On June 16-17 2011, the project partners for the “Community-based Dialogue Sessions on Human Rights Promotion and Protection between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, and Civil Society Organizations and Local Communities”, held the dialogue for Region 2 at the University of La Salette in Santiago City, Isabela Province.  To date, the project has conducted the regional human rights dialogue in 15 regions of the country with only two regions (ARMM and Region 12) remaining which will be covered within the year. The project is being undertaken in cooperation with the AFP Human Rights Office (HRO) and Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military Operations (OJ7), PNP Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO), Alternative Law Groups, Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF), Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) and the Hanns Seidel Foundation/Germany (HSF).

The activity was attended by 80 participants representing five provinces and three cities comprising the region, including members of civil society from neighboring Tabuk, Kalinga Province.  As in past regional dialogue sessions, the PNP and AFP participants were high-ranking officers from the region and national headquarters (AFP HRO and PNP HRAO), among them, the Deputy Regional Director for Operations, Provincial Directors and Chief, HRAO for the PNP; the Deputy Commander of the Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) of the Philippine Army, and Human Rights Officers of the Philippine Air Force and Philippine Navy for the AFP, as well as key officers/leaders of civil society organizations (CSOs), the CHRP and partner organizations.

Atty. Marlon Manuel, National Coordinator of the Alternative Law Groups (ALG) and Project Lead Person gave an overview of the project and future plans.  The PNP and AFP human rights programs were presented by Police Chief Supt. (Atty.) Clarence Guinto and Captain (Atty.) Eduardo Esquivias, respectively; for the CSOs, Fr. Roman “Bong” Macaiba, Jr. of the Apostolic Vicariate of Tabuk  and Mr. Erwin Puhawan of Kanlungan Center (local organizing partner and ALG member) shared their respective human rights programs.

The Human Rights Situation in Region 2 was presented by CHRP Region 2 Information Officer, Mr. Carlito Agustin.  For 2010, he shared 42 cases were docketed– 12 cases pertain to violation of women’s rights  (RA 9262) such as rape and other sexual abuse, 13 cases were that of children in violation of RA 7610, two cases on extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and one case on torture.  The remainder of the cases pertained to slight physical injuries and other administrative complaints filed against local or ‘barangay’ (village) officials.  On the whole, there were nine PNP respondents, one from the Philippine Army and five local officials.

For the first half of 2011, he noted that HRVs are again on the rise wherein 55 cases have already been docketed, some of which are still pending investigation. Majority of these cases were initiated by the Barangay Human Rights Action Centers (BHRACs) with the province of Nueva Vizcaya topping the list. Seventeen cases were violations of children’s rights and six cases against women’s rights.  There were seven cases of rape, six murder incidents, and one torture case.  Eight of the respondents come from the PNP and none from the AFP.

The participants were active in the discussions, and showed warmth and respect for each other.  The group from Kalinga disclosed that there was not much of a problem with the AFP and PNP in their area, except in isolated cases.

The dominant human rights issues identified by the participants in Region 2 were related to mining and logging operations, women and children’s rights, and ancestral domain.

Based on the identification and discussion of human rights issues and gaps in the area, the following actions were recommended:

a) sustain inter-agency coordination and dialogue with concerned stakeholders, including government agencies such as the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Local Government Units (LGUs);
b) conduct massive Information, Education & Communication (IEC) activities especially on Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) and indigenous peace mechanism (BODONG),  and environmental/ecological laws (e.g., logging)/ordinances for the benefit of both the security forces and civil society;
c) review and propose amendments to the PNP law (in relation to the operational supervision and control of the Local Chief Executive over the local police force);
d) provide alternative livelihood and skills training for displaced small loggers (Department of Agriculture/DA,  and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority/ TESDA);
e) take proper/prompt action on violation, crime or infraction committed by AFP and PNP personnel by their respective institutions;
f) monitor, coordinate and communicate cases of human rights violations; prosecute offenders;
g) integrate human rights subjects in the high school curriculum;
h) provide legal assistance to PNP personnel facing charges related to human rights; 
i) strengthen AFP and PNP complaint/grievance mechanism; and
j) provide balanced information on complaints reported to proper authorities by CSOs.

Towards sustaining the initial gains of the regional dialogue session, the participants through a Planning session, identified and discussed their action plans in the immediate future and beyond.