{"id":38465,"date":"2015-01-16T01:06:53","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T17:06:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=38465"},"modified":"2025-03-05T15:37:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T20:37:50","slug":"no-need-to-amend-law-despite-increased-cases-of-torture-pimentel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2015\/01\/16\/no-need-to-amend-law-despite-increased-cases-of-torture-pimentel\/","title":{"rendered":"No need to amend law despite increased cases of torture \u2013 Pimentel"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_11082\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11082\" style=\"width: 960px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Koko-Pimentel-e1401297804162.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11082\" src=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Koko-Pimentel-e1401297804162.jpg\" alt=\"Sen. Koko Pimentel. Photo courtesy of Pimentel's Facebook page.\" width=\"960\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Koko-Pimentel-e1401297804162.jpg 960w, https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Koko-Pimentel-e1401297804162-300x195.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11082\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sen. Koko Pimentel. Photo courtesy of Pimentel&#8217;s Facebook page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>MANILA \u2013 Senator Aquilino \u2018Koko\u2019 Pimentel III on Wednesday said there is no need to amend the Anti-Torture Law despite report from Amnesty International (AI) that torture and human rights violations remain a serious problem in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dThere is no need to amend the law. Actually it\u2019s just the implementation, information dissemination, and enforcement of the law,\u201d Pimentel said in media interview after the Senate hearing on AI\u2019s report.<\/p>\n<p>Pimentel stressed the need to remove the culture of impunity, particularly among the law enforcers, some of them have been tagged in the series of tortures and hazing in the military schools and police academy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dThe problem is our culture. We have law enforcement agencies that sometimes have culture of violence. Right in the recruitment, they are exposed to violence like hazing. So they thought what their superiors did, they can also do it,\u201d Pimentel said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dSo it is important to eliminate the culture of impunity and replace it with culture of respect for human rights. If there is a culture of respect for human rights, automatically there will be no torture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearing, Department of Justice (DOJ) state counsel Herminia Natividad reported that out of the 93 filed cases from 2001 to 2014, a total of 55 have been validated as torture cases.<\/p>\n<p>Natividad said the 55 cases of torture remain pending but \u201cwe\u2019re very keen on addressing the matter\u201d in close coordination with the Commission of Human Rights (CHR).<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy symbicort inhaler online <a href=\"https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/symbicort-inhaler.html\">https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/symbicort-inhaler.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>At the start of the hearing, Amnesty International Dir. Richard Bennet played a short video clip of a torture victim who related how he was beaten badly by two policemen in attempt to force him to admit an offense he never committed.<\/p>\n<p>Philippine National Police (PNP) Legal Division Police Chief Supt. Jose Villarcorta said the PNP leadership will not tolerate their law enforcers to be involved in torture.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy levitra oral jelly online <a href=\"https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-oral-jelly.html\">https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/levitra-oral-jelly.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\u201dOur PNP chief Director General Leonardo Espina has assured that we will not tolerate torture. Gen. Espina is a disciplinarian and he is very strict in prohibiting torture,\u201d Villacorta said.<\/p>\n<p>Pimentel said he will ask the PNP to submit complete report on their compliance with the Republic Act No. 9745 or Anti-Torture Act of 2009.<\/p>\n<p>\u201dI\u2019m asking for the report from the PNP not only on the letter of the anti-torture law but also the spirit. What are their programs to improve respect of human rights within the organization,\u201d Pimentel said.<\/p>\n<p>Aside from Pimentel, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago also filed a Senate resolution seeking inquiry on the AI\u2019s report on the country\u2019s compliance on anti-torture laws and human rights violations.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:absolute;left:-99195px;\"> buy nolvadex online <a href=\"https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/nolvadex.html\">https:\/\/visualhealth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/png\/nolvadex.html<\/a> no prescription pharmacy <\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MANILA \u2013 Senator Aquilino \u2018Koko\u2019 Pimentel III on Wednesday said there is no need to amend the Anti-Torture Law despite &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":11082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,95,483],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-news-ph","category-politics","mauthors-jelly-f-musico","mauthors-philippines-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287241,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38465\/revisions\/287241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}