BUDGET INTERPELLATION QUESTIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) Notable items/ areas in the budget Inter-Agency Committee on ExtraLegal Killings, Enforced Disappearan ces, Torture and Other Grave Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons (IAC) was created under Administrati ve Order No. 35 (series of 2012) budget
Issues
Questions
“The Department of Justice or DOJ's Administrative Order 35 (AO 35) panel dedicated to solving extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and other politically-motivated killings is poised to get a fresh ₱10.9-million budget for 2022.
Under A.O. 35, the Committee’s mandate is to “serve as the government’s institutional machinery dedicated to the resolution of unsolved cases of political violence in the form of extra-legal killings (ELK), enforced disappearances (ED), torture and other grave violations of the right to life, liberty and security of persons.” •
The 2022 National Expenditure Program (NEP) shows that implementation of AO 35 will get ₱10.907 million next year… It forms part of the DOJ's ₱7.49-billion proposed budget for 2022. In 2017, AO35 had a budget of ₱32.9 million; in 2018, it was down to ₱11.42 million; in 2019, it had ₱10.78 million; in 2020, it had ₱10.7 million; and for the current year it is operating on a ₱10.9 million budget.” (https://www.rappler.com /nation/doj-extrajudicialkillings-panel-2022national-budget)
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May we be enlightened as to the accomplishments of the Committee since its creation? From 2016 until the present, the no. of killings has swelled into the thousands. In 2020, Human Rights Watch even revealed that the number of killings in the Philippines was up by 50% during the pandemic.1 How has the Committee responded to this escalation?
Just this August 2021, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) released its 2020 annual report on the human rights situation in the Philippines. “To date, no case has resulted in a conviction through the sole effort of the Inter-Agency Committee as a super body”, the CHR said. It added that the mechanisms “has been slow in holding perpetrators liable for violations”.2 • Is this observation attributable to the fact that the Committee’s budget was consistently slashed since 2018 when it was down by more than 50% from the 2017 allocation?
1
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/08/killings-philippines-50-percent-during-pandemic https://chr.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CHR-V-No.POL2021-006-The-2020-Annual-Reporton-the-Human-Rights-Situation-in-the-Philippines.pdf 2
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In May 2020, the government published its “The Philippine Human Rights Situationer” where it reported that since the establishment of the A.O. 35 mechanism “has handled 385 cases spanning an 18-year period covering four administrations since 2001.” The status of these reported cases shows that 111 cases were archived, while 89 cases remain under investigation.3 • With these numbers, can the Committee say that it functions efficiently and effectively? • Can it be said that it is still dutifully discharging its mandate? • How does the Committee assess its performance when in the same situationer, it was revealed that the number of convictions is only at 13, while the combined number of acquittals, and dismissal by the court, dismissal by the ombudsman, dismissal by the prosecution, and those provisionally dismissed is at 128? At the House hearing on the DOJ’s budget, it said that the Committee the challenge is getting witnesses to cooperate.4 Since many of these accused perpetrators are themselves state actors, who may become part of the mechanism, how does the DOJ allay the fears and hesitation of the witnesses so that they can aid the Department in its investigations? What are the specific programs that the Committee does or intends to do to open up communications with these witnesses? Vaccination
Last October, news outlets
• How does the BuCor plan on ramping
3
https://www.doj.gov.ph/files/2020/The%20Philippine%20Human%20Rights%20Situationer%20%20May%202020%20(1).pdf 4 https://www.rappler.com/nation/commission-human-rights-says-doj-anti-ejk-panel-slow
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of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs)
revealed that the Philippine up its vaccination rates especially now government has vaccinated that the alert levels have started to go only a meager 10% of down which could mean that visitors convicted prisoners in will once again be allowed within its correctional facilities facilities? nationwide. The data from • When the reports were made, news BuCor further bared that in outlets sought comment from DOJ the extremely congested Secretary Guevarra who assured the New Bilibid Prison in public that they will “make proper Muntinlupa City, out of the representations with the office of 27, 099 total population of Secretary Galvez.” He likewise the Reception Diagnostic admitted that the “crowded condition Center (RDC), medium in prison facilities makes it necessary security compound, and to give attention to the PDLs' (persons maximum-security deprived of liberty) plight.”6 compound, only 14 have been vaccinated, with only • May we know if the rates have, 10 of those receiving 2 since October, already improved? 5 doses. • Shouldn’t this low vaccination rate be a cause for alarm because the congested facilities may become a breeding ground for the virus to further mutate? What are the challenges that prevent the BuCor from ramping up its vaccination rates?
Reported incidents of corruption and other irregularities inside the New Bilibid Prison
This representation, along with other members of the Senate, was recently furnished with an email from a certain “Manny Tiguman” of inmates reportedly holding parties inside Building 8 of the Maximum-Security compound in the New Bilibid Prison. Present in these reported parties were various forms of illegal contraband such as alcohol and drugs. These incidents of irregularities and
• Are these incidents being investigated by the BuCor? What is the status of the investigations? • What are the safeguards in place to ensure that these incidents are prevented? Are they effective? • How can these safeguards be strengthened to ensure that these incidents are altogether avoided in the future?
5
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1156982, https://www.rappler.com/nation/bureau-corrections-reportvaccinated-convicts-philippines-october-18-2021 6 https://www.rappler.com/nation/bureau-corrections-report-vaccinated-convicts-philippines-october18-2021
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corruption were reportedly being posted in real-time in the Facebook page named “Leon ng Bilibid”.
This representation, along with other members of the Senate, was also recently furnished with an email from the aforementioned • Is the DOJ aware of such allegations? “Manny Tiguman” claiming Are these incidents of corruption and other anomalies being investigated? that the BuCor, particularly What is the status of these the Maximum-Security investigations? Camp in New Bilibid Prison, was placed on lockdown status on 7 October 2021, for no apparent reason and explanation to the prisoners. In yet another email sent to this representation, a certain “Juanito Tan” reported that “big-time” prisoners in New Bilibid Prison were being given preferential treatment by allowing for conjugal visits while less privileged prisoners being denied by a certain Acting NBP Superintendent Ricardo S. Zulueta. The same email also alleges corruption, murders and abuse of authority inside Maximum Security Camp, BuCor claiming that more than 60 prisoners had died for the month of October 2021 alone and this seemed to be not on the priority of CTSupt Henry N. Fabro, the NBP Hospital Chief.
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