The Philippine Supreme Court is looking at strengthening its powers to help halt the killing of leftist activists, including forcing the military to thoroughly probe allegations against soldiers, the chief justice said.
Masked men on motorcycles have continued to assassinate leftwing leaders, despite Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's vow to stop the political violence after the UN said in February that members of the military were behind many of the hundreds of deaths.
"The issue commands urgency. So many lives have been lost. So many disappearances," said Chief Justice Reynato Puno in an interview in his chambers yesterday. "If it further worsens, it could be crunch time for the Philippines."
Special courts to deal with the extra-judicial killings have been created, but there have been no convictions since they were established. The military has denied it is involved in the killings, but it is probing 94 cases of suspected unlawful executions.
"The extra-judicial killings and the enforced disappearances are escalating," the 67-year old Puno said. "I thought at the very least the judiciary can act on its own."
Last month, Puno, who has been chief justice since December, convened a special summit in Manila. Head of the armed forces General Hermogenes Esperon, as well as leading members of the left, civil society and the media attended.
The summit recommended shifting the burden of proof on to the state in cases of political violence where the government refused to provide vital evidence and also called for a revival of peace talks with the communist New People's Army (NPA).
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court can expand its authority to protect the constitutional rights of citizens. Up until now, it has not used this power.
The government and military have blamed many of the killings and disappearances on internal purges within the NPA, while international human rights groups have said there is evidence of a "dirty war" by the armed forces against the left.
Puno, whose older brother was killed by an NPA hit squad in 1977, said the Supreme Court was now considering new rules that would allow the judiciary to force the military to properly probe allegations of political violence.
"If they do not satisfy these standards there will be appropriate remedies to be given to the victims of the crime, such as damages, reparations, restitution, fines," he said.
Puno said the judiciary was also considering giving the courts the power to initially probe allegations of political killings and disappearances.
In related news, left-wing protesters marched through a downpour in Manila yesterday to demand the release of an activist who they believe was abducted by security forces 100 days ago.
The Supreme Court has ordered the military, police and Arroyo to produce Jonas Burgos in court, after his family and supporters mounted a nationwide campaign accusing security forces of kidnapping him on April 28.
Malaysia yesterday installed a motorcycle-riding billionaire sultan as its new king in lavish ceremonies for a post seen as a ballast in times of political crises. The coronation ceremony for Malaysia’s King Sultan Ibrahim, 65, at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur followed his oath-taking in January as the country’s 17th monarch. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement that sees the throne change hands every five years between the rulers of nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old Islamic royalty. While chiefly ceremonial, the position of king has in the past few years played an increasingly important role. Royal intervention was
X-37B COMPARISON: China’s spaceplane is most likely testing technology, much like US’ vehicle, said Victoria Samson, an official at the Secure World Foundation China’s shadowy, uncrewed reusable spacecraft, which launches atop a rocket booster and lands at a secretive military airfield, is most likely testing technology, but could also be used for manipulating or retrieving satellites, experts said. The spacecraft, on its third mission, was last month observed releasing an object, moving several kilometers away and then maneuvering back to within a few hundred meters of it. “It’s obvious that it has a military application, including, for example, closely inspecting objects of the enemy or disabling them, but it also has non-military applications,” said Marco Langbroek, a lecturer in optical space situational awareness at Delft
The Philippine Air Force must ramp up pilot training if it is to buy 20 or more multirole fighter jets as it modernizes and expands joint operations with its navy, a commander said yesterday. A day earlier US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that the US “will do what is necessary” to see that the Philippines is able to resupply a ship on the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) that Manila uses to reinforce its claims to the atoll. Sullivan said the US would prefer that the Philippines conducts the resupplies of the small crew on the warship Sierra Madre,
AIRLINES RECOVERING: Two-thirds of the flights canceled on Saturday due to the faulty CrowdStrike update that hit 8.5 million devices worldwide occurred in the US As the world continues to recover from massive business and travel disruptions caused by a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, malicious actors are trying to exploit the situation for their own gain. Government cybersecurity agencies across the globe and CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz are warning businesses and individuals around the world about new phishing schemes that involve malicious actors posing as CrowdStrike employees or other tech specialists offering to assist those recovering from the outage. “We know that adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this,” Kurtz said in a statement. “I encourage everyone to remain vigilant