Content
PART 1 Kill Policies: Testing the Extremes of Violence and Impunity 1
PART 2 A Comfortable Life? Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Remain Compromised 10
PART 3 A Chilling Effect: Violence Consumes Civic Spaces in the Philippines 18
PART 4 The Killing State: A Legacy of Violence 28
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Preface
Halfway through the Duterte regime, the human rights situation in the Philippines continued its descent to violence, fear, and impunity.
In 2019, three years into President Rodrigo Duterte’s rule, the strongman’s impulse for violence manifested itself through even more harmful and lethal means. The continuation of the so-called war on drugs, the escalation of attacks against human rights defenders, activists, and the media, and the disregard for social and economic justice has festered into a full-blown human rights crisis.
This report, a product of a yearlong effort to monitor and analyze developments impacting the human rights and dignity of Filipinos, is an opportunity to confront our country’s worsening reality— one where an autocratic regime so boldly circumvents the State’s obligations to the dignity and well-being of its people.
Beyond chronicling the contours and dimensions of this crisis, we aspire for action. We believe that our people, guided by the ideals and principles of human rights and democratic rule, can seize this country from the clutches of authoritarianism and work towards a society where their innate dignity as human beings is valued.
Prof. Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan, Dr. PH
Executive Director
On the truth of the local police claim that Myka’s father used her as a human shield, PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac was careful: “We are not accepting it yet. That is the initial report submitted by the operatives and we are looking also into the other statements of witnesses and the family.”
Meanwhile, former police chief and neophyte senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa could not be bothered: “Sabi ko nga (As I said) imperfect world…Shit happens.”
That a three-year-old’s death can be reduced to these words by the same man who was the lead enforcer of the so-called war on drugs is not any less upsetting given its predictability. Equally upsetting is that the same man was elected by 19 million Filipinos in May 2019 and then assumed leadership of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, the very committee that could hold investigations on irregularities of the so- called drug war. Walking back on his words, the senator later clarified that the comment was not intended for the general public, but only for the police community.
What is clear is that Sen. dela Rosa remains unwilling to admit State accountability for how the campaign he led has triggered large- scale human rights violations. Indeed, Myka’s death is but one among thousands since the start of the campaign on July 1, 2016. Three years on, government numbers have pegged the killings at 5,552 “drug personalities” as of November 30, 2019. The latest numbers also report total arrests at 220,728, including 8,185 so-called high-value targets.
These numbers tell one story, one that is markedly different from those reported by human rights organizations documenting and monitoring the so-called drug war. But as Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch, pointed out, this isn’t solely a debate about numbers, it is about demanding accountability.
That these official numbers have gone up and down depending on PNP’s arbitrary categorization is a further reminder that transparency and honesty is not a government priority. What this amounts to is a direct evasion of accountability and a deliberate demonstration of impunity by State forces.
These numbers also create a chilling effect as a culture of fear and silence envelops communities in the country.
This isn’t solely a debate about numbers, it is about demanding accountability.
Multidimensional Impacts of the So-called War on Drugs
Our September 2019 report concluded that alleged extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in the context of the so-called war on drugs have multi-dimensional impacts not only on the victims, but also on their families and communities left behind. The State’s violations of the basic rights of Filipinos are interrelated in their impacts, like dominoes falling one after another.
Crucially, the violations emanating from the first violation—an extrajudicial killing, for instance—are sequential in nature. As we determined in our documentation, an extrajudicial killing of a family member exposes the family left behind to other violations of their civil and political rights (CPR) and economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR). During and after the deaths of the victims, various forms of assaults on the rights of the families left behind are still experienced. PhilRights documented four cases of alleged illegal arrest and arbitrary detention of family members after the victim was killed and 11 cases of alleged harassment of families during and after the killing. Many families have reported cases of missing or destroyed properties after the incidents.
In Navotas and other urban poor communities, the police are still conducting rounds of arrests, house-to-house profiling, and area patrols, instilling fear among residents.
Hindi na namin nararamdaman na may seguridad pa kami. Hanggang ngayon, kapag may pumasok na pulis sa lugar namin, inaatake ng nerbiyos ang mga magulang ko kasi natatakot sila na baka may patayin na naman
(We no longer feel secure. Until now, whenever there are police officers entering our community, my parents get so nervous, fearing that someone else will get killed), says Elsa*, a resident of Navotas.
*Not her real name
Assaults on Human Rights Defenders
These patterns of violence and abuse of State power are also present in the intensifying crackdown against human rights defenders, activists, and journalists in the country. The justification of the police on the brutality and violence in their operations and the attacks and threats of the State to progressive individuals and organizations who condemn their anti-poor policies often fall under the tired nanlaban narrative. And this justification, brutal in its finality, has sown fear among civil society organizations, progressive groups, media workers, and citizens who wish to claim their rights and raise questions against State policies.
In November, 57 individuals including 15 minors were arrested in simultaneous operations in Bacolod City and Escalante City in the island of Negros. Among those arrested, 44 were charged with illegal possession of firearms, explosives, and were accused of being members of the New People’s Army.
State forces also raided the offices of progressive groups including Gabriela, Bayan, and the National Federation of Sugar Workers. Even the homes of some progressive individuals were not spared; the residences of Gabriela–Manila Spokesperson Cora Agovida and Bayan Muna Regional Coordinator Romulo Bito-on were also raided.
These incidents have been attributed by progressive groups as the direct consequences of Memorandum Order No. 32, which was then followed by Executive Order No. 70, both signed by Pres. Duterte, resulting in the deployment of more military and police forces to intimidate, control, and curtail the movements of progressive individuals and groups in the country.
Attacks on the media have continued. The State of Media Freedom in the Philippines, drafted by the Freedom for Media, Freedom for All Network reported in December that there have been 154 cases of threats and attacks against the press since 2016. In 69 of these cases, State agents were the known or alleged perpetrators. The report also highlighted the escalating attacks on the media in the last six months of 2019, which included the red-tagging of journalists and media organizations and “public broadsides and attacks” by Pres. Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. against the media.
Anti-Human Rights Policies
On his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July, Pres. Duterte yet again urged Congress to reimpose the death penalty. Premised both as deterrent and hardline punishment for heinous crimes, the insistence to bring back the death penalty not only goes against a worldwide shift away from capital punishment, but also deliberately ignores the country’s obligations to international human rights law as a State party to the Second Optional Protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
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