“Aquino gov’t has AIDS (As If Doing Something) syndrome” – migrant leader

April 24, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Reference: Garry Martinez, 2nd Nominee, 0939-3914418



Kin of stranded OFWs in Jeddah Tent City throw “paint-bombs” at DFA

“Aquino gov’t has AIDS (As If Doing Something) syndrome” – migrant leader

Because of the Aquino administration’s continued inaction and insincerity in assisting stranded OFWs currently camped outside of the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, families of OFWs expressed their anger and dismay by throwing paint bombs at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) seal Wednesday morning.

Families of the OFWs, which had now reached at least 2,500 and still counting, recently launched series of protests at the DFA Main Office in Manila and its satellite offices in Lucena, Davao, Pampanga and General Santos to demand their kin’s immediate repatriation.



On April 29, Monday, families from Laguna and nearby provinces will continue to hold rallies at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) satellite office in Calamba and Pampanga to demand immediate relief for their kin whilst awaiting repatriation. The OFWs are in dire need of shelter, food, water and medical assistance.



“Despite our OFWs’ miserable conditions and their families’ pleas, the Aquino government has not done anything substantive or decisive to bring the OFWs immediate relief and facilitate their quick repatriation. So far, all the Aquino administration has done is to plead with the Saudi government when they had already explicitly stated that no help can be expected from them,” said Garry Martinez, Migrante International chairperson and Migrante Partylist second nominee.



“This Aquino government seems to have the ‘AIDS (As If Doing Something) syndrome,’” Martinez said.



Repatriation at OFWs’ own cost

Martinez said that the families of the OFWs were more angered when they learned that the PH government’s so-called repatriation process is based on the OFWs’ capability to shell out money for their own repatriation.



“Iyong sinasabi ng DFA na handa silang sagutin ang repatriation ng ating mga kababayan ay hindi totoo, pawang kasinungalingan,” he said.



Martinez said that the OFWs furnished them with a copy of an information sheet being distributed by embassy and consulate officials asking them “what they are willing to pay for their repatriation.”



Some 300 OFWs who have already enlisted for repatriation have attested to having encountered the said form from the PH Consulate, according to OFWs and their families. (Attached is a copy of the information sheet)



“Ang panawagan ng ating mga OFW at kanilang mga pamilya ay libre, kagyat at maramihang repatriation (Our OFWs demand free, quick and mass repatriation). Clearly, the PH government does not realize the gravity of the situation when it continues to pass on the burden to the OFWs,” he said.



Martinez said that it is the government’s main responsibility to bring our OFWs home, regardless of their undocumented status. He said that both the DFA and the OWWA have funds earmarked for the repatriation of OFWs in distress and in emergency situations. “What we have now in Jeddah is a clear and present crisis and a national calamity, yet the Aquino administration is business-as-usual,” he said.



At least 2,500 OFWs, including women and children, are presently camped outside of the PH Consulate in Jeddah. They are seeking immediate repatriation after the Saudi government launched a massive martial-law style crackdown on undocumented migrant workers in the region. The OFWs are all undocumented, trafficking victims and “runaways” from abusive employers.



On April 29, Monday, families and their loved ones in Saudi will hold a simultaneous press conference to announce the planned “solidarity campout-caravan” of families on April 30 to May 1. The families will troop to the main offices of the DFA and OWWA in Manila on April 30, then proceed to Mendiola and the big May 1 multisectoral rally at the Liwasang Bonifacio on May 1. ###

-- 
Website: http://migranteinternational.org/
Office Address: #45 Cambridge St, Cubao, Quezon City
Telefax: 9114910

morer pictures

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.376147969155877.1073741825.346396928797648

MEDIA RELEASE / 23 April 2013

IBON Foundation ∙ 114 Timog Avenue, Quezon City Philippines 1103
Phone: (632) 927-6986/927-7060 to 62 ∙ Fax: 929-2496 ∙ media@ibon.org ∙http://www.ibon.org
Reference: Mr Sonny Africa (IBON executive director)

NEW POVERTY FIGURES CONFIRM GROWTH REMAINS EXCLUSIONARY

Research group IBON says that the latest official government data on poverty incidence has proven that despite the growth registered in recent years, it has yet to be inclusive.

The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported that as of the first half of 2012, 28 out of 100 Filipino families are living in poverty. This data, according to the NSCB, is unchanged from the same periods of 2006 and 2009. The release of the latest official poverty statistics is a result of government’s effort to release poverty data more frequently, unlike in the past where these were released every three years.

IBON pointed out that the recent poverty data does not even capture the growing wealth of the country’s rich and aggravating inequality, which underscores how economic policies remain biased for a few rather than

the poor majority.

The exclusionary quality of the economy is further affirmed by the recent statement of Labor secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, who announced that there will be no wage increase on May 1. This announcement came amid the recent Fitch investment upgrade and record Philippine Stock Exchange Composite index. But higher wages, according to IBON, are among the most important mechanisms for making growth inclusive. It added that as of March 2013, the real value of the daily minimum wage in NCR is only Php363, despite the Php10-wage increment last November. (end)

IBON Foundation, Inc. is an independent development institution established in 1978 that provides research, education, publications, information work and advocacy support on socioeconomic issues.

No change in state of poverty under Noy

No change in state of poverty under Noy

Written by  Tribune
Wednesday, 24 April 2013 00:00

POOR-RICH INCOME GAP GROWS — NSCB

All of President Aquino’s hype about inclusive growth, stock market bull runs, and upgrade to investments level and even the Aquinomics principle of good governance is good business were punctured yesterday after the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) released a report showing poverty afflicts three of every 10 Filipinos, a situation that had not changed since 2006.

The government report measured poverty incidence or the proportion of people living below the poverty line to the total population showed an estimated 27.9 percent of the population earning barely enough for their basic needs such as food and shelter during the first half of last year.

“Comparing this with the 2006 and 2009 first semester figures estimated at 28.8 percent and 28.6 percent, respectively, poverty remained unchanged as the computed differences are not statistically significant,” according to the NSCB.

The income gap between the rich and the poor had also grown based on the government survey.

The total income of the top 20 percent of families is approximately eight times of the total income of the bottom 20 percent of families, according  to the NSCB.

The stagnant poverty figure was significant considering the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, which has been alloted P40 billion in this year’s budget, that supposedly targets the poorest Filipino families.

The report showed the Aquino government has failed to make headway in cutting rampant poverty despite the country’s economic growth.

Filipinos forced to live on less than P25 a day are considered poor based on the government’s poverty threshold.

Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said underemployment in rural areas, security problems in provinces facing insurgencies and warlords, and the falling price of a number of commodities such as sugar were mainly to blame.

“If the problem of visible underemployment in agriculture is addressed, then incomes of farmers would increase, poverty incidence would decrease, and we would not be compromising food security,” Balisacan said in a statement.

The nation of about 100 million people posted 6.6 percent economic growth last year, and this year obtained its first-ever investment-grade rating from Fitch Ratings.

However the January 2013 jobless rate stood at 7.1 percent, with a further 20.9 percent under-employed, or working fewer than 40 hours a week.

About 41.8 percent of the under-employed are in the farming sector, it said.

Norio Usui, Senior Country Economist for the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, said the government must solve the problem of jobless growth if it hopes to reduce poverty.

“I am not surprised at all. The benefits of strong economic growth have not spilled over to the people because they still cannot find a job,” he said.

He said the Philippines’ economic model depended on consumption, strong remittances from its large overseas workforce and the outsourcing industry, which employs highly educated workers.

However, the Philippines, with its weak industrial base, has stood out in the region, he added.

“Why do you need a strong industrial base? To give jobs not only to the highly educated college graduates, but also to high school graduates,” Usui said.

The government put the annual per capita poverty threshold at P9,385.

The state census board found that at least 28.6 percent of the population was considered poor in both 2006 and 2009.

The report showed in the first half of last year, a Filipino family of five should earn P5,458 to meet basic food needs every month and P7,821 to stay above the poverty threshold and afford them basic food and non-food needs every month.

According to the report, the subsistence incidence, which represents the proportion of Filipino families in extreme poverty, was estimated at 10 percent during the first semester of 2012.

At 10 percent in the first semester of 2009 and 10.8 percent in the first half of 2006, the differences among these three figures remain statistically insignificant.

In terms of poverty incidence among families, the NSCB estimates a rate of 22.3 percent during the first semester of 2012, and 23.4 percent and 22.9 percent during the same periods in 2006 and 2009, respectively.

The NSCB estimates that it would cost the government P79.7 billion until the first semester of 2012 alone to pull out Filipinos below the poverty level against the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for the CCT of P39.4 billion for the entire 2012.

Government data also showed the income gap in the first half of 2012 or the monthly income shortfall of a poor family was estimated P2,292 on the average for a family of five.

The NSCB said that in general, the poverty conditions in the 1st semester of 2012 appear to be unchanged from the 1st half of 2006 and 2009.

“During this period, the rate of increase in the average incomes of the bottom 10 percent and the bottom 30 percent is practically the same as the rise of food prices and overall prices, respectively,” it said.

During the same period, the rate of increase in the prices of food and average per capita income of the bottom 10 percent (as well as bottom 30 percent of families) is almost the same.#

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Something's Rotten in Boston Who's Investigating the FBI Investigators?

Something's Rotten in Boston
Who's Investigating the FBI Investigators?
By Dave LindorffApril 22, 2013 "Information Clearing House" -"This Can't Be Happening! " - I’m not a conspiracy-minded person, but something definitely stinks about this whole Boston Marathon bombing story.

From what we’re reading about the case, the FBI had for two years been investigating Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26-year-old older brother killed during a shootout between police and the two brothers, Tamerlan and 19-year-old Dzhokhar. They had interviewed Tamerlan in his home, warned him they were watching what he ate, what he looked at on his computer, etc. They knew he had gone to Dagestan and Chechnya.

Then there’s the money thing. We’re told that Tamerlan had dropped out of community college because of money problems, right? Community college? That costs almost nothing to attend. That’s the whole point of community colleges: everyone can afford them. And he was reportedly only going part-time! But then, the two brothers are driving around in a Mercedes and wearing fancy clothes?

We’re talking about two brothers, both in school, with a father who was ill and living in Dagestan, who had worked as a curbside mechanic while in the US, and a mother who had a home beauty salon business, and these lads somehow were stylish dressers and drove around in an expensive car -- expensive to buy even used, and terribly expensive to maintain, too.

Where did all that money come from? We don’t know. Tamerlan was reportedly working at things like delivering pizza during that period This while living with his wife and caring at home for their young daughter, now three. Tamerlan’s wife was said to be supporting the struggling family by working “60-80 hours a week” as a home health care aide, one of the lowest-paying jobs you can find, often paying less than minimum wage.

Why is all this troubling? Because time and time again, when purported terrorist plots are “disrupted” and alleged terrorists are arrested, it turns out they are inept dupes who have been led into their “plots” by FBI provocateurs.

So was this horrific Boston Marathon bombing yet another in this long string of FBI sting operations that perhaps went wrong? Or worse, was this, as both the Tsarnaev parents, now divorced and living separately in Dagestan, are suggesting, actually a “false flag” set-up by US intelligence agencies?

There are other curiosities about this whole affair. It has been widely reported, even in the mainstream media, that there was an unusual amount of police presence at both the start and finish of the marathon this year -- activity that included police drug-sniffing dogs and also -- get this! -- private security personnel, reportedly from Craft International, wearing the same kind of black clothing and black backpacks as were seen being worn by the Tsarnaev brothers! What’s that about? (Craft International’s website describes the company as providing the best security, defense and combat weapons training in the world to military, police, corporate and civilian clients.)

Surely, if the sniffer dogs were doing their job and weren’t all stuffed up in their sinuses, they would have detected two amateurs who had allegedly just packed two large kitchen pressure cookers with black powder and nails, and then placed them into backpacks, and who were walking around in the crowd at the finish line. Black powder has a strong recognizable odor, and would be very hard to work with in any kind of clean manner -- sort of like working with talcum powder and trying to keep it from getting all over the place.

And then there’s a jarring interview on a Boston-area radio call-in program called the Dennis & Callahan Morning Show from a woman named “Linda,” who says she witnessed the shootout between the two brothers and police in which Tamerlan was killed. The woman, who says she was staying over at her boyfriend’s house on Watertown’s Dexter Street, claims they “rushed to the front” of the house when they heard the commotion and “saw the suspect get hit by a Police SUV, and then after he was hit, get shot multiple times.” Clarifying, under questioning from the radio host, she says he was hit first by the police, and then adds, “from what we saw early this morning I’d be hard pressed to think he was actually pronounced dead at the hospital, I mean from the injuries that he incurred in the street I would say he was probably dead when he was put in the ambulance.” She goes on to suggest that Tamerlan may have been executed by police: “I just remember him get shot multiple times.” Of course, “Linda” could be a complete fake, but her story, completely at odds with the official one that has a ruthless and uncaring Dzhokhar running over his own brother in the firefight, dragging him 30 feet down the road before escaping himself from a police cordon on foot.

Dzhokhar himself, the 19-year-old younger brother of Tamerlan, currently being held under tight security in Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital where he is in serious condition with two bullet wounds and is being reportedly questioned by the FBI, is lucky to be alive at all. When he was discovered, weakened from blood loss, hiding inside a trailer-mounted pleasure boat in a retired New England Telephone employee’s driveway, police called to the scene by the owner, David Henneberry, initially pumped bullets into the boat trying to kill him, until they were told to stop firing by a supervisor. It is not known whether the bullet that hit Dzhokhar’s neck, producing a wound which now reportedly prevents him from talking, was one of those fired by police at that time.

I don’t know what to make of all these oddities, but I know one thing for sure. Given the FBI’s long and nefarious record of orchestrating and financing terror plots since September 11, 2001, so that they can then bust them, the last organization that should be in charge of questioning Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the hospital, and of investigating the whole bombing, is the FBI. The agency has far too much explaining to do itself in this bizarre case. Before the country marches further down the road towards becoming a police state, with martial law takeovers of cities becoming the new normal, we need to find out what the FBI -- and Craft International -- were up to in Boston, and where the Tsarnaev brothers were getting their money, their ideas and their supplies from.

See also -

Boston Marathon bombing suspect is charged in hospital: Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was charged by federal prosecutors in his hospital room Monday with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill — a crime that carries a possible death sentence.

Ex-CIA Deputy Director: Boston Bombing 'More Like Columbine Than Al Qaeda': Video - Former CIA Deputy Director Phillip Mudd on Sunday told Fox News that Boston bombing suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev should be charged as a murderer because the crime looked more like the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado than an attack planned by al Qaeda.

Police: 4 Unexploded Devices Seized from Suspects: Boston police say investigators have discovered four undetonated devices, including one similar to the pressure cooker bombs used at the Boston Marathon. Police also believe the suspects may have been planning additional attacks.

Boston suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in "stable condition" - Video report

Bombing Inquiry Turns to Motive and Russian Trip: Investigators are now scrambling to review that trip, and learn about any extremists who might have influenced, trained or directed Tamerlan while he was there.

FBI faces questions over previous contact with Boston bombing suspect: Agency admits it interviewed Tamerlan Tsarnaev in 2011 'at request of foreign government' but did not find 'terrorism activity'

King blasts FBI: Rep. Peter King blasted the FBI on Sunday for failing to prevent the Tsarnaev brothers from carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings when the agency had already been told about the older brother's extremist potential.

Get Ready for Benghazi-Redux From Republicans on FBI's Handling of Bombing Suspect: Video - "If you thought the Republican behavior after Benghazi was bad, their desperate fishing expedition on Boston could be even worse."

Tsarnaev aunt reveals further details about visit to Dagestan: Reports that Boston suspect went to Dagestan for 6 months in 2012 to visit his father have been dismissed by aunt

Center for Constitutional Right: Condemns Miranda Exception in Boston Marathon Suspect Case: If officials require suspects to incriminate themselves, they are making fair trials and due process merely option and not a requirement. To venture down that road again will make law enforcement accountable to no one.

Mosque: Bomb suspect angered by sermon: Video - A Boston-area mosque says the Boston Marathon bomb suspects were infrequent visitors, but one member describes an incident where Tamerlan Tsarnaev became visibly upset with a sermon delivered there.

QATAR: How OFWs fare in this tiny ME country

QATAR: How OFWs fare in this tiny ME country

Worker rights problems are numerous in this small nation of the Arabian Peninsula. One works 6 days a week, for 10 hours a day. Although some were able to fly back to the Philippines for vacation once a year, some workers who only get 30 days of rest every 2 years.  Many of them cannot afford to fly back to visit their families, or whose employers make it difficult to leave the country. 

Human trafficking is a growing dilemma in Qatar and neighboring countries such as the U.A.E and Saudi Arabia. Incidences of involuntary servitude and commercial sexual exploitation have been documented by the US government and human rights organizations working locally. Threats of physical and financial harm are a common tactic of employers, whereas others actively restrict their employees’ mobility by confiscating passports, and other travel documents. Due to the secretive and hidden nature of human trafficking, obtaining accurate statistics on the problem is a challenge. However, it is thought that nearly 2.million individuals fell victim to trafficking between 1995 and 2005. It is also estimated that the slavery industry yields $32 billion in yearly profits. Qatar remains on the Tier 2 Watch List of the U.S. State Department*** because the country’s government does not fully comply with the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. 

The OFWs may be receiving better salaries in Qatar than in the Philippines, but a large number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) have no cash savings at all.

Charmaine Pamela Bautista, information officer of the Housing and Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG), estimates that 90% of average- and low-income OFW-earners in this country spend the bulk of their hard-earned money on food and education of their children.

One of the indications, she stresses, is that they visit her office to file salary, housing and other loans. These loans are payable in five, 10, 15 and up to 30 years.

Of the estimated 200,000 OFWs in Qatar, about 45,000 are housemaids and 70% are average- and low-income earners. Bautista believed that many of them wanted to own a house in their homeland to cut rental costs.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Qatar remain optimistic that 2013 would be a good and promising year for them here and their families in the Philippines.

Although better salary tops the main reason for working in this country, most OFWs say that they feel safe and unharmed because of the low crime rate and strict implementation of security measures in this country. Once you commit a crime, there is no place to hide. CCTVs are everywhere and there are a lot of security personnel who give you a sense of safety.

Meanwhile, most families of OFWs are hopeful that their loved ones here will stay healthy and safe as they continue to strive for a better life.

According the Philippine Embassy in Qatar, 10 per cent of the tiny country’s population of some 1.8 million people are Filipino. The second most prevalent Asian group behind Indians and after Chinese, what makes the Filipinos stand out most in the Qatari work force is their role in higher management positions, part of a largest trend being scene abroad for overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs), especially those with a high command in English.

Yet while cultural concessions have been made, with the emir of Qatar allowing five church denominations to open up about five years ago,, the estimated 2 million Filipinos working overseas in the Middle East (mostly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, followed by Qatar) confront wage discrimination and unfair working conditions

*        http://illumemagazine.co...I-failure-ofdubai-123716

**     http://www.dreamcenter.o...recueprojectstat.pdf

***  http://www.gov/g/t...Is/tiprpt/2010/index.htm.

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Orasen, Bumangonka Ilocos Sur

Orasen, Bumangonka Ilocos Sur

Ni: Demetrio Ragudo Rafanan

Orasen, agtignay
Wen gayyem, saankan aguray
Itan, ipeksam bukod a kapanunutan
Pigsaam tapnu mangngeg ti kadwan
Kanayun, aginga mangngeg ti intero a pagilian
Mangnamnama. Addadanto dita sikigam
Ti pinagbiruk hustisya ket kadwamto idan
Baliwan, nakaugalian nga madi a kapanunutan
"Sumurot ti ayos" a sarita , masapul nga lipatan
"Bumangonka Ilocos Sur" , iyikkis nga awan pagbutengan

Orasen, agikkis, bumugkaw
“Kuston, Sobran” rebbeng nga ipukkaw
Isubli ti moral, dagiti umili, a napukaw
Wen itan, tumakder ta saanen a maala iti patugaw
Irugi, ti pagrebbengan ken dayaw, intayo aywanan
Idependar, napapateg a galad, prinsipyo ken masakbayan
Ta ayan iti demokasya nu ti turay ket inda bukbukudan?
Ken anya ti pintas ti agbiag nu adda pagbutbutengan?
Billit to pay ket agsangit nu wayawaya ket maawanan
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur” dagiti saan a nalinteg ket adaywam

Orasen, rebbeng nga maamwam
Dagiti aggatang botos ken mangbutbuteng ket tulisan
Respeto, kenka ken iti pamilyam ,isuda ket awanan
Nakaisemda ngem diay isudat’ mangallilaw, saan a makaluban
Ala ngarud, agkuti, agkarintar, masapul nga rugyanam
Mamatika ken mangnamnama nga adda pay laeng ti masakbayan
Dagiti sairo ken narangas ket mabalin a mapagtalnam
Ti kiinaturedmo, prinsipyom ken dignidad kanyana ket iparupam
Wen, dagitoy a galad ket pagbalinem a kalasag ken badang
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur” ti pinagbalbaliw ket inkan rugyan

Orasen, agmata tapno makitam ti aglawlaw
Kinabaknang ti probensya,manipud bantay agingat’ taaw
Sanikua ti umili,saan nga dagiti manmanu nga agtuturay
Salakniban, iyadayo ti peligro, masapul dagitoy ti masakbayan
Kapatgan a banag a maisagut kadagiti sumaruno a kaputotan
Anya, itulok mo ngarud nga inda nawnawen ken bukbukudan?
Agtugawka ngarud ken aginbubulag uray indaka tupratupraan?
Agbalinka kadin a nakakatkatawa kadagiti dadduma a pagilian?
Saanka ka sumuko, ipangngeg ti boses a kas gurruod ti amianan
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, ti pinagbalbaliw adda dita im-imam

“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, saankan paloko
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, itakder ti dayawmo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, ti kinarangas ilisim ta biagmo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, ti biag nga imoral ket umadayo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, ti botosmo saan mo ilako
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, ti prinsipyom ket itakdermo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, dagiti pagrebbengam ket itangkenmo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, salaknibam ti kinabaknangmo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, panonotem ti masakbayan dagiti annakmo
“Bumangonka Ilocos Sur”, agbalbaliw, ti NAMARSUA’T kakuyogmo

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Human Rights Violations: AFP state of denail and impunity

Human Rights Violations: AFP state of denail and impunity

Why should we be surprised to hear the AFP deny that there are human rights violation in the Philippines. We’ve heard that before. Many times. It never changed in passage of years and changes of  Regimen, so much  so that we can set it into music and sing it. We are used to theses lies and denials. But we can never get used to the the blatant and gross violations that are committed against the people.

In the years prior to President Benigno Aquino III, 411 peace activists (including lawyers, church people and journalists) were killed reportedly by the military, for the causes they espoused. Alarmed by the staggering number, an international delegation of church leaders organised a fact-finding mission to the Philippines and urged the government to put an end to the pattern of killings. But despite the call, one among innumerable pleas from all over the world, instances of extra-judicial killings did not abate. Todate, the number of the victims has even doubled.

The administration of President Benigno Aquino III has failed to take significant measures to prosecute members of the military, police, and militias implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances, Human Rights Watch said. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR), through which all UN member states are examined once every four years, will allow governments to review the Philippines’ human rights record and propose recommendations. This is the second time the Philippines has undergone the review.

In particular, the government’s claims of progress in some areas – such as training state security forces to respect human rights – deflect attention from the more serious problem of failing to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those responsible for abuses.

In its first UPR in 2008, governments proposed 17 recommendations to the Philippines to improve the country’s human rights record. Since 2008 however, the government has successfully prosecuted only four cases of extrajudicial killings, all under the previous administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. In 2011, Human Rights Watch documented at least 10 cases of killings and disappearances attributed to the security forces that occurred during Aquino’s first year in office. Not a single suspect has been successfully prosecuted in any of these cases.