Media Statement

September 11, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) joins the call of progressive and human rights groups to surface Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano. The two women environmental activists were reportedly abducted last September 2 by four armed men aboard a sports utility vehicle in front of the Orion Water District in Brgy. Lati, Orion, Bataan in Central Luzon.

“It has been more than a week and the whereabouts of Castro and Tamano remain unknown. ICHRP condemns the non-cooperation of the Philippine National Police in helping the families of the victims. We also condemn the NTF-ELCAC’s opportunistic red-tagging of the two,” ICHRP Global Council Chairperson Peter Murphy said.

“The Orion PNP’s refusal to accept a police blotter and sign a desaparecido form submitted by Castro’s mother raises questions on their possible involvement in the abduction. They have also refused to show CCTV footage to the victims’ families, citing orders from police higher-ups. We would like to remind the PNP of their legal mandate to serve and protect their constituents,” continued Murphy.

On September 6, around eight (8) police from Plaridel, Bulacan in civilian uniform reportedly visited the home of Castro’s mother. Introducing themselves as intelligence officers, they asked about Castro’s educational background and organizational affiliation, supposedly for verification. Before they left one of the policemen introduced himself as Sgt. De Leon. Less than an hour later, her mother was again visited by a military officer also in civilian uniform.

Castro and Tamano are volunteers of AKAP KA Manila Bay. They were on their way to a consultation to prepare for a relief operation with affected farmers and fisherfolk in a community in Bataan when they were abducted.

AKAP Ka Manila Bay (Alyansa ng mga Mamamayan para sa Pagtatanggol sa Kabuhayan, Paninirahan at Kalikasan ng Manila Bay (Citizens’ Alliance to Defend Livelihood, Settlement and Environment in Manila Bay)) is an alliance of primarily marginalized residents along Manila Bay area convened by church people and fisherfolk organizations to forward issues concerning affected stakeholders.  

Ongoing reclamation projects around Manila Bay have been met with strong opposition from several residents, human rights and environmental groups, citing its disastrous effects to nature and to the affected residents’ livelihood and settlement. Prior to their abduction, Castro and Tamano have previously reported being surveilled. 

“Castro and Tamano’s abduction marks the 9th and 10th victims of enforced disappearance under the Marcos Jr. presidency. These disappearances are part of a broader War on Dissent which are central to the government’s counter-insurgency initiatives. Their case also adds to the long list of attacks on environmental activists, reaffirming the Philippines’ label as the deadliest country in Asia for environmental defenders. The recent days-long flooding in areas around Manila Bay may serve a lesson to the Philippine government to heed the clamor of its citizens to put a stop to the devastating reclamation projects in Manila Bay,“ concluded Murphy.  

For comment: Peter Murphy, Chairperson, ICHRP Global Council +61 418 312 301

Press Release

September 6, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls for the withdrawal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) engagement as private sector representative to the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

“While the CBCP has clarified that only its Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs is engaging with the NTF-ELCAC to ‘address some Church issues vis-a-vis government’, the NTF-ELCAC’s gross record of human rights violations should be enough reason for the CBCP to cease any form of involvement with them,” said ICHRP Global Council Chairperson Peter Murphy.

“Instead of joining and allowing itself to be used to legitimize NTF-ELCAC, the CBCP should be calling for its abolition for it has been a tool used to demonize church people and freedom loving Filipino people who are exemplifying genuine services to their members and to their country,” added Murphy.

Church people have been victims to NTF-ELCAC’s red-tagging rampage. Last February 22, Negros Catholic Bishop Gerardo Alminaza was red-tagged during a segment of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI)’s television program “Laban Kasama ng Bayan”. SMNI serves as the NTF-ELCAC’s propaganda machine.

“By involving the church, the NTF-ELCAC is blatantly abusing its so-called ‘whole-of-nation approach’ and it seems to have forgotten the separation of church and state,” continued Murphy.

The NTF-ELCAC was established on December 4, 2018, through then President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order (EO) 70. Its stated goal is to end the communist armed rebellion in the country, which is one of the longest running insurgencies in the world. But instead of addressing the root causes of the armed conflict, the NTF-ELCAC has resorted to baseless red-tagging, harassing, vilifying, and surveilling activists, human rights defenders, church workers, peasants, and workers. Many of those previously red-tagged end up dead or in jail with trumped-up charges.

“Joining the NTF-ELCAC is not the best way to address church issues with the government. We urge the CBCP to demand that the government respect the Filipino people’s fundamental rights and support their desire for a just peace and genuine development. ICHRP remains vigilant in exposing the Philippine government’s attempts to further its spate of human rights and international humanitarian law violations,” concluded Murphy. ###

For comment: Peter Murphy, Chairperson, ICHRP Global Council +61 418 312 301

Press Release
July 23, 2022

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) salutes the mass protests to take place in Manila and across the Philippines on July 24 as President Marcos Jr gives his second State of the Nation Address,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson. “Marcos Jr’s first year not only continued the bloody repression of Duterte, but excelled it.

“ICHRP calls on the international community to roundly condemn the Marcos Jr government for its violations of human rights in its first nine months: 27 extrajudicial killings, 22 attempted extrajudicial killings, 4 cases of enforced disappearance, 11 cases of torture, 56 cases of illegal arrest and detention, 10,589 people forced to evacuate, 1,900 victims of aerial bombardment, and 747,345 cases of harassment and intimidation,” said Murphy.

“The war on the poor launched by Duterte through alleged police anti-drug operations continues under Marcos Jr despite the decision of the International Criminal Court to investigate the officials who did this as mass murderers,” said Murphy. “The international community cannot allow this brazen impunity to continue,” he said.

ICHRP is committed to keeping the Marcos Jr regime under our own human rights surveillance, and to alerting the international community to the dire situation of the Filipino people. The signing into law a few days ago of the so-called sovereign wealth fund, the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), is also feared to worsen the minimal basic social services such as education, health care and housing. “The MIF will bludgeon to death the people who are already suffering in a quagmire of poverty,” added Murphy. 

“ICHRP strongly supports the workers’ call for a national minimum wage of P1,100 (US$20.15) per day in the private sector and P21,000 (US$385) per month in the public sector, for an end to contractualization and for respect for trade union rights. We support the farmers’ call for genuine agrarian reform. We vigorously support the Indigenous Peoples in their battle to defend their ancestral domain. We support the broad people’s demands for genuine local development, human rights protection, good governance, and assertion of national sovereignty. We support the people’s constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of expression and oppose all censorship and attacks on media workers,” said Murphy.

ICHRP supports the calls from the Filipino people for the abolition of the National Task Force to End local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act and abolition of the Anti-Terrorism Council it created. “These are rampant red-tagging machines, and in the end lead to extrajudicial killing,” said Murphy.

“All peoples, including the Filipino people, have the right to self-determination, genuine development and peace, but the Filipino people have been denied this right for too long,” said Murphy. “The powerful nations who underwrite the inhuman and anti-democratic policies of the Marcos Jr administration must cease their police and military aid until human rights are genuinely enjoyed by the Filipino people, and these countries are the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and South Korea,” Murphy said.

“Now the Philippines is being turned into a battlefield between China and the USA in total disrespect for the Filipino people’s rights,” Murphy said.

“Marcos Jr has displayed extraordinary contempt for the terrible economic hardships of the people post-pandemic, while he indulged in lavish parties and frequent foreign trips. ICHRP supports the people’s calls for a radical reversal of these repressive policies, for respect of the comprehensive rights of the people to achieve a just, peaceful and democratic rebuilding of the Philippine economy and society,” Murphy concluded.

For further comment: Peter Murphy +61 418 312 301 chairperson@ichrp.net