News
Police hampers investigations of Commission on Human Rights
During a Senate hearing on October 28, 2024, the Chairperson of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), Richard Palpal-latoc, reported that the Philippine National Police (PNP) often refuses to cooperate with the CHR. The lack of access to police reports,...
Senate hearing: Rodrigo Duterte makes concessions
So far, former President Rodrigo Duterte has not participated in the hearings of the so-called “Quad-Committee” of the Philippine House of Representatives on extrajudicial killings in the context of his anti-drug campaign but made a shocking statement as part of a...
Government silent on the disappearance of activists
Filipino activists James Jazmines and Felix Salaveria Jr. have been missing since the end of August 2024. According to the human rights organization Karapatan, Jazmines worked as an IT expert for a development organization, among others; Salaveria was an enthusiastic...
Conflict between the Duterte and Marcos dynasties heats up again
In the Philippines, tensions between the influential Duterte and Marcos political families have increased again. Vice President Sara Duterte said during a press conference in Manila on October 18, 2024 that she was considering digging up the body of Ferdinand Marcos...
Police reward system for drug-related killings exposed
As part of the ongoing hearings of the so-called "Quad-Committee" of the Philippine House of Representatives to investigate human rights violations in the context of the so-called “war on drugs” under former President Duterte's administration, former police chief...
Increasing “red-tagging” of trade unionists
In a recent report, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) warns that Philippine government officials and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) have increasingly been harassing trade union leaders through the...
Call for reforms in the Philippine National Police
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has launched a comprehensive investigation into allegations by former Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido that a quota and reward system existed under the former Duterte administration as part of the anti-drug campaign. Espenido made this...
De Lima calls for the Philippines to return to the International Criminal Court
On October 22, 2024, Philippine politician and former senator Leila de Lima called on the Philippine government to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC). Speaking before the members of the four committees of the House of Representatives (“Quad-Committee”), she...
AMP 2024 Report – Human Rights in the Philippines under Marcos Jr.
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...
Reform of the anti-drug law required
At the Drug Policy and Law Reform Summit that took place from July 10 to 12, 2024, in Manila, the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) declared that the government supports a reform of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Law (Republic Act 9165) and wants to revise certain...
Investigation into drug-related killings links with offshore gaming operators
On August 6, 2024, the Philippine House of Representatives passed a resolution (House Resolution 1880) that provides for the formation of a new "super committee." This body combines four committees - dangerous drugs, public order and security, human rights, and public...
Philippine Human Rights Plan to start end of 2024
In a joint statement on the end of the UN Joint Programme on Human Rights (UNJP) in July 2024, the Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) and the UN Office in Manila announced on August 8, 2024, that the Philippine government will present a comprehensive and...
SONA: Marcos Jr. says drug war is “bloodless”
On July 22, 2024, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. praised the successes of his anti-drug campaign in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) in Manila. He referred to the arrest of 97,000 drug dealers and record quantities of seized illegal drugs worth 44 billion...
Government allows ICC interviews
On July 30, 2024, Prosecutor General Menardo Guevarra confirmed that the Philippine government will comply with the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to allow to interview five people in the Philippines. The interviews are related to the ICC...
UNP ends, government praises successes
On July 31, 2024, the UN Joint Programme on Human Rights (UNJP), a three-year technical cooperation between the United Nations (UN) and the Philippines, came to an end. The aim of the UNJP was to support the Philippine government in its investigations into...
CHR inquires into “red-tagging”
On July 30, 2024, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) launched a two-day public inquiry to investigate the practice of “red-tagging” (i.e. branding individuals or organizations as “terrorist”). Among the participants were the UN Special Rapporteur on...
Shutdown order against Rappler dismissed
On August 9, 2023, the Court of Appeals in Manila lifted the shutdown order against the news portal Rappler. The court decision restored the company's certificate of incorporation and eliminated the risk of a shutdown. Maria Ressa called on the government of Marcos...
Sara Duterte resigns as Secretary of Education and NTF-ELCAC Vice Chairperson
On June 19, 2024, Sara Duterte unexpectedly announced her resignation as Secretary of Education and Vice Chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) at a press conference. "My resignation is not from a place of weakness,...
Senator Dela Rosa refuses to participate in human rights committee inquiry
On June 25, 2024, the Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives held another hearing to investigate the drug-related killings or extrajudicial killings in the course of the so-called "war on drugs" under former President Duterte. In this third hearing,...
Fourth conviction of police officers in drug-related killing case
On June 18, 2024, the Caloocan City Regional Trial Court convicted four police officers for the killing of Luis Bonifacio and his son Gabriel Bonifacio in 2016 during an anti-drug operation. Police Master Sergeant Virgilio Q. Servantes and Police Corporals Arnel De...