PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo promised Wednesday that her administration would strive for a Philippines with "zero political violence," and work with Congress for new laws that would protect rights abuse victims, including a law against torture.

Speaking at the Human Rights Day celebration in Malacañang, Arroyo said her administration was taking seriously the report of United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston on the extrajudicial killings of journalists and political activists, which it had largely attributed to the military.

She lamented the Philippines' history of political violence from both the Right and the Left, and said she hoped to end this problem.

"No one should die for their political beliefs," the President said in a speech before members of her Cabinet, the Senate and the House, the judiciary and the diplomatic corps.

She reiterated that her administration was not condoning extrajudicial killings, and that it had been implementing the recommendations of the Melo Commission that first looked into these cases.

Among these recommendations are expediting the prosecution of the cases and providing assistance to victims as well as more funding to allow for more investigators.

Arroyo also said she had told the military that "if there are rogue elements, they must be brought to justice."

"They know, and we all know, that no person is above the law in this nation," she said, adding:

"Whether a former President, a member of the military, or an average citizen, all men and women in this nation are equal before the law. The death of any Filipino in pursuit of his or her right to political expression violates human liberty."

Addressing torture
Earlier, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Purificacion Quisumbing, who attended and spoke at the event, called for the crafting of laws including one that deals with the use of torture.

"You can't talk about human rights without addressing torture," Quisumbing told the President and her guests.

In her speech, Arroyo vowed to bring to justice those behind the killings and to work with Congress for new laws to protect rights abuse victims, as recommended by Quisumbing.

She called on the nation to "leave behind its terrible legacy of political violence and clan vendettas."

Arroyo pointed out that the number of political killings had dropped, and that the government was making headway in "the fight to put an end to the legacy of political violence."

"But we should not rest until we reach zero political violence," she said.

Arroyo also said she was endorsing "all the recommendations and requests" made by Quisumbing, including measures that would protect the CHR's fiscal autonomy, strengthen its financial resources and give it quasi-judicial powers.

"A strong and independent commission is vital to the protection and promotion of human rights," she said, adding that she would ask the budget department to study how CHR savings "could be applied to other programs and salary augmentation rather than being returned to the National Treasury."

Lesser number
At the launch at the Supreme Court of a British-government-funded project to train judges in international law, Chief Justice Reynato Puno said there had been an apparent decrease in extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances since July, when various sectors convened for a Supreme Court-led summit to come up with solutions to the problem.

"It's a matter of statistics. I think the statistics will show ... a diminution of these extralegal killings and disappearances," Puno said when asked if the human rights situation had improved after the two-day summit.

Puno also said the writ of amparo from the high court, as well as the authorities' enforcement of it, had helped bring about the improved record:

"The writ ... is certainly a part of it. But I like to think that the other agencies of the government should be commended also for cooperating with the courts with the enforcement of the writ."

The Chief Justice expressed hope that the legislative branch would come up with laws on extrajudicial killings and disappearances to strengthen the writ of amparo.

"We hope that Congress will also enact the appropriate substantive laws in order to strengthen this procedural remedy," he said, adding:

"There is, for instance, in Congress, a bill making these extralegal killings and disappearances a specific right, one that will be covered not only by our usual laws on murders and homicides and kidnappings, but also by a special law, with the offense especially penalized."

Help from EU
The Philippines may expect help from European countries to improve the human rights situation.

In an interview at the launch, British Ambassador Peter Beckingham said the European Union (EU) and European Commission (EC) intended to meet with the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss "specific support" to the Philippines concerning extrajudicial killings and human rights.

"We have some specific proposals... We hope to have a meeting with the DFA very soon about it," Beckingham said.

In a statement issued Wednesday by Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, head of the EC delegation to the Philippines, the European Union reaffirmed its support for the efforts of the Philippine government and civil society to promote, uphold and protect human rights.

MacDonald said a European Parliament delegation that visited the Philippines last month had discussed human rights issues with Arroyo and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, as well as representatives of civil society.

He said the delegation had conveyed the European Parliament's concerns on extrajudicial killings, although it welcomed the abolition of the death penalty in the country as well as the position of the Philippines and the Asean Summit regarding human rights violations in Burma.

Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, member of the EC external relations committee, paid tribute to civil society members and human rights defenders as "indispensable partners of the EU in its fight for the full respect for human rights worldwide."