Two years into President Marcos Jr.’s administration, the human rights situation in the Philippines has not improved significantly. Many members of the international community, however, are intensifying their diplomatic relations with the Philippine government.
In its fifth report on the state of human rights in the Philippines, the German Action Network Human Rights Philippines (Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte-Philippinen, AMP) encourages the international community to clearly address human rights concerns in their engagement with the Philippine government. The AMP report makes it clear that since President Marcos Jr. assumed office on June 30, 2022, the situation regarding impunity, accountability for serious human rights violations, and lack of protection for human rights defenders (HRDs) has remained unchanged.
President Marcos Jr. presents his government as being more committed to human rights than his predecessor but continues to pursue the repressive policies of the Duterte administration. With more than 780 cases, drug-related killings still occur, and the justice system remains dysfunctional. To date, there have been only three court convictions in cases of drug-related killings under Marcos Jr.’s leadership.
“Lack of progress in this area is unjustifiable, thousands of families of victims of the so-called ‘war on drugs’ are still waiting for justice while drug-related killings are ongoing”, says Astrud Lea Beringer, coordinator of the AMP.
The AMP report also highlights the still alarming situation of political persecution of HRDs. During the period under review, the AMP observed an increasing number of enforced disappearances of HRDs, so-called red-tagging, and the systematic criminalization of HRDs.
“President Marcos Jr. needs to prove that he is serious about protecting human rights. Cooperating with the International Criminal Court in its investigations into alleged crimes against humanity and adopting the human rights defender protection bill would be first moves into the right direction,” Beringer demands.
Download (PDF): AMP 2024 Report: Human Rights in the Philippines under Marcos Jr.