“Defending fundamental human rights demands courage and determination… Let us pray for those who risk their lives while fighting for fundamental rights under dictatorships, authoritarian regimes and even in democracies in crisis…”
– Pope Francis, April 2021 Prayer Intention-
The Filipino people can sympathize with these words of Pope Francis especially under President Duterte administration. In his almost six years in power, the Philippines has increasingly become a dangerous place particularly for human rights defenders. Human rights group International Federation for Human Rights reported that at least 25 human rights defenders (HRDs) were killed in 2020 in the country, and in the first 6 months of 2021 alone, 15 HRDs have been murdered. Added to these are the unsolved cases of hundreds of activists, union leaders, community organizers, including 61 lawyers killed since 2016.
The relentless attacks against civil, political, economic, and cultural rights of the Filipino people intensified months before President Duterte will step down from his office. He, who once boasted that he is “happy” to go to jail for killing human rights defenders must be held accountable for the multiple cases of human rights violations around the country.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) is notorious for the series of attacks against political dissenters and innocent civilians. Earlier this month, a series of aerial bombing in a forested area in Brgy. Alimodas, Miag-ao, Iloilo led to the death of dozens of people. Similar scorched-earth tactics happened a few months ago in Las Navas, Northern Samar where a 500-pound bomb was dropped. On October 30 and November 2, farmers had to evacuate their lands in Bukidnon province in Mindanao when military forces bombed their communities, allegedly to flush out or finish off the group of slain communist leader Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos. Most affected by these series of aerial bombings are peasant and indigenous communities. These series of attacks resulted to forced displacement and loss of livelihoods. Furthermore, these intensified violence destroys the environment and traumatizes women and children.
CWS believes that a militarist approach will not solve the five-decade insurgency problem. CWS reiterates its stand that a negotiated socioeconomic- political reform program that addresses the roots of the armed conflict remains the only viable option.
Days before International Human Rights Day, the Supreme Court is set to make a decision on the constitutionality of the dreaded Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL). The said law has weaponized the State in intensifying its crackdown against those it identified as terrorists or political rebels. However, most of those arrested and/or killed are defenseless civilians, innocent mass leaders and community organizers. CWS is hopeful that the Supreme Court justices will stand by the Filipino people in calling for the abolition of the ATL.
As we move closer towards the National Elections in 2022, we appeal to all Presidential aspirants to include in their electoral agenda the protection of human dignity and the promotion of basic human rights of the Filipino people, especially the poor, the voiceless, and the marginalized. Likewise, we appeal to all voters to choose candidates who have a profound respect for human life, a genuine desire to serve, and a passion for truth, freedom, and justice. Lastly, echoing the words of Pope Francis, we remind church people to play his or her part “with courage and determination” to defend human rights of every person “especially those who are ‘invisible’, those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, foreign or detained, those who live on the margins of society or are rejected… even when it goes against the tide.”
