Probably because names were mentioned by the father of the victim, some of the suspected killers of teacher Rebelyn Pitao have been confined to barracks and placed under investigation. That was unusually quick action on the part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, whose members have been implicated in numerous killings and forced disappearances targeting militant activists. Whether any AFP personnel will be found guilty and punished for the brutal murder of Pitao remains to be seen. But the investigation of some of the military intelligence agents tagged by Pitao’s father, New People’s Army commander Leoncio Pitao, is a positive step.
Both the AFP and the Philippine National Police have set up human rights offices. If these offices will function properly, there should be fewer human rights violations in the two organizations. The number of unexplained killings and forced disappearances has gone down in the past two years. But the international community continues to express concern, with the European Parliament recently adopting a resolution calling for stronger investigation and prosecution of extrajudicial killings.
The failure to bring to justice perpetrators of kidnapping and murder has created a culture of impunity. Apart from catching and punishing perpetrators, stopping the killings, forced disappearances and other human rights violations will require values formation and better training in the AFP and PNP, so that their members need not resort to extrajudicial short cuts to perform their jobs.
If human rights violators are to be successfully prosecuted, witnesses against them should also be given ample protection. Most witnesses in extrajudicial killings do not have the means to protect themselves from retaliation. In this country where many cases hinge on witnesses’ testimonies, an effective Witness Protection Program is crucial to the administration of justice.
In upholding human rights, much will depend on the willingness of the AFP and PNP leaderships to accept complaints against their personnel and turn over suspects to investigating bodies. Many reforms have been implemented in the AFP and PNP over the years, and they should welcome every opportunity to cleanse their ranks. If an organization resists throwing out rotten eggs, those eggs will taint all the others in the basket.