MANILA: The super body that President Benigno Aquino recently created to handle cases of human rights violations is specifically mandated to investigate “unresolved extrajudicial killings that happened during the time of former president Arroyo,” which, according to a Palace official, is easier to prove.
“There are still claims of unresolved cases and this we want to look into,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said during a regular press briefing in Malacañang.
“But, also remember it’s easier to prove these incidents because of the time proximity… it makes the evidence gathering easier,” Valte added.
In a press release issued by the Presidential News Desk, Malacañang said there would be “no sacred cows in going after the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings and those responsible will be prosecuted.”
Valte assured the families of the victims of human rights violations that the super body would also go after military and police personnel involved in the killings.
“Whoever is responsible (for the crimes). We can see that the inter-agency committee is composed really of the highest levels in government. We are doing this in cooperation with not just the members of the Executive but also of independent constitutional bodies like the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), as observer, and the Office of the Ombudsman,” she said.
The Palace official said the victims would see for themselves that the committee would be bent on helping them find justice for their missing loved ones.
Aquino, on Nov 22, the eve of the third anniversary of the 2009 Maguindanao massacre, signed Administrative Order 35 creating an inter-agency committee or the super body that would investigate the old and new cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other grave human rights violations, with priority on those committed under the Arroyo administration.
Among the cases the new committee, headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, will monitor is the 2009 massacre that left 58 civilians and journalists dead.
Senator Panfilo Lacson said on Tuesday that the law enforcement agencies should be alert in monitoring and preventing criminality rather than for the administration to create another super body for human rights violations while his fellow lawmakers – Aquilino Pimentel Jr and Francis Escudero – welcomed the move of Aquino administration.
The Philippine star
