Statement
June 28, 2024

Earlier this month, New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Philippines Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo announced that they would enter into a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) later this year. A VFA between the two countries is an agreement to have closer military ties making it easier for the armed forces of the two countries to work together. 

ICHRP condemns this agreement which is purported to ‘ensure peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific’. It will do the opposite and further heighten tensions between the USA and China in the South China Sea. 

The newly proposed VFA with New Zealand echoes the VFAs that the Philippine Government has previously signed with the USA and Australia, and adds to the increasing number of new military agreements brokered by the Marcos Jr regime. Since the beginning of his term, Marcos Jr has struck updated military agreements with the US, penned memorandums of understanding with Canada and the UK, and is currently in talks to form VFA-like agreements with France, Japan and now New Zealand.

These military agreements further embolden the fascist Philippine military to violate human rights and international humanitarian law against valiant Filipinos who are defending their national sovereignty and longing for genuine democracy, social justice and a just peace. These agreements amplify the increasing US militarization of the Asia-Pacific and do nothing to further peace in the region.

Tensions are high in the South China Sea – West Philippine Sea with both China and the US using the waters around the Philippines as a zone for their ongoing competition for influence in the region.

The US is becoming increasingly provocative in the region and just last month carried out military drills that were clearly orchestrated to goad China. While New Zealand troops did not participate in this exercise they were there as observers and the New Zealand Government has indicated that they may participate in future military drills in the region.

As New Zealand lines up with Australia and the USA, the prospect for peace diminishes and the people of the Philippines find themselves in the dangerous position of being on the front line in the escalating tensions between the two superpowers.

In the interests of peace for the people of the Philippines, ICHRP calls on the government of New Zealand to uphold an independent foreign policy, to junk the VFA and to use its diplomacy and influence to call for a just peace in the Philippines. We further call on people around the globe to rise up in opposition to the growing war mongering of the US and its allies in the Asia- Pacific.

For further information please contact Sheryl Cadman, ICHRP Global Council Member +64 21 776031

Press Release
June 21, 2024

A recent investigation and report by Reuters, released on June 14, 2024, revealed a year-long covert propaganda campaign by the United States military to deter Filipinos from taking the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Sinovac. The campaign ran from mid-2020 until mid-2021, and involved the creation of hundreds of fake social media profiles in an attempt to sway public opinion on the vaccine.

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns in the strongest terms this anti-people campaign of the Pentagon,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy in response. “To systematically mislead the people of the Philippines during one of the worst public health crises in the last century is a gross violation of the Filipino people’s collective right to life and peace.”

The Philippines was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the worst virus-related death rate in Southeast Asia by mid-2021: 1.3 million cases and almost 24 thousand deaths. Vaccination rates were also particularly low, with less than 2% of the population vaccinated by mid-2021. The crisis was exacerbated by the militarist response of the Philippine government in implementing checkpoints and lockdowns throughout the country, rather than seriously investing in public health care measures.

“Because US pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer had the monopoly power to refuse supply of COVID-19 vaccines at an affordable price to the Philippines, the first vaccine they could obtain was Sinovac,” Murphy said. “And now we know the US military punished Filipinos for that.”

The fake social media accounts connected to the US propaganda program spread lies about the vaccine in an effort to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment among Filipinos. This strategy goes hand-in-hand with the broader push of the US and its allies to paint China as an enemy, and to justify their increasing military presence in the Philippines and in neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.

While the US increasingly boasts of “ironclad” commitment to the Philippines and feigns friendship with the Filipino people, this psy-op campaign exposes how the US tramples on the rights of the Filipino people for the sake of its geopolitical interests in Asia Pacific. The Reuters report is not only a reminder of the recent IPT’s exposure of the US role in war crimes in the Philippines and the treatment of poor and struggling Filipinos as collateral damage, but also a foreshadowing of how the US will use the Filipino people as cannon fodder in its provocation of war against China. 

“Public health and safety is not something to be toyed with in order to win political influence over a population,” continued Murphy. “The Filipino people have a right to determine their affairs without the meddling of the United States. ICHRP calls on the US military to withdraw from all spheres of influence in the Philippines, including its physical presence in and around the country in its aggressive preparations for war against China.”

In response to the recent guilty verdict of the International People’s Tribunal on war crimes in the Philippines, members of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) across the world held mobilizations in May and June to draw attention to the verdict. These actions included delivery of the verdict to embassies of the Philippine and United States governments; public protest actions and rallies; educational forums; webinars; and watch sessions of the IPT proceedings. Actions took place in several cities including Brussels, The Hague, Vancouver, Ottawa, Portland, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

This global response demonstrates the growing strength of international solidarity for the Filipino people in their struggle for a just and lasting peace. ICHRP calls upon people inspired by this tribunal to continue to mobilize the broadest solidarity support for the Filipino people against the intensive, US backed counterinsurgency campaign that causes deep suffering and oppression in the Philippines.

Our solidarity is most powerful when we are unified and organized in action. You can build this unity with others by joining a local ICHRP member organization, or forming your own. Reach out to ICHRP at ichrp.net/contact if you aren’t sure how to get involved!

Urgent Alert
June 20, 2024

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the reported illegal raid of peasant leader Ronnie Manalo’s residence and the military operation in peasant communities in at least six sitios of barangays San Roque, Paradise 3, and Tungkong Mangga   in the City of San Jose Del Monte (CSJDM) in Central Luzon. Manalo is currently the Secretary General of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines) and the Spokesperson of Tanggol Magsasaka (Defend Farmers).

On June 18, 2024 at 7:00 a.m., around a hundred combined elements of the 80th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA), the Philippine National Police – Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) reportedly conducted military operations in these peasant communities, causing widespread fear and distress among peasants and other residents. They forcibly entered the unoccupied residence of Manalo and searched his property. A gun was allegedly found inside – most likely planted evidence, a ploy which state forces typically use during raids of activists’ residences in the Philippines.

Prior to the incident, residents observed the increasing presence of the military in these peasant communities. Military operations intimidating and targeting civilians, as highlighted in the recent International People’s Tribunal,  are in violation of international humanitarian law. 

Manalo has long been a victim of threats and red-tagging from state forces, owing to his long-time active involvement in the peasant struggle in the Araneta Estates. This area faced landgrabbing by Greggy Araneta III, the husband of Irene Marcos Araneta, the youngest sister of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

In 2022, Manalo and Cecilia Rapiz, a leader of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Bulacan (AMB, Peasant Alliance in Bulacan) and also a resident in the area, lodged complaints to their local village chief on the persistent threat, harassment and intimidation of the military against them. In that same year, Manalo together with other peasant leaders and advocates were fired upon and harassed by goons of Araneta in Sitio Ricafort, Tungkong Mangga, CSJDM. 

Militarization of peasant communities in the city intensified in 2018. Since then, soldiers conducted Community Organizing for Peace and Development (COPD) and encamped in the peasant villages. AMB leaders were subjected to surveillance and harassment by the elements of 80th and 48th IBPA. Residents were asked about the whereabouts of KMP and AMB leaders, and they have repeatedly been forced by the military to “clear” their names in the local village centers and even municipal halls.

ICHRP demands an end to the continued harassment of peasant leaders and the militarization of peasant communities in the Philippines. It condemns the Marcos Jr. regime’s continued human rights and International Humanitarian Law violations of farmers and peasant advocates who are legally exercising their democratic rights.

Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson. WhatsApp: +61 418312301. Email: media@ichrp.net.