The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Monday has debunked claims of alleged human rights violations made by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and other personalities.
In its weekly regular virtual press briefing, the NTF-ELCAC stated that the CHR’s Report on Investigated Killings in Relation to the Anti-Illegal Drug Campaign “is bereft of any factual or legal bases” and “nothing but an attempt to discredit and malign the government … and seeks to push the narrative that the killings were “sanctioned” by the State.”
The NTF-ELCAC noted that “nowhere in the CHR’s 48-page Report is such a conclusion supported by clear evidence—all but mere assumptions and surmises of CHR.”
“Instead of trying to paint a dark picture of the so-called drug war, the CHR should have included, for the purpose of providing proper context, the data on the number of arrests, cases filed in court, the volume of drugs confiscated, the number of drug surrenderers under Oplan Tokhang, the data on those who availed of rehabilitation, those who underwent Community Based Rehabilitation Programs, the Balay Silangan project, and the decrease in the crime rate during the same period”, the NTF-ELCAC statement read.
It pointed out that “it needs a case to be filed in court to prove, and not for the CHR to conclude that it is ‘sanctioned’ by the State.”
Undersecretary Severo S. Catura, NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson for International Affairs, Peace Process and Human Rights Concerns, said that while the CHR has “finally” followed its mandate to investigate as it came up with an investigation report on the government’s war on drugs, the commission seemed to be clueless on what should be done next.
“So, what is the next step? The next step is for them to file cases,” Catura said, insisting that the country has a “gold standard” for judicial processes, citing the 43 Ampatuan Massacre convictions as an example.
“Let this CHR Report go to the judicial gold standard,” Catura said, “and let the legal infirmities come out during the discourse.”
He challenged the CHR to refer the report to them and they would set up a “grand national assembly’ where all CHR recommendations will be discussed.
The task force also debunked the statement made by Filipino-American lady lawyer Loida Nicolas Lewis who made “false and baseless accusations against the NTF-ELCAC during an on-line forum.
In a statement, the NTF-ELCAC said that “Ms. Lewis ought to know that the Republic of the Philippines is a sovereign state. Its sovereignty emanates from its people and not from any foreign jurisdiction.”
“Appallingly, as a lawyer, it is elementary for her to know that urging a state to meddle in the internal affairs of another or to commit an internationally wrongful act by misleading it with false accusations is unethical and grossly reprehensible for a member of the bar.”
“Does she (Lewis) even know what NTF-ELCAC is? Who are dutifully performing their mandate to end the more than 5-decade local communist armed conflict in the country,” Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy,
NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson for Sectoral Concerns, said.
She challenged Lewis to come home and visit the small communities now “breathing fresh air” that were formerly infested by Communists Terrorists Group (CTGs).
Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Flosemer Chris Gonzales, Acting NTF-ELCAC Spokesperson on Legal Affairs, on the other hand challenged Lewis to condemn the CTGs if she really wants to help her country.
The task force also challenged the University of the Philippines’ President Advisory Council (UP-PAC) to revisit their “critical thinking” when it decried the alleged red-tagging by the task force and called students for “walk out” over the landslide victory of presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“UP is a bastion of critical thinking but calling a walk out is not part of it,” Catura said.
But for Badoy the call for a walkout proved that UP “was designed to be the center” of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army, National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).