Kenney says bill not yet approved

November 13, 2007  --  Got something to say?
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US Ambassador Kristie Kenney
BAGUIO CITY - US Ambassador Kristie Kenney has said the US foreign aid bill is still a work in progress in Congress, adding that human rights remains a top interest of the US Congress.
She was obviously indirectly commenting on the elation expressed by top Philippine officials, including statements by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, that the Senate approval of the $60 million military and economic aid bill for the Philippines was a virtual vote of confidence on the administration of President Gloria Arroyo.

Like Kenney, Filipino American lobby groups Katarungan Committee for Peace, Justice and Human Rights in the Philippines and Bayan said nothing is sure yet with the purported $30 million in fresh military aid from the United States.
Kenney told reporters here Nov. 6 that while the US Senate had approved an increase in military assistance to the Philippines, the US House of Representatives was still discussing its version of the aid bill. She said that like the Philippines, the US legislature was bicameral and the House and Senate versions of the aid bill had to be reconciled.

Its still a work in progress, she said.

The US Senate has approved an increase in military aid from $11 million to $30 million that does not require a guarantee that the Philippines improve its human rights record. But it conditioned the release of an additional $2 million in military aid to the implementation of the recommendations of UN Special Rapparteur Philip Alston on disappearances and extrajudicial executions, promoting personnel who demonstrate a respect for human rights and desisting from engaging in abuses.
Speaking to reporters during the Veterans Day celebrations at Camp John Hay, Kenney said: I think people always worry about unexplained killings. Murder is never a good thing anywhere, anyplace, anytime, and it always needs to be investigated carefully.”

Kenney said the US Congress is very interested in the Philippines.
Human rights is very important to everyone, and I think the best thing we can all do is work together on it.”
The Philippine government has very good plans now for dealing with the unexplained killings. The further things the Americans are trying to do is to be helpful,” she added.

Can we help train police (and) prosecutors? Can we help support NGO (nongovernment organization) work on strengthening human rights? It seems to me what friends do is to help other friends do the best they can,” she said.
Kenney said it would be difficult to pin the blame on any single politician or military officer for the extrajudicial killings.
The left-leaning human rights group Karapatan has listed more than 800 alleged victims of political killings since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo became President in 2001. The figure includes fatalities in armed clashes. The Philippine Daily Inquirers count is 300.

Its an impossible [issue] to make a blanket statement on. We should look at each case individually, work them through and [determine] who is responsible for the murder,” said Kenney, who also visited the Philippine Military Academy.
Major General Leopoldo Maligalig, PMA superintendent, said the military had human rights courses in its training manuals since the first People Power Revolution ousted the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

The soldier after martial law knows how to address human rights, Maligalig said.
Katarungan said the Arroyo government is focusing only on the bright side of the US Senate version of the bill while at the same time airbrushing the historic portions that paint it as a human rights violator.

It said the Arroyo government might not even get any increase at all and could face more preconditions on every dollar coming from the US if political killings and human rights violations continue. Both houses of the US Congress have yet to meet and reconcile their versions of the US budget appropriations bill for 2008 and that means that the Arroyo government actually still has nothing concrete to brag about, it said.

Katarungan and Bayan said they will lobby to prevent US public funds from financing the reign of terror in the Philippines.

Bernadette Ellorin, secretary general of Bayan USA, one of the groups involved in the lobby efforts to limit US military aid, said they will continue to lobby to prevent US public funds from financing the reign of terror in the Philippines.
Ellorin said Malacaang is obviously doing a media blitz based on old news on a US Senate proposal approved two months ago and which is not yet final. Perhaps this is to cover up the failure of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita to dampen the UN report delivered by Alston.

Ellorin also said the US House version only allots $23 million in military aid for the entire East Asia and Pacific region.”
With both Houses yet to reconcile their versions of the budget bills, it thus remains uncertain whether the Arroyo government will get the $30 million that Philippine officials have bandied about,” Ellorin said.

Katarungan said no bicameral committee meeting has been scheduled because to date, only the Senate has publicized who their conferees are.

Katarungan also said the US government is now running on a reenacted budget, after the US Congress failed to enact a new budget measure before October 1, the start of the US fiscal year.

This turn of events is creating havoc for government agencies, which are operating under a continuing resolution that provides the same amount of money as in the last fiscal year. By November 16, when the continuing resolution expires, Congress will either need to have passed the funding bills or come up with more short-term answers for programs that still do not have their appropriations approved,” it said.

Katarungan also said the US Senate approved in plenary on September 6 restrictive language or pre-conditions introduced by Sen. Barbara Boxer on an additional $2-million military assistance to the Philippines.
Ellorin said the restrictive language means that the Arroyo governments human rights record is now under closer scrutiny by the US Congress but Malacaang is airbrushing this important, historic fact in yet another act of cover-up.”
According to documents provided by Katarungan, Boxer, using strong, pointed language recorded in the US Senate journal, said this binding legislative language is critical. I hope that Secretary [Condoleezza] Rice is able to produce a report that states that the Philippine government is taking real action and the Philippine military is no longer responsible for the deaths of innocent persons.”

Boxer also told the Senate that for too long, the government of the Philippines has not taken sufficient action to address extrajudicial killings and bring those responsible to justice.”

Sen. Patrick Leahy, responding to Boxers query on the Senate floor whether he will work with her to put additional limitations on future US military assistance to the Philippines if the Philippines fails to meet the conditions, said: I share Sen. Boxer?s concern about extrajudicial violence in the Philippines and will continue to monitor this situation carefully.”
Leahy, who chairs the US Senate committee handling the budget bill for the State Department and Foreign Operations, warned that he will consider additional limitations on future US military assistance if the Philippine government fails to adequately address this issue.”

Leahy and Boxer introduced the second pre-condition to the budget bill under Amendment No. 2762 to clarify conditions on assistance for the Philippines,” according to a document obtained by the Katarungan.


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