MANILA, Feb 21: A UN special envoy on Wednesday said the Philippine military was in “almost total denial” about a wave of political murders in the country, many of which he said could be blamed on them.

Philip Alston, who spent 10 days investigating the killings in the Philippines, also called on President Gloria Arroyo to offer better protection to witnesses he said were “systematically intimidated and harassed”.

The country's military is “in a state of almost total denial” over the murders, many of which “have been convincingly attributed to them,” he told a press conference. According to local rights group Karapatan, more than 830 political activists, human rights workers, trade union officials, lawyers and judges have been murdered here since President Gloria Arroyo came to power in 2001.—AFP