Statement
May 2, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) salutes the unity of the Philippines’ labor movement as demonstrated in the massive mobilization organized by All Philippine Trade Union alliance on May 1, Labor Day.

It is high time that the different labor groups joined hand in hand to push together for the much needed national minimum wage hike of P750 across the board and the lowering of prices of commodities. The last national minimum wage hike was in the 1980s and the current purchasing power of workers wages does not meet the international standard for a living wage.

“As the plight of workers continues to worsen under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, it is vital and just for workers to assert their rights on the occasion of Labor Day,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of ICHRP Global Council.

“We continue to support the International Labor Organization (ILO)’s recently concluded High Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM) recommendations in achieving justice for victims of the Philippine government’s violations of workers’ rights. The Marcos Jr. government must uphold ILO Convention Nos. 87 and 98 on the Freedom of Association and to collectively bargain, which the Philippines ratified in 1953,” continued Murphy.

Despite being party to these conventions, the Philippines continue to grievously violate workers’ rights and has a poor track record in implementing laws that promote the welfare of workers. From the Duterte to Marcos Jr. administrations, union leaders and organizers continue to be red-tagged, harassed, killed, and slapped with trump-up charges. Union-busting also remains prevalent while labor organizers who exercise their right to organize, collectively bargain and participate in mobilizations are red-tagged through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

ICHRP will continue to support the Philippine labor movement’s call for higher wages, an end to contractualization and for respect for their right to organize. We shall continue to expose to the international community the Philippine government’s continuing gross violations of workers’ rights.

Press Release
May 2, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the blatant and rampant human rights and international humanitarian law (IHL) violations perpetrated by the Philippine government under President Bongbong Marcos.

“President Bongbong Marcos continues to implement the counterinsurgency program of the Duterte administration. This has resulted in a widespread, very brutal and inhumane campaign of human rights and IHL violations against non-combatants, wounded fighters unable to resist (hors de combat), and prisoners of war in the ongoing armed conflict in the country,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Global Council Chairperson.

“Countless incidents of hamletting, red-tagging, harassment of civilians, and indiscriminate firing and bombing of communities have been reported already this year in different areas of the Philippines, including Cagayan Valley, Southern Tagalog, Eastern Visayas, Negros Island, and Mindanao. This clearly violates the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and its Additional Protocols of 1977, ratified by the Philippine government, and numerous provisions under Part IV (On IHL) of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), an agreement signed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).”

A recent case of IHL violation is the brutal killing last August 21, 2022 of Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon, along with eight other members (dubbed the ‘Catbalogan 10’) of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). They were unarmed and reported captured alive and should have been treated as prisoners of war. Wilma Tiamzon was reported to be very sick and should have been treated as hors de combat. But upon capturing the 10, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) killed them, put their remains in a boat, and exploded the boat, splattering their remains and mutilating their lifeless bodies.

“As they were captured unarmed and in no condition to fight, the Catbalogan 10 should have been accorded respect for their rights, as stipulated in the Geneva Conventions on IHL and the CARHRIHL. This case shows that the Philippine government does not respect its own signature in international conventions and is hell bent to follow the counter-insurgency prescriptions of its master, the United States,” continued Murphy.

Benito Tiamzon as a member of the NDFP negotiating panel, and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon as a consultant, made substantial contributions to advance the peace negotiations with the GRP during the early part of the Duterte administration. But the Tiamzons, like most of those involved in the negotiating of the last round of peace agreements with the Duterte regime, have been subsequently killed by the Duterte and Marcos governments.

“ICHRP calls on the Philippine government to uphold the rights of civilians and their communities, as well as combatants rendered hors de combat and prisoners of war, and non-combatants who are members of the warring parties in the ongoing civil war in the country. It will also continue to support calls to address the roots of the armed conflict and attain just and lasting peace for the Filipino people,” concluded Murphy.

Press Release
April 12, 2023

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the unlawful arrest of student leaders Gabriel Magtibay, chairperson of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP), and Joanne Pagkaliwangan of the Far Eastern University during a lightning rally in front of the United States Embassy in Manila in the early morning of April 11,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Global Council Chairperson.

Four paralegals who went to Manila City Police Station 5 to assist the arrested students were also nabbed by the police. As of this writing, the four paralegals were released but the two students are still detained at the Manila Police District Headquarters and charged with Illegal Assembly, Vandalism, and Resisting Arrest.

“The arrest of student activists participating in a peaceful demonstration clearly violates their right to freedom of assembly. This is stipulated in international human rights covenants ratified by the Philippines, such as Article 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” said Peter Murphy.

The demonstration was held to protest the 2023 Balikatan Exercises between an estimated 17,000 US Army troops and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) soldiers from April 11 to April 28, the biggest since its inception in 1991. This huge military event follows the construction of multiple US military bases in key locations in the country including Cagayan Valley and Southern Tagalog through the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). The joint military exercise is widely seen as a provocative act by the US against China, as it includes military exercises planned with other countries in the First Island Chain – Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines.

“The protest action was justified as it defends the Philippines’ right to national sovereignty, a basic human right. Participating in the Balikatan Exercises will only drag the Philippines into the worsening US-China tensions and will likely result in more violations of the rights of the Filipino people,” concluded Murphy.

Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, +61418312301
chairperson@ichrp.net

Press Release
March 20, 2023

ICHRP denounces the February 22 malicious red-tagging of Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Diocese of San Carlos City, Negros, by SMNI online hosts Jeffrey Celiz and Lorraine Badoy, in their program “Laban Kasama ng Bayan”. The two called the bishop’s peace advocacy work and appeal for the resumption of the peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) as “diabolical and demonic”. The SMNI hosts went on to make broader attacks against the work of church people including bishops, pastors, dedicated activists and ordinary persons who advocate for peace and justice in the Philippines.

ICHRP is well aware of Lorraine Badoy’s work as a serial red-tagger, earning her the distinction of being on the infamous list of Duterte minions whom ICHRP continues to work to have sanctioned by the international community through Magnitsky laws.

As the former spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the organization coordinating the Philippine’s “Dirty War” on dissent, Badoy already faces legal action for red-tagging Manila judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar. Last October 2022, lawyers led by former Philippine Bar president Rico Domingo filed a petition with the Supreme Court, asking the High Court to hold Badoy in contempt.

Badoy’s actions once again put the spotlight on this illegal practice of red-tagging for which many UN members states criticized the Philippine government during the November 202 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva. It was during that meeting, following criticism from Lichtenstein, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Romania and the USA, that the Philippine representative Jesus Crispin Remulla, Secretary of Justice, claimed “there is no government policy of red-tagging, it is a term invented by the left”. According to ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy, Remulla’s statement highlights the Philippine government’s state of denial to the international community regarding its continuing war on dissent.

“ICHRP expresses its gratitude and unwavering support for Bishop Gerardo Alminaza for his courageous public stands in support of a resumption of the peace talks between the Government of the Philippines and the NDFP.

“ICHRP supports the work of Bishop Alminaza and shares his conviction that pursuing peace should not be one-sided, militarized or highly politicized,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy.

More comment: Peter Murphy, chairperson@ichrp.net; +61 418 312 301