The country’s leading human rights group criticized the Philippine government’s bid to be a member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), saying the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government has no credible record on peace to deserve support.
Following President Marcos Jr.’s request to the diplomatic for support on the country’s candidature for non-permanent UNSC seat, Karapatan said Marcos is peddling lies to look good and hoodwink national and international audiences.
The Philippines is running for a non-permanent seat in the UNSC for the term 2027-2028.
“What is being seen and experienced in Marcos Jr.’s own backyard, however, are the dire consequences of his policies that foment unpeace and suppression of rights,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
Palabay said Marcos Jr. only promotes “peace of the graveyard” and his government continues to suppress dissent in the country.
She added that extrajudicial killings and other grave human rights and international law violations are being committed under Marcos Jr.’s watch.
She also revealed that abductions and enforced disappearances have increased under Marcos while laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 are being used to suppress political dissent, even humanitarian and development work.
Karapatan said the Marcos government is implementing de facto martial law in rural and indigenous communities when the military conducts ground and aerial operations via bombings, artillery attacks and indiscriminate firing.
“Marcos Jr.’s concepts of ‘peace,’ ‘consensus’ and ‘cooperation’ and his candidacy for a UNSC seat should be consistently challenged–all these for whom? Clearly, it is for his ruling clique and for the interests of the US and its allies,” Palabay said.
At the Vin d’Honneur in Malacañang last Saturday, Marcos Jr. cited the Philippines’ “rich experience” in “building peace, forging consensus, and finding new paths for cooperation.”
Marcos Jr. however is widely regarded as pro-US in the Western country’s ongoing tensions with China, increasing US military presence in the Philippines in his nearly three years in office.
China, a permanent member of the UNSC along with the US, has opposed Marcos’ pro-West stance, including the presence of US typhoon missiles in the country. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
