MANILA, Philippines -Foreign rights advocates on Thursday urged the European Union to withdraw its 10 million euro grant to the Philippine Justice Support Programme for Manila's failure to stop cases of extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances.
"Impunity in the violations of human rights in the Philippines continues amidst the unjust and selfish interests of European big businesses and their equally greedy and corrupt Filipino collaborators in business and politics," said in a resolution by over 250 foreign delegates of the International Conference on Human Rights and Peace.
The resolution cited the unresolved and unprosecuted killings of Dutch missionary Willem Geertman who was killed in Pampanga, and Italian Catholic priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio, in Mindanao.
Earlier, the family of Dutch missionary Willem Geertman scored the statements of EU ambassador Guy Ledoux lauding the Aquino government for its supposed improved human rights record.
The EU ambassador also extended another 10 million euro aid in support of the European Union-Philippine Justice Support Programme, supposedly to stop political killings.
Meanwhile, foreign delegates who attended the People’s State of the Nation Address last Monday were frustrated, but not surprised, that President Benigno Aquino III did not mention concrete ways to address the prevailing impunity in the country.