Chiz: Human Rights Protection Also Covers Men in Uniform

Senator Chiz Escudero scored the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for saying that the Senate report on the bloody Mamasapano incident is subjective and for implying that its findings are prejudicial only to the government troops.

In a statement issued over the weekend, CHR Chairman Etta Rosales assailed the Senate report she described as “mostly based on emotions rather than an objective interpretation of facts.”

Calling it a “massacre,” according to the CHR chief, is excessive.

“Does the CHR deem our government troops to have no human rights? What happened was a clear massacre. The dictionary defines massacre as ‘the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty,'” Escudero said. “Exactly how it happened to our SAF men in Mamasapano unless our CHR defines it in another term.”

Escudero, one of the first lawmakers to describe the tragic Mamasapano incident as a massacre days after seeing a video circulating on the internet about the brutal killing of the 44 SAF troopers, said the Senate has thoroughly went over the pieces of evidence presented to the panel.

“Based on our findings, 34 out of the 44 SAF troopers were shot in the head at close range and were already injured or ran out of bullets when killed. It was a massacre,” he said.

According to Escudero, protection of human rights also covers the military and the police, and not just the civilians.

“Kapag sibilyan ang nasaktan, may human rights violations agad. Kapag military o pulis, ang tahimik nila. Human rights should always be respected under any circumstances that is why I am extremely disappointed that the CHR seems to have a tunnel vision about who abuses and who should be protected,” Escudero pointed out.

He also called on the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPPAP) to speak and move in behalf of the government and stop engaging the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the peace process.

“It is imperative for our negotiators to pursue efforts to finally find peace in Mindanao. But they should also give equal importance to the lost lives of our soldiers, to justice and due process of law,” Escudero said.

Senate of the Philippines