Groups say human rights in PH remain under threat even after Duterte

MANILA, Philippines—Marking the 75th year of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, various groups in the Philippines claimed that the country’s human rights situation has barely improved, saying President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has transitioned into a “carefully crafted” persona that appeared to have a better human rights record.

Last December 10, countries across the world observed International Human Rights Day and commemorated the 75th anniversary of what the United Nations (UN) described as “one of the world’s most groundbreaking global pledges”: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The UDHR was officially announced by the UN General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. It was the first major step in establishing fundamental human rights intended for universal protection.

With translations in over 500 languages, it holds the distinction of being the world’s most translated document.

READ: Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The landmark document lists down the fundamental rights inherent to all individuals, irrespective of their race, skin color, religion, gender, language, political beliefs, nationality, social background, property status, birth, or any other condition.

“The Universal Declaration shows the way to common values and approaches that can help resolve tensions and create the security and stability our world craves,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Human rights have become more recognized and more guaranteed across the globe since the adoption of the UDHR. It has since laid the groundwork for a growing system dedicated to protecting human rights, which now also emphasizes safeguarding vulnerable populations, including individuals with disabilities, indigenous communities, and migrants.

While human rights have advanced in the 75 years since the proclamation of the UDHR, the UN stressed that this progress does not mean the fight for rights and equality ever ends.

“[H]uman rights violations persist in many parts of the world, often without consequences,” said Volker Türk, UN high commissioner for human rights.

Human rights violations persist in PH

In a statement, the human rights alliance Karapatan said “the climate of impunity that shielded [former President] Rodrigo Duterte and his subalterns from being held accountable for the killings of activists and suspected drug personalities still rears its ugly head under Ferdinand Marcos Jr.”

“Marcos Jr.’s carefully crafted attempts to project a different image of himself as that of his bloodthirsty predecessor are crumbling in the face of the extrajudicial killings that continue under his regime,” it added.

As of November this year, Karapatan has documented up to 87 extrajudicial killings under Marcos Jr.’s counterinsurgency campaign since the start of his term in July 2022 — an average of about five killings per month.

The group noted that the documented killings included five massacres where 27 victims were brutally murdered, including children and elderly women.

Karapatan also documented other civil and political rights violations under the current administration, including:

• 12 victims of enforced disappearances
• 316 victims of illegal and arbitrary arrest
• 22,391 victims of bombing
• 39,769 victims of indiscriminate firing
• 24,670 victims of forced evacuation
• 552 victims of forced surrender
• 1,609,496 victims of threats, harassment, and intimidation — including red-tagging

‘Bloody’ drug war continues

Karapatan, as well as the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) denounced the continuing killings related to the campaign against drugs that reached their peak under Duterte.

Data from the Third World Studies Program’s Dahas Project, of the University of the Philippines, revealed that as of November 23, 2023, there have been 474 drug-related killings under Marcos Jr.’s anti-drug campaign — most of the killings, ICHRP noted, occurring during law enforcement anti-drug operations.

Karapatan stressed that the numbers disprove claims that the Marcos administration’s version of the drug war is “bloodless.”

READ: Karapatan: Bongbong Marcos’ war on drugs is bloody like previous admin

“Despite Marcos Jr.’s cultivated facade, the sordid figures on rights violations prove that he is his dictator father’s son and his regime, a continuation of that of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte,” Karapatan said.

The groups noted that Duterte should be held accountable for up to 30,000 civilian deaths in his bloodthirsty anti-drug campaign and the killings of 422 activists, on top of other grave violations of human rights.

“Domestic redress mechanisms have clearly failed to exact justice for the victims of Duterte’s bloody drug war, with only three convictions attained in the face of up to 30,000 drug war-related killings perpetrated by police forces and police-sanctioned vigilante death squads since Duterte’s bloody campaign began in mid-2016,” the group stressed.

“The ongoing investigations into Duterte’s drug war by prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) offers a glimpse of hope to the victims and their families. In the interest of justice, ICC investigators must be allowed into the country and provided access to the victims and all pertinent records needed for their probe,” it added.

READ: Rejoining ICC: Letting light shine on darkness of Duterte’s anti-drug killings

A ‘killing ground’

In a statement, ICHRP said that the country “continues to be a killing ground for perceived dissidents, community organizers, indigenous people, rights advocates, and alleged drug suspects.”

Karapatan reported that numerous individuals are dealing with fabricated charges, including 795 political detainees who are challenging the unfair reasons for their incarceration and the dismal conditions in holding facilities. Among these, at least seventeen are peace consultants associated with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The groups also emphasized that anti-terror laws are being aggressively employed to quash opposition and hinder progress and humanitarian efforts in the country.

“The wrongful designation of peace consultants and negotiators, as well as community and indigenous people’s leaders, and the baseless charges against human rights defenders, have exposed the weaponization of these laws to violate the people’s constitutional rights,” Karapatan said.

ICHRP further noted that the media continue to face challenges under the Marcos administration, exacerbating existing worries about the Philippines being one of the world’s most perilous countries for journalists.

“Journalist, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, remains behind bars facing trumped-up charges. Marcos Jr. has not reinstated the broadcast franchise of ABS-CBN suspended by the Duterte Regime,” ICHRP said.

“Journalists also continue to be killed by state actors under the Marcos Jr. government, including the recent death of Juan Jumalon (DJ Johnny Walker), whose November 5th killing was live-streamed as he was in the middle of an on-air broadcast,” it added.

READ: Broadcaster slain on-air; Marcos, DOJ vow justice

Jumalon’s death marked the fourth journalist fatality since Marcos Jr. assumed the presidency in June 2022. The case raised to 199 the total number of journalists killed since the reinstatement of democracy in the Philippines in 1986.

These fatalities included those in one of the most heinous cases of attacks against journalists, where 32 journalists were among the 58 individuals murdered in 2009 by the Ampatuans and their henchmen in a Maguindanao town named after the powerful family.

READ: Maguindanao Massacre – How it Happened

READ: Maguindanao massacre: The wound of PH impunity that will never heal

The Philippines is listed as the eighth worst country in convicting killers of journalists, with 20 unsolved murders between September 1, 2013 and August 31, 2023, according to the annual report of global media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

READ: PH 8th most dangerous for journalists

Uphold human rights

In observation of the 75th commemoration of the UDHR, ICHRP denounced the ongoing attacks and violations of the rights of the Filipino people under the Marcos Jr. administration.

“In this context, we urge the international community and international institutions to stand with the victims and those who struggle for democracy and human rights in the Philippines,” ICHRP said.

“We call for continued pressure through international mechanisms and international solidarity to push the Philippine government to action,” it added.

The group also called for:

1. The Philippine government to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) and allow it to conduct investigations in the Philippines related to the crimes against humanity cases being charged against Duterte.
2. The International Criminal Court to pursue its case against former President Duterte and his senior officials, to follow the evidence and give voice to the victims
3. The Philippine government to stop the bombings of civilian communities and production areas in the countryside and other grave violations of International Humanitarian Law
4. The Marcos administration to respect all previously signed peace agreements with the NDFP and release the 791 political prisoners who remain in detention, and to remove the terrorist designation of the NDFP and Luis Jalandoni and others as a confidence-building measure for the peace process
5. The suspension of all international aid to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and counter-terrorism programs which would place weapons [in] the hands of those committing these grave human rights and [International Humanitarian Law (IHL)] violations
6. The Philippine government to uphold human rights and the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977

Karapatan urged the Marcos administration to “answer for its own perpetuation of Duterte’s fascist counterinsurgency and drug war policies that continue to claim the lives of hundreds of Filipinos.”

“[W]e uphold the people’s right to resist in the face of repression, tyranny and wars of aggression. We stand resolutely with the Filipino people and all oppressed peoples in upholding human and people’s rights and our democratic aspirations,” Karapatan said.

“End impunity! Stop the killings!” it added.