Copyright ©2011 Supreme Court of the Philippines All rights reserved. No part of this Helpbook may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechani- cal means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. The Asia Foundation and USAID reserve a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable right to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use, and to au- thorize others to use, the materials for the Foundation’s or USAID’s purposes. Inquiries should be addressed to The Asia Foundation, 36 Lapu-Lapu Avenue, Magallanes Village, Makati City, Philippines. Email: tafphil@ asiafound.org This Helpbook is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or The Asia Foundation. ISBN: 978-971-92445-3-0 Author: Atty. Al A. Parreño Cover designed by Aaron A. Arenillo Edited by Alpha Carole O. Pontanal Lay-out by Vivien Suerte-Cortez The National Library of the Philippines CIP Data Recommended entry: Report on Philippine Extrajudicial Killings from 2001-August 2010 / Al A. Parreño, author. – Makati City: The Asia Foundation, c2011. p. ; cm. 1. Extrajudicial Killings – Philippines – 2001 to August 2010. 2. Human Rights – Philippines. 3. Law and Human Rights – The Asia Foundation. 4. Rule of Law – Convictions – Judicial Remedies - Philippines. 5. Writ of Habeas Corpus – Writ of Amparo – Writ of Habeas Data - Philippines 1. Parreño, Al A. ISBN: 978-971-92445-3-0 FOREWORD October 23, 2010 Dear Emma, You are two years and five months old today. You came back from San Francisco, USA two years back. Your mama and I decided to raise you in Manila. You will probably want to read this 10 to 15 years from now. We write this legal report to study political killings that were done during the first decade of the millennium in the Philippines. When you read this, I hope that as we grow from members of tribes; to provinces; to countries; and then to human beings, these extrajudicial killings of people no longer exist. In reading this, you’ll know that there were brave people in the country who stood strong for the various causes they believed in. For that, they were murdered. Our country is still a fairly young democracy. Our institutions are still evolving. Evil people move around in power, unpunished. I hope that through this, I contribute in a small way to the purging of human wrongs in the country. In so doing, with a lot of principled doers from different sectors and countries, we benefit your generation. You will grow up and soon will choose where to live; what to do; and what to believe in. That will be your choice. All I ask is that in doing so, you act - freely and unafraid. Always with you, Al REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINE EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS (2001 – AUGUST 2010) Atty. Al A. Parreño* * Al A. Parreño, University of the Philippines, College of Law, 2003. Al graduated in the top ten of his law class. He was an editor of the Philippine Law Journal. He has represented human rights groups in legal management tools in the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education program of the Supreme Court. He is a member of the Diaz, Parreño and Caringalcases, including Law Firm. human trafficking cases. He also lectures on the use of electronic data discovery, improvement of legal processes and contract ContactHe works him with at: the [email protected]. Impact Solutions Research Institute. Al would like to thank his senior researchers, Francis Baclay and Darwin Angeles. t a b l e o f contents AND QUICK SUMMARY - FINDINGS –...................................................................................................1 I. Statistical Conclusions..............................................................................2 A) Extrajudicial Killing is an Epidemic in the Philippines..................................2 B) The Philippines Has One Too Many Incidences of Extra Judicial Killings................................................................3 C) Most of the Victims Are Members or Officers of Activist Groups...................4 D) Most Identified Suspects Belong to the Military.........................................9 E) Policemen Are Also Involved..................................................................10 F) State Actors Are Involved......................................................................11 G) The Rebels Comprise 12% of Suspects.....................................................11 H) Pampanga has the Most Number of Victims, followed by Negros Occidental and Northern Samar......................12 I) The Years 2005 and 2006, During the Term of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Had the Most Number of Cases.............13 J) The United Nations Representative Expressed Concern.............................15 K) The Commission on Human Rights Clamored for Solutions........................19 L) Oplan Bantay Laya – The Beginning of the End?.......................................20 M) The Aquino Administration Promises to Stop It........................................21 i CONTENTS II. Judicial Conclusions............................................................................24 A) Ninety nine Percent of the Cases Surveyed Have Not Been Solved...........24 B) Thirty two percent of the Cases are Cold Cases.....................................25 C) The Process Takes Too Long – It takes an Average of 5 Years, 2 Months and 11 Days for a Case of Extrajudicial Killing to undergo the Criminal Process................................................26 D) It takes an Average of 6 Months and 22 Days for the Preliminary Investigation.....................................................27 E) Based on Available Data, it takes an Average of 3 Years, 7 Months and 25 Days for the Trial Stage................................28 F) Insufficiency of Evidence is the Number 1 Reason for Dismissal..............29 G) The Non-identification of the Assailants is the Main Reason why 31% of the cases have Remained Unsolved........................30 ii REPORT ON THE PHILIPPINE EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS III. BACKGROUND ON THE EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS AUDIT..............................................................................................32 I) Project Objectives, Scope and Methodology............................................32 A) Project Objectives...................................................................32 B) Covered Cases (Scope).............................................................32 C) Methodology.........................................................................32 II) Definitions........................................................................................33 A) Extrajudicial Killing, Defined....................................................33 B) Extrajudicial Killing, Elements..................................................34 C) Extrajudicial Killings, Victims...................................................35 D) Incidents, defined...................................................................36 III) Available Laws for Extrajudicial Killings.................................................37 A) Judicial Remedies...............................................................................40 1) Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 25-2007......................40 2) Writ of Habeas Corpus............................................................40 3) Writ of Amparo (A.M. 07-9-12-SC)............................................41 4) Writ of Habeas Data (A.M. 08-1-16-SC).....................................42 iii CONTENTS IV. RECOMMENDATIONS...........................................................................44 CONCLUSION...............................................................................................62 Annex “A” Example of Extrajudicial Killing Case (Not Filed)..................................64 Annex “B” Example of Extrajudicial Killing Case (Dismissed by Prosecutor).............65 Annex “C” Example of Extrajudicial Killing Case (Dismissed in Trial Level)............. 66 Annex “D” Backgrounder in Kenya....................................................................67 Annex “E” Backgrounder in Guatemala..............................................................70 Annex “F-1” Writ of Amparo (A.M. 07-9-12-SC)..................................................73 Annex “F-2” Writ of Amparo (A.M. 07-9-12-SC) (Full Text)...................................78 Annex “G-1” Writ of Habeas Data (A.M. 08-1-16-SC)...........................................90 Annex “G-2” Writ of Habeas Data (A.M. 08-1-16-SC) (Full Text)............................91 Annex “H” Administrative Order 25-2007 (Full Text).........................................100 Annex “I” Stages in Philippine Criminal Procedure.............................................112 Annex “J” List of All Cases Included.................................................................117 iv FINDINGS 1 I. STATISTICAL CONCLUSIONS A) Extrajudicial Killing is an Epidemic in the Philippines Extrajudicial killings are rampant and remain unsolved in the Philippines. Based on our research, there are a total of 305 incidents1 of extraju- dicial killings2 in the country with 390 victims3 from 2001 to 2010. Only a total of 161 cases4 or 56% of the incidents have been filed with the prosecutor. The real number of extrajudicial killings