Attack demonstrates vulnerability of Philippines to attack in a war in which it has no part
“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls on the Marcos Jr government to pull out all stops to assist Filipino migrant workers stranded and endangered in the Gulf states, Lebanon and Israel,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy today.
“We know that one Filipino worker has been killed by missile fire in Israel, and that there are initially 1,033 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) stranded because of the shutdown of air space over the region. But these numbers will grow every day while this war rages,” said Murphy. “With almost 2.5 million OFWs in the war zone, there will be an immediate emotional and financial impact on Philippine society.
“The Marcos Jr administration should not rely on Trump statements that this war will be over soon. Instead, it should listen to the workers involved, and their families, and use charter flights or military aircraft to rescue Filipinos who need to get out of danger. For those who cannot leave but who may run out of money in this crisis due to work stopping, we call on the administration to provide sustenance,” said Murphy. “The basic human rights to life, to food, shelter and health care must be honoured.”
The war has disrupted oil and gas shipments out of the Persian Gulf, which mainly go to India, China and the Asia-Pacific region. The price of fuel in the Philippines has already increased by 2 pesos and is speculated by oil monopolies to rise further by another 16 pesos per liter for diesel and 7.7 pesos for gasoline in the coming days. .This will really hurt the great majority of the people who struggle with grinding poverty. If oil and gas supplies are disrupted for more than two weeks, there will be a broader global economic and financial crisis which will really impact the Filipino people immensely.
At a deeper level, the new war in West Asia exposes the place of the Philippines in the US war machine, because the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln was deployed to the war zone from the Philippines, where it had been refueled and replenished. In retaliation to the illegal bombardment launched on February 28, the Iranian regime has hit many targets related to the US and Israeli military within range of its missiles and drones. While no Iranian missiles can reach the Philippines, other asymmetric warfare could be launched against targets in the Philippines by Iranian agents. But the Marcos Jr administration had no role in Trump’s decision to go to war.
In the event that the US goes to war against China – they are preparing to do this in 2027 – all its many military bases in the Philippines will be targets, as has happened with Iran targeting them in the Persian Gulf region. This obvious danger needs to be addressed urgently, to enable the Filipino people to exercise their basic human rights to life, peace and genuine development.
In the last three months, Trump has ordered airstrikes in Somalia, Nigeria, Venezuela and now Iran, he has kidnaped the President of Venezuela, and, along with assassination of the Supreme Leader and other senior leaders of Iran by Israel. He has repeatedly threatened to seize Greenland, and to absorb Canada and Mexico. He supports Netanyahu’s ambition for a ‘Greater Israel’. Despite his rhetoric about ending wars and building peace, Trump does whatever he likes, breaking international law at will, to assert “America First”. This clear pattern of aggression bodes ill for the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region.
“ICHRP urges the Marcos Jr administration to extract itself from the US strategy for war with China, and hear the calls of Filipinos for an independent foreign policy. Instead, it should pursue the unfinished peace agenda first set out in the Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 for social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms that would not allow any foreign intervention and control,” said Murphy.
“However, we know that this will not happen unless the Filipino people can create the political conditions for any Manila administration to seriously take the path of peace. We strongly support the broad people’s efforts to confront the massive corruption scandal, to impeach political leaders who brazenly plunder and sell out to foreign powers, and the pursuit of accountability for state murders at the International Criminal Court,” said Murphy.
“ICHRP urges the whole international community to wake up to the danger exposed in the attack on Iran, and to stand together to uphold international law and the vital human rights of all peoples, including those in Palestine, Iran, and the Philippines,” Murphy concluded.
