Washington DC – On Tuesday, October 19, in the midst of Filipino-American History Month, Representative Susan Wild (D) of the 7th District of Pennsylvania, hosted a press conference for the Philippine Human Rights Act (PHRA). Along with members of the Filipino community and supporters of the Filipino people in the United States, Rep. Wild urged the passage of the PHRA and condemned the brutal administration of the outgoing Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte.

Yves Nibungco, national chairperson of Malaya Movement USA, started the proceedings by highlighting the more than 200 organizations and institutions that endorsed the PHRA and the numerous vigils held by the Filipino community all across the United States on October 18 to call for the passage of the PHRA.

After being introduced by Nibungco, Rep. Wild, the sponsor of the Philippine Human Rights Act, emphasized the need for a “fundamentally different relationship between the United States and the Philippines, founded on a simple proposition: U.S. taxpayer funds should not be used to supply weapons to a regime that violently targets its political opponents.” She called attention to the recent $2 Billion in weapons that was sold to the Philippines by the United States and how she objected to it because “no amount of defense contracts will ever match the value of a human life.” 

The Philippine Human Rights Act intends to “suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military and police forces.” Included in the PHRA’s provisions are the suspension of security assistance from the United States to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, two institutions that have been accused of the gravest human rights abuses.

Jim Winkler, President and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, expressed solidarity with the Filipino people and stressed that victory in the name of democracy can only be won if we fight for democracy everywhere saying that “The success and durability of our own democracy depends not only on facing down the mob and the forces that attempt to destroy our government here, but on stopping those same forces everywhere. That is why we want to see the passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act.”

Winkler was followed by Elena Lopez, a legislative associate from the Communications Workers of America. “We, as part of the global labor movement, cannot stand idly by while Duterte kills activists one by one. We must condemn it, and do every single thing within our power to stop it… All of us, especially those of us in the labor movement, cannot fight for our own dignity and rights here without standing with our brothers and sisters abroad. An injury to one, is an injury to all,” said Lopez.

Mikaela Tajo, the Advocacy Director of George Washington University’s Philippine Cultural Society, ended the press conference by drawing attention to the Filipino youth’s long history of resistance and the need to continue that legacy.  “We see the human rights abuses currently going on in the Philippines. We’ve seen indigenous Lumad youth being denied education, we’ve seen them flee their ancestral lands because of militarization.  We’ve seen the senseless deaths of young people like Kian Delos Santos, young people like us–killed in this so-called drug war, really a war on the poor!  This is why [Philippine Cultural Society] decided to endorse the Philippine Human Rights Act.”

Currently, the Philippine Human Rights Act has been introduced in the 117th Congress with 22 co-sponsors.  There is a growing clamor for more legislators to sponsor the bill including one Republican and an introduction of the companion senate bill in light of the intensifying repression against activists and human rights defenders in the Philippines.

As it stands, the Duterte Regime has been the perpetrator of some of the worst human rights abuses in Philippine history. With the possibility of another Duterte loyalist ascending to the Philippine Presidency in the upcoming Philippine elections in 2022, the passage of the Philippine Human Rights Act is a life and death matter to many human rights defenders in the frontlines of the battle for democracy in the Philippines.

For more information on the Philippine Human Rights Act, please visit humanrightsph.org.