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MANILA, Philippines — While drug-related cases saw a decline under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the number of human rights violations in the country remained “almost” similar compared to the data during the time of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Richard Palpal-latoc revealed this in a press conference on Monday, as he pointed out that they also noted a “change in the relationship” between the commission and the executive department.
READ: Karapatan: Bongbong Marcos’ war on drugs is bloody like previous admin
“If you observed, CHR has signed several memorandum of agreements with different agencies of the government, like the Department of Labor and Employment, the Bureau of Corrections, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and others,” he said in a mixed of Filipino and English.
Although he did not give the exact numbers, Palpal-latoc added that there had been a significant decrease in drug-related cases compared to the previous administration.
“Aside from that, other human rights violation cases remain almost the same with the previous admin. It slightly changed but almost the same—the extrajudicial killings, disappearances, violations against the rights of women and children, uh, association, etc., it’s still there. Almost the same number except for the drug-related cases,” the CHR chair disclosed.
Nevertheless, CHR commissioner Beda Epres said the human rights situation now is better than the previous administration.
“But then, we will not be content to say that the human rights situation in the country now is ‘okay.’ We are still monitoring and making sure that no one will be allowed to commit human rights violations,” he added.
No better vs previous administration
Contrary to this, a latest data from rights group Karapatan claimed that 105 cases of extrajudicial killings were recorded from July 2022 to June 2024.
“Into the two years of the Marcos Jr. administration, human rights violations continue, a stark opposite of claims by the President that the human rights situation in the country is better under its watch,” the group said in a Facebook post last July 22.
Of the 105, a total of 11 cases were recorded from January to May 2024; Karapat data’s said that six of the victims were in Negros Occidental and three in Masbate, among others.
Other cases it monitored from July 2022 to June 2024 were illegal or arbitrary arrest at 145, indiscriminate firing (63,379), bombings (44,065), fake or forced surrender (558), and threats, harassment, and intimidation (3,419,044). —with reports from Arianne Denisse Cagsawa, INQUIRER.net intern