U.S. Senate offers Manila sweetener for human rights
Source: Reuters
MANILA, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The United States is proposing to give the Philippines an additional $2 million in military funding if Manila tackles alleged troop involvement in the murder and disappearance of leftist activists, a U.S. embassy spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday. The U.S. Senate has voted to raise military funding to the Philippines to $30 million from $11 million and the amount would be topped up if Manila probes alleged human rights violations by the army and demonstrates that soldiers are not intimidating or targeting leftists. The Senate also increased economic support to the Philippines, a former U.S. colony, to $30 million from $26 million. But the House of Representatives has to consider the bill and the funding, as well as the possibility of a top-up linked to human rights, could change, U.S. embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said. "Obviously we are concerned with human rights in the Philippines." Local human rights groups say more than 800 people have been killed since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001 and a further 200 have disappeared and are feared executed. A U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings said in February the military was responsible for many of the deaths. In the funding bill, the U.S. Senate also called on the government to implement United Nations recommendations on the killings and to promote soldiers who respect human rights. The Philippine government has blamed the murders and abductions on internal purges within the communist New People's Army (NPA) and on rogue elements within the military. Manila, a key U.S. ally in Southeast Asia, is fighting long-running communist and Muslim insurgencies and is reliant on external funding and training. This week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said Manila was probing individual soldiers for alleged human rights abuses and military promotions were subject to "extreme scrutiny". Human rights groups said the killings, which have continued despite the U.N. report, are part of a dirty war by the armed forces against leftwing groups. (Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Alex Richardson)
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