Dear Colleagues and Human Rights Advocates,

Greetings! The Philippine accession to the OPCAT gained another step
yesterday, December 13, when Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, sponsored Resolution 664 calling on the senate
to concur with the decision of the chief executive to adopt the OPCAT.  At
the same time,  Senator Legarda endorsed the government decision to defer
the implementation of Part III of the OPCAT which will prevent the visit of
the Sub Committee on Torture (SPT) for three years after the Philippines
shall have acceded to the protocol.

In explaining her position, Senator Legarda  said the government  need some
time to improve prison and custodial, detention and custodial  facilities.
She  implied that the government could remedy the three biggest problem of
places of detention in the Philippines, such as (1) overcrowding due to
slow processing of cases of inmates, (2) outbreak of diseases, and (3) poor
jail environment that impedes effective rehabilitation of detainees. She
pointed out, however, that   the deferment will  not preclude the
establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) which is a very
important torture prevention mechanism cited under the OPCAT.

The United Against Torture Coalition (UATC), whose secretariat is being
chaired by Balay, was present at the senate. While it   has called for the
full adoption of the OPCAT it  nonetheless welcomed the development as it
has moved the process towards the fulfilment of the Philippine accession to
the OPCAT.

The next step ahead is for the senate to discuss and vote on Resolution
664. This could take place in  around  two plenary sessions of the senate.
As the senate will end its session for the year, it could take up the
matter again next year. If all goes well, the entire process could be
completed in the  first quarter of 2012. However, there could be serious
impediments along the way. This is due to the move of legislators to
impeach Supreme Court Chief Justice Corona. This political exercise  is
likely to distract the senators from their legislative tasks. This means
that lobby efforts have to be sustained until  Resolution 664 is approved.

In the meantime, the drafting of the bill for the establishment of the NPM
has to commence. Balay is just waiting for the documents promised by some
colleagues at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)  so it can proceed with
the UATC plan to hold study sessions and workshops with the proper offices
of the Commission.

Now, as we monitor  further developments at the senate, we may consider
writing the office of Senator Loren Lagarda and other members of the Senate
Committee on Foreign Relations to congratulate them  for their efforts in
pushing for the senate concurrence to the OPCAT accession. At the same
time, we may  call on them to take their efforts further until Senate
Resolution 664 is finally approved.

Thanks so much for all your solidarity and support

Sincerely,

Kaloy A. Anasarias
Executive Director
Balay Rehabilitation Center
Secretariat, UATC

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