News
Philippine government invites UN Special Rapporteurs once again
The Philippine government has invited the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, Morris Tidball-Binz, to the Philippines for 2023 as part of the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP). The UNJP is a technical cooperation between the...
Second “war on drugs” conviction
After five years, the Regional Trial Court Branch 122 in Caloocan City convicted patrolman Jefrey Perez for torturing 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman in 2017. Aside from life imprisonment on two occasions, the court ordered on...
AMP 2022 Report – Human Rights in the Philippines
In this year’s commemoration of the International Human Rights Day on December 10, the Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte-Philippinen (AMP) publishes its fourth human rights report. The report describes the pattern of human rights violations during former President...
Brussels: Philippine delegation seeks renewal of EU trade preferences
On October 27, 2022, an interparliamentary meeting was held in Brussels with a Philippine delegation. One key topic was the status of the Philippines regarding its EU trade preferences granted under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP+); its current cycle will...
UN Human Rights Council urges Philippine government to end impunity
The UN Human Right Council (UNHRC) reviewed the Philippines' compliance with the UN human rights conventions during the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on November 14, 2022. In the UPR process, UN member states made recommendations on how to improve...
Murders of Philippine lawyers remain largely unsolved
According to the Philippine National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL), 59 lawyers were killed during former President Rodrigo Duterte's term in office (2016-2022). The UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, speaks in his...
Justice Secretary Remulla defends “red-tagging” of government critics
In the last session of the UN Human Rights Committee, which monitors member states for compliance with the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla defended the so-called "red-tagging" of government critics by the...
UN Human Rights Committee concerned about Philippine Anti-Terror Law
In its October 2022 report, the UN Human Rights Committee expressed its concerns about human rights violations and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. The committee criticized especially the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 for containing "overly...
Murder of journalist Percy Lapid exposes government involvement
The recent murders of journalists Percival "Percy Lapid" Mabasa in October and Reynaldo Blanco in September 2022 emphasized the ongoing climate of violence and impunity in the Philippines. Both journalists were vocal critics of the current as well as the previous...
December 7, 2022 | Virtual Launch | AMP-Report: Human Rights in the Philippines
In this year’s commemoration of Human Rights Day on December 10, the Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte-Philippinen (AMP) publishes its fourth report “Human Rights in the Philippines.” The report describes the pattern of human rights violations during former President...
UN Human Rights Council: No further resolution on Philippines
Despite the tireless efforts of national and international human rights groups in calling attention to the devastating human rights situation in the Philippines, the UN Human Rights Council ended its 51st session in Geneva on October 7, 2022, without passing another...
Strong criticism against Marcos’ CHR nominations
After more than 80 days of waiting, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on September 27, 2022, the nomination of Richard Palpal-latoc as the new chair of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and Beda Angeles Epres as the first of the three new CHR commissioners,...
Second journalist murdered since Marcos took office
Unknown persons shot dead radio commentator Percival Mabasa - or also called Percy Lapid – while riding a motorbike on Monday October 3, 2022, in Las Piñas City in Metro-Manila. Lapid was known as “a fearless broadcaster" who criticised Duterte's so-called "war on...
Controversial SIM card registration law passed
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed the long-controversial SIM card registration law (Republic Act 11934) on October 10, 2022. This is the first legislative measure enacted during his term in office. It requires all SIM card users to register with their mobile...
Police chief wants to reform anti-drug campaign through “holistic” approach
Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. announced on October 3, 2022, that he intends to copy the strategy of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in combating the country's illegal drug problem. In doing...
Lack of human rights accountability could threaten important EU trade benefits
The grave human rights situation in the Philippines remains a factor of concern for the European Union’s (EU) decision to maintain or withdraw its trade privileges under the Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) with the island nation. This is what officials...
Police tried to prevent US-Delegation visit to De Lima
The Philippine National Police (PNP) prevented a U.S. delegation led by U.S. Senator Edward Markey from visiting former Senator Leila De Lima at the detention center Camp Crame in Quezon City on August 18, 2022. The reason was an alleged lack of permits as well as the...
Marcos government rejects ICC investigation, extrajudicial killings continue
On 8 September 2022, the Philippine government announced that it would reject the request of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reopen the investigation into the numerous extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the context of former President...
Cyber-libel turned into a political weapon against critical voices
The progressive politician, social activist, and scholar Walden Bello was arrested on August 8, 2022, due to cyber-libel charges. His arrest was widely criticised. After spending a night in jail and paying a bail of 96,000 pesos, the 76-year-old activist was released....
Human rights defenders accused of terror-financing
The church-based human rights group Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao (RMP-NMR) is accused of terrorist financing, based on a statement issued by the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) on August 15, 2022. Among the 16 accused individuals are...