PHL sought help from Europe to solve 'unexplained killings'

In the first WikiLeaks release of a cable emanating from the US Embassy in Manila, then Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo was reported in January 2007 to be seeking foreign assistance from several European countries to help the Philippine government solve a spate of “extrajudicial killings." In his letter to the ambassadors of the European countries, Romulo said that the assistance would help “expedite" the work of the Melo Commission, which had found that the military was involved in many of the recent unsolved murders of leftist activists in the Philippines. “It is hoped that, with the various experiences and expertise each government has on such issues, all cases will be resolved soon with due diligence," Romulo wrote. Neither the US Embassy cable nor Romulo’s letter mentioned any specifics in the request for assistance. The Melo Commission recommended that military officials be held liable for the unsolved killings of activists, numbering over 800 during the Arroyo administration up to the time of the Commission’s release of its report in February 2007. Contacted by GMA News Online, Department of Foreign Affairs' Assistant Secretary for European Affairs Leslie Baja said via SMS: "The European Union favorably responded (to Romulo's request) through the PH-EU Justice Support Program which ended on April 7. It was an 18-month program which strengthened the capacity of the Commission on Human Rights, law enforcement agencies, Department of Justice, and civil society in the fight against extrajudicial killings." WikiLeaks has been releasing piecemeal to the public the over 250,000 US diplomatic cables from US embassies around the world that the online whistle-blower acquired in November 2010. It did not state why the cable about Romulo’s request was the first of the Manila post’s correspondence to be released. Still awaited by observers are the US ambassador’s cables to Washington DC about more sensitive issues, such as Philippine military corruption and US foreign assistance that could have lined the pockets of officials. – Howie Severino/WM, GMA News