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________ Benigno S. Aquino III Regime

Benigno Aquino Administration (2010 - 2016)
On June 30 2010, Benigno Aquino III was sworn into office as the President of the Philippines. Notable acts during his term include the implementation of the K-12 program, the revocation of midnight appointments, the founding of the PhilippineTruth Commission, the creation of agencies such as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The administration vowed to eradicate corruption within the government system; such cases include that of Hacienda Luisita and the Priority Develoment Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. Listed below are the cases of human rights violations under the second Aquino administration:

Lumad Killings
The Lumads are people from various ethnic groups in Mindanao. Residing in their ancestral lands, they are often evicted and displaced due to the Moro people claiming the same territory. The Lumads have lost parts of their ancestral land due to failure of understanding modern land tenure system. To counter this, the Lumads have established schools in their communities, supplying essential knowledge for the tribe members to protect their rights, property and culture. However, the Lumad communities are located in mountains which are distant from urban areas. These areas are also the location sites of armed conflict between the New People's Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Caught in the conflict, the Lumad people's education, property, and security are endangered because of the increasing amount of military activities by the armed parties. Increasing military activities eventually lead to the displacement of the communities to shelter sites. Anxiety continues to grow among the Lumads with the escalation of armed conflict and detainment of community leaders (tribe leaders and teachers) as they may be labelled as rebels by the military. Alternative schools within the communities (aided by NGOs and universities) face concerns of closing down the buildings or demolition of property, with some buildings being converted for military use. Lumad leaders and tribesmen, having experienced political detention due to false suspicions as well as the displacement of their tribes from their areas, demand respect of their human rights.

In response, the Lumads organized groups to gain attention from the public by calling for the halt of militarization in their communities. Students, religious leaders, and human rights advocates support the Lumads in their movement against this militarization. Activities held to support the Lumad movements include concerts, cultural festivals (focusing on ethnic culture), and commemoration of Lumad leaders killed in the conflict. Leaders include Fr. Fausto Tentorio, Fr. Tullio Favali, and Fr. Salvatore Carzedda. Groups like the Manilakbayan 2015 support these movements through recruitment and handing out national situationers to students to spread awareness about the Lumads' dilemma. The Commission on Human Rights is investigating the incidents in regard to the murder of lumad leaders and school official by a paramilitary group Magahat/Bagani (in line with the idea of CAFGU) created by the AFP to hunt for NPA members. The AFP denies the allegation and attributes the killings to tribal conflict. However, the AFP admitted that CAFGU has Lumad recruits within its ranks, but asserted that the NPA also recruited the Lumads in their group. There is also a delay of decision due to the noncooperation of the Lumad group towards CHR by the interruption of the spokesman of Kalumaran Mindanao, Kerlan Fanagel. Fanagel insists that the group need not have another 'false' dialogue with the CHR since CHR has yet to present the results/findings of the investigations from the past months when Lumad leaders are killed. Because of the lack of data, CHR has decided to postpone the time of presenting their initial report on the second week of December.

Political prisoners
Political prisoners are people arrested because of their opposition towards the current government. They are seen as 'enemies of the state' and are imprisoned upon arrest. As recorded by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in September 2014, 840 political prisoners were held in detention cells and prisons. To promote human rights, the government permits access towards international humanitarian organizations and grants pardon, parole, and amnesty programs based on NGO lists.

Journalist killings
The number of journalist killings in the Aquino administration was noted to be the highest since 1986. Because of this, the Philippines has been ranked the third deadliest country for journalists. Information about disappearances and murders of reporters are kept from the public, making several agencies/organizations at risk of exposure towards certain crimes (a legitimate occupation of a whistle blower). Some of the well-known journalists killed in their line of work include: Henry Araneta, Desidario Camangyan, Joselito Agustin, Gerardo Ortega, Romeo Olea, Christopher Guarin, Mario Sy, Fernando Solijon, Joas Dignos, and Rubylita Garcia. According to Human Watch Report 2014, only 6 out of 26 cases managed to identify/capture their suspects.

The Aquino administration implemented reforms towards more effective criminal investigation procedures, in addition to passing laws to better uphold human rights. However, these reforms are underdeveloped. An example will be the Administration Order 35, having gained problems identifying which case are to be pursued because of the process requirements.