MANILA, Philippines -- Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita believes the fielding of a high-level delegation to the United Nations session made a "dent" in the international body's assessment of the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Ermita arrived in the country on Tuesday from a week-long assignment to New York to apprise the UN on government efforts to end extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

There, he met with representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Special Rapporteur Philip Alston, who visited the country in February to investigate reports of worsening human rights violations, especially extrajudicial killings, and concluded that security forces could be linked to many of the murders of activists.

Human rights groups say more than 800 activists have been killed since President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo assumed power in 2001, earning the administration increasing criticism from the international community for its dismal human rights record.

But at a news conference in Malacañang, Ermita said: "I would like to think that we have made a dent in the UN, especially that come February, the complete report of Mr. Alston will be submitted."

Ermita acknowledged Alston?s view that much still has to be done, especially in terms of monitoring the progress of cases under investigation. He added that the UN official was also very particular about cases where uniformed personnel appeared to be involved.

Asked if the presence of the Philippine representatives at the UN sessions would change the tone of Alston?s final report, Ermita said: "I would like to give credit to Mr. Alston. He is very objective to the extent possible and I think he knows that we have been very open and he mentioned how cooperative government officials are."

This was a departure from the bashing Alston got from military and government officials during his visit here.

Ermita said the Philippines was cited for sending a top-level team to the UN session and that Alston also thanked the Philippine government for engaging him in this key human rights issue.

He also said Arroyo has instructed the Philippine Information Agency to "intensify its communication program" on human rights.

Ermita was the first government representative, of 11 countries, given the opportunity to respond to assessments of their human rights situation. The others were Iran, Portugal, Venezuela, USA, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China, Russia, Singapore and Kenya.