By SHERWIN DE VERA
www.nordis.net

PASIG CITY — A lawyer and human rights groups have expressed concern over the military’s request for accomplishments and financial documents of groups in Baguio City, saying this violates civil and political rights.

In an August 15 letter, Task Group Baguio Commander Christopher Sab-it asked Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan for the “Annual Accomplishment Reports and Financial Statements of the sixty-seven (67) Non-Government Organizations” in the city for 2023. The colonel said the documents would serve as a reference for their program.

TGB is a counterinsurgency unit under the 5th Infantry Division tasked with implementing the Community Support Program (CSP), touted as a vital part of the government’s counterinsurgency program.

In an August 31 online interview, Baguio-based Free Legal Assistance Group lawyer Ryan James Solano pointed out that the intention stated in the letter was vague and a possible breach of the right to privacy.

“(It is) not clear for what purpose do they intend to use this information, the letter is not clear, one could suspect of their intentions with numerous red tagged individuals and designated alleged terrorists with no hard basis,” he said.

The lawyer added: “There will be sensitive information that could be easily taken once released by the SP (Sanggunian Panglunsod) of Baguio. That is why we have the data privacy law in place to protect this information.”

“Don’t be complicit”

Meanwhile, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan, said that local governments should “disapprove these types of requests that make them complicit in the violations of rights and civil liberties.”

The request, she said in an August 30 Facebook post, violates the “rights against surveillance and profiling, threats and intimidation, and retagging, as well as the fundamental right to organize and freedom of association.” This includes several provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

Palabay added: “We remind local governments of their duty to promote and protect human rights, and to always uphold the supremacy of civilian authority over the military.”

In an August 31 text message, Caselle Ton, spokesperson of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, said they trust the city council “would uphold its mandate to uphold and protect” the rights of its constituents.

“With Baguio on its way of becoming a human rights city, this kind of tactics from the military should not be welcome in any way,” she added. 

Request rejected

Answering queries from Nordis, Olowan said the city turned down the request and directed Sab-it instead to write the Securities and Exchange Commission for the documents.

“I just told them [SP secretary] to not furnish financial statements to these people and just state in our letter that we do not have a complete list,” he said.

The official also assured organizations that the city is keen on protecting the privacy of their constituents, saying, “We cannot just release those documents without even the permission from the organizations.”

“Even though it is a public document we have to also ask the organization if they are amenable or not. So I think the best office for them to get information is those that are filed before the SEC if they are registered with the SEC or to other offices in case they are registered,” Olowan added.

He further explained that the accreditation of groups is meant for their inclusion in the city’s Local Development Council and other government engagements as mandated by the Local Government Code and several issuances by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

Nordis reached out to TG Baguio through the number provided in the letter on August 29 and 31 but has not received a reply. #