The World - News from Dec. 8, 1988

Nearly 12,000 people have been arrested in the Philippines, most of them illegally, since President Corazon Aquino came to power in February, 1986, a church-backed human rights group said. Task Force Detainees said at a press conference in Manila that most of the arrests were made during raids on slum districts in search of Communist rebels and that 659 remained in prison as of Nov. 21. The group, assessing Aquino’s rights record during her first 1,000 days in office, also said that 1,402 people died in political killings, 224 others disappeared and 1,676 people reported being tortured.