Impunity dissolving around VP, says international human rights group

Media Statement
September 8, 2026

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) welcomes the long overdue charging of Vice President Duterte for her 2024 threats to kill political opponents. This is another important step towards ending the culture of impunity which is rampant in Filipino society,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

On September 4, a Quezon City court issued a warrant of arrest against Duterte. The Vice-President faced court on September 5, failed in her bid to have the warrant of arrest withdrawn or delayed, and instead paid bail (US$1,915 on each charge), was fingerprinted and then released. This development came almost two years after Vice President Sara Duterte’s brazen statement during a live press conference. 

VP Duterte is also charged over these alleged grave threats in the ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate. There, the penalty, if found guilty, would be blockage in the 2028 presidential election. In a criminal trial, a guilty verdict would mean up to six months imprisonment on each of the three charges of grave threat.

“While it remains to be seen if she will be convicted of the crime, there is no doubt that effective legal accountability for Sara Duterte is vital to democracy in the Philippines,” added Murphy.

Her November 2024 outburst was after midnight and outside a detention facility at the House of Representatives, where her Chief of Staff, Ms Zuleika Lopez, was being held for contempt. Lopez had written to the Commission of Audit to tell them not to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability. This committee was investigating the spending of discretionary and intelligence funds by Sara Duterte as Secretary of the Department of Education and as Vice-President. The total under investigation was P612.5 million (US$9.77 million).

Whether the Vice-President was infuriated or rattled by the sudden detention of her Chief of Staff, she reacted with death threats against those she believed were behind this detention.

At the impeachment trial, the prosecution has slowly unraveled the story of those P612.5 million in relation to the charge of misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of public funds. Only Sara Duterte and a Colonel Raymund Lachica know how the P500 million of her funds as Vice-President were spent, and Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda were given the P112.5 million in cash to disburse. The Commission on Audit had directed that P200 million of these funds not be disbursed, and none of the spending was documented according to law.

But Marcos Jr himself deserves condemnation for enabling the crimes of Sara Duterte. Prior to the bitter breakup of their dynastic team up in 2024, Duterte and Marcos Jr formed the so-called “Uniteam” alliance for the 2022 Philippine elections, where they won the two highest posts in the government.

“Just as the International Criminal Court trial of former President Rodrigo Duterte – set to open on November 30 – is a warning to incumbent President Marcos Jr and other senior officials, the impeachment in the Senate and now these criminal charges against Sara Duterte are also a warning to the Marcos family that they are not immune from accountability for their own alleged plunder and violations of human rights,” concluded Murphy.

Urgent Alert
September 3, 2026

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the arrest of eleven environmental defenders in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya last August 28, 2026. 

The arrested individuals were part of the anti-mining barricade set up by local residents to oppose the destructive mining project in the province by the North Luzon Mineral Resources Corporation (NLMRC). NLMRC personnel assisted by elements of the Nueva Vizcaya Philippine National Police (PNP) attempted to bring in crude oil for the company’s drilling equipment at the exploration site. As of September 1, they are now temporarily free after posting bail.

Video footage shows the PNP violently arresting the eleven individuals after intense scuffles against the locals. Various local and national groups strongly condemned the Nueva Vizcaya PNP’s actions. They exposed the local police force’s active connivance with big mining corporations by facilitating the easy entry of mining equipment and breaking up opposition by the affected communities. 

The incident follows the arrest of three environmental defenders from the Kasibu Intertribal Response for Ecological Development in the same mining barricade last August 19. Similar to the eleven individuals, the three were slapped with grave coercion and disobedience charges and are currently out on bail. 

Earlier this year, seven land defenders were also arrested in a similar anti-mining barricade in Dupax Del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya. Strong opposition by the residents successfully halted the operations of mining projects by British-owned company Woggle Corporation.

The intensifying human rights violations and increasingly aggressive mining ventures of multinational corporations in Nueva Vizcaya reflect the Marcos Jr. government’s brazen sell out of the country’s critical minerals and natural resources to imperialist plunder, as the US desperately scrambles to secure access to crucial resources for weapons production in its war preparations against China.

In the past year, Marcos Jr. signed and passed the following laws and issuances:

1. EO 122 or the National Policy Framework for Developing the Critical Minerals Industry and Reorganizing the Mining Industry Council for the Purpose on August 21, 2026;
2. Joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative last April 17, 2026;
3. US-Philippines Critical Minerals Memorandum of Agreement last February 4, 2026;
4. Republic Act No. 12253 or the Enhanced Fiscal Regime for Large-Scale Metallic Mining Act, signed on September 4, 2025; and
5. Republic Act 12252 or the Amended Investors Lease Act last September 3, 2025.

Amidst Marcos Jr.’s shameless kowtowing to US strategic interests, ICHRP stands firmly in solidarity with the people of Nueva Vizcaya and other communities bravely fighting against destructive mining projects and US-led imperialist plunder.

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Le formulaire d’inscription pour Kapit Bisig et l’AG de l’ICHRP est maintenant disponible en français à l’adresse ichrp.net/KapitBisig.

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Liza Maza is a two-time former parliamentarian, founding chairperson of the International Women’s Alliance, Chair Emerita of Gabriela, and the President of the Makabayan Coalition.

As a lawmaker, Maza authored 71 bills and 144 resolutions, including the Anti-Trafficking Persons Act, the Anti-Violence Against Women and the Magna Carta of Women. Gabriela has led campaigns against US military presence, highlighting the social impacts on women, children, and LGBT+ communities.

Maza is a tireless voice for the rights of the vulnerable and the struggle of the masses against exploitation, oppression, and US-led war.

Come join her at the Kapit Bisig Conference in Toronto, September 25-26.

For more info visit: ICHRP.NET/KAPITBISIG