Human Rights Forum
Vol.5 No.1, June 2008

Editorial: Krisis sa Pagkain

Pagpasok ng Marso nitong taon, may nadagdag na dramatikong imahe ng paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng mga Pilipino – ang mahabang pila ng mga bata at mga nanay upang makabili ng murang bigas ng NFA.

Ang kasalukuyang krisis sa pagkain ay bunga ng patung-patong na paglabag at kapabayaan, pangunahin ng gobyerno, sa iba’t-ibang karapatang pantao ng mamamayan.

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Muddling the Rice Issue

Danilova Molintas

With a 7.3 percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP), 2007 was supposedly the boom year for the economy – the time of “great hopes and expectations.” That is, according to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

She was banking on growth coming from economic integration with east Asian economies, and tighter economic relations with China — issues tackled during the 2007 Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.

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Hungry Queus

WHen rice prices suddenly went berserk in the first quarter of 2008, panic hit Filipino homes. The staple food of almost all Filipinos, rice – and the shortage of rice – is literally a life-and-death issue for the entire country.

It took the government agencies quite awhile to work out a support system that would provide cheaper rice to the larger population. There were the requisite blame-throwing, the “threats” of Senate investigation, the denials, and the usual “informed analyses.” Most distateful and callous of all, there was the official announcement that there was no rice shortage or crisis, just rice “price elevation.”

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Bentahang Pilipinas at Tsina: usaping teritoryo at pulitika

Percival Cendaña

Lubhang malaki ang impluwensya sa pulitika ng Pilipinas ang pag-angat ng
Tsina bilang isa sa pinakamakapangyarihang ekonomiya sa mundo. Habang pinagnanasahan ng ating mga lider ang mga oportunidad na maaaring ibigay ng isang bansang may pambansang reserba na mahigit sa isang trilyong dolyar, nababago at binabago ang maraming bagay sa ngalan ng grasya galing Tsina—pati na ang integridad ng teritoryo ng ating bansa.

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Mga Hamon ng Writ of Amparo

Atty. Ricardo A. Sunga III

Noong 24 Oktubre 2007, naging epektibo ang Rule on the Writ of Amparo ng Philippine Supreme Court. Partikular ang aplikasyon ng proteksiyong dala ng bagong Writ sa mga kaso ng extrajudicial killing at enforced disappearance. Ang sanaysay na ito ay isang pagninilay sa ilang mga unang karanasan kaugnay ng Writ of Amparo.

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Spare Our Children:

Alternative report on Philippines’ implementation of the OPCRC-AC

Vanessa Retuerma

hildren’s involvement in armed conflict (CIAC) still remains a serious concern in
the Philippines. Despite commitment to international legal framework and instituting national laws and policies to address the CIAC issue, the Philippine government’s actual implementation of these laws and policies is still inadequate in protecting the lives of children who continue to be involved in armed conflict.

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The Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT)

A Significant Mechanism for Torture Prevention

ellecer ‘budit’ carlos

Since the early 70s, existing primary means to combat the practice of torture have gone two separate but complementing ways. The growing concern about the widespread and systematic use of torture led to the construction of legal norms and mechanisms to prohibit and prevent its practice. The negotiations led to the 1984 adoption of the United Nation’s Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and its implementing body, the UN Committee against Torture. The UNCAT serves as the universal legal framework that bans the use of torture anywhere and under any circumstance. 

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Engaging Governments through the UPR Process

renato g. mabunga

In 1997, and again in 2002, reforms in the United Nations gained ground in Geneva and New York, respectively. These reforms came in the heels of then-Secretary General Kofi Annan’s challenge to the UN’s “continued significance” in the face of 21 st century realities. He called for improvements in how the UN conducts its work, implements its mandate and manages the funds entrusted to it by its Member States in order to bring human rights to all peoples of the world.

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