Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee

The government sought the delisting of more than 600 cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances mostly attributed to government forces between 1975 and 2012 as the Philippines assured a United Nations body of a stronger legal framework and institutional mechanisms to address the matter.

Led by Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, the Philippine mission is in Sarajevo for the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.

On Thursday, the mission met with the five-man working group for a series of dialogues which is the initial step for the delisting process.

The mission also included officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs (DFA), National Defense (DND), Justice (DoJ) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“The delegation, at the same time, expressed concern over false information submitted to the working group, including some cases which were not supported by facts and were reported without obtaining the required consent from the families of victims,” the DFA said.

Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, AFP assistant deputy chief of staff for operations, presented information indicating that many of the cases took place at the height of the internal purging by the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.

During the initial meeting, Catura formally moved for the delisting of the 625 cases.

He also gave assurances that the government, under President Duterte, has put in place a strong legal framework and institutional mechanism to address the issue.

The local delegation stressed that the process of clarifying these cases with the UN is supported by, and runs parallel to, domestic mechanisms being implemented by the DoJ, such as that established by the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Law of 2012 (Republic Act 10353) and Administrative Order 35.

Catura emphasized before the UN Working Group that these domestic mechanisms involved close cooperation between the government and the victims and their families, NGO and civil society organizations.

He underscored the government’s commitment to cooperate with the UN human rights mechanisms and affirmed the policy of the Duterte administration to implement a human approach to development and governance. Also emphasized was that the Philippines had always welcomed dialogue on the issue of enforced or involuntary disappearances.

During its presentation, lawyer Maria Theresa Sindico-Guillaume of the DoJ informed the Working Group that 105 of the 625 cases had already been taken up and related claims for reparation granted under the Human Rights Victims Recognition and Reparation Act of 2013 (RA 10368).

Guillaume provided the UN Working Group with information on the cases where perpetrators had been tried and convicted or acquitted; where victims had been compensated through RA 10368; where the whereabouts or fate of disappeared persons have been reported and where cases were erroneous duplicates, possibly fictitious, or had been closed.

Both the Philippine mission and the UN Working Group agreed that the Sarajevo dialogue was an excellent starting point in taking forward work on addressing the issue.