Press Statement
June 15, 2025

“The Senate’s return of impeachment articles of Vice President Sara Duterte to the Lower House is a blot on the democratic credentials of the Philippines,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).

“The Senate delayed the trial from February and while it will proceed for now, there is the threat that somehow the House of Representatives could cancel it, or that incoming senators in July will tip the balance,” he said.

The grounds of impeachment – misuse of US$10.5 million in discretionary and intelligence funds, unexplained wealth, an alleged murder plot against the President and his family, and betrayal of public trust- are well-founded in fact. Leading institutions such as the Ateneo School of Government and the Makati Business Club have weighed in to the public debate, demanding that the trial go ahead. Public opinion surveys show 88 per cent support for the trial going ahead.

“ICHRP strongly supports the public rallies and cries of the people to press the Senate to do its constitutional duty. Clearly the political elite are failing to uphold the 1987 Constitution, and it is the people who have to make sure it is enforced and that the Vice-President is held accountable,” said Murphy. “These rallies are democratic assemblies protected by the Constitution and must not be suppressed by the authorities.”

The international community, led by US policy, is either ignoring the unfolding fiasco or looking on with bemusement, while at the same time supplying weapons, training and political cover to the Marcos Jr. administration.

“It is long overdue that the international community itself upheld democratic standards and international law in its relations with the Philippines,” said Murphy. “The Philippines is a rogue state where the rule of law is totally optional, where the state systematically murders and represses citizens who oppose its anti-people and anti-environment policies. 

“ICHRP sponsored the International Observer Mission to the May 12 Mid-Term Elections, which we found to be deeply flawed, not meeting the international standards for a free and fair election,” said Murphy. “But the international community again turned a blind eye.

“We repeat our longstanding call for an end to all military aid to this regime, and for the Marcos Jr government to immediately return to the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, a forum where the deep social and political problems of the Philippines can be addressed,” Murphy concluded.

Statement
June 15, 2025

As an organization committed to peace and social justice in the Philippines, ICHRP salutes the life of Luis Jalandoni, who recently passed away at the age of 90 in the Netherlands. Jalandoni, a priest, was the former head of the Social Action Centre in the Diocese of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, a founder of Christians for National Liberation, and a long-time chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and head of the NDFP Peace Negotiating panel. His contributions to social justice in the Philippines are innumerable, and immense.

He was a shining example of a person of faith living out their principles in the context of a repressive feudal society. Early in life as a Catholic priest, he came to understand the struggle and hardship of the impoverished people of Negros and made a life-long commitment to support their struggle for a better life. Faced with the repressive fascist society in which he lived and the collaborationist religious order, he carried out the Christian mandate to serve the poor and most oppressed by joining the revolutionary movement as a means to serve the peasants and workers of Negros.

Luis modeled the behaviours of a true Christian and a true revolutionary: humble, living a modest life, giving his inherited lands to the poor peasants so that they may know a better life. He provided leadership to other Christians who sought to struggle against social inequality and the Marcos dictatorship by forming the Christians for National Liberation (CNL). The CNL, who remain steadfast in their struggle today, provided a voice and vehicle for people of faith in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship and the struggle for national and social liberation.

For his advocacy and resistance, Ka Luis and his partner Coni Ledesma were arrested in 1973 and jailed by the Marcos Dictatorship for more than a year. After his stint as a political prisoner, he helped organize the first workers’ strike under Martial Law, at the la Tondeña distillery in 1975.

After going to exile in the Netherlands in 1976 Ka Luis spent the rest of his life building international solidarity for the people of the Philippines. Under his leadership, the NDFP exposed the excesses of the Marcos dictatorship to the rest of the world and built a global movement to support the struggle for liberation.

Since the mid 1980s, Luis served as the Chief Negotiator of the NDFP in peace negotiations with the Philippine government. His work on this front produced substantial progress and a number of joint agreements were signed contributing to the struggle for just and lasting peace. These included: the Hague Joint declaration which set the General Framework for the Peace Negotiations; the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees; and the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

In 2016, under his leadership the NDFP even went as far as the tabling of a framework for social and economic reforms as a foundation for a just and lasting peace. This last major peace initiative was under discussion with the GRP when the Duterte regime unilaterally terminated all existing peace agreements and unilaterally declared Ka Luis a terrorist. In peace negotiations, Jalandoni was an ardent advocate of peasants and workers in the Philippines and was unrelenting in pursuit of a genuine peace based on land reform and national industrialization. Jalandoni always put the needs of the oppressed first, firmly rejecting faulty solutions to the armed conflict that only sought surrender but ignored the social and economic roots of the armed conflict.

As ICHRP we admire and seek to emulate the life of Ka Luis in seeking to support the poor and oppressed based on values of social justice and a just peace built on a foundation of social political and economic equality. ICHRP’s upcoming solidarity conference in Rome called Pagtatanim: Sowing Seeds of Faith Solidarity for the Filipino People’s Struggle for Peace is an opportunity for people of faith from around the world to carry forward Ka Luis’ vision of a Philippine society based on democracy and social justice. The interfaith conference will serve to strengthen the solidarity movement for the Filipino people, and mobilize faith communities to accompany and support the most marginalized in the Philippines.

We salute Ka Luis and his unending commitment to the struggle for a better world for the poor and oppressed of the Philippines. We send condolences to his life-long partner and comrade, Ka Coni Ledesma.

Click here to register

Registration for the upcoming conference Pagtatanim is being extended to June 14. Make sure to register this week to reserve a spot.

This June, people of faith from around the world will convene in Rome, Italy to participate in a historic solidarity conference. Pagtatanim: Sowing Seeds of Faith Solidarity for the Filipino People’s Struggle for Peace is an interfaith conference to strengthen the solidarity movement for the Filipino people, and mobilize faith communities to accompany and support the most marginalized in the Philippines.

You can learn more about the conference, and the registration form, at ichrp.net/Pagtatanim.

News Release
May 30, 2025

“Commissioner Garcia rejected the International Observer Mission (IOM) finding of massive disenfranchisement in the midterm elections because there was an 82.2 per cent turnout of registered voters. But the hundreds of failed Automated Counting Machines, the climate of fear through red tagging and actual violence, the fact that May 12 was an unpaid holiday, and the significant hurdles faced by overseas Filipinos meant that hundreds of thousands did not get to vote,” said IOM Commissioner Lee Rhiannon.

The Mission Observers reported significant disenfranchisement due to technical and procedural failures. Overseas Filipino voter turnout reached an all-time low of 18.12 percent due to inaccessible voting systems. Domestically, long lines and malfunctioning vote-counting machines hindered voters, while elections were disrupted in places like Datu Odin Sinsuat, affecting over 80,000 people and limiting their right to vote.

“The IOM documented 112 verified cases of red-tagging, and our local partner Vote Report PH received 1,445 citizen reports of red-tagging across the country. These are not isolated incidents; they represent a pattern of fear and repression that deters participation,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, which sponsored the IOM.

IOM Commissioner Rhiannon said, “Our observers saw that the communities they visited displayed an extraordinary resolve to make their voices heard and ballots cast, despite the many obstacles. We really admire this. Filipinos worked with a flawed process, because the stakes are so high in the deep social and political crisis they are coping with.”

On Permission from Comelec

The IOM noted that Commissioner Garcia said that our observers were not required to register with the Comelec. “He is, in fact, right. As a people-led observer mission, we believe that our strength and impartiality come from our independence,” said Murphy.

“We are also very concerned that the European Union EOM, which did register with Comelec and was invited to observe by the government, was excluded from visiting voting precincts on May 12. That did no credit to Comelec.”

Rather, the IOM echoed the calls of Filipinos that the Comelec should focus its attention where it is most needed: on the issues raised by voters, civil society, and the broader public. These include persistent reports of vote-buying, dynastic dominance, red-tagging, and disenfranchisement in the electoral process.

“Elections that are genuinely free and fair have nothing to fear from the presence of impartial international observers. We remain committed to accompanying the Filipino people in their pursuit of democratic governance and upholding the principles of accountability and transparency,” Rhiannon ends. #

Download the full report and executive summary at ichrp.net/IOM2025

Read the full news release below:

News Release
May 27, 2025

PH 2025 Elections Did Not Meet Int’l Standards for Free, Fair Elections –Observer Mission Report

Voter disenfranchisement, vote-buying, systematic repression, and foreign interference cited as key findings

The 2025 Philippine midterm elections “did not meet international standards for free and fair elections,” according to the final report of the International Observer Mission (IOM) released today, citing “grave and widespread violations” of human rights across the country. The mission’s findings point to a confluence of factors that severely undermined the integrity of the electoral process: voter disenfranchisement, widespread vote-buying, systemic human rights violations, the entrenched power of domestic political dynasties, and the foreign military influence in local political affairs.

“The rights of Filipinos to vote freely and without coercion were compromised,” says IOM Commissioner Lee Rhiannon. “The climate of fear, normalized vote-buying and militarization that surrounded the elections reflects a failure to uphold international democratic standards.”

The IOM’s conclusion is based on weeks of intensive documentation by international field teams deployed across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao during the election campaign and on election day, May 12. Observers conducted on-the-ground interviews with voters, poll watchers, campaigners, local officials, and civil society leaders, while remote teams tracked digital disinformation, overseas absentee voting, and media coverage.

The comprehensive report is the result of an independent international initiative that adopts a rights-based approach to monitoring the elections. This was organized by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) and launched in 2022. 

For the 2025 mission, more than 50 international human rights advocates took part, with field Observers deployed to priority areas with histories of election-related violence. The Mission partnered with local watchdogs such as Kontra Daya and Vote Report PH, while remote teams monitored digital disinformation, overseas absentee voting (OAV), and voting irregularities abroad.

“Our findings point to a widespread pattern of repression and vote-buying alongside threats of foreign interference,” said IOM Commissioner Andrea Mann. “The red-tagging of progressive candidates, vote-buying, disenfranchisement, and militarization are not isolated problems. These reflect a deeply compromised system.” 

“Given the scale and severity of these violations, we conclude that the 2025 Philippine elections failed to meet international standards for free, fair, and democratic elections,” Mann stated. 

Voter Disenfranchisement, Vote-Buying

“These elections violated key articles of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Philippines is a state party,” said ICHRP Global Council Chairperson Peter Murphy. The IOM Final Report documented 545 cases of electoral violations, including vote-buying, disenfranchisement, harassment, and even election-related killings and disappearances. “These abuses fundamentally undermined the rights of Filipinos to participate in free and fair elections,” he added.

The Mission highlighted the rampant voter disenfranchisement. Malfunctioning automated counting machines (ACMs), ballots misread as overvotes, and pre-marked or misprinted ballots disenfranchised thousands. COMELEC failed to explain why the machines ran on a non-certified software version, casting doubt on the integrity of the results. 

According to the report, the disenfranchisement extended overseas, where online registration glitches and delayed pre-enrolment requirements led to a historically low 18.12% voter turnout among OFWs, far below even the usual participation rates. Workers and the urban poor were similarly excluded, as May 13 was not declared a paid holiday, forcing many to choose between voting and earning income.

Murphy also raised alarm over the scale of vote-buying, calling it “scandalous interference with the election.” The IOM alone, recorded 111 vote-buying incidents, with COMELEC receiving 158 formal complaints but issuing only minimal sanctions. Some party-lists, such as Ako Bicol, reportedly offered up to 16,000 PHP (~289 USD) per vote. “Mass poverty and entrenched inequality have enabled political dynasties and business-funded candidates to distort electoral outcomes,” Murphy stated. 

He mentioned the recommendations from the IOM report on electoral reforms, including the adoption of a hybrid manual-automated voting system, addressing the inaccessible OFW registration process, and the declaration of election day as a paid public holiday.

Red-Tagging, militarization undermine free elections

“The 2025 midterm election failed to uphold the most basic democratic principle: the people’s uncoerced right to choose their leaders,” said IOM Commissioner Rhiannon. “The abuses by various arms of state power documented here reveal the extent of the failed Filipino electoral process. These abuses not only constitute electoral violations, they also constitute violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.” 

Central to these violations, she pointed out, was the systematic use of red-tagging, which she described as “the most frequently reported violation.” There were 112 documented cases solely by the Mission, while a staggering 1,445 cases were reported to the IOM local election watchdog Vote Report PH. “It is used to smear reputations, deter campaigning, and prevent people from voting,” Rhiannon explained.

The Commissioner recounted disturbing cases of red-tagging and intimidation: from tarpaulins branding progressive candidates “NPA” and “terrorist” in Southern Tagalog to the display of fake coffins marked with blood and names of activist groups across the country. “In Western Visayas, soldiers interrogated children as young as five. In Abra, the military handed out ‘surrender papers’ in exchange for financial aid or a chance to ‘clear’ one’s name,” she added. Rhiannon emphasized that these abuses were not isolated but part of a “well-funded campaign involving the police, military, and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).” 

“The unchecked labeling of progressive groups as insurgents has fostered a climate of fear, suppressed political participation, and severely undermined democratic space,” Rhiannon said.

Violation of national sovereignty highlighted 

IOM Commissioner Colleen Moore pointed out the timing and scope of the U.S.-led Balikatan military exercises, which overlapped with the Philippine 2025 midterm elections, as a major distortion of democratic space. “The concurrent staging of large-scale war games with over 15,000 foreign and local troops during an electoral campaign is not just poor judgment. It is an outright violation of national sovereignty of Filipinos,” Moore said. 

She emphasized that the exercises were “framed by government officials and administration-aligned candidates as defensive maneuvers against an imminent threat, but in reality, it contributed to manufacturing a climate of fear designed to steer public opinion toward pro-U.S., pro-Marcos candidates.” According to the IOM report, this convergence of militarization and electoral politics “compromised the conditions necessary for a free and fair vote.”

The IOM Commissioner noted that candidates advocating an independent foreign policy were vilified as “Beijing’s puppets,” while dissent was drowned out by the state narrative equating opposition to the exercises with disloyalty. “The international community must recognize that ongoing military cooperation, such as Balikatan, directly contributes to political repression and distorts civic discourse,” Moore stated. She referenced recommendations from the report calling for an end to foreign military activities and security aid to the Philippines during electoral periods and beyond.

Observer mission recommendations 

The report issued a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at addressing deep-rooted structural issues in the country’s electoral and governance systems. The report emphasizes that many of these recommendations echo those made in its 2022 findings. This is evidence, it states, of “the persistence of systemic issues that continue to shape electoral processes in the Philippines.” 

Among its primary calls are the adoption of a hybrid election system that allows for both manual and automated vote verification, the urgent passage of the long-delayed Anti-Dynasty Bill, and measures to ensure nonpartisanship and transparency of the COMELEC. The IOM also highlighted the need for legal reforms that would empower voters to report violations such as vote-buying without fear of retaliation.

The IOM extended its appeal to the international community, calling for sustained scrutiny of the Philippine electoral process and human rights situation. It specifically calls for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC, describing it as a “central apparatus of red-tagging, intimidation, and political repression.” 

The IOM urges the Philippine government to criminalize red-tagging, outlaw the use of private armies, repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, and rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC) as essential steps toward restoring democratic space and accountability. These measures, the report states, are vital to protecting civil society, enabling peaceful political participation, and rebuilding public confidence in the country’s democratic institutions.

As Commissioner Moore emphasized, “Free and fair elections cannot occur in an environment where voters are manipulated by fear, opposition voices are silenced, and foreign powers shape public discourse.” The Commissioners underscored that their report amplifies the voices of Filipinos already bravely speaking out, and reflects a shared call to uphold every people’s right to choose their leaders free from fear, coercion, or foreign interference.#