News Roundup 07 September 2022
Sep 07, 2022 • 6 min Read
Rights groups urge UN to take stronger stance on situation in Philippines | PHILSTAR.COM – Ahead of the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, human rights organizations on Wednesday called on the United Nations and the international community to take a stronger stance on the situation in the Philippines, which they said is the same as during the Duterte administration. To recall, the UN Human Rights Council in 2020 settled for a resolution on “technical assistance and capacity-building for the promotion of human rights” in partnership with the Philippine government to improve its human rights situation — stopping short of an independent probe into the situation that rights groups were calling for at the time. How much has the “technical assistance” helped? At a press conference hosted by international rights watchdog Human Rights Watch on Wednesday afternoon, rights advocates pointed out that no concrete improvement has been observed on the ground in the two years since, even despite the turnover of another administration. Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of rights group Karapatan said she has the same question after years of engaging with the technical working group, which hosted several capacity-building activities with both civil society and government bodies. “We raised the issue of the intent of the government to really engage in the process, to genuinely look at the baselines. And our baselines in this case are the various reports on human rights violations,” she said. “We look at how minimal the joint program has addressd these numerous issues. I cannot really say that there has been substantial contribution in the improvement of the human rights situation in the Philippines. There is a problem, and if we don’t identify the problems, then how else can we get anywhere?” Rose Trajano, international advocacy officer of iDEFEND, urged follow-up resolutions including more immediate measures for justice and compensation for the families of victims of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. “I think we will have a real problem if no follow-up resolution will be done by the UN Human Rights Council,” she said. “A follow-up resolution should also ensure that the government would commit to concrete, time-bound justice and accountability targets.” The justice and foreign affairs departments are the co-chairs of the Steering Committee of the UNJP, which implements the UN resolution. Before the Commission on Appointments last week, Ambassador Antonio Manuel Lagdameo, the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, vowed to fairly represent the Philippines on the issue of human rights and other common values in the community of nations. But he went on to claim that there are “misrepresentation and exaggeration of the so-called violations from the Philippines’ side” in the realm of human rights. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has yet to fill vacancies for the five commissioners of the Commission on Human Rights. How might the lack of Commission on Human Rights appointees in the Philippines be received at the 51st session of the Human Rights Council? Lucy McKernan, Geneva director at Human Rights Watch, said that international scrutiny “remains essential” in the HRW’s view with domestic remedies still largely falling short.
DOJ junks cyber libel charges vs 4 Makabayan members | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed cyber libel charges against four current and former Makabayan lawmakers filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). In a six-page resolution dated May 12 but released to media yesterday, state prosecutors junked the complaints against former Bayan Muna party-list representative Carlos Zarate, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas and former Gabriela lawmakers Luzviminda Ilagan and Liza Maza for “lack of merit” over what the CIDG claimed were defamatory and libelous statements against the police. The CIDG filed the complaint in November last year when the Makabayan leaders accused the Philippine National Police of red-baiting and planting evidence against Lourdes Bulan – who was arrested in Iligan City on allegations of murder – and for branding her as a Communist Party of the Philippines leader. Zarate welcomed the DOJ’s decision, branding the complaint as a lawsuit intended to “harass” members of progressive groups. “In this time of severe crisis, why can’t the police use their time and resources instead to run after syndicates and cartels that caused the spike in basic necessities like sugar, salt, rice, and even oil and power? Or by seriously going after the corrupt government officials and employees, the drug lords and other criminal syndicates that prey on our suffering poor people?’” Zarate said in a statement.
IT contractor says probe shows source of system slowdown is within LTO | INQUIRER.NET – The slowdown of the online licensing and registration system of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) may possibly be due to sabotage within the agency. The LTO’s IT contractor Dermalog, citing initial findings of their investigation, noted that a “network issue” resulted in the slowdown of the Land Transportation Management Systems (LTMS). Dermalog even claimed their discovery has been confirmed by the Department Of Information And Communications Technology (DICT) in its own preliminary probe. It also said it tracked high volume disruptions to computers within the LTO which likewise makes the system sluggish. “Noong lumabas po ang problema sa pagbagal, nakipagugnayan po agad ang Dermalog sa LTO, para tuklasin at magbigay ng solusyon sa problema. In fact, we even reached out to the DICT [which] said na ang preliminary finding nila ay it is a network issue,” Dermalog spokesperson Atty. Nikki de Vega said in a press conference Tuesday in Quezon City. (When the slowdown problem emerged, Dermalog immediately contacted the LTO to investigate and provide a solution to the problem. In fact, we even reached out to the DICT which said that their preliminary finding is that it is a network issue.) She then clarified that the LTO’s network is not under Dermalog as it is under the full control of the agency. “May natuklasan pa na mas nakakabahala. Based sa investigation ng LTO at Dermalog, natuklasan po namin na merong computer ng LTO, sa loob mismo ng LTO regional office, na pinanggagalingan ng high volume of traffic na nagco-cause ng slowdown sa network mismo ng LTO,” de Vega said. (There is another discovery that is even more alarming. Based on the investigation of the LTO and Dermalog, there is an LTO computer, right inside an LTO regional office, that is the source of the high volume of traffic that causes a slowdown in the LTO network itself.) LTO’s IT expert even confirmed that the computer was the source of malware, claimed De Vega. When asked whether it was sabotage, de Vega said it was possible.
