Press Release
July 26, 2022

The Filipino people have spelt out the real suffering state of the nation and this should be the basis of the Marcos plan of action – ICHRP

“The People’s State-of-the-Nation street rally yesterday told the incoming Marcos Presidency that the real problems to address are the skyrocketing prices of goods and services, the hell-like traffic gridlocks, rapidly declining value of the Peso, almost weekly increase in the prices of fuel, million-dollar foreign loans, declining real wages, massive landlessness and poverty, intensifying natural disasters, and corruption in government agencies,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).

“What we have seen thus far is Marcos’ secret vacation to Australia, the luxurious exclusive victory parties with the oligarchs, and a grand movie project to repackage the Marcos family as victims and the Filipino people as – in the words of its creator – the ‘thieves of power’ – all amid the very pressing hardships faced by their citizens,” he added.

In his first State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had no qualms in repeating the economic policies of his predecessors, promising to extend the VAT to digital services which will hit the poor, to liberalise foreign investment, promote more special economic zones, and expand the Public Private Partnership system – all opportunities for the oligarchs and his selected cronies to further plunder the coffers of the nation and squeeze consumers of public services. 

Marcos Jr. paid lip service to the climate crisis, but promised to expand natural gas use and even build nuclear power stations!

He made no mention at all of human rights. “This is not surprising especially with his father’s – Ferdinand Marcos Sr. – notorious record of Martial Law and human rights violations. This means that the climate of impunity continues, a very dangerous situation for the Filipino people. There’s a pressing need for the international community to increase their vigilance and action,” Murphy warned.

“Marcos Jr and his family have long waited for this moment to be back in Malacañang. If they had a sincere desire to serve the Filipino people they would have long ago put forward sound, realistic proposals and mobilized significant amounts of their own wealth to invest in the various government posts that they have held.

“We from the international community extend our solidarity to the people who yesterday exercised their right to peaceful assembly to show the true state of the nation. We urge the dictator’s son not to follow his father’s cruel and bloody footsteps, and instead to work with his critics and the Filipino people’s movements who do have realistic, specific proposals to help solve the pressing problems of the Philippines to achieve just, peaceful and genuine development,” Murphy concluded.

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Statement
July 24, 2022

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is not surprised that the NTF-ELCAC is recommending against peace talks to the Marcos administration. “Addressing the injustices at the root of the longstanding armed conflict in the Philippines requires brains to carefully study the situation, as well as a heart and hard work to effectively address that. But Lorraine Badoy and her cohorts have learned from the master Rodrigo Duterte well. They have exhibited not only how lazy and heartless they are but also how they have enjoyed the red-tagging and killing spree against civilian activists,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy.

Previous peace talks have broken down because of the government’s lack of political will to pursue peace and sustainable development based on truth and justice. All the government wanted was for the New People’s Army to lay down their arms without resolving the roots of the armed conflict and implementing genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization. All the government cared about was to continue trampling on the people’s rights and plundering their communities. The contrived localized talks and granting of amnesty and payments to “surrenderees” are convenient for them because they corrupt these payments instead of really spending for genuine, sustainable development for all. This approach has not addressed the root causes of and will only prolong or make the conflict a vicious cycle.

We reiterate our support for the new National Security Adviser Dr. Clarita Carlos’ call of doing away with the Duterte-Badoy NTF-ELCAC’s lazy, impatient, and blood-thirsty approach to ending the conflict. Let us all remember that the conflict remains because abuse, exploitation and oppression of the majority by the elite and their foreign masters remain and intensify. We urge Dr. Carlos and the Marcos administration to opt to work hard and smart – that is, to genuinely deliver social justice to all the marginalized and oppressed, which necessitates national-level peace talks.

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Update as of July 21, 2022: the family was able to see Gary. He was brought to court at Bayugan branch for a trumped-up charge of attempted murder, but brought back to Butuan. A bail of P120K was recommended. If the bail is not paid within one week, he’ll be transferred to Bayugan Jail.

Urgent Alert
July 20, 2022

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) denounces the arrest of Gary S. Campos, a volunteer teacher of a community school in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur on Sunday, July 17 at around 1 pm.

Campos was on his way to a teacher’s licensure exam review center when he was arrested by members of the Philippine National Police – Caraga.

At around 8 pm of the same day, he was allowed to make a call to some friends to inform them that he was detained at the Butuan City Police Station. Campos told friends that he was presented a warrant of arrest for an unknown case.

Campos is a Lumad-Manobo who graduated from the Tribal Filipino Program of Surigao del Sur (TRIFPSS) and the Alternative Learning Center for Agriculture and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV). He graduated with an education degree at the St. Theresa’s College-Tandag. After graduation, he volunteered as a teacher for TRIFPSS. Campos is also a member Malahuyatong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunid (MAPASU), a Lumad organization at the forefront in defending the Andap Valley Complex against foreign large-scale coal mining.

This alert will be updated as soon as information is available.

#FreeGaryCampos
#DefendAndapValley
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoners

Press Release
June 30, 2022

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) joins the global chorus condemnation of Rodrigo Duterte’s 11^th hour effort to close down Rappler.com. This is another serious violation of civil and political rights. We salute Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and her staff for defying the shutdown order,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the ICHRP Global Council today.

“Duterte is having his last-minute revenge against critics, and appears to be locking in the incoming administration to ever harsher repression. We call on the new administration to cancel these orders and to stop the red tagging of critics, fake charges, long detentions without trial and extrajudicial killings,” Murphy said. “The 700 political prisoners, starting with Senator de Lima, must be freed”.

On June 28, just two days before his presidency ends, Duterte’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reaffirmed a 2018 order revoking the certificates of incorporation of Rappler and Rappler Holding Corporation, effectively abolishing their corporate existence.

Next day, Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Laureate, said, “We have been harassed, this is intimidation, these are political tactics and we refuse to succumb to them.” Rappler’s lawyers initiated an appeal and Rappler has continued to publish.

This attack on high-profile Rappler comes after the National Security Council (NSC) ordered internet service providers to block news websites, including Bulatlat.com, using the Anti-Terrorism Law, which ICHRP has condemned. Bulatlat continues to publish.

The latest attack on Rappler, as well as the attacks on Bulatlat.com and Pinoy Weekly, were condemned by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), saying these plunged the country’s media into uncertain waters.

The International Federation of Journalists called for the blocking of news websites in the Philippines to stop.

The Philippines now ranks 147th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom index. In 2020, ABS-CBN, the largest network, was ordered to cease free-to-air operations after it was denied a new broadcast license, and now relies on an internet platform.

Duterte reacts personally to criticism of his policies, especially the war on poor people in the guise of a ’war on drugs’, and both ABS-CBN and Rappler have been consistent critics. Senator Leila de Lima has been jailed on fabricated charges for five years because she challenged this policy from the start.

Ressa has faced 10 arrest warrants since 2019 and is appealing a conviction for alleged cyber libel that has a six-year jail sentence. “This legal warfare against Maria Ressa, and against all civilian critics must stop”, Murphy concluded.

Further comment: Peter Murphy +61 418 312 301

Press Release
June 30, 2022

“Today’s inauguration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as president of the Philippines, and the diplomatic congratulations of some heads of states cannot mask the deeply flawed recent election process and the premonitions of deeper crisis for the Filipino people,” said Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) today.

“Marcos Jr. is the dictator’s son who lived luxuriously while the Filipino people languished in poverty and repression back then. He has expressed zero remorse for the horrors of martial law but rather has spent millions to try to erase that record through paid dis- and misinformation. It is Marcos Jr. who has been co-sponsored into the presidency by the outgoing Duterte who has surpassed the crimes of Marcos Sr. and sanitized his image,” said Mr. Murphy.

The International Observer Mission, which was sponsored by ICHRP, Kontra Daya, and the United Church of Christ of the Philippines, involved over 60 international observers from 11 countries. Their Final Report has exposed the massive electoral failure: entertaining the populace with scantily clad girls, mis- and disinformation via paid vlogs, social media posts, and education modules, unprecedented scale of vote buying, paid rallyists, failure of Vote Counting Machines, misuse of SD cards from these machines, high speed announcement of results, and the life-threatening surveillance, red-tagging, arrests and harassment of opposition candidates and campaign workers, media repression, militarization, and extra-judicial killings. This ‘triumph’ of a coalition of notorious political dynasties cannot be afforded any legitimacy.

“What we in the international community in solidarity with the suffering Filipino people want to see, hear and feel is Marcos Jr. make a sincere public apology and serve justice to all Martial Law victims and survivors. We want him to announce a specific plan of action to uphold, protect, and advance the Filipino people’s socio-economic, political and cultural rights,” said Mr. Murphy. “He had three long decades and unquantifiable wealth to rectify his family’s crimes and to prepare for his gubernatorial, senatorial, vice presidential and presidential campaigns, but the people are still waiting to hear anything substantial.”

ICHRP is not reassured by the designation of freedom parks for rallyists and police being ordered to exercise maximum tolerance. “Having visited areas with armed forces and checkpoints, we know that what the 18,000 security personnel and the unknown number of checkpoints can do to hinder people’s mobility and participation in the people’s movement’s protest action. What the people want is for the government to listen to and heed their needs and demands, for only they know and hold the key to end poverty,” said Mr. Murphy. 

“ICHRP urges the international community to heighten its monitoring of the human rights situation in the Philippines, and to boost the energy in the available accountability mechanisms – the International Criminal Court, the findings of the UN Special Rapporteurs, the use of the recent Magnitsky laws against notorious individual violators of human rights, immediate reviews of European Union and US trade preferences for the Philippines, and an urgent review of weapons and training support to the Philippine army and police who are responsible for thousands of extrajudicial killings”, concluded Peter Murphy. 

For further comment: Peter Murphy +61 418 312 301