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

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) today commemorates the 37th anniversary of the EDSA Revolution, which ousted President Ferdinand Marcos from power on February 25, 1986. In a series of mass mobilizations involving millions of people from February 22 to 25, the Filipino people intervened in an internal security forces rebellion against Marcos and brought to an end a powerful military dictatorship by asserting their collective human rights.

The EDSA Revolution put an end to the era of Martial Law, which saw tens of thousands of human rights violations including torture, forced disappearances, killings, and illegal arrests. Under Marcos’ rule, the Marcos family and their cronies plundered billions of dollars in wealth while selling out the Philippines to transnational corporations and US military bases. The dictatorship was defended by the family and their loyal military faction up until the very end – including by Marcos’ son and current president, Bongbong Marcos – who attempted to push his father to order a military attack on Camp Crane where tens of thousands of civilians had rallied.

ICHRP commends the millions of people who participated in the EDSA revolution of 1986. It is only through their collective effort and mobilization that the Filipino people can defend their fundamental human rights, and this remains just as true now under the current regime of Bongbong Marcos as it did under the reign of his father.

The international community has condemned the brazen violations of human rights under the Duterte Presidency of 2016-22, and the International Criminal Court is pursuing its investigation of Duterte and his officials for the crime against humanity of murder. President Bongbong Marcos is continuing Duterte’s criminal policies, opening up new schemes to plunder the nation, and boosting US military bases in the country, while widespread poverty and hunger continues to oppress the Filipino people.

Perhaps history will also repeat with yet another EDSA Revolution. Perhaps the Filipino people will invent another way to win back their basic individual and collective human rights. ICHRP will always be advocating to the international community for solidarity with the brave Filipino people who continue to assert their rights no matter how heavy the repression that is thrown at them.

Statement

February 23, 2023

Following the Philippine Senate ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) expresses a grave warning on the free trade agreement’s (FTA) possible violation of the Filipino people’s economic, social and cultural rights. The 20 senators who voted for the ratification of this unfair agreement showed their anti-people stance by dumping the poor Filipino people further into poverty.

“As a comprehensive free trade agreement covering the biggest economies in the Asia-Pacific, the RCEP puts local producers and markets in the Philippines at a disadvantage as they will be forced to compete with a flood of cheaper and high-grade imported goods from highly-industrialized countries”, said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

The RCEP eliminates 90 percent of tariffs among its participating economies, the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. The RCEP covers roughly 30 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). It is widely perceived as China’s counterweight to the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) from which then President Donald Trump withdrew participation in January 2017.

Despite gross violation of human rights in Myanmar, China and the Philippines, the RCEP has no commitments to human rights, labor rights or environmental standards.

“The RCEP will surely mean the worsening violation of workers’ rights. Filipino workers already suffer from contractualization, low wages, unsafe working conditions and the non respect of ILO Conventions 87 and 98 on their right to associate and to collective bargaining. Peasants will face impossible competition from giant agri-corporations, and indigenous peoples (IPs) will be confronted by the expansion of destructive mega-mining projects,” continued Murphy.

“Following a neoliberal framework, it will also open up basic social services to further liberalization, privatization, and deregulation, making it more difficult for the Filipino masses to have access to desperately needed medical, education, and transportation services.”

“Instead of participating in unfair free trade agreements like RCEP, the Philippine Government should focus on improving its national economy and supporting its local producers and businesses who are already reeling from the continued rise of inflation in the country. A primary focus should be given to genuine land reform and national industrialization which would generate quality jobs and would respond to the actual needs of the Filipino people,” concluded Murphy.

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

Statement

February 21, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls on the Philippine Government to give priority and immediate assistance to the 248 affected Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Turkey and Syria. According to a statement by the Philippine Embassy in Ankara, six Filipinos, including a woman and her three children who were previously reported missing, were confirmed dead in the aftermath of the deadliest earthquake to hit Turkey this century.

“The Philippine government through its embassy in Turkey should promptly help with the repatriation of Filipino survivors and provide financial compensation and psychosocial support to the bereaved families of the Filipinos who died in this devastating calamity,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

The earthquake, which struck southeastern Turkey in the early morning of February 6, has a current death toll of over 40,000 in Turkey alone. In Hatay, one of the worst-hit provinces in the country, at least 80% of the buildings were reduced to rubble. Syria has reported a death toll of at least 6,000 people.

“ICHRP remains firm on its call to rescind labor export policies which have been a staple feature of all administrations in the post-Marcos era. President Bongbong Marcos should instead prioritize improving the Philippine economy to generate quality local jobs to stop the forced migration of millions of Filipinos every year in search of high-paying jobs abroad,” concluded Murphy.

Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, +61418312301

chairperson@ichrp.net

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is very critical of the recent announcement of the Philippine government that US troops will be approved to operate out of additional Philippine military bases,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

“The additional four bases make a total of nine which are covered by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), which permit the stationing of US military personnel inside Philippine military bases. Given the history of human rights violations against Filipinos by members of both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the United States Armed Forces, this development must be condemned by the international community.

“Important to understanding this recent announcement is the long history of the United States’ presence in the Philippines,” Murphy added. The US military played a key role in the violent takeover over the Philippines from the Philippine Republic which had defeated the previous colonial power, Spain. In this Philippine-American war of 1899-1902, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos died in combat and civilian massacres. For almost 50 years, the Philippines remained a colony of the US, and the violent force of the US military played an important role in maintaining this.

Since the nominal independence of the Philippines in 1946, the legal specifics of the US military presence in the Philippines have evolved, but US soldiers have remained ever-present in the country, providing support and training to members of the AFP. In 1991, the Philippine Senate rejected the proposed “RP-US Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Peace” that would have extended the presence of the US military bases at Clark and Subic by ten years. However, a different Senate voted for the VFA in 1999, allowing the US military to return in strength, trampling again the principle of national sovereignty.

“As ICHRP has reported many times,” Murphy continued, “the AFP plays a key role in the counter-insurgency operations of the Philippine government, regularly committing human rights and international humanitarian law violations against unarmed peasants, indigenous people, labor leaders, and other human rights advocates. Human rights violations against Filipinos by US soldiers have also been widely publicized, such as the 2014 murder of Jennifer Laude by US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton.

“The continued and expanding presence of the US military in the Philippines means continued US support for and participation in the violation of civil and political rights, and violation of the right to sovereignty of the Filipino people. ICHRP supports those Filipino organizations demanding an end to EDCA, and an end to all US military aid and presence in the Philippines,” concluded Murphy.