Press Release
March 29, 2022

“The state of terror created by the Duterte regime is at the heart of this sanctions campaign. There is overwhelming evidence that the Duterte government has been responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people. National governments must act to sanction those who commit serious human rights violations to hold the architects of this terror to account” – Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens.

Today the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) launched a global Magnitsky Sanctions Campaign Against Philippine Human Rights Violators. The purpose of the Magnitsky Campaign is to work with national governments in Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union to hold human rights violators accountable. Magnitsky sanctions range from travel bans to targeted financial sanctions against individuals who are “perpetrators of egregious acts of international concern”. 

The Magnitsky Laws call for sanctions against any foreign nationals responsible for violations of internationally recognized human rights in a foreign country when authorities in that country are unable or unwilling to conduct a thorough, independent and objective investigation of the violations; the law provides for the taking of restrictive measures in respect of foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. 

The Magnitsky campaign is a direct follow up to the work of the INVESTIGATE PH Commission of 2021 which identified patterns of gross and systemic human rights violations including crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Duterte Regime.  In the absence so far of genuine accountability for these crimes through international mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council, ICHRP is launching a global campaign under national Magnitsky Acts to hold those responsible accountable for these widely documented crimes. 

The sanctions campaign targets 12 individuals who were either 

• Architects of the war on drugs and campaign of state terror (Rodrigo Duterte, and Ronald “Bato” De La Rosa);
• Part of the command-and-control structure of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines when rights violations by these state institutions allegedly took place (Gen. Diebold Sinas, General Jose Faustino Jr., General Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr, Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana  and Genral Eduardo Año); or
• Part of the infrastructure of terror in the Duterte administration and participated in the public orchestration of alleged state repression (Bong Go, Harry Roque, Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert and Lorraine Badoy). 

From across the globe ICHRP has received expressions of concern about the Human rights situation in the Philippines. Former Senator Lee Rhiannon of the Australian Greens noted that “…from Australia we have watched with concern the unfolding human rights tragedy in the Philippines. With frightening efficiency, the Duterte government has unleashed a state terror on the Filipino People routinely committing rights violations. The institutions that are supposed to uphold the law have given a free pass to the violators ensuring none face consequences. In the absence of justice, in the absence of domestic and international accountability, the proposed Magnitsky measures would afford some level of justice for those guilty of these heinous crimes.

Canadian Rev. Dr. Christopher Ferguson, the past Secretary General World Council of Reformed Churches, expressed similar concerns “…the Duterte regime has been a serial human rights violator committing crimes against humanity. Its war in Mindanao against the Moro People, in addition to its wars on terror and dissent have killed thousands. There is as yet no accountability for this state of terror. Those responsible have not faced justice. The least that can be done is to have states with Magnitsky Laws stand up and bring a small measure of justice to the perpetrators of these crimes.”

Through the Magnitsky Sanctions Campaign ICHRP will work with national parliaments and legislatures to take appropriate measures against these individuals for their planning, participation and responsibility for crimes against humanity.   

Media inquires can be sent to:  

Peter Murphy, Chairperson, ICHRP Global Council +61 418 312 301 chairperson@ichrp.net.

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Original published March 1, 2022

On February 28, 2022, at around 8:00 PM Agnes Mesina, Makabayan Cagayan Valley coordinator, was illegally arrested in Aparri, Cagayan, by elements of the Philippine National Police, allegedly for murder charges. Fabricated charges of murder at Tagum Regional Trial Court Branch 30 in Davao del Norte against Mesina, Cordillera Peoples Alliance Chairperson Windel Bolinget and four others were already dismissed on July 21, 2021.

Earlier, Mesina was with a group led by United Church of Christ in the Philippines for a Community Outreach Mercy Mission to Brgy. Sta Clara, Gonzaga, Cagayan, in the Cagayan Valley region when they were flagged down and blocked in a checkpoint by elements of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). People blocking them held tarpaulins bearing her name and pictures together with the 4th nominee of Anakpawis Partylist, Isabelo Adviento. The two were accused as terrorists. There were reports that the two were subjected to red-taggings.

Late in the night of February 28, Ms Mesina was released because the arrest warrant was already dismissed, and she was taken to a hospital for a medical check up.

According to some residents, some of those who led the blockade were barangay officials from other barangays. The perpetrators harassed the Mercy Mission members, and they were not allowed to enter the Brgy Sta Clara area, thus denying humanitarian aid to the indigenous community. The officials took pictures of the team members, their vaccination cards and their vehicles. They were tailed by motorcycle riding men when they left the checkpoint.

The Community Outreach Mercy Mission was scheduled to bring humanitarian aid such as relief goods and psychosocial services to the indigenous people (Agta) in the area who were affected by the January 29, 2022, indiscriminate aerial bombing and strafing incident in Gonzaga. This illegal arrest of a Makabayan Bloc regional coordinator is harassment of government critics in the national election campaign period.

Original published March 1, 2022

Five individuals including two volunteer teachers of the Save Our Schools Network, were killed at Brgy. Andap, New Bataan, Davao de Oro, Mindanao, the Philippines by elements of the 1001st Infantry Brigade of the 10th Infantry Division (ID), Philippine Army. These five victims were volunteer teachers Chad Booc and Gelejurain Ngujo II, community health worker Elgyn Balonga and two community volunteers as drivers.

Around 9:30 PM on February 23, 2022, the victims were travelling on their way back to Davao City after conducting field research at New Bataan, Davao de Oro. Elgyn Balonga was able to send a text message asking her family to fetch them. This was the last known contact with the group. On February 25 the 10th Infantry Division posted a press release on their official Facebook page falsely claiming that the five were killed in an alleged encounter and accusing them as New People’s Army fighters. However, information from locals said no encounter took place in the area. The families of the victims learned about the gruesome incident on February 25 because of the press release of the 10th ID.

Chad Booc was a cum laude graduate from University of the Philippines-Diliman with a degree in Computer Science. He was also an environmental advocate, a youth leader and a mentor to fellow youth who are calling for climate action. He became a volunteer teacher in the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (Alcadev) in Surigao del Sur in 2016. In 2020, he joined Lumad students and datus in Cebu where they sought sanctuary in one of the retreat houses of University of San Carlos-Talamban campus. On February 15, 2021, authorities raided the retreat house and arrested Booc and six others. Police filed trumped up charges against them which were eventually dismissed by the court. He was one of the petitioners against the Anti-Terrorism Law.

Gelejurain Ngujo II was a graduate of Liceo de Davao – Briz Campus in Tagum City with a degree in Secondary Education majoring in English. After graduation, he became a teacher in Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao (CTCSM). In 2018, he volunteered to become a teacher for the Bakwit School in Manila and then in Cebu in 2019 and 2020. He was also subjected to threats and intimidation for his work as a volunteer teacher for the Lumad school.

Balonga was a community health worker who served in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Haran, a Lumad sanctuary in Davao City, from 2013 to 2018. She facilitated medical students for their internship in UCCP Haran. She was also active in numerous medical missions in remote areas such as Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte.

Throughout their years of service, Chad, Jurain, and Elgyn had been subjected to threats, harassment, and intimidation, including death threats, red-tagging and terror-tagging, and surveillance, and were a focus of the National Task Force to end Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Their remains were paraded as trophies, and at this stage the families of the five victims have not been able to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones.

We condemn the bloody massacre of the New Bataan 5 Massacre as a violation of human rights and International Humanitarian Law, call for an immediate and impartial investigation to identify the perpetrators who should then be prosecuted, and call for the respectful return of the victims’ remains to their families. This incident demonstrates the intensified state repression in the Philippines.