On February 17, 2022 the European Parliament (EP) adopted another Urgency Resolution on human rights situation in the Philippines (627 votes in favour, 26 against and 31 abstentions). In the six years under Dutertes presidency, there have now been five Urgency Resolution adopted in the EP, in the years 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022. MEPs denounce the dramatic decline in human rights since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte. They call on the Philippine authorities to stop the violence and, in particular, to end the “war on drugs”, which has killed tens of thousands of people in the country. The recent Urgeny Resolution sums up the human rights violations in the Philippines, including facts, figures and names of killed human rights defenders, such as Zara Alvarez, Jory Porquia and Elena Tijamo. We welcome the strong wording with regard to the trade preferences granted to the Philippines under the EU GSP+-scheme, which are linked to human rights obligations and foresee consequences in the case of human rights violations.
Find the Urgency Resolution on the recent human rights development in the Philippines (2022/2540(RSP)) here.
Photo © Guillaume Perigois