CHR moves to probe alleged peace consultant’s abduction
MANILA — The Commission on Human Rights has sent a team to look into the alleged abduction of peace consultant Ariel Badiang in Bukidnon earlier this month.
On Monday, the CHR said its office in the Zamboanga peninsula has dispatched a quick response operation team to look into rights alliance group Karapatan’s report of the alleged abduction of Badiang by soldiers in Manolo Fortich town in Bukidnon on February 6.
The commission already noted that the military has denied the allegation, as reported by Rappler.
“As we conduct a parallel independent probe, CHR calls for urgent action from the local police and other concerned agencies to uncover the full truth on this latest report of the alleged abduction of another [National Democratic Front of the Philippines] consultant,” the CHR said.
The commission also stressed that enforced disappearance is a grave violation of human rights that compels a state-led investigation in line with the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012.
“Regardless of an individual’s socio-political affiliations and ideological beliefs, the right to liberty and life must be protected and defended at all times as set forth in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” the CHR added.
Karapatan sounded the alarm on the reported abduction of Badiang in a February 13 statement. Cristina Palabay, the group's secretary general, said the police denied having the NDFP consultant in their custody.
Palabay also stressed that as NDFP consultant, Badiang is protected under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, and enjoys immunity from arrest or enforced disappearance under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).
The Palace, however, said in 2018 the JASIG can no longer be involved as peace talks have been terminated. But just last February 8, the Makabayan bloc filed a resolution that called for the lifting of the government's terrorist tag on communist rebels, including the NDFP, to pave the way for peace talks.
The lawmakers added that "[r]ecent history shows that the conduct of peace negotiations is an effective path to end hostilities. Negotiations resulted in a peace agreement with the Moro International Liberation Front, the enactment of the Bangsamoro Basic Law, and the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao."