CHR
The Commission on Human Rights ( CHR) "expresses caution on the move of the administration to deploy more security forces in the Bicol region and the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental, and Negros Occidental."
In a statement late Friday, the CHR says although "recent incidence of violence in the area demands thorough investigation and expedient justice for the victims... there is the need to address the root causes of violence-- primarily land issues and the plight of the farmers in the said areas."
" We call on the government to address these problems instead of simply increasing the presence of security forces, which may escalate tension and fuel fear in the community. We urge the government to pursue development solutions rather than military approach to truly address the long standing problems that impact the basic rights and dignity of the people," the CHR said.
On Friday, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the increased deployment of government forces in some provinces in Visayas and in Bicol Region to suppress lawlessness.
Memorandum Order No. 32, which Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea signed on November 22 by the order of the President, said that a "number of sporadic acts of violence" have occurred recently in some areas in the country, particularly in Samar, Negros Oriental, and Negros Occidental, all in Visayas, and the Bicol Region.
Mediadea said the Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government shall "coordinate the immediate deployment of additional forces of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) to suppress lawless violence and acts of terror in the provinces of Samar, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and the Bicol Region, and prevent such violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the country." DMS
