wr2014_web_0

ASIAPhilippinesAs Philippine President Benigno Aquino III enters the second half of his six-yearterm in office, there are growing doubts about his administration’s willingnessto deliver on many of its human rights commitments.On January 18, 2013, Aquino signed a landmark law, Republic Act No. 10361,designed to protect the rights of the country’s estimated 1.9 million domesticworkers. The Philippines also ratified the International Labor Organization’sDomestic Workers Convention No. 189, which would help protect the rights ofthe 1.5 million Filipino domestic workers abroad.The Aquino administration, however, has not made significant progress on itspledge to expedite the investigation and prosecution extrajudicial killings, torture,and enforced disappearances, among other serious violations of humanrights. The number of extrajudicial killings has dropped significantly sinceAquino took office, but politically motivated killings are still frequently reportedand the murder of petty criminals by “death squads” in urban areas continuesunabated. Only two cases of extrajudicial killings have resulted in convictionsin the past three years, and even in those cases, the individuals believed mostresponsible for the killings have not faced justice. The government took somesteps to set up an inter-agency committee in 2013 to help investigate and prosecutehigh-profile extrajudicial killings, but it was not yet operational at time ofwriting.Harassment of and violence against leftist political activists and environmentalistscontinues.Insurgency and Ethnic ConflictsIn September, serious fighting erupted in the southern city of Zamboangabetween a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), and thePhilippine military and police. A reported 161 civilians, MNLF fighters, and governmentsoldiers and police were killed in three weeks of fighting inZamboanga and neighboring Basilan. Nearly 120,000 people were displaced bythe fighting and remained homeless at time of writing. Many of those relocatedto evacuation centers are at risk due to overcrowding and poor sanitation.377