Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 2200

Introduced by
ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO

AN ACT
‘WITHHOLDING OPERATIONAL FUNDS OF UNITS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE
PHILIPPINES IMPLICATED IN GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Under the Arroyo administration, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
gained international notoriety for its alleged involvement in a significant number of
extrajudicial killings and involuntary disappearances of citizens, many of whom were
activists opposed to the administration's policies and programs. Such gross
violations drew the attention not only of human rights organizations such as
Amnesty International (Al) and Human Rights Watch (HRW), but also the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Summary and Extrajudicial Killings, Philip Alston, and
even the United States Senate Defense Committee led by Sen. Barbara Boxer. All
acknowledged a link between human rights violations and the AFP's
counterinsurgency program, then known as Oplan Bantay Laya. Many noted that
the so-called “climate of impunity” enabled perpetrators to commit violations on
such a scale.

Notwithstanding the Aquino administration’s promises to address the
deteriorating human rights situation in the country, the climate of impunity still
reigns. Extrajudicial killings and other gross human rights violations involving state


security forces continue to take place. According to KARAPATAN, there have been 64
victims of extrajudicial executions and nine people victims of enforced
disappearances since President Benigno Aquino Ill came to power in June 2010 to
March 2016, and 583 victims of attempted extrajudicial killings. Thirty were
abducted by suspected state agents while 224 were reported tortured. At least
1,461 were illegally arrested (with 512 eventually detained), while victims of threats
and harassment reached 198,289, forced evacuation 106,068, and indiscriminate
firings 91,227.

Human Rights Watch has noted that “several key institutions, including law
enforcement agencies and the justice system, remain weak and the military and
police commit human rights violations with impunity” (Human Rights Watch World
Report 2011).

Human rights violations courtesy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines have
worsened under the Duterte administration, with increasing use of schools,
hospitals, and other public spaces for military purposes like encampment and
indoctrination; aerial bombing of civilian communities including those of indigenous
peoples; and illegal arrests and detention even of human rights defenders.

Government should use every tool at its disposal to promote respect for
human rights and end impunity, particularly within the ranks of the military. The
national budget is one such tool. Experience shows that the release or non-release
of funds can be a powerful instrument for promoting reforms and modifying
behavior in the ranks of government. This bill proposes the introduction of a “no
impunity provision” in our laws, one that would link the release of operational funds
of units of the AFP to their compliance with human rights standards.

This bill will encourage the AFP chain of command to ensure that their units
uphold and respect human rights at all times in the discharge of their duties,
especially during counterinsurgency operations. Furthermore, it will incentivize AFP
commanders to promptly identify perpetrators and make sure that the proper
charges are filed. It also underscores the responsibility of the Secretary of National
Defense in ensuring that charges are filed against individual perpetrators. For its
part, the Commission on Human Rights is given the role of vetting complaints and
weeding out spurious allegations.


For these reasons, approval of this bill is earnestly sought.

Rep. CARLOS ISAGAMI T. ZARATE Rep. FERDINAND GAITE
BAYAN MUNA Party-List BAYAN MUNA Party-List
Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT Rép. ARLENE D. BROSAS
BAYAN MUNA Party-List GABRIELA Women’s Party

Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO
KABATAAN Party-List


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Batasan Hills, Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

2200
HOUSE BILL No.

Introduced by

ACT Teachers Party-List Rep. FRANCE L. CASTRO,
BAYAN MUNA Party-List Rep. CARLOS ISAGANI T. ZARATE,
Rep. FERDINAND GAITE and Rep. EUFEMIA C. CULLAMAT,
GABRIELA Women’s Party Rep. ARLENE D. BROSAS,
and KABATAAN Party-List Rep. SARAH JANE |. ELAGO.

AN ACT
WITHHOLDING OPERATIONAL FUNDS OF UNITS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE
PHILIPPINES IMPLICATED IN GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

SECTION 1, State Policies. The State shall value the dignity of every human being
and guarantee full respect for human rights. Civilian authority shall always be
supreme over the military, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines shall stand as the
protector of the people and the State. The State shall therefore take steps to ensure
that mechanisms designed towards the genuine exercise of civilian supremacy and
the full promotion, protection, and realization of human rights are in place.

SECTION 2, Definition of Terms. “Operational funds” shall include, among others,
travelling and communication expenses, repair and maintenance, supplies and
materials, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses, confidential and intelligence
expenses, and combat expenses.

“Combat expenses” shall refer to the amount given quarterly to each
company or its equivalent in other services of the AFP, which may be utilized by the
tactical units of the APF for necessary and incidental expenses incurred during


operational exigencies. Such amount is chargeable under the Maintenance and
Other Operating Expenses of the Major Services of the AFP, as provided yearly in the
General Appropriations Act.

SECTION 3. No impunity provision. Upon a determination by the Commission on
Human Rights (CHR) of credible evidence that a unit of the AFP has committed a
gross violation of human rights, the operational funds, including combat expenses, of
the unit concerned shall be withheld until the CHR ascertains and reports to the
President of the Philippines that the Secretary of the Department of National
Defense (DND) and law enforcement authorities have taken effective measures to
has taken effective measures to identify the responsible member or members of the
unit and filed the appropriate charges, if warranted.

The determination provided for in this Section may be initiated by a complaint
filed with the CHR by aggrieved party or by any concerned citizen, organization,
association, or institution or initiated motu proprio by the CHR. No form or fee shall
be required in the filing of the complaint, after which, the CHR shall make the
determination within ten (10) calendar days.

SECTION 4. Implementing Rules and Regulations. The CHR, DND, and the
Department of Budget and Management, upon consultation with human rights
organizations, shall promulgate, within fifteen (15) days from the effective date of
this Act, the rules and regulations necessary for its implementation.

SECTION 5. Repealing Clause. All laws, decrees, resolutions, orders, or ordinances
or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or
modified accordingly.

SECTION 6. Separability Clause. if any provision of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity and effectivity of the other
provisions hereof.

SECTION 7. Effective Date. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its
publication in the Official Gazette or in one newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,