“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) applauds the second impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte in the House of Representatives on May 11. We urge the Senate to pursue an immediate and fair trial,” said ICHRP Vice Chairperson, Patricia Lisson.

The impeachment result comes  amid relentless  campaigning in the past two years of Philippine human rights organizations clamoring for justice in the face of massive corruption by Philippine government officials. ICHRP warns against all maneuvers of the Duterte clan and its allies to obstruct justice in the coming days. 

The House justice committee found probable cause for four impeachable offenses committed by Duterte, including: violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and corruption, bribery and high crimes. These offenses are based on misuse of confidential funds, unexplained wealth, alleged monetary gifts to Department of Education officials, and threats to assassinate the current President, his wife, and former Speaker of the House Martin Romauldez. 

On the same day of the impeachment decision, chaos erupted on the Senate floor. 

Present on the floor for the first time in six months was Senator “Bato” dela Rosa, whom the National Bureau of Investigation tried to prevent from entering due to a previous subpoena to which he did not respond. Subsequently, the Senate moved to replace Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto with Alan Cayetano, a Duterte ally, and dela Rosa voted in favor. Present in the senate building was former Senator  Antonio Trillanes, who presented  an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Bato, which has since been confirmed. 

“Like Father, like daughter. There clearly appears to be maneuvers on the part of Sara Duterte and her supporters to evade accountability and a trial,” said Lisson. “But the arrest of Sara’s father and now the warrant for dela Rosa are sending a clear message: accountability cannot be avoided for those who perpetrate crimes against the people. This is true for the Dutertes, and also for the Marcos regime, who have escaped years of ill gotten wealth and now sit atop massive corruption scandals and a litany of war crimes against the people.” 

Amid the impunity that remains for the Duterte and Marcos dynastic families and the worsening political and economic crisis, ICHRP remains vigilant in supporting the Filipino people’s assertion of their rights for transparency, for the upholding of democratic processes, for their livelihood and for self-determination. 

Send your support to workers in the Philippines this May Day!

The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU – May First Movement Labor Center) is geared up for May 1 to assert its genuine militant and patriotic unionism in a world that is heaving with exploitation of workers and the planet, and shaken by wars and huge dislocations of working people.

Now more than ever, as US war wreaks havoc across the world, we must link with workers in the Philippines and support their contribution to the worldwide clamor for peace based on justice. Donate to support KMU today! 

The Philippines is one of the 10 worst places in the world for workers’ rights, according to the International Trade Union Confederation’s Global Rights Index 2025.

The Jeepney Drivers Association, PISTON, a federation of KMU is leading the national protest strikes of transport workers at sky-high fuel prices due to the current illegal Gulf War. This April, a longstanding KMU Union of Kowloon restaurant workers sustained a strike for six days winning a wage increase. And last year the KMU union at Nexperia Philippines won a long struggle over wages and reinstatement of dismissed union officers in a strike on International Working Women’s Day.

KMU is a key component of national coalition to oppose imperialist wars, to oppose the US military in the Philippines, and to expose and hold accountable the national political leaders who are plundering the national budget.

The Marcos Jr administration has 18 KMU trade union leaders in prison, and is pursuing charges against 22 others who are out on bail. The charges they face are fabricated to repress the exercise of the basic rights of Filipino workers to freedom of association and to collective bargaining. The total number of political prisoners held in Marcos Jr’s jails is 678.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), raises urgent concern over the intensified foreign military presence and deepening U.S. intervention in the Philippines, epitomized by the 2026 Balikatan war games. These joint military exercises, which are the largest to date, are a dangerous escalation in the Indo-Pacific region, drawing in U.S. allies into preparations for war against China and worsening counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in the Philippines that continue to have devastating impacts on the Filipino people.   

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States military will conduct the most expansive Balikatan Exercise across the country from April 20 to May 8. Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United States-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty, more than 17,000 personnel from the Philippines, US, Australia, Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand will train “shoulder-to-shoulder”, and an additional 17 nations will participate as part of the international observer program in the 41st iteration of Exercise Balikatan.

Putting on the Balikatan exercises in the context of a global fuel crisis caused by the unprovoked aggression of the US-Israel attacks on Iran is a slap in the face to Filipinos already suffering so much from the impacts of the US led war. Through this crisis the average Filipino has struggled to get to work, struggled to pay for cooking fuel, and struggled with the spiralling inflation and increasing price of basic commodities. The militaries of the Philippines, US, Australia, Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand will indulge in massive fuel consumption  to power their naval vessels, jets and other equipment in the midst of the worst fuel crisis since WWII. 

This year’s Balikatan exercise follows with the US First Island Chain strategy – a Cold War-era U.S. plan to contain China by establishing naval bases along a chain of islands in the Western Pacific, including Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines. This strategy aims to restrict China’s sea access and to project U.S. power in the region. Projecting power through the Balikatan “full battle test” exercises, which include live-fire drills near Taiwan and the West Philippine Sea, prepares for war with China, drawing the Philippines into a proxy conflict.

The 2026 exercises also follow recent announcements of US initiatives to further establish the Philippines as its major military Hub in Asia. This month, the Marcos Jr Administration announced an agreement with the US under the “Pax Silica” initiative,  which will create a special economic zone in the Philippines focused on the production of critical minerals and electronics for US supply chains. Progressive groups in the Philippines have noted that the materials produced in this kind of zone feed not only consumer markets but also missiles, drones, surveillance systems, and communications infrastructure. This Pax Silica Industrial Hub, paired with the new US ammunition production site in Subic, make the Filipino more vulnerable to become targets in the context of US war in Asia. 

In the end, what the Balikatan exercises try to manufacture is the idea that the Philippines is facing a national emergency because of an alleged threat of invasion by China. In reality, the Philippines is facing a national emergency caused by US hegemony and war, which has for years plunged the Philippines into poverty and civil war. 

While the US ramps up its war games against China, the US backed AFP also ramps up its brutal counterinsurgency (COIN) operations, as seen even in the massive military operation in Negros on the first day of the Baliktan exercises, April 20. As the military operations in Negros led to massive war crimes, killing 19 and displacing 653, so too will future COIN operations continue to impact people across the Philippines. The national democratic struggle in the Philippines remains the main deterrent to complete US domination of the country, and the Filipino people will continue to resist and struggle for national liberation in the face of escalating US war. 

ICHRP calls for an end to the Balikatan exercises which serve as a pretext for further U.S. military intervention. The exercises are ultimately a violation of Philippine sovereignty and a tool for U.S. military intervention that exacerbates human rights violations; all countries that wish to express concern for human rights and peace should immediately withdraw participation.