TIO, Valerie Mae O.

L-150575
1-O

CONSTI2
21 May 2016

HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

Human beings are capable of boundless actions and are also prone to various
dangers in our world. Thus, human beings must be protected through laws and basic
rights. Human rights are important and are essential to all human beings no matter what
race, sex, place of residence, nationality, ethnicity, religion, language, or any other
status it may be. Everyone is equally entitled to human rights without any interference
nor any discrimination.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the provisions from Article III of
the 1987 Philippine Constitution are what protects and shields us from the injustices of
the world. Article III of the 1987 Constitution specifically protects us from the possibilities
of the States imposition arbitrariness upon its citizens. On the other hand, the UDHR, is
the most basic set of human rights which is imposed upon every person all over the
world.
This paper will present two situations that recently happened in the Philippines
and will show which rights from Article III of the 1987 Constitution and the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights has been violated.
THE DAVAO DEATH SQUAD
The past few months, candidates of the 2016 Philippine Presidential elections
have been campaigning, and one of them, Davaos Mayor Rodrigo Dutertes speeches
content have been subject to scrutiny, ridicule, and discrimination. Davao is known as
one of the safest cities in the Philippines and Mayor Duterte has shared his methods in
achieving security, safety, and discipline. However, such methods come with a price,
around 1500 lives of victims of summary executions in Davao between the years 1998
to 2015 and such murders are blamed on the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group
who is known for hunting down persons who have criminal records. Members of the
Davao Death Squad rode on motorcycles and gunned down their victims, most of whom
were suspected to be gangsters and illegal drug users in the late 1990s, nowadays,
their killings were done by stabbing and some victims were murdered just minutes after
their release from prison, and others were executed days after a crime had been
committed.
No tears for them
In September 2001, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte described the killings as unlawful.
At the same time, however, he made it clear that he was hardly sorry they were
happening.
I do not have any tears for you if you die, you idiots! he said, referring to drug pushers.

You all deserve to die.

In October 2001, a peace rally by militant and civil society groups for an awareness
campaign of the killings of youths in Davao was marred by violence when gunmen shot
dead two minors on one of the streets that the demonstrators were going to take. The
boys had been suspected snatchers.
In March 2002, Duterte declared war against teenage gangs, which local police said were
responsible for most of the crimes committed in the city. If they offer resistance, the
mayor told reporters, I will not hesitate to kill them. I dont care about minors.
The death squad was also believed to have been behind the killing of hard-hitting
journalist Jun Pala in September 2003. Pala was a critic of Duterte.
In 2009, Duterte found himself in the middle of a Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
inquiry into the spate of vigilante-style killings in his city.
Duterte was the Davao City congressman when the killings started in 1998. He was
elected mayor in 2001 and reelected to the post in 2004 and 2007.
Legitimate target
If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate
that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a
legitimate target of assassination, Duterte was quoted as saying at the height of the
controversy.
But Duterte denied that a death squad was operating in the city and blamed the killings
on gang wars, rivalries in the illegal drugs trade and personal grudges.
The CHR investigation resulted in the implication of policemen in the killings. Duterte was
not charged and 21 police officers were found guilty by the Ombudsman only of simple
neglect of duty. They were fined the equivalent of a months salary.
New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its 2009 report You Can Die Anytime:
Death Squad Killings in Mindanao, said that Dutertes open endorsement of summary
killings to fight criminals and his soaring popularity had encouraged other cities.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2016, April 22). What Went Before. Retrieved May
15, 2016, from Philippine Daily Inquirer: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/780838/what-wentbefore-davao-death-squad
Although, we cannot see any legitimate evidence connecting Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte, now President-elect to the operations of the said vigilante group, there are
some evidences that he supports the vigilante group and even encourages the extrajudicial killings and is the person who gives the go-signal for their operations.
Furthermore, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as an investigatory body has
asked Rodrigo Duterte not to take the law into his hands and that one of these days, he
may face multiple murder charges once they have established that he is indeed behind
the operations of the Davao Death Squad.

The operations of the Davao Death Squad have violated human rights specifically
under article III of the 1987 Constitution, sections: 1, 12(2), and 14; and under the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, and 14(1).
KIDAPAWAN CLASH
Last March 30th, farmers from different parts of North Cotabato on protest
demanded from the government immediate rice support and the release of much
needed calamity funds due to the drought brought about by the El Nio, government
neglect and starving farmers and their respective families. The farmers occupied the
Kidapawan highway and were demanding 15,000 sacks of rice for 6 municipalities,
there were negotiations with the provincial government as headed by Gov. Mendoza
and instead of complying with the farmers demands, Mendoza offered the farmers 3
kilos of rice each, every three months and the government claims that there is adequate
supply of rice especially for calamities, yet no rice was released. On April 1 st, about
3000 protesters still occupying the Kidapawan highway, the police conducted dispersal
operations against farmers and shot at the farmers which resulted to three deaths and
around 116 were injured.
1 killed, 13 wounded in farmers protest in Kidapawan
PNP spokesman Chief Supt Wilben Mayor said they are investigating the incident and will
hold "anyone responsible for this tragic incident accountable."
In a chronology of events, the PNP said the permit to rally lapsed Friday morning. The
highway protest that began 6 am on March 30 brought together farmers, members of
indigenous groups, and other cause-oriented groups.
"Their presence continued to disrupt public movement in one of the major transportation
arteries of Mindanao," the PNP said in a statement.
Upon "guidance" from the governor, the local police moved to disperse the crowd past 10
am Friday and coordinated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development "to
rescue minors who were part of the picketline," the PNP added.
"Before the PNP could start their operation, however, protesters attacked them with poles
and pieces of wood. Large rocks were also thrown at the policemen, and at the stationary
fire truck deployed to the area," according to the PNP.
Presidential candidates condemned the incident in separate statements.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) also asked government to investigate
what happened especially how the police acted during the dispersal. Government must
"hold accountable anyone found responsible regardless of rank or affiliation," HRW said.

Source: Rappler. (2016, April 1). 1 killed, 13 wounded in farmers' protest in Kidapawan.
Retrieved
May
2015,
2016,
from
Rappler:
http://www.rappler.com/entertainment/news/127998-robin-padilla-kidapawan-city
There were also issues with regard to Gov. Mendozas actions and that he was
acting on behalf of the administration as he is also a member of the Liberal Party and
that the administration was covering up the mistakes of the Philippine National Police

(PNP). On the other hand, the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL), a group of
human rights lawyers whom condemned Gov. Mendozas justification that the PNP was
only doing a clearing operation because of the lack of a permit to a peaceably
assemble, which she is authorized to issue.
Actions of the Philippine National Police in the incident last April 1 st has
encroached upon the constitutional rights of the farmers specifically on under Article III
of the 1987 Constitution sections: 1, 4, 8, 11, and 16 with regard to the freedom of
expression, assembly, right to seek redress from the government, and the right to due
process of the law; and under the UDHR articles: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 20, 25, and 28.

Bibliography
Philippine Daily Inquirer. (2016, April 22). What Went Before. Retrieved May 15,
2016, from Philippine Daily Inquirer: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/780838/what-wentbefore-davao-death-squad
Hegina, A. (2015, December 10). CHR to Duterte: 'Don't take law into your
hands'.
Retrieved
May
15,
2016,
from
Philippine
Daily
Inquirer:
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/746427/chr-to-duterte-dont-take-law-into-your-hands
Gonzales, Y. (2016, April 2). Human rights lawyers slam North Cotabato
governor as 'aristocratic mata pobre'. Retrieved May 15, 2016, from Philippine Daily
Inquirer: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/777527/human-rights-lawyers-slam-n-cotabato-guvas-aristocratic-mata-pobre
Rappler. (2016, April 1). 1 killed, 13 wounded in farmers' protest in Kidapawan.
Retrieved
May
2015,
2016,
from
Rappler:
http://www.rappler.com/entertainment/news/127998-robin-padilla-kidapawan-city