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Friday, March 29, 2024

Palace probes abuses

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Malacañang on Saturday announced plans to investigate allegations of abuse of the military and the police in light of President Rodrigo Duterte’s imposition of martial law in Mindanao.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the President, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police “do not encourage or tolerate abuses by the military or the police in Mindanao or elsewhere.”

“We will investigate and if evidence warrants, prosecute and punish all those who committed abuses, especially sexual violence against women,” Abella said.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines chapter in Lanao del Sur previously raised “serious concerns” after receiving “first-hand data and information” of righ ts violations by the military and police in Marawi City, which has been under siege by the terrorist Maute group for over a month now.

The group called on Lorenzana, the martial law administrator, to stop the alleged abuses, including warrantless searches in houses and businesses, “ransacking” of residential and commercial establishments, and “total disregard of plain-view doctrine in searches and seizure activities.”

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Abella said the Commission on Human Rights has not received any complaints of rights abuses in Mindanao since Duterte placed the entire region under martial law last May 23. 

He said individuals who experienced violations arising from military rule should go to the proper authorities. 

“In the meantime, unless based on fact and evidence, we ask critics and advocates to be more considerate in their judgment of the efforts and context of our soldiers’ challenges and be more supportive of their efforts to protect the Filipino way of life,” Abella said.

The Islamic State-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, supported by foreign terrorists, besieged Marawi after government troops attempted to arrest senior Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, known as the Islamic State’s emir in Southeast Asia. The terror groups had planned the attacks days ahead, authorities said.

Continuing firefights have prompted more than 230,000 residents to flee, while hundreds are still trapped in the conflict zone.

Recognizing the efforts “to put this crisis to a close,” the CHR urged the government “to equally intensify initiatives that would address the plight of the IDPs—especially those vulnerable and marginalized, such as children, women, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.”

“Attention should be given to providing a more systematic, organized, and gender-responsive approach to delivering services, as well as better facilities for the evacuees, including those that address the specific needs of women, such as private spaces for breastfeeding mothers,” the CHR said.

Apart from lawyers under IBP-Lanao del Sur, party-list group Gabriela expressed fears of military abuses amid reports that government troops allegedly threatened women with rape if they did not leave Marawi.

“I have personally heard the stories of women who sought refuge in evacuation centers in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur after government troops threatened to rape them, as encouraged by no less than President Duterte in his public remarks,” Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said after visiting the evacuation centers.

“These are alarming accounts, which prove that the martial law and President’s rape remarks have actually emboldened the military to dangle rape threats against women in Marawi City. We fear that there are actual victims of rape and we encourage them to speak out and seek justice,” Brosas added.

Abella added the government is providing enough support to its forces in Marawi after the AFP launched its “Support our Troops” campaign.

Led by the Armed Forces Civil Relations Service, the campaign involves selling of statement shirts meant to drum up public support for the soldiers in the battlefield.

“The government has provided enough assistance to the families of our fallen soldiers,” Abella said.

“The Support Our Troops Campaign is an initiative of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to boost the morale of our soldiers in the battlefield by showing that fellow Filipinos rally behind Filipino soldiers in fighting the terrorist rebels in Marawi,” he added.

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