Balay and its partners held a public action in front of the House of Representatives on May 23 to draw public attention to the proposal to detain child offenders  between  nine years old but below 18 years old as they “await court disposition of their cases.”

In a speech on Friday, May 5, before police officers in Parang, Maguindanao, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he was “at a loss” and felt “a bit pessimistic” about the prospects for peace with Moro rebels owing to their supposedly continued “squabbling.”

The President further said he was worried nothing can come out of the process which his administration expanded to include various Moro stakeholders, and tried to engage both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) with a common Bangsamoro agenda consistent with each group’s peace pact with government.

Balay has called for  accountability of authorities who are implicated in the ill treatment of detainees as it asked the  Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to convene immediately the Oversight Committee in order to review the implementation of the Anti Torture Act.

The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner issued an open letter last March 27 expressing its grave concern over the reimposition of death penalty in the country. The letter signed by the Human Rights Committee Chairperson Yuji Isawara was addressed to Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Maria Teresa Almojuela and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III.