Philippines: Killings of Environment Advocates Unpunished

(New York, July 18, 2012) – The Philippine government’s failure to address threats and killings of environmental advocates worsens a climate of lawlessness just as the Aquino administration is pushing for new mining investments, Human Rights Watch said today.
On July 2, 2012, President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 79, which aims to institutionalize reforms in the Philippine mining sector by “providing policies and guidelines to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining.” However, Human Rights Watch said the executive order is silent on the issue of human rights abuses arising from mining investments and on the deployment of paramilitaries at the mines.