Below is an article published by Asian Journal:

United Nations special rapporteur Philip Alston described as "tragic" the cases of human rights violations presented to him during his visit to the Philippines.

"I had a very rough time just listening to the…stories," Alston told families of victims of human rights violations, activists, and indigenous people in the Cordillera on Friday.

He said he would do everything he could to bring to the attention of the international community the cases of human rights abuses in the country and will ask the international peoples tribunal in The Netherlands to look into the situation in the Philippines.

"What I said to the government and to others I have spoken to is my report will not be worth anything unless it means something to the people of the Philippines, particularly to…those who can make things happen," he said.

"I cannot make it happen, all I can do is put up a set of recommendations," he added. Alston said there should be attempts to pressure the government to stop extra-judicial killings in the country.

During his visit here, Alston and his team interviewed the victims and witnesses of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings. They also interviewed the victims' relatives and met members of Hustisya (Justice), Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA).

The groups said they have documented at least 20 incidents of murder that victimized indigenous peoples since 2001.

"We hope that Mr. Alston will come up with a real view and a credible assessment of extra-judicial killings which he will present to United Nations," said Dr. Constancio Claver, Bayan Muna (People First) -Kalinga chairman and spokesperson of Hustisya.

Claver, a survivor of an assassination attempt in July last year, said his group asked Alston to determine if the Philippine government respected human rights in its Oplan Bantay anti-insurgency campaign.

The group said the campaign was one of the reasons killings of activists escalated in the country. Claver told Alston that the critics of the military and the Arroyo administration were often tagged as "terrorists."

He said the label gave the government license to target legal leftist organizations under Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Plan Guard Freedom).

Claver said Alston noted his case because of the police's supposed involvement in the attack, where his wife, Alice Omengan-Claver, was killed.

The Commission on Human Rights in the Cordillera confirmed the claims of human rights advocates and the victims' families that some soldiers and policemen were suspected to be behind the killings.

Russell Ma-ao, CHR Cordillera director, said her office recorded six cases of extra-judicial and political killings in the region since 2006.