Common ground: Military and executive officials under the new administration say things are getting better in addressing EJKs, but families of victims and activists want to see more perpetrators brought to justice. JES AZNARHuman rights groups and the government appear just as far apart today as they were during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when it comes to the related issues of extrajudicial killings (EJK) and enforced disappearances.

"Today the dream starts to become a reality,” President Benigno Aquino III said on June 30, 2010.

The inaugural speech of Aquino gave Filipinos hope that there would be genuine social change under his administration, according to the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA).

The group said the people had high hopes that there would be an improvement including an end to human rights violations, particularly EJK.

However, one year on, the CPA claims the Aquino administration has only extended what they describe as the state “fascism” of President Arroyo.

'Produce Jonas.' The family of missing activist Jonas Burgos see the latest Supreme Court decision as half the battle, which they want to end with their loved one finally reuniting with them since he was forcibly disappeared allegedly by military men in April 2007. JES AZNARThese mothers are old and should have been enjoying their retirement and playing with their grandchildren. But not so in the case of the mothers of Jonas Burgos, Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño, who have all famously been missing for years after being allegedly snatched by the military.

For the family of the so-called desaparecidos, they can only cry and wait – and wait – and wait. Continuous efforts and exhausting every avenue to find their love ones without any result is like being tortured – and they question why the new government is not doing much more to help them.

Fighting for justice: Mediaman Romy Olea left behind his wife Raquel (right, in black and carrying his portrait) and sons Janry (left, in white shirt) and Jester Angelo (not in picture) to seek justice for his killing. BOBBY LABALANIriga City -- Authorities are hopeful that they will be able to solve the killing of yet another media man in Camarines Sur -- the second in less than a year.

Senior Supt. Procopio Lipana, Camarines Sur police director and head of Special Investigation

Task Group Olea told Target EJK they are pursuing some leads which might eventually result in the arrest of the suspects. He refused to name names but admitted the slaying of Romeo Olea, an anchor-reporter of dwEB-FM based in Nabua town, was most likely work-related.

Common sense: The Minnesota Protocol, which some human rights lawyers are now pushing to be adopted locally, lays down guidelines which simply say that government should not investigate if it is the suspect in any violent, sudden, unexpected or suspicious death. JES AZNAR (www.jesaznar.com)After the nine-year Arroyo presidency, many hoped that the ‘culture of impunity,’ which has killed scores of activists, journalists, and ordinary civilians, would come to an end. But on June 6, 2010, barely a month after the national polls, Benjamin Bayles, a 43-year old parish worker of the Independent Church of the Philippines and member of the political party Bayan Muna, was shot to death by two masked men aboard a motorcycle in Barangay Suay, Himamaylan City in the province of Negros Occidental.

Sharing the grief: Children of slain journalists come together yearly for the Saranggola Summer Workshop, the NUJP's program that enables them to share experiences and listen to others as part of their healing process. JES AZNAR (www.jesaznar.com) Of the five children of slain radio broadcaster and anti-mining advocate Gerardo “Gerry” Ortega of Palawan, it was only his second daughter -21-year old Erika who saw the bloodied body.

The eldest daughter, 22-year old Mika was in Manila while his younger children were kept from the crime scene.

A lone gunman shot Ortega in the neck in the morning of January 24 in Puerto Princesa City. He died on the spot.

So slow: More than 500 days since the Maguindanao massacre that killed 58 people, only former Datu Unsay mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., shown here being taken by the police days after the bloodbath, has been formally charged in court. He is among the 196 suspects in the country's most violent election-related incident. JES AZNAR (www.jesaznar.com)It might have been so different. Given the magnitude of the crime and with the world watching, the country’s administrative, judicial and legislative leaders could have foreseen the impact the country’s Byzantine court system would have had on the Maguindanao trial and discussed whether special measures or procedures could be put in place to ensure the best chance of delivering real justice to the victims and families of the massacre that killed 58 civilians, including journalist Reynaldo Momay whose body is yet to be recovered to this day.

Unresolved: Children in a rally in Manila hold rag dolls spattered with red paint symbolizing the victims of extrajudicial killings in the country, whose perpetrators remain unpunished because of lack of standardized procedures in investigation and preservation of evidence. JES AZNAR (www.jesaznar.com)While the new administration has been in place for almost a year – confusion if not some degree of in-fighting reigns among those departments and agencies tasked with investigating and prosecuting summary killings.

Many people accused the government of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of complicity over what they saw as politically-motivated killings – and hoped a new administration would prioritize the fight against such crimes. Yet observers see little if any real sign that the new administration has any clear view or strategy on how to best combat and solve continuing cases of summary killings.

Justice denied: Rebelyn Pitao's family and friends still search for justice two years after she was abducted, raped, tortured and killed on her way home from work as a teacher in Davao City. KEITH BACONGCO/AKP ImagesDAVAO CITY -- Two years after the killing of Rebelyn Pitao, the case seemed to have gathered dust since no witnesses have surfaced and her killers are still at large.

Pitao, daughter of New People’s Army (NPA) leader Leoncio Pitao a.k.a. Commander Parago, was abducted on her way home in Barangay (village) Bago in Davao City. The following day, her partially naked body was found in an irrigation ditch in Barangay San Isidro in Carmen, Davao Del Norte, about 50 kilometers north from this city.

Did they or didn't they? The confusing findings on the Army's role in the November 2010 killing of respected botanist Leonard Co, Sofronio Cortez and Julius Borromeo in Leyte made justice for them and their kin more elusive. JES AZNAROn November 15, 2010, renowned botanist Leonard Co and his team were killed in a hail of gunfire in the thick Leyte forest. Co was collecting plant specimens with forest guard Sofronio Cortez and farmer Julius Borromeo for the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) conservation project.

A series of investigation and fact-finding missions was launched by different institutions and organizations. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Army’s 19^th Infantry Battalion, Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Philippine National Police – Special Investigation Task Group (PNP-SITG) and the non-government organization Advocates of Science and Technology for the People (Agham) all undertook their own investigations.

Way below standards: The Ampatuan, Maguindanao massacre in November 2009 not only shocked the nation and the international community, but also became one of the worst examples of forensic investigative work. JES AZNARMaria Reynafe Momay-Castillo blames the authorities for the continued disappearance of his father Reynaldo Momay, believed to be one of the journalists killed in the massacre of 58 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. The massacre, the worst in the country’s recent history, is also believed to be one of the worst examples of forensic investigative work.

The authorities responded late, almost eight hours after the incident was first reported. Then, the Philippine National Police (PNP) started retrieving bodies even before forensic teams could document the crime scene and collect evidence. Relatives and the media were also allowed within the vicinity during the body retrieval. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which conducted a fact-finding mission after the massacre, said that this has led to the almost complete vanishment of the crime scene. The original position of the bodies and trajectory of the bullets could not be determined, making the event reconstruction “nearly impossible.”

'Mythic' order: Some groups who have not even actually seen it say the Order of Battle is akin to a death list, but the Armed Forces of the Philippines says it merely helps them assess the enemies of the state. JES AZNARRightly or wrongly, the families, friends and colleagues of many activist victims of summary or extrajudicial killings (EJK) that clouded the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have sought to pin the blame on the military’s so-called Order of Battle.

In recent years, the term has attained some kind of near mythic reputation in the Philippines: Many media stories and people have referred to it and some even claim it is akin to a death list.  Yet no civilian has actually seen it – or at least not anything the military admits to or acknowledges as being a legitimate Order of Battle.

Going beyond the numbers: Monitoring human rights in the Philippines is not just about statistics but on consensus on baselines and standards, government and human rights groups agreed in a recent EPJUST forum. JES AZNARGroups monitoring human rights in the Philippines recently agreed in a forum that a baseline on human rights situation accepted by all is critical to come up with an effective monitoring mechanism. The forum where Target EJK and Enforced Disappearances took part was organized by the European Union-Philippines Justice Support Program (EPJUST) in Makati City on February 28.