To End the Killings, Strengthen Democracy

More than a year after Amnesty International’s scathing report drew international attention to the spike in political killings in the Philippines under the administration of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, there are no clear answers regarding the perpetrators or precisely how many deaths and abductions have occurred. Filipinos are acutely aware of the ongoing problem, yet the population remains polarized on who is to blame. Despite a few significant investigations, not a single conviction has resulted for the spate of murders since 2001, numbering anywhere from 136 to 836, depending on who’s counting.

The findings of a new study on the Philippines released this week as part as of Freedom House’s annual governance survey, Countries at the Crossroads, indicate that the problem may run deeper than a lack of political will. The report points to a decline in many freedom indicators since 2005 and draws a number of conclusions that suggest the general weakness of democratic institutions may be inhibiting an effective response to the country’s gravest human rights violations, including recent killings and abductions.

Clear weaknesses in the rule of law, including judicial inefficiency and recent trends in civil-military relations, have entrenched a culture of impunity and a troubling distrust of both the justice system and the country’s security forces.

With more than 800,000 cases backlogged in the country’s court system, there is little reason for the killers, or an official ordering a killing, to expect to be tried, let alone convicted. Rampant corruption in the courts compounds the problem, with judges and counsel easily susceptible to bribes. The fact that the judiciary continues to receive less than one percent of the national budget sends the message that law, order, and justice are not worth investing in. The practical result is that verdicts are frequently influenced because judges and lawyers depend on local powers for salaries and basic resources.

Worse, with at least 12 judges killed since 1999 and, again, not a single conviction, lawyers and judges are increasingly disinclined to take on controversial cases. When no one has been held accountable for two high-profile murders in the Fraport airport case, why should an anonymous hit man—or rank-and-file member of the AFP—fear the consequences of killing one more left-wing political activist?

We can see some clear parallels between the challenges confronting the judiciary and the reasons behind recent declines in press freedom. Exposing a local corruption scandal can amount to a death sentence for a journalist, much like issuing a guilty verdict might endanger the life of a judge. And just as with the judiciary, low salaries and the threat of unemployment make journalists more inclined to accept bribes for slanted reporting. Radio journalists outside Metro Manila are the most likely murder targets, largely because they sensationalize the news in order to attract the high ratings advertisers require.

As a result, the press, democracy’s watchdog, is simultaneously compromised by the continued threat posed by journalist-targeted violence and irresponsibility on the part of some reporters. The same ordinary Filipinos who lack faith in the justice system to punish those responsible grow increasingly apathetic toward journalist murders.

With yet another coup plot by military officers against President Arroyo uncovered just this week, the fragile relationship between the administration and the AFP also represents a critical part of the puzzle. Whether military involvement in recent abductions and killings of leftist activists is the result of individuals taking counterinsurgency efforts into their own hands or part of a state-led effort to eradicate political opponents remains a matter of fierce public debate. Either way, the Arroyo administration is unlikely to go farther than public condemnation as long as the president’s hold on power continues to rely on military support.

Indeed, the fact that the president has faced a severe legitimacy crisis since the revelation of the “Hello Garci” tapes in mid-2005 is intimately related to many of the political developments and human rights issues that have unfolded during the Freedom House survey’s coverage period, especially the significant crackdown on opposition politicians and critical media outlets during the state of emergency in 2006. As the Crossroads report notes, public confidence in the capacity of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to arbitrate election results with accuracy and fairness has been significantly reduced by the 2004 election scandals.

The dynamics behind the heightened number of political killings in recent years combine a complex of local rivalries, a protracted insurgency that has spanned more than three decades, and blurred lines between legitimate leftist parties and underground illegal groups affiliated with the rebel New People’s Army—a lethal mix that any country would be hard-pressed to untangle. The recent erosion of its democratic institutions leaves the Philippines especially ill-equipped to confront these challenges.

The fact that the popular overthrow of a brutal dictatorship and establishment of the democratic process in the Philippines just 20 years ago marked a clear milestone for democracy in Asia makes these setbacks uniquely disturbing. Developments in the Philippines carry important implications for the future of democracy in Asia and around the world.

There are, to be sure, positive developments, most notably the Supreme Court’s widely attended summit on extrajudicial killings and landmark promulgation of the writ of amparo to strengthen witness protection. These efforts are important steps that should be continued and supported.

Nonetheless, going beyond investigations and consultative discussions to actually bring an end to extrajudicial killings and ensure the protection of human rights in the Philippines will require strengthening the country’s core democratic institutions, reversing a deeply entrenched culture of impunity so that victims have reason to seek justice, and rebuilding a fundamental trust in Philippine democracy.

Camille Eiss is a Southeast Asia analyst at Freedom House.