RP accepts US offer to help solve killings



Manila-- The Philippines police will accept technical assistance from the United States to help solve a wave of political murders targeting mostly leftist dissidents, a senior police official said Wednesday.

Malacañang, however, was more guarded on the issue. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters the government wants to be “more deliberate.”

Ermita said Philippine and US officials are “in contact with each other” but that no decision has been made.

A special United Nations Human Rights Commission rapporteur last week alleged that that some in the Armed Forces—one of the most powerful institutions in the country—were behind the unsolved killings, which human-rights groups have said numbered in the hundreds since 2001.

The US ambassador to Manila, Kristie Kenney, subsequently said Washington would be “delighted to do more” to help its Southeast Asian ally solve the killings.

Meeting

“Initially, we are looking at further training to enhance the capability of our investigators, and acquisition of equipment to upgrade our existing forensic and investigative capability,” said Chief Supt. Geary Barias, head of the criminal investigation section of the Philippine National Police.

“This afternoon, my staff and I will meet with two gentlemen from the US Embassy” to discuss the technical assistance proposal, Barias said in a statement.

“Certainly, this offer of the US Embassy for assistance will serve as a capacity-building measure and boost the efforts of [the police task force created] to investigate and prosecute cases” involving politically motivated killings.

Cooperation

Kenney, who has urged Manila to end the killings, stressed that Washington still planned to expand its cooperation with the Philippine military in such areas as counterterrorism and maritime security.

US military advisers in the southern Philippines are advising Filipino soldiers hunting down Muslim militants with links to the al-Qaeda network.

President Arroyo’s administration has said Manila would follow the recommendations of a special government commission on extrajudicial killings, including strengthening a witness protection program and creating special courts to try those involved.

Ermita said the US government’s offer of assistance is no different from the aid extended by European Union nations through their ambassadors.

Filipinos should not be overly sensitive towards the US offer, he added, noting the countries’ old ties.

As soon the government determines how it wants to use US expertise in solving cases of unexplained killings, the Department of Foreign Affairs would send a formal letter to the country’s major ally, Ermita added.

Military forces have for decades battled communist insurgents, who effectively control parts of this archipelago nation, and say rights groups ignore the large numbers of people killed by the guerrillas.

--AFP/Sam Mediavilla