAN for High School, said on Sunday.
Critics assert Duterte should declare 10K Ayuda bills as urgent and reroute the NTF- ELCAC’s P30 billion money to socio-economic help. They also urge lawmakers to pass HB 240 as it has been a “long overdue measure.”
Featured image courtesy of Mark Saludes
