Drilon elected chairman of IPU rights committee

Senate President Franklin Drilon vowed to pursue the cases of human rights violations against the Arroyo administration in the international stage now that he was voted chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

In a statement, Drilon revealed that he was elected during the 114th session of the IPU Human Rights Committee in Geneva, Switzerland which started this week.

Drilon said the prestigious international body investigates human rights violations against lawmakers all over the world.

"It is a privilege to be elected chairman of the IPU Committee on Human Rights of Parliamentarians. I intend to give my best efforts to the worldwide campaign for the protection of members of the legislature. The respect for human rights, not only of members of parliament, but also of the ordinary citizen, is a basic pillar of democracy. We must all do our share to uphold civil and human rights," Drilon said.

Drilon pointed out that the IPU committee has received a complaint from the so-called Batasan Five against the administration for threatening them with arrest and detention over their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the government.

The Batasan Five is composed of party-list members of the House of Representatives, namely, Teodoro Casiño, Satur Ocampo, Rafael Mariano, Joel Virador and Liza Maza.

The five legislators were forced to live inside the Batasan complex in Quezon City for almost three months in order to avoid being arrested by the Philippine National Police.

Also pending before the IPU Committee is the case of Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran who was arrested by the police several months ago on the same charge.

 The six legislators claimed that their rights were violated by the police for their opposition to repressive policies of President Arroyo.  — Marvin Sy