SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta has urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to protect members of Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) following the alleged human rights violations during the enforcement of the arrest warrant of embattled KOJC church leader, pastor Apollo Quiboloy.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/3/protect-human-rights-of-kojc-members-marcoleta-tells-chr
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READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/3/protect-human-rights-of-kojc-members-marcoleta-tells-chr
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NewsTranscript
00:00Madam Chair, may I know from the CHR if they are cognizant of the fact that KOJC is a religious organization?
00:12Yes, Your Honor.
00:15And considering, Madam Chair, that it is a religious sect,
00:22and I believe the CHR knows that several thousands of PNP members trooped to their compound
00:37and stayed there for several days, and I think up to today they're still there.
00:43Did you happen to investigate whether there are civil rights violated by the members of the PNP in encamping in their compound?
00:59Thank you, Your Honor.
01:01Yes, the commission is investigating the incidents concerning the KOJC, Your Honor.
01:09What did you find out initially?
01:12The field of our regional office is still conducting its investigation,
01:16and we expect the regional office to submit its recommendation as soon as, Your Honor.
01:25And yes, I agree with you that there are several rights that may be involved here,
01:31one of which is, as you mentioned, the religious freedom of the KOJC members,
01:38and there may be other civil liberties that may be affected, Your Honor.
01:42Yes, and earlier, Madam Chair, we noted that the CHR acceded to one of our interpolators' proposition
01:50that preventive is the better side of the CHR's function, correct?
01:55Yes, Your Honor.
01:56And before everything else happened, like what you said,
02:02that there might have been several acts already done in violation of their civil and political rights,
02:10did you not bother to at least post some of your members or anybody there even before the events unfolded
02:22so that we could have prevented most of it, if not all?
02:26We had, Your Honor.
02:27In fact, we assigned at least three investigators in the area, Your Honor, as early as September 1.
02:37Did they have the power to restrain or even advise the members of the PNP
02:42as to the action that they should do in relation to possible violations of their political and civil rights?
02:50They have no power to prevent, Your Honor, but they can advise the state actors.
02:58Did they advise the state actors?
03:00Yes, Your Honor. In fact...
03:01And what did the state actors do after being advised?
03:06As we all know, Your Honor, they proceeded.
03:10Considering, Madam Chair, that it is a religious denomination,
03:14I would surmise that the worship services were interrupted.
03:21Some activities connected with the religious belief might have been interrupted.
03:27These are serious violations of their political and civil rights.
03:33Maybe marriages are being celebrated in that compound.
03:40Baptism, probably.
03:42Anything you might think, activities that are related to their faith.
03:49And today, that is still existing.
03:54I think they are still prevented from doing that.
03:59What does the CHR intend to do or have done in the first place?
04:07Our regional office, Your Honor, is currently investigating the situation, monitoring the situation.
04:15And in fact, we already...
04:18Investigating and monitoring, Mr. Chair, is not good enough.
04:24Considering the unfolding of events in several days and continuing up to today,
04:32I think CHR should do something.
04:35Because we need to protect them.
04:38Protecting their human rights is the center of the function of the CHR.
04:43Am I correct?
04:44Yes, Your Honor.
04:45But before the Commission acts on the situation and to perform whatever is necessary,
04:53we have to conclude our investigation.
04:55So we have to determine based on our own...
05:00By investigation, sir, you mean you are able to identify the persons,
05:05the number of persons and their acts and the damages suffered
05:13or the number of acts that constituted violations of their civil and political rights.
05:20Yes, Your Honor.
05:22So those are among the details that we might need.
05:27And when can this committee receive a report so that probably even Congress can act on it
05:33and do something about it?
05:35Yes, Your Honor.
05:36We...
05:37After...
05:38As soon as the investigation is concluded, Your Honor, and the Commission en banc...
05:42Do you have a time frame, sir?
05:44What is the time frame?
05:49I'm sorry for being insistent.
05:51But this is violation of civil and political rights.
05:53You need to protect people.
05:55We understand, Your Honor.
05:56That's why we directed our regional office to expedite the investigation.
06:01In fact, the region already submitted a few recommendations on a few rights involved.
06:09And as we know, the incident is continuing as of the moment.
06:15And we cannot finish...
06:17The investigation is continuing, Your Honor.
06:20At the least...
06:21As the regional office concludes one issue, they are required to submit it to the Commission.
06:29Yes, while you are doing the investigation, at least you should have done something to prevent further violations of human rights.
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