17 MARCH 2019

NEWS
2
Sunday, 17 March 2019
Daily Tribune
From page 1
EU probes
Red money
The EU stands ready to receive precise information
that would enable it to further evaluate and verify
the allegations
Documents obtained by the
Armed Forces of the Philippines
(AFP) revealed that the Belgian
government has released its first
tranche of more than 621,000
euros (P36,663,840) out of the
15-million euros (P885,600,000)
grant to some NGO for the 2017
to 2021 program. This year, some
1.3 million euros (P76,752,000) is
expected for release.
EU vows action
Foreign Affairs Secretary
Teodoro Locsin Jr. on 14 March
also informed the United Nations
(UN) of EU-based NGO funding of
communist front organizations in
the Philippines.
Should the allegations be
established, the EU will
immediately take full legal
action.
The EU delegation underscored
that the bloc continues to
consider both the CPP and the
NPA as terrorists, which means
“no assets can be held in EU by
these organizations.”
While the allegations have yet
to be verified, it vowed to respond
immediately once the illegalities
have been proven.
“Should the allegations
be established, the EU will
immediately take full legal
action,” it said.
As early as January, the EU
has conducted an audit of funds
that have allegedly reached
the communist groups after a
request sent by the government.
Following its audit, the EU
confirmed it received a Philippine
delegation in February “to better
understand the precise content
on the allegations.”
Undersecretary Joel Egco,
executive director of the
Presidential Task Force on Media
Security, who was part of the
Philippine delegation to Europe,
said EU was “receptive” when it
received the information and has
vowed to look into the matter
“seriously.”
“They promised to look into it
because it is unacceptable that
their funds are going to the front
organizations of the CPP-NPA
which they declared as a terrorist
organization,” he had said in an
earlier interview.
Both the CPP and its armed
wing, NPA, have been on the EU’s
list of terrorist organizations
since 2006.
The CPP and its armed
wing, NPA, have been on
the EU’s list of terrorist
organizations since 2006.
AFP deputy chief of staff for
civil military operations, Brig.
Gen. Antonio Parlade, said the
government would soon file a
formal complaint before the
EU once it has gathered more
evidence.
Parlade, in particular, called
human rights group Karapatan a
red front citing evidence it has
amassed.
Strong proof
“We have a lot and Karapatan
is worried about all these truth
coming out now. AFP, not a
credible institution? Then
refute the very high trust rating
of AFP in all surveys except
CPP’s (Communist Party of the
Philippines),” Parlade said.
“Karapatan has perfected the
art of lies and deception after
24 years of existence. I never
said I don’t have evidence to
show they are communist front
organizations,” Parlade added.
He also called the group’s
selectiveness when it comes to
helping people.
“Where were you when the
NPA have been killing the IP
(indigenous peoples) in Mindanao,
until now? Where is Karapatan
when non-participating civilians
were killed by NPA?” Parlade
said.
Parlade also asked where
Karapatan was when ACT and
Bayan Muna reportedly trafficked
children in Davao last year.
Fabricated claims
“Karapatan is afraid of
becoming irrelevant because
the AFP has not committed
any rights violation for the past
five years or more. Even in the
past, many of the violations and
civilian killings attributed to
AFP were in fact committed by
the NPA, disguised as soldiers
in uniform, as admitted openly
by former rebel Father Balweg,”
he said.
It is unacceptable that
its funds are going to the
front organizations of
the CPP-NPA which they
declared as a terrorist
organization.
Karapatan, he said, has to
fabricate reports of human rights
violations by the AFP so that
the UN and EU may continue to
collect donations from European
countries.
Parlade added Palabay is
worried about the government’s
success in unmasking the truth
about the communist front
organizations, which were tagged
by CPP founder Jose Maria
“Joma” Sison himself in all its
revolutionary websites, Joma’s
verbal pronouncements and CPP
publications.
Non-refoulement
“You have to consistently
paint any administration as
oppressive and tyrant, even by
fabricating lies like the 27,000
EJK (extrajudicial killings) from
PRRD’s (President Rodrigo R.
Duterte) drug war, because
with a professional AFP now,
the EU Courts would soon send
Joma back to the Philippines to
spend the rest of his life in jail
for his crimes against humanity
(80,000 killed after 50 years of
CPP-NPA-NDF atrocities without
Karapatan blinking) because
there is no more danger of state
persecution,” he said.
He added that Joma can no
longer invoke “non-refoulement”
in the courts and this is what
Palabay and Karapatan fear.
Non-refoulement is a principle
of customary international law
prohibiting the expulsion,
deportation, return or extradition
of an alien to his state of origin
or another state where there is a
risk that his life or freedom would
be threatened for discriminatory
reasons. This law is often regarded as
one of the most important principles
of refugee and immigration law.
Fading Reds Flags of the European Union flutter outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium where the verdict to cut off the
flow of funds for fronts of the communist movement is expected to be made.
US sanctions ICC
Mr. Duterte said
the country’s ICC
membership is flawed
From page 1
The sanctions came on the
eve of the effectivity of the
Philippines withdrawal from the
ICC after a one year grace from
the filing of withdrawal papers
upon the order of President
Rodrigo Duterte.
Mr. Duterte said the country’s
ICC membership is flawed as the
treaty, which was ratified during
the time of former President
Joseph Estrada, was not returned
to the Office of the President and
should have been published on
the Official Gazette.
“It is mandatory,” the
President said, adding the treaty
was directly sent and appended
to the Rome Statute that created
the tribunal.
The Philippines is one of the
oldest Asian partners of the US
and a strategical major non-
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) ally.
Early this month, Pompeo
traveled to the Philippines to
reaffirm US support as a “critical
treaty ally.”
“US visa restrictions may also
be used to deter ICC efforts to
pursue allied personnel without
allies’ consent,” according to
Pompeo.
Primary obligation
“The first and highest
obligation of our government is
to protect its citizens and this
administration will carry out that
duty,” Pompeo said.
A similar line was stated by
Mr. Duterte who said his primary
responsibility is protecting the
nation more than complying with
international norms.
Pompeo, acting on a threat
delivered in September by
US national security adviser
John Bolton, framed the
action as necessary to prevent
the international body from
infringing on US sovereignty by
Stomach rescue Have no hunger, Duterte’s Kitchen is around the corner. This one at the waterfront. BOB DUNGO JR.
prosecuting American forces or
allies for torture or other war
crimes.
“We are determined to protect
the American and allied military
and civilian personnel from living
in fear of unjust prosecution for
actions taken to defend our great
nation,” Pompeo said.
US officials have long
regarded The Netherlands-based
ICC with hostility, arguing that
American courts
are capable of
handling any
allegations
against US forces
and questioning
the motives of
an international
court.
The ICC and
its supporters,
including human
rights groups
that denounced
Pompeo’s
announcement,
argue that it
is needed to
prosecute cases
when a country
fails to do
so or does an
insufficient job
of it.
Wide scope
“Persistent to existing legal
authority to post visa restrictions
on any alien “whose entry or
proposed activities in the United
States would have potentially
serious adverse foreign policy
consequences,” I’m announcing a
policy of visa restrictions on those
individuals directly responsible
for any ICC investigation of US
personnel,” he said.
US visa restrictions may
also be used to deter ICC
efforts to pursue allied
personnel without allies’
consent.
“This includes persons who
take or have taken action to
request or further such an
investigation,” he added.
Pompeo said implementation
of the policy against the ICC had
started.
Speaking directly to ICC
employees, Pompeo said: “If you
are responsible for the proposed
ICC investigation of US personnel
in connection with the situation
in Afghanistan, you should not
assume that you still have or will
get a visa or will be permitted to
enter the United States.”
That comment suggested
that action may have already
been taken against the ICC
prosecutor who asked last year
to formally open an investigation
into allegations of war crimes
committed by Afghan national
security forces, Taliban and
Haqqani network militants, as
well as US forces and intelligence
officials in Afghanistan since
May 2003.
The US government may
impose more penalties on the
ICC.
“These visa restrictions will
not be the end of our efforts. We
are prepared to take additional
steps, including economic
sanctions if the ICC does not
change its course,” Pompeo said.
Signatory but no member
The United States has never
been a member of the ICC.
The Clinton administration in
2000 signed the Rome Statute
that created the ICC but had
reservations about the scope of
the court’s jurisdiction and never
submitted it for ratification to the
Senate, where there was broad
bipartisan opposition to what
lawmakers saw as a threat to US
sovereignty.
When President George W.
Bush took office in 2001, his
administration promoted and
passed the American Service
Members Protection Act which
sought to immunize US troops
from potential prosecution by the
ICC. In 2002, Bolton, then a State
Department official, traveled
to New York to ceremonially
“unsign” the Rome Statute at the
United Nations.
This past September, Bolton
said the ICC was a direct threat
to US national security interests
and he threatened its personnel
with both visa revocations and
financial sanctions should it
try to move against Americans.
Pompeo said Friday more
measures may come.
The ICC said in a statement
it was established by a treaty
supported by 123 countries
and that it prosecutes cases
only when those countries
failed to do so or did not do
so “genuinely.” Afghanistan is
a signatory.
“The court is an independent and
impartial judicial institution crucial
for ensuring accountability for the
gravest crimes under international
law,” the statement said. “The ICC,
as a court of law, will continue to do
its independent work, undeterred,
in accordance with its mandate and
the overarching principle of the rule
of law.”
Supporters of the
court slammed Pompeo’s
announcement.
Human Rights Watch called it
“a thuggish attempt to penalize
investigators” at the ICC.
Amnesty International
described the move as
“the latest attack on
international justice and
international institutions by
an administration hell-bent
on rolling back human rights
protections.”
Not cool City governments face the difficult task of choosing between the refreshing shade
of trees or threats from overhanging branches on electric lines in a pruning drive. ANALY LABOR
Good review
Malacañang also appreciated
the positive findings of a US State
Department’s recently released
report on the human rights
situation in the country.
In a statement, presidential
spokesman Salvador Panelo
said he welcomes the State
Department’s 2018 Country
Reports on Human Rights
Practices as a reflection of “US
government’s appreciation of
the Duterte administration’s
governance agenda anchored on
fighting corruption, criminality
and illegal drugs.”
The first and highest
obligation of our
government is to protect
its citizens and this
administration will carry
out that duty.
The report stated
that supposed summary
executions have been the
“chief human rights concern
in the country for many
years,” amid rising impunity
following a dramatic surge in
drug-related slays.
“While the political
opposition and detractors of
the President, including some
of those in the mainstream
media, would dwell on what
they consider as negative
observations and milk the
same for their political
purposes, we prefer to see
the glass half full and focus
on the positive aspects of the
report,” Panelo said.
He then urged the public to
read the report in full so that
they “may not be deceived by
intended negative and false
commentaries.” AP