THINKING BEYOND POLITICS

Since martial law, the Philippines has come a long way when it comes to protecting human rights. On paper, our human rights regime is robust. The 1987 Constitution is a legal framework motivated by human rights, its drafting having been framed by our experience of martial law. We have ratified human rights conventions and enacted legislation to further protect us from state abuse and atrocious crimes such as torture, genocide, and crimes against humanity.

Apart from legislation, the Constitution established democratic institutions to control the exercise of state power that would, in turn, affect the exercise of our rights. It provided for an elaborate scheme of checks and balances as well as the separation of powers among the different branches of government. It established the Office of the Ombudsman, which has the broad power to prosecute public officials for any administrative and criminal offense committed through abuse of official position. It also created the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the independent body mandated to investigate human rights abuses.

We celebrated these positive developments on Human Rights Day (Dec. 10). At the same time, we must also ask if these guarantees have become a lived reality for the people.

LOSSES

Duterte’s “war on drugs” has exposed the inefficacy of some of these guarantees. Since Duterte came to power, more than 30 human rights lawyers have been killed. Staunch critics have been arrested, ousted, threatened with legal proceedings, and harassed or trolled on social media. Journalists are no less safe.

Having our human rights spelled out in our laws is important, but we must equally ensure that an adequate system is in place to make those rights real.

It was only last year that Congress moved to reduce the annual budget of the CHR to P1,000. This can be construed as an effort to constructively abolish the only institution that could provide independent, accurate documentation of the killings arising from the drug war.

Another possible loss is the state’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute. If this happens, it gives the appearance of the state’s unwillingness to be held accountable amid allegations of crimes against humanity. The pending petition before the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the withdrawal will thus test how real our commitments are to human rights accountability.

NO ACCOUNTABILITY

FROM THE POWERFUL

Just less than two weeks ago, Kian delos Santos’s killers were convicted by the Caloocan Regional Trial Court for his death. This is a cause for celebration in a country notorious for impunity. However, some believe that the cops who were convicted are just scapegoats for the real masterminds of the drug war. Notably, the drug war provided the backdrop for Kian’s murder. And at present, there is still no person most responsible for the drug war who