Press Statement
April 12, 2024

At a time of heightened violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by the US-backed Armed Forces of the Philippines, and rapid US military build-up in the Philippines and throughout Southeast Asia, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met yesterday with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the three nations’ first trilateral summit at the White House. The main objective of the summit is to strengthen military ties between the countries, particularly in the context of the US drive to war against China.

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the ongoing military buildup by the US and its allies in Southeast Asia,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, today. “We condemn the intrusion of Chinese naval and fishing vessels into the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines, but ICHRP is deeply concerned by the collaboration between the Marcos Jr administration and the US, Japan, and their allies in openly preparing for war against China. The deployment of more troops, the military exercises, and the placing of medium-range missiles along the so-called First Island Chain are all preparations for war.”

Murphy added: “This military and economic collaboration between Marcos Jr, Biden, and Kishida is especially reprehensible given the history of violent invasion, mass murder, and colonization of the Philippines by both the United States and Japan within the last century, and Japan’s invasion of China and occupation of Korea.” 

The US invaded and occupied the Philippines in 1899–1913, when the US army rounded up peasants into concentration camps and declared entire areas of the country as battle zones, in which no distinction was made between combatants and civilians. Over 16,000 Filipino soldiers were killed in the fighting, with estimates of civilian deaths of up to 1 million. US colonial control was interrupted only by the brutal Imperial Japanese invasion from 1942–45.  

The “Independence” of the Philippines in the immediate postwar period institutionalized US military, economic and political control through unequal treaties and trade agreements. 

The Philippines has since served as a constant outpost of US militarism, especially with the relentless bombing of Vietnam from 1965–73. The Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) bases, the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) and the 25-year-long RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement give the US military access to all of the Philippines.

The US Counterinsurgency Doctrine has produced a series of brutal US-backed regimes—Marcos Sr., Ramos, Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Duterte, and Marcos Jr.—all too willing to wage war on their populations in a never-ending campaign to suppress dissent. 

The millions of Filipinos who are forced to seek work overseas as a result of the dire economic situation are evidence that this ongoing subservience to the US offers little for the average citizen in terms of social and economic stability. The trilateral summit is a back-to-the future event where the Philippines will be the United States’ frontline vassal in its looming confrontation with China. 

ICHRP denounces the trilateral summit’s objective to bolster security ties through joint military exercises by the US, Japan, and the Philippines. Washington’s anti-China war propaganda ignores the reality that these exercises primarily occur in the Philippines and further consolidate the Marcos Jr regime’s subjugation to the US and repression of its own people. 

Every diplomatic effort must be made to avoid war in Southeast Asia and to uphold the sovereign rights of all nations in the region, including the Philippines. The South China Sea should be a focus for negotiated demilitarisation, and events like the trilateral summit should be shunned by all parties.

Oppose violations of International Humanitarian Law!
Uphold Philippine sovereignty!
Oppose China’s aggression!
Oppose US militarism and its drumbeat for war on China!
Oppose the trilateral summit!

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

Press Statement
April 8, 2024

On April 2, 2024, the Philippine Air Force bombed and fired rockets in the area of Brgy. Nagcanasan, Pilar, Abra and Sitio Paring, Brgy. Babalasioan, Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur, forcing the closure of schools and the evacuation of up to 212 families – 650 individuals. The aerial attacks followed clashes over seven hours between elements of the New People’s Army (NPA) and the 50^th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, in which one soldier was reported wounded.

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) joins with the local Ilocos Human Rights Alliance and Kaammoyo Ti Kappia, and the national human rights alliance Karapatan in their calls for an end to indiscriminate bombing in civilian areas,” said its Global Chairperson, Peter Murphy.

Video taken by the fleeing civilians showed helicopters and an aircraft, which the military reported was an A-29B Super Tucano, a single engine close military support aircraft made in the USA.

“International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is the law related to war and applies to wars between states, and to intra-state conflicts such as the long-running armed rebellion by the NPA, the Communist Party of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP),” said Murphy. “IHL requires that military forces discriminate between civilians and armed fighters, and that civilians are protected. Indiscriminate bombing, artillery strikes or small arms fire are illegal under IHL”.

“We are relieved that there are so far no reports of civilian casualties from this attack in Abra and Ilocos Sur, but the massive upheaval and trauma of this farming community, already suffering from inflation of their arm inputs and from a severe drought, is still a terrible burden. We urge for a thorough independent investigation of this incident.

“The bombing as described by the people affected is illegal. The nations who supply the weapons, particularly the United States, must cease their support while these violations of IHL continue,” Murphy said.

“Instead of recklessly continuing to arm the Philippine military, the international community should press Marcos Jr to immediately re-start the formal peace talks with the NDFP, which could address the root causes of this long-running conflict – landlessness, poverty, lack of industrial development and lack of the rule of law,” Murphy concluded.

Karapatan reports that civilian victims of bombings by the Armed Forces of the Philippines increased from 2,354 in 2022, to 20,391 in 2023. This demonstrates a sharp increase in human rights violations under the new President, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, compared to his notorious predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

Defend Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law!
Stop the Bombings in the North!
Re-commence the Peace Talks!
Address the Roots of the Armed Conflict!

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

April 1, 2024

Over this Easter Weekend, the International Interfaith Network of ICHRP would like to present four Prayers for Peace, which we will publish daily over the weekend. These prayers were submitted by members of the Interfaith Network. They help us reflect on our role as people of faith in the struggle for justice, peace, and human rights in the Philippines.

Today’s prayer was written by Deaconess Sharon McCart of the United Methodist Church

Merciful God, giver of all good gifts,

We come to you to ask for the gift of peace, a true peace, a lasting peace. We are weary of violence and death. Have mercy, God! Teach all people to pursue peace instead of waging war. Teach us how to live together without violence and domination. Lead us in the footsteps of the Prince of Peace until all people live in peace and no one learns war anymore. Have mercy on us and grant us peace! We ask this in the name of the one who was a victim of violence and who also is the source of true peace, your only begotten, Jesus Christ.

Amen and amen.

March 31, 2024

Over this Easter Weekend, the International Interfaith Network of ICHRP would like to present four Prayers for Peace, which we will publish daily over the weekend. These prayers were submitted by members of the Interfaith Network. They help us reflect on our role as people of faith in the struggle for justice, peace, and human rights in the Philippines.

Today’s prayer was written by Chris Ferguson of the United Church of Canada, and International Professor for Peace and Justice at Universidad Reformada, Colombia.

O God of Life: In the midst of suffering, oppression, persecution, violence, intimidation, impoverishment, red-tagging, bombing and death, the crucified peoples of the Philippines bear witness to the power of the Resurrection in history, as they affirm through their struggle and resistance, that hope is more powerful than resignation and that even in the face of colonization and Empire, death does not have the last word.

This Easter Day we give thanks for your hope-filled YES to life, freedom and justice seen in the rising up of the crucified people of the Philippines as they affirm their solidarity and dignity and seek to overturn injustice and demand a just and lasting peace. In this rising up to seek abundant life for all, we cry out: Christ is risen! Risen indeed!

Amen and Amen.