CASES OF TRILLANES AND FOUR PARTY-LIST CONGRESSMEN TAKEN UP AT IPU ASSEMBLY

The continuing detention of Senator Antonio Trillanes and the "new acts of harassment" against four party-list congressmen are now being looked into by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CHRP) of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

This was reported by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban), a member of the five-man CHRP during the 118th IPU Assembly held in Cape Town, South Africa from April 13 to 18.

Trillanes has been barred by the authorities form attending Senate sessions and other activities while undergoing court trial for rebellion and coup d'etat charges in connection with the July 27, 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the Nov. 29, 2007 siege of Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City.

Fresh murder charges have been filed by the government against Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teodoro Casino of Bayan Muna Rep. Liza Maza of Gabriela and former Rep. Rafael Mariano of Anak-Pawis for their alleged involvement in the killing of three ex-communist rebels between 2001 and 2004.

The accused lawmakers said the new charges against them were allegedly fabricated as part of the "continuing political persecution" by the Arroyo administration. They said they were denied due process and called for the dismissal of the charges.

Ocampo branded the new charges as the latest attempt by the administration "to get us arrested, jailed, prosecuted and removed from the House of Representatives."

Pimentel said the CHRP is also keeping tab of the murder case against Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anak-Pawis who was granted bail after several months of detention.

In his 25-page report on his participation in the Cape Town IPU Assembly, Pimentel said the human rights committee took preliminary action on the cases of Trillanes and the party-list congressmen by calling on the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives to exercise their duty in upholding and protecting the rights of the said lawmakers.

Early last year, the IPU-CHRP sent a top-level delegation to the Philippines to get first-hand information about the cases of Beltran and the other representatives from the progressive party-list groups.

Pimentel said his work at the CHRP, which started on Sunday, April 13, and ended on Friday, April 18, focused on the killings, ousters and other harassments of parliamentarians the world over.

He reported that Burmese members of parliament in exile informed the committee about recent oppressions perpetrated by ruling junta in Myanmar, such as the arrest and detention of 17 parliamentarians during the government crackdown on mass protests in the autumn of 2007. Six parliamentarians died while in detention.

In response to the appeal of the Burmese parliamentarians, the committee denounced the holding of a "farcical" referendum for a draft Constitution and renewed the call for the release of all opposition leaders and activists led by Aung San Syu Kyi.

Pimentel said the CHRP took up cases of violations of the rights in 17 countries, including the murder of seven parliamentarians and kidnapping or death threats on nine others in Colombia, the murder of two parliamentarians and illegal ouster of 56 others in Ecuador, and the arrest-detention of 38 Palestinian parliamentarians by the Israeli Army.

The veteran senator from Mindanao said that in his capacity as CHRP member representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations +3, he sponsored a resolution congratulating Thailand and welcoming it back to the path of democracy on its reinstatement as member of the IPU. Thailand was expelled from the organization a few years back when military generals seized power and imposed martial law. The resolution was unanimously approved during a meeting of delegates from the ASEAN +3 countries.

During the IPU plenary session on April 13, Senate President Manuel Villar delivered a speech in which he asked the advanced countries "to help those that are perennially confronted with food shortage."

Sen. Pia Cayetano was unanimously elected as the first Filipino (and the first Asian) president of the women parliamentarians of the IPU.

"From reports of those who witnessed the proceedings that led to her election, Sen. Pia Cayetano impressed her colleagues not only with her knowledge of women, children and gender issues but also with the stand she had taken to address violence against women and children and the problems posed by and to our migrating professionals, especially women," Pimentel said.

For the record, Pimentel said that throughout his six-day stay in South Africa, "I did not see a single lion, elephant, baboon or cobra."

"All I saw were my hotel room, the conference room of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, the session hall of the IPU at the Convention Center of Cape Town, Africa and some dinner tables in eateries out of the Convention Center," he said.

"IPU conferences are a part of our international commitments like the UN or the ILO. In my case, I have this special obligation to attend because ASEAN +3 and the Asia Pacific Nations had elected me to be their representative to the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians in the IPU Bali Conference in 2007. My terms as CHRP representative terminates when my term as senator ends in 2010."

Aside from Villar and Pimentel, the Senate delegation to the 118th IPU Assembly also included Senate President Protempore Jinggoy Estrada, Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and Senators Pia Cayetano, Gregorio Honasan and Alan Peter Cayetano.