Party List Parliamentarians Visit Canada: HUMAN RIGHTS and AID

Party List Parliamentarians Visit Canada: HUMAN RIGHTS and AID

Three Filipino legislators to ask Canadian government to make aid to the Philippines linked to solving human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings

TORONTO–Three Philippine legislators will meet with Canadian parliamentarians and government officials in Ottawa to urge the Canadian government to tie up its assistance to Philippine government to the latter’s human rights policies and performance, Philippine Congress sources said.

The solons are scheduled to appear before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The Committee, which has been asked by the Stop the Killings Network to conduct a hearing into the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, has agreed to meet with the solons.

This development comes in the wake of serious concerns over the human rights violations attributed to the military, particularly reports of extrajudicial killings now reaching over 900 documented cases under the present government, increased militarization, and enforced disappearances of human rights activists now reaching a total of 180 documented cases.

The three solons, all from opposition party lists,Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna, Crispin Beltran of Anak Pawis, and Luz Ilagan of Gabriela Women’s Party will arrive April 6.

The Philippine parliamentarians will call on the Canadian government to increase pressure on the government of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to take action on correcting the overall Philippine human rights situation, the same sources said.

Specifically, they will ask for a review of Canadian aid to the Philippine government to find out if funds may have been used in any way in the commission of human rights violations against civilians by state security forces and agents. They will urge the Canadian government to base further aid on the implementation of the recommendations of the Alston report and the overall improvement of the human rights situation in the Philippines, the same sources said. which had been occurring at an alarming rate over the past six years.

The Alston Report refers to the report Prof. Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, released in November 2007 documenting the spate of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines which had been occurring at an alarming rate over the past six years.

The solons will ask Canada to urge the Philippines government to decisively hold accountable those responsible for the killings and enforced disappearances.

They will also invite the Standing Committee to send a parliamentary fact-finding delegation to investigate the human rights situation in the Philippines, similar to what the European Union had done.
The secondary purpose of the solons’ visit is to discuss labour and migration concerns regarding Canada’s Live-in Caregiver Program, and the temporary workers program, specifically with regards to the protection of the rights and promotion of the welfare of Filipino workers under these programs.

The solons are also scheduled to meet with the Opposition parties, including the NDP’s Jack Layton and Peggy Nash; Bloc Quebecois Foreign Affairs critic Francine Lalonde, Vivian Barbot and other MPs; and four Liberal Party MPs who are membeers of the Standing Committee.

They will also meet with CIDA officials and representatives from other government agencies on foreign affairs and international trade.

Philippine Ambassador to Canada Jose Brilliantes will also meet with the Philippine legislators sometime during their Ottawa visit.

In Toronto, the solons will be meeting with church groups, and speaking in two events hosted by the academic community, as well as two public events hosted by various Filipino and mainstream organizations that include media, students, migrant organizations, the arts and cultural sector, labour and social justice groups, among others (See flyers published on pages 6 and 7.)

Philippine Consul General Alejandro Mosquera will host a dinner for the solons, and possibly a meeting with them and representatives of the Filipino community at the Philippine consulate, according to Bern Jagunos, Regional Coordinator, Asia and the Pacific, the United Church of Canada.

UCC is one of the organizations arranging and hosting the solons’ Canada visit.