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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
President Gloria Arroyo on Tuesday said she
wants Congress to ratify the Optional Protocol against torture and
four other pending treaties. She made the proposal during a meeting
of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council in Malacañang.
In Geneva, Switzerland, this month, during the
mandatory universal periodic review by the United Nations of the
state of human rights in various countries, Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita announced that the Philippines will soon take formal
steps to accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against
Torture and Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment or Punishment. He is
also the chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee.
The Philippine situationer that Ermita
presented, Malacañang claimed, was met with applause. Critics,
however, said the report fell short of telling the truth behind
allegedly rampant abuses against ordinary Filipinos.
“The ball has been set rolling. It was one of
our last decisions at the [committee] before we left for Geneva, to
recommend this [ratification by the Senate of the Optional Protocol]
to the President,” Ermita said.
The Optional Protocol is meant to strengthen the
implementation of the Convention Against Torture to which the
Philippines has been a State Party for 22 years, since 1986. It is
perceived that it is in the national interest to be a party to this
instrument.
President Arroyo also urged the Senate to ratify
the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA)
when Congress resumes its session next week. She said that despite
criticisms raining on the agreement, ratifying it is worth it.
The JPEPA is a framework for cooperation between
Japan and the Philippines that includes assistance in human
resources development, research and development, and development and
transfer of technology.
Besides ratifying the Optional Protocol against
torture and JPEPA, Mrs. Arroyo also pushed for the approval of the
UN Convention on Disability and the Philippine-Australia Visiting
Forces Agreement and the avoidance of double taxation on New Zealand
forestry products.
During the meeting, the President also urged
legislators to make a priority the enactment of the Magna Carta for
Women and the strengthening of the Witness Protection Program. Both
measures are deemed critical to human-rights promotion and
protection.
Improvement of witness protection is seen as
necessary to convict perpetrators of extrajudicial killings. The
Melo Commission had recommended reinforcing this arm of criminal
justice, as did UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston. A number of
bills on witness protection had been filed in the Senate and the
House of Representatives.
The Magna Carta for Women is considered
important to underline the Philippines’ compliance with the
Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
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