Statement

January 26, 2023

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) urges the International Labor Organization (ILO) to probe further the violations of labor rights of workers in the Philippines through its High Level Tripartite Mission (HLTM). The ongoing Mission started on January 23 in the Philippines and will conclude on January 27.

“The ongoing Mission of the ILO is in line with one of INVESTIGATE PH’s key recommendations in all its three reports submitted to the UN OCHR, the ICC and the ILO. It is high time that the Philippine government is made accountable for its gross violations of workers’ rights, which heightened during President Duterte’s term,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

Formalized in June 1948, the ILO Convention Nos. 87 and 98 unequivocally declares the “freedom of association and right to organize” of all workers in the world, which the Philippines ratified in 1953. These rights are also stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights where the Philippine government is a party to these conventions.

Despite having it ratified in 1953, the Philippines has a poor record of implementing the ILO Convention No. 87. Under President Duterte’s administration alone, 56 labor leaders and organizers were killed, while hundreds were victims of various cases of red-tagging, harassment, union-busting, and arrests due to trumped-up charges. Among these incidents is the Bloody Sunday Massacre on March 7, 2021, which killed 9 activists in Southern Tagalog. One of the victims was labor leader Emmanuel “Manny” Asuncion, who was then in the office of Cavite Workers’ Assistance Center, Inc. (WAC) when state armed forces forcibly entered the office, tortured and killed him. The Department of Justice in a Resolution recently dismissed the criminal complaint filed by Asuncion’s wife against Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel for “insufficiency of evidence”, concluding that there is no probable cause to prosecute them for the killing of Manny Asuncion. This further exacerbates the climate of impunity and the continued delay in giving justice for victims of state violence.

“Equally alarming is the practice of the Philippine government in repressing the right of workers to organize and form trade unions. The creation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has aggravated the disrespect of this right by the government,” added Murphy. They red-tag, threaten, file trumped-up charges, arrest and detain, and kill union leaders and organizers. The Alliance for Industrial Peace Program formerly known as Joint Industrial Peace Concerns Office (JIPCO) sees workers’ collective action as ‘terrorism’ and makes organizing of workers into trade unions very difficult especially in export processing zone areas. 

The workers’ situation has not improved since July 2022 under Marcos Jr. The Minimum Wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) remains at a measly P570 (US$10.44) per day, while other provinces like Bicol have it significantly lower at P335 (US$6.14) per day. Meanwhile, the real wage of workers in NCR is at P488 (US$8.94) per day, a far cry from the family living wage of P1,117 (US$20.47) per day, based on August 2022 data. Coupled with the fast-rising inflation and the continued crackdown of labor rights in the country, the problems faced by Filipino workers seem to have no end in sight.

As the ILO Mission concludes on January 27, ICHRP implores the ILO to urgently come up with the necessary recommendations to put a stop to the killings and repression of workers in the Philippines. “ICHRP reiterates its call to have the Philippine government abide by international labor laws and to be held accountable for its blatant disregard and violations of workers rights,” concluded Murphy.

Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, +61418312301

chairperson@ichrp.net

January 22, 2023

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) today marks the 36th anniversary of the Mendiola massacre, a brutal attack by state forces against peasant farmers on January 22, 1987,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

“In the context of the ongoing struggle for land reform under the administration of Corazon Aquino, over ten thousand farmers joined protests outside of the Department  of Agrarian Reform and demanded action on the fair distribution of land to all. They then marched toward Malacanang Palace, and thirteen were killed when soldiers opened fired at the Mendiola Bridge: Danilo Arjona, Leopoldo Alonzo, Adelfa Aribe, Dionisio Bautista, Roberto Caylao, Vicente Campomanes, Ronilo Dumanico, Dante Evangelio, Angelito Gutierrez, Rodrigo Grampan, Bernabe Laquindanum, Sonny Boy Perez, and Roberto Yumul.

“Today, more than three decades after this horrific injustice, the peasants’ demand for land reform still goes unanswered,” Murphy continued. “Millions of farmers across the Philippines remain landless, and are forced to pay exorbitant land rents to produce. The military continues to threaten and kill peasants  who defend their right to till the lands and struggle for their basic rights – peasant communities even face shelling and bombing under the guise of ‘counterinsurgency operations’.

“ICHRP amplifies the call for genuine land reform and respect for the rights of the farmer across the Philippines. We also call on the international community to support this struggle by raising political or material support for peasant organizations in the Philippines, such as the Kilusang Magbubukid sa Pilipinas. The anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre reminds us that the struggle for justice is as important as ever.”

Statement

December 23, 2022

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) joins the international community in grieving the sudden and unexpected passing of Jose Maria “Ka Joma” Sison. He died at the age of 83 last December 16 after being confined for two weeks in a hospital in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

He was the founding Chairperson of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), the Chief Political Consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Peace Negotiating Panel, and Emeritus Chair of the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS), which he also helped found in 2001.

“Sison was a patriot and a staunch fighter for the comprehensive individual and collective human rights of the Filipino people for over 60 years,” said ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy. 

“His advocacy of armed struggle as a legitimate and vital part of the Filipino liberation struggle attracted massive retaliation from the US government and its Filipino subordinates. But all peoples have the right to rebel against tyranny, as expressed in the preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ka Joma insisted that the armed struggle in the Philippines be conducted lawfully,” said Murphy.

While in exile in the Netherlands, Sison was able to play a key role in the decades-long peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. Through his active participation with the NDFP panel, three major agreements between the two parties were signed — the Hague Joint Declaration, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), and the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG). As well, Ka Joma contributed to the draft Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER), which was initiated by both negotiating panels in 2017, but blocked by President Duterte.

“The draft CASER represents a decisive step forward in addressing the roots of social conflict in the Philippines,” said Murphy.

These agreements are monumental contributions to the struggle for the Filipino people’s rights. The Hague Joint Declaration recognized that the NDFP and GRP are equals in the peace talks, which are aimed at resolving the armed conflict with a just and lasting peace. It set out four substantive agenda for the negotiations — CARHRIHL, social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms, and the end of hostilities and disposition of forces. 

CARHRIHL applies the United Nations international human rights conventions and International Humanitarian Law to ensure the protection and respect of the human rights of civilians and of forces of both parties who are rendered hors de combat while directly participating in the armed conflict. The draft CASER contains specific initiatives to solve the poverty, exploitation and oppression that is the root of the armed conflict in the country, such as genuine land reform, rural development, and national industrialization.

“ICHRP honors Ka Joma’s legacy and contributions to the struggle for self-determination and development of the Filipino people. We urge the international community and international institutions to stand with the victims of human rights violations and those who struggle for democracy and human rights in the Philippines,” concluded Peter Murphy.

Defend Human Rights!
End State Terror!
Bring Justice for the Victims!

Statement

December 10, 2022

The Philippines has its new President Marcos but remains a killing ground for
political dissidents, community organizers, indigenous people, rights
advocates, and alleged drug suspects. The machinery of terror set up by the
Duterte Regime under its “shoot-to-kill” and arbitrary arrest policies remains
firmly in place. As we mark International Human Rights Day, ICHRP
denounces the ongoing violations of political, social and economic rights and
attacks on freedom of speech and the press that continue under the Marcos
Government.

At least 10 peace consultants have been murdered by the Philippine
government since it withdrew from the peace process with the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in 2017. Most recently, NDFP
peace consultant Erickson Acosta and peasant organizer Joseph Jimenez
were detained and then executed in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, on
November 30. The two were captured by elements of the 94th and 47th
Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army. The military attempted to cover up
the murder by projecting Acosta as an armed combatant at the time of his
death. Locals said no firefight nor encounter had occurred. Another NDFP
peace consultant Pedro Codaste was killed on January 21, 2022, by the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). This case also involved allegations of
abduction and torture by the security forces. The execution of prisoners by the
AFP represents a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law.
Negros has been the scene of ongoing state violence over the past several
months, with reports of widespread aerial bombing of civilians in early October
2022, most notably in Himamaylan City in Negros Occidental. Bombing
incidents lasting for 20 minutes were reported as well in Sitio Cunalom and
parts of Casipungan, Cambulan, Pangi and Igaw, all of Barangay Carabalan.
In the same areas residents were forced to flee their homes, with up to 2,500
persons heading for evacuation centers on October 6, after the AFP brought

in artillery and conducted indiscriminate firing on the communities.
Indiscriminate aerial bombardment and artillery strikes on communities by the
AFP represents a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law.
The media remains under attack from the Marcos government. Cyber Libel
Laws have been used in attempts to both silence and close down
independent media and have produced a litany of charges against Nobel
Peace Prize winning journalist Maria Ressa. Journalists continue to be killed
by state actors under the Marcos government, including the recent death of
on-air personality Percy Lapid, killed by unidentified gunman allegedly under
the direction of the head of the Department of Corrections. The Philippines
remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist.

The War on Drugs also continues under the Marcos government, despite
protestations to the contrary. The Marcos government attended the 41st
Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva on November 14, 2022. The new government promised “real
justice in real time”, claiming they are taking concrete measures to correct the
wrongs of the Duterte government. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Despite the change of government, all the machinery and instruments of state
terror continue to function. Police anti-drug operations continue to extra-
judicially target poor people, with impunity. Recent data from the Third World
Studies Center in Manila indicates there have been 127 drug killings by
police between Marcos’ inauguration on July 1st and November 7, 2022 – the
Duterte policy rolling on. The Anti-Terrorism Act with its broad sweeping
powers and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict
(NTF-ELCAC), along with the Philippine National Police and the AFP,
continue to operate as mechanisms to crush dissent and to violate the civil
and political rights of citizens. No one is spared.

The Marcos government claims it is addressing the drug war killings, and
claim to have investigated 17,000 police officers and filed 15 charges in the
first six months. On the one hand, this suggests that there are 17,000 police
involved in 6,600 officially-acknowledged drug war killings. And on the other
hand, at this rate it will take the Philippine government approximately 1000
years to provide justice to the actual 30,000 odd victims of the Drug War. This
would be an example of Justice Secretary Remulla’s “real justice in real time”!
Clearly, domestic remedies have failed, as elements of the judiciary are
complicit in the war on dissent, using the bench to support military and police
attacks on dissenters by providing broad powers though warrants of arrest
that frequently ended in the summary deaths of the accused. The courts are
just one element in the entire machinery of the state which has been
weaponized in the fascist whole-of-nation approach to target regime
opponents.

In this context we urge the international community and international
institutions to stand with the victims and those who struggle for democracy
and human rights in the Philippines. We call for continued pressure through
international mechanisms and international solidarity to push the Philippine
government to action. To this end, we call for:

1. Pressure on the UNHRC to conduct an independent investigation of
   the drug war killings and other political killings as called for in the June
   2020 report of former UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle
   Bachelet.
2. The Philippine government to rejoin the International Criminal Court
   (ICC) and allow it to conduct investigations in the Philippines related to
   the Crime Against Humanity of murder and violations of International
   Humanitarian Law by the Duterte government.
3. Pressure the Philippine government to stop red tagging – executive
   designation of individuals and organizations as terrorists, such as
   NDFP Peace Negotiator Luis Jalandoni in the Netherlands, and the
   Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.
4. The Marcos government to cease all actions that undermine the re-
   commencement of the peace talks with the NDFP.
5. Suspension of all international aid to the Armed Forces of the
   Philippines, Philippine National Police, and counter-terrorism programs
   which would place weapons in the hands of those committing these
   grave human rights violations.
6. National governments to introduce legislation to sanction key members
   of the Duterte government for their role in the well documented mass
   killings and the associated crimes against humanity.
7. The Philippine Government to release all political prisoners.
   Further we urge the International Criminal Court to pursue its case against
   former President Duterte and his senior officials, to follow the evidence and
   give voice to the victims.
   
   Further comment: Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson, +61418312301
   chairperson@ichrp.net

Statement

December 9, 2022

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is one with the international community in condemning the listing of Louie Jalandoni, 87 years old, as “terrorist” by the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

ICHRP supports the Committee DEFEND, a group defending the rights of Louie Jalandoni, in submitting the petition addressed to the Philippine President through the Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, against the designation of Louie Jalandoni as terrorist. This submission by the Filipino people was supported by around 1,500 initial on-line signatories from the international community.

Last May 25, the Anti-Terrorism Council through its Resolution No. 31 unjustly designated Louie Jalandoni along with five other people, as terrorists without due process. This designation was based on trumped-up charges from their so-called confidential “verified information”. Jalandoni is the former chairperson of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), who has resided in the Netherlands since 1976.

“That the Anti-Terrorism Council can designate individuals or groups as terrorists without prior notice and transparency to its selection process clearly shows the Philippine government’s disregard for the right to due process of the Filipino people. It is no different from red-tagging, which arbitrarily labels as enemies of the state those who advocate for the legitimate demands of the impoverished Filipino people”, said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy. “There is no judicial role in this designation, it is an arbitrary executive decision.”

Amidst the country’s worsening human rights crisis, ICHRP reiterates its calls on the Philippine Government to heed the recommendations of other member states of the United Nations in the recently concluded 41st Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) last November to respect the rights of the Filipino people. Murphy also called for the international community to continue to monitor the developments of human rights under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr, and to press for the Philippines to return to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.