The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) declared a two-day ceasefire effective Christmas Day and its 55th Anniversary, December 25 and 26, respectively.
In an announcement on its website, the CPP Central Committee as well as the New People’s Army (NPA) National Operational Command ordered all NPA units across the Philippines to suspend offensive military operations starting 00:01 of December 25 to 23:59 of December 26.
“The two-day ceasefire aims to allow the peasant masses and NPA units in their area to conduct assemblies, meetings or gatherings to celebrate the Party’s anniversary, look back at past achievements, and pay tribute to all heroes and martyrs of the Philippine revolution,” the announcement reads.
“This ceasefire declaration is also in solidarity with people’s traditional holiday celebrations,” it adds.
The CPP and NPA last declared a suspension of military operations in March 2020 in response to the global appeal by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres for an end to hostilities because of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Earlier that month, then Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) President Rodrigo Duterte also announced his administration’s own ceasefire order in order to focus on its anti-Covid19 response.
The Ferdinand Marcos GRP has yet to respond to the new CPP-NPA ceasefire declaration.
Last month, the CPP-led National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the GRP simultaneously announced the signing of the November 23 Oslo Joint Statement revealing both parties have been engaged in a series of dialogue to look at the possibility of the resumption of formal peace negotiations between both parties.
In its ceasefire announcement today, the CPP and the NPA however cautioned all their units to remain alert “in the face of the relentless offensives, state terrorism and fascist crimes of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).”
“[A]ll units of the NPA are placed in high alert and must be vigilant and ready to act in self-defense to counter and frustrate hostile movement or actions of enemy units within the scope of the NPA’s guerrilla fronts and areas of operations. The NPA and the masses are advised to maintain a high level of secrecy in the conduct of their activities,” the announcement reads.
The NPA can resume its military offensive actions at 00:00 of December 27, it added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
PISTON says Marcos misleads public with 70% consolidation claim
Striking jeepney drivers and small operators declared a 90% paralysis of major routes in the National Capital Region on the first day of their to-day protest action against the abolition of their livelihood.
Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (PISTON) also said 85% of several regions outside of the capital have also been paralyzed, forcing Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III to hold a dialogue with their leaders.
“We found out [from Guadiz] it is Bongbong Marcos who is pushing for consolidation of jeepney franchises on December 31. Now we know who to blame,” PISTON said in a statement.
The group also said President Marcos blatantly misled the public when he said that 70% of all jeepney franchises have already been consolidated under the government’s Public Utility Vehicles Modernization Program (PUVMP).
“Let their data speak for itself. There are 64,639 unconsolidated units nationwide, 30,862 of which are PUJs (public utility jeepneys) and 4,852 UV (utility vehicle) Express units in NCR,” PISTON said.
“This amounts to an estimated 60,000 PUJ drivers and 9,000 UV Express drivers; 25,000 PUJ operators; and 4,000 UV Express operators in NCR alone,” the group added.
Commuters along Commonwealth Avenue waiting for rides. (PISTON photo)
PISTON said Marcos’ decision to ban jeepneys and other forms of public transportation such as UV Express vans would result in a transport crisis starting January 1, 2024.
Major areas of Metro Manila saw a marked decrease in the number of plying public utility vehicles on the road on Thursday.
PISTON said their strike affected routes from Commonwealth in Quezon City in the north, Pasig in the east, Manila in the west, to Alabang in Muntinlupa in the south of the metropolis.
Longer commuter queue at the Pasig Central Market area. (PISTON photo)
Local government units and the Metro Manila Development Authority fielded hundred of buses throughout the metropolis, even as they sought to downplay the effect of the strike.
Meanwhile, various groups expressed solidarity with the strikers such as the Kilusang Mayo Uno, Concerned Seafarers of the Philippines, Rural Women’s Advocates, and even the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).
“ICHRP supports the call of drivers and operators to junk the PUVMP, and instead push for a genuinely pro-people modernization program, by supporting the development of the local jeepney manufacturing industry,” ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy in a statement said.
Various groups also joined PISTON members in their overnight vigil in front of the LTFRB headquarters in Quezon City Thursday night. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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Like previous governments, the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration is failing to comply with its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a human rights group said.
On the 75th anniversary of the signing of the international treaty last Sunday, December 10, human rights alliance Karapatan said the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government, much like the preceding Rodrigo Duterte regime, is committing various violations of human rights and the international humanitarian law amid widespread and intensifying poverty of Filipinos.
“Among the most violated is the right to life. As of November 2023, (we have) documented 87 extrajudicial killings in the course of the Marcos Jr. regime’s brutal counter- insurgency war since he began his term in July 2022,” the group said.
Among those killed by government personnel was a nine-year old girl to a mentally ill farmer,” Karapatan revealed.
The group also said there have been 12 victims of enforced disappearance; 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; and 1,609,49 6 victims of threats, harassment and intimidation, including red-tagging.
Karapatan added hundreds are facing “trumped up charges,” including 795 political detainees in the country’s notoriously overcrowded prisons.
At least seventeen of political prisoners are peace consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in its peace process with the Manila government.
Rights defenders pelt effigies of Marcos Jr., Duterte-Carpio and US imperialism with red paint and eggs in Manila on International Human Rights Day 2023. (Karlo Manalansan/Bulatlat)
Violations in the name of counter-insurgency
The country’s most active human rights alliance said the Marcos government has continued to implement repressive laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 to suppress dissent as well as derail development and humanitarian work.
“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.
The group also condemned the government’s counter-insurgency program and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as a “militarist whole-of-nation approach” that go after human rights defenders, instead of addressing the roots of the civil wars in the country.
Karapatan, which co-organized the 2023 International Human Rights Day protests in Manila with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan last Sunday, said killings under the government’s anti-drug programs continue.
It revealed that the Dahas Project of the Third World Studies Program of the University of the Philippines has documented at least 474 drug-war related killings under Marcos.
This belies Marcos government’s claims that its version of the drug war is “bloodless”, the group said.
“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. Duterte himself is accountable for up to 30,000 deaths in his bloody war on drugs and the killings of 422 activists, on top of other grave violations of human rights,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.
Rights defenders elsewhere in the Philippines also held protest rallies in Baguio, Southern Tagalog, Naga, Legazpi, Bacolod, Iloilo, Roxas, Kalibo and Davao while Filipino activists at the Climate Change Summit in Dubai also attended international human rights day in the emirate. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates–President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. will arrive in Dubai on November 29 to attend COP (Conference of Parties) 28 and also to visit the huge Filipino community in the emirate. It will be the first time in 14 years that a Philippine president will come to the country and meet his compatriots.
Marcos shall participate in the United Nations Climate Summit, but there are other concerns his fellow Filipinos would also like to hear from him, including “effective response to economic issues besetting Filipinos back home, while underscoring the urgency for effective solutions towards a more environmentally-resilient Philippines.”
They would like to hear solutions to soaring prices of commodities as much as they would like to know the Philippine government’s stance on mining, decarbonization and transition to clean energy.
The reporter spoke to Filipino community leaders, entrepreneurs and long-time residents to capture the collective spirit of more than 600,000 Filipino expatriates and know their agenda and expectations during a meeting with the Filipino community on Wednesday (November 29) at Dubai World Trade Center.
More than a diplomatic trip
Rex Bacarra, Ph.D., university professor of Philosophy and Ethics, said: “As a Filipino expatriate living in the UAE for 16 years, I view the official visit of President Marcos as more than a diplomatic trip. It is set against the backdrop of the Philippines navigating through the turbulent waters of rapidly rising prices of everyday goods. I look with anticipation and scrutiny his engagement with the Filipino community would mean addressing the questions about pressing economic issues while underscoring the urgency for effective solutions towards a more resilient country.”
Rex Bacarra, Ph.D., university professor of Philosophy and Ethics. — Supplied photo
“As somebody who regularly sends money to the Philippines, the visit of President Marcos to the UAE presents a unique opportunity for critical dialogue to know and understand if there are clear, practical solutions to address the concerns of Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad,” he noted, adding: “Do we have long-term policies to ensure sustainable growth and stability of prices?”
Bacarra continued: “As Pres. Marcos will be participating in COP28, I also would like to know his administration’s stance on mining and environmental protection, as well as protecting our economic interests and border security in the West Philippine Sea.”
Better consular services
Streamlining immigration procedures for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), broader protection abroad and better consular services are also among the pressing issues Filipinos want addressed.
Community leader Josie Conlu. — Supplied photo
Community leader Josie Conlu would like to hear from Marcos “ways to streamline and simplify the immigration procedures while ensuring the protection of Filipino workers’ rights and welfare. He should address concerns such as visa processing, employment contracts, and the prevention of human trafficking.”
Long-time Dubai resident Joyce Villalino-Alexander added: “To lessen the burden on OFWs, there should be consistent consular services on weekends at the Philippine missions and Migrant Workers Office (MWO) so we don’t have to take time off from work on weekdays. Charges for contract verification fees should abolished or at least reduced.”
Migrante Middle East, an organisation promoting migrants’ rights and welfare, would like to hear about sustainable job creation in Philippines. They noted “the lack of employment opportunities has resulted in unabated exodus of Filipino overseas workers.”
They also asked for more welfare officers at MWO to address the needs of distressed OFWs and effective response to unfair labour practices and human trafficking.
Boost to bilateral relations
Meanwhile, nurse and entrepreneur Junah Balungcas would like to see Pres. Marcos “fostering stronger economic ties with the UAE for the benefit of more Filipino entrepreneurs and businesses in the country.”
Nurse and entrepreneur Junah Balungcas. — Supplied photo
“As a business owner and healthcare professional, I appreciate the opportunities and support offered by the UAE. I am also fully supportive of Pres. Marcos and I appreciate the positive steps he is taking for the betterment of our country,” added Balungcas, founder and CEO of Baofriend Restaurant FZCO.
Rolly Brucales, managing director of Off The Hook restaurant. — Supplied photo
Filipino businessmen are also calling for the immediate passing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) which began in February 2022. Filipino restaurateur Rolly Brucales, managing director of Off The Hook restaurant, said: “We need to strengthen the trade relationship with the UAE. We also would like to see stricter implementation of trademarks and franchises.”
Climate action
For her part, Bobbie Carella, chairman emeritus of Philippine Business Council-Dubai and Northern Emirates, would like to hear Marcos “championing climate action by embracing renewable energy sources, managing forestry and natural resources, and strengthening and enforcing environmental policies, among others.”
Bobbie Carella, chairman emeritus of Philippine Business Council-Dubai and Northern Emirates. — Supplied photo
“This isn’t solely about today; it’s about ensuring a vibrant, cooler, greener, and sustainable world for future generations. After all, there is no planet Earth B,” she added. #
= = = = = =
This report is originally published on Khaleej Times where the reporter is a senior deputy editor.
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Farmers and fisherfolk greeted new Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. with a rally on his first day in office today, saying they doubt if he intends to properly address problems in the sector.
Appointed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as his replacement in the agency last Friday, the protesters said nothing in Tiu-Laurel’s background show genuine concern to issues and problems of agriculture.
“Appointing him as the agriculture secretary speaks volumes when it comes to conflict of interest. In fact, he represents big business and the elite. How can we expect him to know the situation of small farmers and fisherfolk who are among the poorest of the poor?” the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said.
The KMP said Marcos’ appointment of Tiu-Laurel is recompense for the latter’s PHP50 million contribution to the former’s campaign for the presidency in 2022.
The farmers’ group added that Tiu-Laurel will only worsen the liberalization of the country’s agriculture sector, particularly in the fishing industry.
A known multi-millionaire, the new DA chief owns and manages global fishing company Frabelle that is involved in deep-sea fishing, aquaculture, food manufacturing, importation, cold storage and trading.
He is also president of Agusan Power Corporation and chairman of World Tuna Purse Seine Organization.
Frabelle is involved in the controversial Manila Bay reclamation projects, particularly in Bacoor, Cavite and Navotas City.
Tiu-Laurel said his main objective at the DA is abundant harvests and ensuring food reaches the tables of Filipino families.
“My goal is to ensure that there is enough and nutritious food that our countrymen could buy at the right price,” he said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed on Friday industrialist and fishing magnate Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. as the new Secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA). [Palace photo]
But the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women said that Tiu-Laurel has no intention in ensuring food security based on self-sufficiency and self-reliance because of his big business interests.
“We cannot rely on the new agriculture secretary because he will not listen to solve the problems of the peasantry and fisherfolk about the food and agriculture crises based on his interest,” Amihan president Zenaida Soriano said.
“He will only push through with policies such as the rice liberalization law and excessive importation into the country,” Soriano added.
Soriano pointed out that Tiu-Laurel himself said he will follow what Marcos has done in the President’s 15 months as agriculture chief.
“He (Marcos) had really done nothing! He even made our people even poorer! Prices of commodities soared. The promise of P20-peso (of rice) was not a promise at all but a only dream,” Soriano fumed.
The woman peasant leader said the country can produce its own food requirements if only the government exercises political will to productively utilize the Philippines’ vast fertile lands, its rich seas, forests and other resources.
In this morning’s rally, the protesters said the Marcos Jr. government neglects the preservation of rice lands devoted to food production and stop their conversion to others uses.
The groups said the Marcos government grant sufficient aid and production subsidies to farmers and stop import liberalization and other neoliberal policies.
They added the government must finally enact a genuine agrarian reform and the food security laws that are filed in Congress as House Bill (HB) 1161 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill and HB 405 or the Rice Industry Development Act. #
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The Quezon city Police District (QCPD) filed another case against Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) connected with the burning of a political effigy at the People’s State of the Nation protests last July 24.
BAYAN president Renato Reyes Jr. said another harassment suit was filed against him and artist Max Santiago by the police dated August 24.
The police charged Santiago and three other “John Does” from BAYAN Southern Tagalog of violating the Ecological Waste Management Act (Republic Act9003) and the Clean Air Act (RA 8749) also last August.
Reyes said that the second case invoked the Public Assembly Act (Batas Pambansa 880), accusing him of supervising the burning of the effigy showing a two-faced Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who invokes unity while involved in corruption.
But Reyes said he was not event present at the rally and that his name was only hand-written on the cover page of the second complaint.
“This is clearly a harassment suit because I wasn’t even present at the SONA rally. I was on a trip abroad. I was already mid-air when the rally happened,” Reyes said.
Reyes said the “trumped-up complaint” seemed to be in retaliation for their public statements exposing the QCPD for its harassment of Max and our members from Bayan Southern Tagalog.
“When we spoke out, they filed another complaint. Fascists being fascists,” he said.
Reyes said they are consulting their lawyers regarding the new suit and will likewise file complaints against complainants Police Staff Sargeant Mario Sembrano, Police Corporal Paolo Navarro and whoever ordered them to file the case.
“I challenge the QCPD to produce any picture of me at the SONA rally last July 2023,” Reyes added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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Human rights groups said the Philippines is not worthy to become a member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council because of “grave human rights violations” in the country.
The Philippine UPR (Universal Periodic Review) Watch from Geneva, Switzerland said the Philippine government is insincere in cooperating with the UN itself on human rights and its bid to join the Security Council must be stopped.
The UPR Watch said that at the ongoing 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights themselves reported on reprisal cases against human rights defenders in the Philippines , saying “there must be an end to other politically motivated charges, and a safer environment for civil society.”
The report before the Human Rights Council took special note of the perjury case against Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, and a member of Philippine UPR Watch, and the red-tagging of Karapatan and its staff.
“How can the Philippines take on the task of international peace and safety when it is much of an epic fail on the domestic front? Killings, disappearances, trumped-up charges happen day in, day out. Aggression on our seas conducted by foreign vessels is a regular occurrence,” National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) officer Kristina Conti said.
“The report on reprisals clearly indicates that the Philippine government is merely posturing before international bodies. The red-tagging, cases, and adversarial stance against human rights defenders and especially civil society organizations that engage with the UN are intended to stifle dissent and, ultimately, kill the civic space,” she added.
Conti further said that the Philippine government’s refusal to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) is a direct challenge to international authority.
“Their campaign stands on quicksand. Members of the UN General Assembly will be able to access information from the different offices and agencies of the UN. They will hear about the inaction of the Philippine government on cases lodged in domestic and international fora,” Katribu’s Beverly Longid said.
Longid added that UN Special Rapporteurs are also formally monitoring the cases against indigenous peoples’ rights activist Windel Bolinget, who has engaged with the UN since the 1990s and was designated a terrorist by the Philippine government.
The Philippines reiterated its bid to be one of 10 temporary members of the UN Security Council in 2027-2028 at the session in New York.
The Philippine UPR delegation meanwhile is at the UN headquarters in Geneva lobbying at the session of the Human Rights Council, meeting with country missions, UN offices, and spoken at several sessions and side events reporting on the Philippines’ inability to rein in abuses of state forces.
“The so-called ‘war on drugs’ and the ‘war on terror’ have been bloody, intense, and continuous. We have a long list of police abuses, military brutality, and government misuse of power. The Philippines simply lacks credibility to join the UN Security Council because it is in violation of human rights and international humanitarian law,” Conti said.
The Philippine UPR Watch said UN experts are currently raising with the Philippine government the safety of lawyers, in particular that of five NUPL members who have been killed, attacked, and red-tagged.
In a joint communication dated 15 June 2023, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers Margaret Satterthwaite and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism Fionnuala Ní Aoláin asked the Philippine government to provide information about the investigation into attacks and explain how the government can ensure safety of lawyers and judges.
They are looking specifically into the killing of Juan Macababbad and the attempted killing of Angelo Karlo Guillen, and the surveillance, threats and “red-tagging” of Catherine Salucon, Edre Olalia, and Maria Sol Taule. # (Raymund B.Villanueva)
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A group of peace advocates welcomed reports that the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government is planning to revive its negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
The Citizen’s Alliance for Just Peace (CAJP) said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) announced that a presidential proclamation related to the “political settlement” of the five-decade long civil war in the country is a “productive engagement.”
The CAJP added that the reported proclamation is said to be about “granting amnesty to the rebel fighters,” a long-standing tactic by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) that has been repeatedly and officially rejected by the NPA, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA).
“Whatever the real score is, we hope that the government will rethink its bloody all-out war strategy against the CPP/NPA/NDFP that was resumed when former President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations in November 2017,” the advocates said.
Earlier, Marcos unveiled his administration’s 2023 – 2028 National Security Policy (NSP) peace advocates said is essentially a reiteration of the government’s long-standing “whole-of-nation” approach.
“The government of Pres. Marcos Jr. appears confident that the death of NDFP Chief Political Consultant Prof. Jose Ma. Sison from natural causes and the killings and arrests of several top leaders of the CPP/NPA/NDFP have greatly weakened it,” the alliance said.
They pointed out that Marcos is the only post-EDSA president who did not engage in peace negotiations with the NDFP at the start of his term.
“He continued his predecessor’s ‘whole-of- nation approach and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF- ELCAC)…notorious for its wanton red tagging of government critics, social activists and civil society organizations (CSOs) and the human rights violations that come with it,” the CAJP said.
The group also echoed human rights organizations reports the Marcos administration continues to intensify use of laws such as the Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) and the Anti- Terrorist Financing Act (ATFA) against critics and political dissenters.
“Unfortunately, this ‘whole-of-nation approach’ and the NTF-ELCAC have greatly contributed to the shrinking of civic space in the country. The recent case of environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano starkly illustrates how those opposing government projects, like the reclamation of Manila Bay, are illegally and forcibly taken by state security forces and later presented as NPA ‘surrenderees’,” the CAJP said.
CAJP’ statement, issued last Sunday, was signed by Archbishop Emeritus Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ, of the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, former Iglesia Filipina Independiente Obispo Maximo Rhee Timbang of the Pilgrims for Peace, and Karen Tanada of Waging Peace.
“As the biggest and broadest network of peace advocates in the country, the (CAJP) strongly believes that resuming the formal GRP-NDFP peace negotiations will be a productive engagement,” the alliance added. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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A Protestant denomination urged the United Nations (UN) to ask the Philippine government to repeal its anti-terrorism law it says is being used to randomly arrest members of the clergy and other human rights defenders.
United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) secretary general Bishop Melzar Labuntog told the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland last Thursday the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government is increasingly using the law to file trumped-up cases against rights defenders and church people.
Labuntog said that in Southern Tagalog region alone, Rev. Edwin Egar of the UCCP and Rev. Glofie Baluntong of the United Methodist Church as well as 13 others had been falsely charged under the said law.
Throughout the Philippines, there are 776 political prisoners are detained on false charges, Labuntog, citing Karaparan data, reported.
The UCCP prelate said two of their own Pastors, Rev. Nathaniel Vallente and Rev. Jimmy Teves, are unjustly detained.
“Our prison congestion rates are among the highest in the world, and yet people continue to be arrested for simply speaking up against the government,” Baluntong said.
“Pres. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not taken measures to address the continuing pattern of rights violations and repeated denial of due process,” the Bishop added.
Baluntong is a member of the Philippine Universal Periodic Review Watch delegation to the ongoing 54th session of the UN HRC.
Respect health workers
A week earlier, the Council for Health and Development (CHD) also delivered an oral intervention in the debates asking the UN HRC to encourage member states such as the Philippines to ratify the proposed Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Katharina Berza of the CHD said countries must address the root causes of poverty and disease for a faster recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Berza added that civic spaces must also be respected and protected in the respective government’s responses to COVID.
For demanding just compensation during the worst years of the pandemic, health groups in the Philippines had been criticized by former government COVID task force adviser and now health secretary Teodoro Herbosa.
“[A]ll citizens, including health workers, must be able to express criticism of State policies detrimental to human rights,” Berza told the UN. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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A widow of a victim of the government’s so-called war on drugs called for a stronger United Nations (UN) effort in investigating the killings in the Philippines.
Amy Jane Lee, whose husband Michael was among the thousands killed, said the bloody campaign started by the Rodrigo Duterte government is continuing under the current Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration.
“The killings continue. If the ‘war on drugs’ was effective, the proliferation of illegal drugs would no longer be an issue. If the domestic investigation processes were efficient, I wouldn’t be here asking for help again,” Lee said.
A member of Rise Up for Life and for Rights, Lee is in Geneva, Switzerland as the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) publicized its report on human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem.
Rise Up is among the groups that submitted complaints to the OHCHR and was cited in the report, particularly about human rights violations “resulting from the militarization of anti-drug operations that disproportionately impact the poorest and most marginalized sectors of society.”
The UN OHCHR report also stated that: “In most cases, accountability for human rights violations and access to effective remedies for victims and communities remains lacking.”
The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) is conducting its 54th session attended by a delegation of the Philippine UPR (Universal Periodic Review) Watch from human rights, lawyers, indigenous peoples, church, and environment groups from the Philippines.
The HRC is currently conducting a UN Joint Program in the Philippines that includes dialogues and trainings with government agencies in upholding and protecting human rights.
The program however had been receiving criticisms from local human rights groups for being “insubstantial in bringing about changes in the country’s drug policies, with the killings continuing under the Marcos administration unchecked and un-prosecuted.”
“The heat is on the Philippines, with UN special rapporteurs noting concern over recent developments in the Philippines, on top of the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating the extrajudicial killings committed during the Duterte administration’s drug war,” said Atty. Kristina Conti, secretary-general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)-National Capital Region.
The NUPL represents victims of the “war on drugs” in proceedings before the ICC.
Lee and Philippine UPR Watch called on missions of state members of the ICC to support the investigation being conducted by the Office of the Prosecutor.
Conti emphasized the continuing obligation of the Philippine government to cooperate with the court.
“It is logically inconsistent for the Philippines to cooperate with the UN but not the ICC,” she said.
Philippine UPR Watch also reiterated its call for the UN through the OHCHR to continue their monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in the Philippines, with the killing of a lawyer in Abra province and the abduction and arbitrary detention of two environmental activists in Bataan. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
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