FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

methodical plan, pursuant to and in the implementation of a policy, which results in
repeated or continuous commission of inhumane acts.
These definitions easily find analogous application in the case of the human
rights situation in the Philippines. The escalating number of victims of human rights
violations from the time of President Arroyo’s assumption to the presidency based on
documentations by KARAPATAN and other human rights monitors and organizations
both national and international speaks for itself. Also, as testified to by expert
witness Ms. Enriquez, the victims are commonly political dissenters and belong to
progressive or militant organizations which are being attacked on political grounds.
And as can be deduced from the testimonies of Rene Galang, Adeliza Albarillo, Cristina
Abalos and Richard Margallo, the violations are consciously perpetrated, done with
impunity and are tantamount to being government policy.
Although the human rights violations are carried out by elements of the military
and the police and their agents, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo bears full
responsibility for all these atrocities as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines. She cannot and must not be allowed to escape liability by the simple
defense of lack of participation in whatever degree in the commission of these crimes.
Under Article VII Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution, the President shall be the
Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the Philippines x x x. According to
Black’s Law Dictionary (fifth edition, 1985), a commander in chief is “one who holds
supreme or highest command of armed forces x x x. The term implies supreme
control of military operations not only with respect to strategy and tactics, but also in
reference to the political and international aspects of the war.”
President Arroyo, as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is, therefore,
responsible for the large-scale and flagrant violations of democratic and human rights
of the people committed by the armed forces, including the police, paramilitary groups
and other agents of the state. Her liability stems from the command responsibility she
is duty bound to exercise over the armed forces through the Secretary of National
Defense. Although command responsibility is nowhere expressly provided in our
penal laws nor has it been significantly applied in our jurisprudence, nevertheless the
following provisions in our constitution, especially the first clause of Article VII Section
18, Article VII Section 17 and Article XI Sections 1 and 2, impliedly recognize this
principle.
Article VII Section 18. The President shall be the Commander-in-
Chief of all armed forces of the Philippines x x x.
Article VII Section 17. The President shall have control of all the
executive departments, bureaus and offices. He shall ensure that the
laws shall be faithfully executed.
Article XI Section 1. Public office is a public trust. Public officers
and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve
them with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency, act
with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.
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