Press Statement
October 2, 2024

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the killing of another National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant, Ariel Arbitrario, in Barangay Baliuag, Peñablaca, Cagayan, northern Philippines last September 11. 

Reports indicate that the 502nd Brigade, 5th Infantry Division, captured and tortured Ariel Arbitrario prior to killing him. Additionally, two other members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were killed. Arbitrario was reportedly conducting consultations with farmers in the area at the time of his arrest. 

Arbitrario should have been immune from surveillance, arrest, and harm, as he was a holder of Document of Identification Number PP 978542, acknowledged on September 16, 2016 by Silvestre H. Bello III, then chief of the GRP negotiating panel, under the GRP-NDFP Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). 

Arbitrario was arrested in February 2016, but was later released in August in the same year to participate in several rounds of peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP in 2016-2017. He was arrested in February 2017 when then President Rodrigo Duterte unilaterally terminated the peace talks, but released again in March 2017 to participate in the fourth round of talks in The Netherlands.

In addition to the violation of JASIG, the killing of Arbitrario constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) as he was a prisoner of war, and thus hors de combat, at the time of his killing. It was also reported that the military refused to tender his remains to his relatives who traveled from Davao, southern Philippines, to Cagayan in northern Philippines, to give him a decent burial. This was another violation of IHL.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. visited a tactical command post in Penablanca and congratulated the military, showing the non-compliance and disrespect by the AFP in regard to the Philippine government’s signature to the rules of armed conflict enshrined in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols, as well as the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

This incident is another affirmation of the verdict of the International People’s Tribunal 2024, which found the US government, and the Marcos and Duterte regimes, guilty of war crimes. The treatment of Arbitrario raises further questions on the treatment of the two NPA members who were killed, and ICHRP is deeply concerned other violations may have occurred. 

The fact that the AFP killed the peace consultant while he was conducting consultations with farmers, exposing the Philippine government’s militarist response to the armed conflict and its refusal to address its roots. While peasant farmers continue to face hunger and landlessness, the Philippine government not only shuns opportunities to study genuine solutions to their problems, but kills those who do, like Arbitrario. As October is Peasant Month in the Philippines, ICHRP recognizes the people’s demand for genuine land reform as a crucial step towards a just peace, and expresses our solidarity with peasants and peasant advocates who remain the primary victims of state terror in the Philippines. 
Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson. WhatsApp: +61 418312301. Email: [email protected].

Human Rights Update
September 28, 2024

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the intensifying militarization in Lupang Ramos, Dasmariñas, Cavite in Southern Tagalog.

On September 26, approximately 100 combined military and police personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Task Force Ugnay under the Philippine Army’s 2nd Infantry Division reportedly attempted to enter Lupang Ramos. They were accompanied by personnel from government agencies such as the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the local government unit (LGU) of Dasmariñas.

The local peasant organization Kasama LR (Katipunan ng mga Lehitimong Magsasaka at Mamamayan sa Lupang Ramos or Association of Legitimate Farmers and Citizens in Lupang Ramos) revealed that the resolution presented by the Dasmariñas LGU which authorizes state forces to enter the disputed land are actually counter-insurgency operations under the AFP’s Task Force Ugnay, in cooperation with the Dasmariñas City Peace and Order Council and Dasmariñas LGU. 

This belies the so-called “inspection” for African Swine Fever (ASF) and the construction of a police checkpoint near the entrance of the community that were used by the state as justifications for entering Lupang Ramos in previously reported incidents. This follows a long list of attempts by the military and police this year to harass, intimidate, and red-tag the militant peasant struggle in the disputed land led by KASAMA-LR.

As of the moment, residents in the community through the leadership of KASAMA-LR have prevented the entry of state forces through the construction of a barricade.

ICHRP calls on the international community to expose the US-led counterinsurgency operations against peasant communities in the Philippines. We salute the residents of Lupang Ramos for their militancy and courage amidst heightening attacks by state forces.

Hands off Lupang Ramos!
Defend Southern Tagalog!

Members of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines joined BAYAN USA, Malaya Movement, Kabataan Alliance, and dozens more organizations and individuals in Washington, DC this past weekend in support of Brandon Lee at the “Advance the Filipino People’s Struggle for Just and Lasting Peace!” conference.

In August 2019, Lee survived an assassination attempt, which was likely committed by the 54th Infantry Battalion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines based on their already-established pattern of harassing him at the time. He was shot and hit in four places rendering him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the chest down with only partial sensation in his arms and hands. After community efforts to medically evacuate him from the Philippines, Lee now lives in the US with his family and continues his advocacy for human rights in the Philippines.

For more information on Brandon’s case and to support his campaign for justice, follow ICHRP US and Justice For Brandon Lee on social media.

September 21, 2024, marks the 52nd anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the deposed fascist dictator Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The dark years of martial law preceded by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in 1971 were marked by widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture, extrajudicial killings, illegal search and seizure and the suppression of media and political opposition. With full US support, Marcos Sr. justified martial law as a response to communist and separatist threats, but it was in reality Marcos Sr.’s tool for maintaining his grip on power and enriching his family and allies amidst worsening state of the economy gravely affecting the lives and livelihood of the Filipino people.

The legacy of this era continues to influence Philippine politics today, particularly under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son of the former dictator. Despite promises of unity and progress, Marcos Jr.’s government perpetuates authoritarian tactics through aggressive counterinsurgency programs. These programs, ostensibly aimed at combating communist insurgents, have often targeted activists, journalists, and human rights defenders.

The current administration has also been implicated in enforced disappearances of activists, a tactic reminiscent of the martial law era. These incidents, along with red-tagging (labeling individuals or groups as communist sympathizers without evidence), have created a climate of fear among civil society organizations and human rights groups.

In the countryside, reports of aerial bombardment continue affecting the lives and livelihood of peasants and indigenous peoples in those areas. Reminiscent of martial law, residents in those communities are evacuating from their homes and schooling of children are gravely affected. In one reported incident, an A-29B Super Tucano, a single engine close military support aircraft made in the USA was used in the military air strike operation. 

A stark example of the dangers activists face is the case of Brandon Lee, an American citizen and environmental activist. In 2019, during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, Lee was shot in an assassination attempt that left him paralyzed. Despite intensive advocacy efforts of people in the Philippines and United States – Brandon Lee has received zero compensation for the attack on his life while the Marcos Jr. regime fails to take action.

These anti people actions represent a disturbing continuity with the Philippines’ authoritarian past. They point to the erosion of democratic norms, the weakening of checks and balances, and the shrinking space for dissent and civil society engagement. The increasing military support by the US and other governments emboldens the Philippine government to further crush the little democratic space that the Filipino people are clinging on to. 

The situation underscores the ongoing struggle between authoritarian tendencies and democratic aspirations of the Filipino people, with the legacy of the Marcos Sr. regime casting a long shadow over the nation’s political landscape. As the Philippines prepares for the 2025 midterm elections and the people express their will for genuine democracy, the international community must observe the human rights situation, broadly disseminate the realities of the situation and forge people to people solidarity in support of just peace. 

Statement
Sept 16, 2024

September 16th marks the anniversary of the historic day in 1991 when a mass movement in the Philippines successfully expelled the United States’ military bases from its islands. The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) celebrates this feat with the Filipino people, seeing hundreds of thousands of people rallying in the streets. ICHRP also decries the subsequent efforts of the US to reassert its military presence and neo-colonial domination over the Philippines through unequal military agreements. 

Under the 1947 Military Bases Agreement, the US seized around 108,500 hectares of land to establish at least 23 major military bases in the Philippines. These bases wrought havoc upon the lives and livelihoods of the Filipino people, resulting in large-scale environmental contamination, violence against women and children, the destruction of indigenous ancestral lands, among others. In the face of the devastating impacts of US bases on Philippine soil, the Filipino people organized themselves to expel the US military bases from their homeland. In 1991, building from the momentum of previous mass actions, the people rallied to push the Philippine Senate to reject then President Cory Aquino’s Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Security, which would have extended the stay of US military bases in the Philippines for another 10 years.

While ICHRP marks the victory of the people’s movement to shutter US military bases, we denounce the subsequent unequal military agreements which the US-GRP have signed to overcome the expulsion of 1991. The Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was signed in 1999 allowing for the entry of an unlimited number of US troops, the indefinite presence of Special Operations Forces in Mindanao, and other provisions undermining Philippine national sovereignty. The US further entrenched its military presence in the Philippines with the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) which was signed in 2014, permitting the construction and operation of military facilities by US troops and the constant rotation of US troops through the islands. Now, at least nine additional military bases in the country are being built through EDCA. 

These unequal military agreements have once again effectively rendered the Philippines a military outpost for the United States. Notably, the Philippines is also the top recipient of US military aid in the region, and the puppet government uses these resources and weapons to commit war crimes and human rights violations against its own people. While the names and specifics of such military agreements and forms of cooperation with the US have changed over time, their impact has stayed the same: trampling Philippines’ national sovereignty, violation of their right to self-determination and the destruction of Filipino land, life, and livelihoods in service of US interests. 

Historically, wherever and whenever the US has imposed military domination upon the Philippines, the Filipino people have fought back. The Filipino people have time and time again shown their strength through building mass movements. This includes EDSA I and EDSA II – which deposed two fascist presidents; the successful movement in the 90’s to expel US bases; and the ongoing resistance against violence by the current US-Marcos Jr. puppet regime. 

Currently, the Filipino people are facing growing US war provocations against China, placing the Philippines in the cross-hairs of the US-China conflict. 

In April 2024, the US military began deploying in the Indo-Pacific a new intermediate-range land-based missile system, known as Typhoon which includes Tomahawk cruise missiles, Supersonic Standard Missile-6 (SM-06) multipurpose interceptor missiles and the Mark 41 vertical group-based systems. This is the first time that the US has introduced offensive land- based mid-range missile systems anywhere in the world since it unilaterally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with Russia in 2019. The treaty had banned the deployment of such systems. 

The offensive Typhoon system of missiles currently installed in Northern Luzon has a range of 1600 kilometers, capable of reaching the east coast of China, the Taiwan strait and military bases in mainland China. The deployment of these once banned systems is a dangerous escalation in the Eastern pacific. 

Through increased military aid, joint exercises and arms transfers, the United States is making the Filipino people more vulnerable to the impacts of war with China. The vortex of increasing US military presence in the Philippines is also drawing in US allies, as Japan, Australia, Canada, France, the UK, New Zealand and most recently Germany are all developing military agreements and increasing rotational troops in the Philippines. The 33rd anniversary of this historic victory serves as a potent reminder of what can happen when people come together to assert their collective power and opposition to a foreign occupying power. As US-led militarization of the Philippines is heightened, ICHRP calls on people across the globe to join the Filipino people’s demand for self-determination and oppose US military presence and intervention in the Philippines.