The Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) will conduct an audit of the investigation into Brandon Lee’s attempted assassination by suspected Philippine State Security Forces in 2019, despite it being previously archived without explanation. This is a result of a growing movement to demand justice for Lee, who was a volunteer with the Ifugao Peasant Movement (IPM), paralegal in Ifugao for the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), and community journalist at the time of the attack against him. Brandon wrote a letter to the CHR to express his concerns and frustration with the archival of his case, explaining that this assassination attempt was not a unique experience to him. “Prior to this incident, were the extrajudicial killings of my colleagues in the IPM and Cordillera Human Rights Alliance – William Bugatti (2014) and Ricardo Mayumi (2018).”
Members of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance and Cordillera Human Rights Alliance traveled to Manila to raise the issue of Brandon’s case as well as human rights violations that continue to worsen under the Marcos regime, particularly against communities resisting corporate development aggression like mining and dams, and militarization across Northern Luzon.
Rep. Susan Wild also wrote to the CHR, urging them “to consider the gravity of Mr. Lee’s injuries and the implications of determining that no degree of justice or accountability is warranted in this matter.“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), among other state agents, continue to benefit from a culture of impunity. Brandon Lee says he suspects “member/s or agent/s of the Philippine State Security Forces“ to be behind his attempted assassination in August 2019. Given the culture of impunity in the AFP, it is no surprise the case was dismissed without reason. In his letter, Brandon asks what difficulty was there “in accessing police or military records for a more impartial investigation.”However, the war crimes committed by the Philippine government did not start nor stop at Brandon and his colleagues who were civilians violently targeted to chill dissent in violation of international humanitarian law. There are also numerous reports of rural villages being aerially bombed and strafed, other activists tortured, abducted, murdered, and sick and elderly National Democratic Front representatives also murdered.
ICHRP-US demands the Commission on Human Rights live up to its mandate to be an independent human rights institution and address the culture of impunity in the Philippines by conducting an impartial and thorough investigation into Brandon’s case and other human rights violations perpetrated by the Philippine state!
ICHRP-US also demands that the US Government hold the Philippine government accountable for the crimes committed against Brandon and the many other victims of the Duterte and Marcos regimes, including ending US military aid to the AFP and PNP by passing the Philippine Human Rights Act.
Feb 4th marks the 124th anniversary of the beginning of the Philippine-American War when the United States launched a war of aggression against the Filipino following the overthrow of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines. The Philippine-American war marks the start of a struggle that continues today — the Filipino people’s struggle against US economic and military control over the country.
Today, both the US and the Philippine governments continue to tout the US-Philippine Alliance as a “friendship.” In reality, the US-PH alliance primarily serves elitist economic and military interests, neglecting the rights and welfare of the working class people of its countries. ICHRP-US recognizes that US aggression has dictated US relations with the Philippines; however, at the same time, we also recognize working class and oppressed people in the US can link in solidarity to oppose US economic and military programs that perpetuate the human rights crisis in the Philippines while the US government fails to address domestic social and economic problems.
The Biden Administration in the US failed in responding to the crises of the Duterte regime in the Philippines and the thousands of human rights violations that came with it. Now, the Biden administration has given Marcos Jr. unequivocal support to ensure the US can hold onto its military stronghold in the Asia Pacific and profit from its business investments in the Philippines.
At home we have seen prices skyrocket for basic necessities. In the Philippines inflation has continued to worsen and even basic goods- such as onions, sugar, garlic- have reached prices close to or even above prices in American grocery stores. Wages have not risen to match inflation in the US or in the Philippines. Those who fight for better wages and working conditions are villainised and harassed in both countries. In the US huge corporations have launched campaigns of union-busting to hold onto their huge profits at the expense of their workers. In the Philippines this anti-union struggle has led to the jailing and murders of union activists and leaders. We must understand that the peoples of both countries have more in common with each other than with the brutal Marcos regime or its happy business partner, the Biden administration.
US Defense Secretary Austin visited the Philippines this week to secure the creation of 5 more bases under the Enhanced Defense Coordination Agreement (EDCA). EDCA was signed into law in 2014- under the Aquino III and Obama administrations, while Joe Biden was vice-president. It is fitting that he would continue this unequal treaty- and further implement US troop deployment and control of Philippines land, air, and seas. It was 124 years ago that US troops began their assault on the Filipino people, leaving 3 million dead.
At that time however, progressive elements of the American people opposed US aggression in the Philippines. We Americans who wish to espouse freedom and democracy must question the need of our government to continue the American military presence in the Philippines. We call again- to build people-to-people solidarity and see that we can and must unite against these ills of society!
As Americans, we have the ability to amplify the voices of the landless farmers, the exploited workers, the indigenous people, and the many other oppressed classes and sectors in Philippine society. We must stand in solidarity with them, and oppose Biden and the US’s role in supporting the son of a dictator, the despotic thief in Malacañang. We can not stand by as the US continues to export its aggression overseas! We can not bear to see a single penny or dime spent on continuing the bloody legacy of the Philippine-American war! Fight to end US support for the Marcos regime!
Since our founding on December 9th, 2017, ICHRP-US has tirelessly campaigned to build solidarity support for the Filipino people’s aspirations for just and lasting peace. While the civil war in the country rages on between the National Democratic Front and the Government of the Philippines, political repression of activists has worsened and the struggle with poverty has intensified.
Over the past five years, people all over the U.S. — from Hawaii, Portland, Seattle, Northern & Southern California, Chicago & the midwest, Washington DC, Baltimore, New Jersey and New York, Pennsylvania have joined together to form an active solidarity movement in support of people’s collective rights in the Philippines. We have conducted hundreds of lobby visits, mobilized in the streets across the world, sent solidarity delegations to the Philippines and hosted speaking tours of Filipino unionists, church leaders and bishops, human rights defenders, indigenous and environmental activists. ICHRP-US has successfully mobilized solidarity support through campaigns to support of the Lumad people, to cut US military support to the Philippines, to defend the rights of peace activists and to oppose the unlawful and illegitimate red-tagging and harassment of activists. ICHRP-US has further raised awareness of the real situation on the ground in the country through participation in ICHRP Global projects such as the 2018 International People’s Tribunal, Investigate PH and the 2022 International Observers Mission. Below is a series of photos depicting major highlights of work since our first General Assembly in December 2017.
ICHRP members and supporters at December 2017 launch of ICHRP-US hold action to expose US culpability in Duterte’s killingsICHRP-US Chairperson Pam Tau Lee speaks at Stop the Killings Rally in Los Angeles in 2018Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines at the 2019 Friendship & Learning Tour in the PhilippinesRep Susan Wild speaks at House Triangle on National Day of Action for the Philippine Human Rights ActICHRP Global Council Member Sadie Stone and Brandon Lee Rally at Philippine Consulate in San FranciscoICHRP-US National Coordinator Drew Miller speaks at rally opposing Biden meeting with Marcos Jr in September 2022Members of Kalikasan Solidarity Organization, a member of ICHRP-US protest President Biden during visit to Portland Or, demanding a stop to US Support of the Marcos Dynasty
The Current Situation
Today, the Filipino people face an unparalleled economic crisis at the hands of the Marcos Jr. regime. The value of the Philippine peso is at an all time low, public debt has hit record highs, workers are struggling with low wages that are merely half the amount needed for an average size family, and increasing inflation continues to impact the poorest and most vulnerable people. Farmers in the countryside are facing increasing rates of poverty and lack of access to land, while super typhoons and other disasters continue to ravage communities already facing severe government neglect.
Human rights violations have only continued since Marcos Jr. took office, as he intends to uphold Duterte’s fascist policies such as the Anti-Terror Law and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) to sow more fear and attacks against critics of the government. Poor peasants, indigenous leaders, journalists, trade unionists and human rights defenders continue to face politically motivated attacks in the form of illegal arrest, cruel torture and detention, and even killings. Since Marcos Jr. took office there have been 29 attacks against workers, aerial bombings waged by the AFP in Bukidnon, and an entire community on Negros Island placed under military lockdown without access to food and diapers for their children. The AFP continues to commit international war crimes, with the recent murder of NDF Peace Consultant Ericson Acosta after he was captured while consulting on the situation of farm workers in Southern Negros.
Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris recently returned from a visit to the Philippines where she met with President Marcos Jr. and other government officials to reaffirm the partnership between the US and the Philippines. The outcomes of their meetings include further economic investments in the Philippines and reaffirmation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement to pave the way for future deployment of more US military troops to the Philippines. We must expose and resist the US pursuit of hegemony and dominance in the Asia Pacific region at the expense of workers, farmers, indigenous peoples and all exploited and oppressed people in the Philippines. Let us continue to mobilize people in the US to unite in solidarity with the Filipino people in advancing the struggle for people’s rights and rejecting US support of the Marcos Dynasty!
Call to Action
Despite the widespread protests and reports on the severe human rights crisis in the country, the Biden administration’s policy towards the Philippines continues to prioritize US economic and military pursuits over human rights.
We are outraged at President Biden’s pursuit of US hegemony and dominance in the Asia Pacific region at the expense of workers, farmers, indigenous, and all exploited and oppressed people in the Philippines. We are further dismayed at Biden’s ongoing military funding of the Philippine government while people in the US continue to suffer from the ongoing impacts of the Covid pandemic and face insufficient wages, food and housing insecurity, mental health crisis, police brutality, lack of access to health care, and increasing inequality between rich and poor. We are therefore resolute in our solidarity with the people of the Philippines.
We issue the following demands to the Biden Administration
Hold the Marcos regime accountable for the repression of labor activists and defend the right to unionize
Give due justice to the victims of Martial Law and uphold the contempt of court case against Marcos, revoking his immunity as the head of state of the Philippines
Halt US aid to the Philippine military and police by passing the Philippine Human Rights Act, and to halt all future arms sales to the Philippines
Hold the Duterte Regime responsible for it’s egregious crimes against humanity and ensure justice and accountability for the victims of state terrorism
Halt US corporate operations impacting climate change and resulting in the eradication of biodiverse ecosystems and the violation, harassment, and displacement of Indigenous peoples
Delist the CPP-NPA from the US terror list in support of the peace process in the Philippines
While we will continue to make demands of the US government it is ultimately the people who are the decisive force in creating genuine change in society. As we move forward after 5 years of experience of organizing, we must be persistent and unrelenting in our solidarity. We call upon people in the United States to continue mobilizing the broadest solidarity support to advance the struggle for peoples’ rights in the Philippines and to reject US Support of the Marcos Dynasty!
From November 20-22nd, Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Philippines in a US effort to “revive ties” with Manila. Harris’ visit follows the announcement of US Ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, promising $100 million in foreign military financing to the Philippines. ICHRP-US strongly stands against the continued financing and support of the AFP and PNP by the Biden Administration, as they are being rewarded for their continued human rights violations against the Filipino people instead of being held accountable.
During her visit, Harris met with a human rights lawyer and a LGBTQIA+ advocate, a member of a network fighting against child labor and exploitation, a labor leader, and a journalist. Some of Harris’ guests were red-tagged in their course of standing up for their advocacies. Harris told them: “So when I think about the fight for human rights, I think about it in the context of what it requires for the fighters. And one of the things that requires is that you remember, you are not alone,” One report saw this as “an act of solidarity.”
On the 21st, however, protestors rallied in Manila against the visit by Harris. Liza Maza, an official of the International League of People’s Struggle said, “We don’t want our country to be used as a pin board or launching pad of the wars of the United States again China or any other country. Raymond Palatino of BAYAN said that Harris’ visit “is harmful because her agenda include additional aid for the military.”
The concerns of the protestors call into question Harris’ so-called gesture of solidarity in telling human rights defenders in the Philippines “you are not alone.” During the trip, Harris also told President Marcos, “We stand with you in defense of international rules and norms as it relates to the South China Sea. An armed attack on Philippine armed forces, vessels, or aircrafts … would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments.”
Instead of focusing on military might, Harris should demand accountability and justice for Brandon Lee and other victims of violence by the government. Marcos and Duterte continue and intensify a bloody war against the peasants in the countryside, whose work provides food for the people. The ongoing military campaign of aerial bombings, killings, fly-by strafing, staged surrenders, and forced evacuations are funded by US support for and will only lead more deaths and abuse of more and more farmers, the workers, the youth, the fisherfolk, the indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, the intensive counterinsurgency efforts of the Philippine government continues to operate outside the Philippines and directly in the United States. As noted in a recent statement of BAYAN-USA, the Philippine government is currently conducting a “Special Mission Project” Filipino community in DC, Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The main speakers on the tour collude with state agents – the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. They claim to be peace advocates, but red-tag individuals and organizations working for freedom and democracy in the Philippines. This leads to harming human rights defenders, labor unions, peasant associations and land rights. The cost of these tours take money away that should provide essential services for Filipinos in the Philippines.
ICHRP-US believes in meaningful solidarity that holds the Philippine and United States governments accountable for crimes against the Filipino people. We must continue to stand in genuine solidarity with the Filipino people who are working for a truly democratic and sovereign Philippines. We must continue to lobby Congress to pass the Philippines Human Rights Act to hold the AFP and PNP for their continued crimes against the Filipino people.
Following the devastating impacts of the Rodrigo Duterte regime on human rights in the Philippines, the Filipino people continue to face ongoing crisis and gross human rights violations under the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Despite the widespread protests and reports on the severe human rights crisis in the country, the Biden administration’s policy towards the Philippines continues to prioritize US economic and military pursuits over human rights.
We are outraged at President Biden’s pursuit of US hegemony and dominance in the Asia Pacific region at the expense of workers, farmers, indigenous, and all exploited and oppressed people in the Philippines. We are further dismayed at Biden’s ongoing military funding of the Philippine government while people in the US continue to suffer from the ongoing impacts of the Covid pandemic and face insufficient wages, food and housing insecurity, mental health crisis, police brutality, lack of access to health care, and increasing inequality between rich and poor. We are therefore resolute in our solidarity with the people of the Philippines.
We issue the following demands to the Biden Administration:
To hold the Marcos regime accountable for the repression of labor activists and defend the right to unionize.
On October 10, labor organizers Kara Taggaoa (KMU International Officer) and Larry Valbuena (PASADA-PISTON President) were indiscriminately arrested by the Quezon City Police on trumped up charges of direct assault. They were arrested before a warrant was even presented.
Kara Taggaoa is a labor rights organizer and was very active in fighting for the demands of workers’ organizations who were gravely affected by the pandemic. Larry Valbuena fought against the jeepney phaseout and against oil price hikes.
The unfounded charges against and arrests of Taggaoa and Valbuena is reflective of the rampant exploitation of workers in the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the worst countries in the world for workers. Union members are particularly at risk of violence, intimidation and murder according to the International Trade Union Confederation.
In his speech to Asia Society, Marcos Jr. touted one of the main reasons to invest in the Philippines as “human capital” due to a young, English speaking workforce. Marcos’ clamor for investment, much like his father’s, will further pad the wealthy while exploiting workers who already suffer low wages and police surveillance and repression for unionization.
To give due justice to the victims of Martial Law and uphold the contempt of court case against Marcos, revoking his immunity as the head of state of the Philippines.
In April 1986, victims of Ferdinand Marcos Sr Martial Law and Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) led the filing of a class-action suit on behalf of about 10,000 plaintiffs against Marcos in US courts, which eventually made a ruling in favor of the victims. The courts found that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos “fraudulently diverted enormous sums of money that belonged to the Philippine Government and the Government of the United States, which money was intended for the benefit of the Philippine people.”
Now, Marcos Jr. currently faces a contempt of court case in the United States worth $353 million. Despite the heinous crimes of the underlying case, the United States affirmed Marcos Jr. diplomatic immunity making him free to enter the United States without arrest. This decision on the part of the United States is not only a slap in the face to victims of Martial Law, but also obscures the role of the U.S. in the financial, military and political support it provided Marcos Sr.
To halt US aid to the Philippine military and police by passing the Philippine Human Rights Act, and to halt all future arms sales to the Philippines.
Despite well-documented and ongoing human rights violations, the US government continues to funnel millions of dollars in aid to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP), who are the main perpetrators of human rights abuses.
In their initial meeting in New York, Marcos Jr. raised with Biden the importance of the US role in bringing “peace and stability in the Asia Pacific” and expressed his appreciation of military agreements like AUKUS and QUAD. Meanwhile, the US maintains unequal treaties with the Philippines such as the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Enhanced Defense Coordination Agreement (EDCA) which gives US troops impunity and access to military bases across the archipelago, as well giving the US military oversight on Philippine operations, and hundreds of joint operations. These treaties allow the US to use the Philippines as a base to further its interests in the Pacific, positioning personnel and arms in bases across the many islands. What this means for the Filipino people is hot-spots of abuse, prostitution, and murder around military bases such as seen in the the case of murdered trans woman Jennifer Laude, murdered by US Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton murdered her in 2014 near Subic Bay.
While the US and Marcos continue to work together around military aid and agreements, human rights violations and impunity continue to happen at the hands of the Philippine military and police.
To hold the Duterte Regime responsible for it’s egregious crimes against humanity and ensure justice & accountability for the victims of state terrorism
Marcos Jr. has insisted that the Philippines will not rejoin the International Criminal Court while the ICC continues its investigation of the Philippines and former President Duterte’s war on drugs. Without justice and accountability for the thousands of victims of Martial Law and a thorough investigation into the crimes against humanity committed by the Marcos and Duterte regimes, political dynasties in the Philippines will continue to operate with impunity.
Brandon Lee, the first known US citizen targeted in an assassination under the Duterte regime, is one among thousands whose perpetrators have not been tried, foremost amongst them Duterte himself, who promoted the lawless violence of the military and police.
We urge for further accountability and the use of Magnitsky Sanctions against the following:
Architects of the war on drugs and campaign of state terror (Ronald “Bato” De La Rosa); the command-and-control structure of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines when rights violations by state institutions allegedly took place (Gen. Diebold Sinas, General Jose Faustino Jr., General Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr, Delfin Negrillo Lorenzana and Genral Eduardo Año); and the infrastructure of terror in the Duterte regime and participated in the public orchestration of alleged state repression (Bong Go, Harry Roque, Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert and Lorraine Badoy).
To halt US corporate operations impacting climate change and resulting in the eradication of biodiverse ecosystems and the violation, harassment, and displacement of indigenous peoples.
The plans Marcos Jr. has presented so far show continued use of fossil fuel energy such as coal and fossil gas. He has also been pushing for the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, even distorting evidence and promoting it as a “renewable” energy source appropriate for the Philippines despite scientific assessments showing otherwise. This undermines the Philippine government’s commitment to the global fight against global warming, as new fossil fuel projects would continue to increase the global carbon footprint. His proposed 2023 budget allocates over 450 billion pesos for “climate related” projects with no clear indication where these funds will go, leaving space for severe corruption and mis-allocation.
The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries for environmental defenders in the world, and the attacks have persisted under Marcos including the arrest and cruel detention of two Lumad Indigenous organizers who are at the forefront of the struggle to defend their ancestral lands. With his commitment to expand fossil fuel projects and open the Philippine economy for foreign investment, Indigenous peoples and peasant farmers in the countryside will face increased militarization and displacement to pave the way for foreign-owned energy projects.
To delist the CPP-NPA from the US terror list in support of the peace process in the Philippines.
Due to the long history of colonial rule, severe oppression and exploitation in the Philippines, the country has a history of armed rebellions that still continue today. For over 50 years, since the emergence of the Ferdinand Marcos I dictatorship, the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s army have been waging an armed revolution in the rural countryside where people are suffering severe government neglect and abuse in the form of lack of public services, hunger, poverty, militarization and indiscriminate aerial bombing that force families to flee their homes.
The Duterte administration, following the suit of the United States, has sought to proscribe the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army as a terrorist organization. Yet, a recent ruling the in the Philippines found that the Communist Party of the Philippines should not be included on the list of terrorist organizations in the country; the court found the program of the CPP shows that it is not organized for the purpose of engaging in terrorism but rather seeks address social ills and improve the lives of the FIlipino people.
The US terror listing of the CPP thwarts peace talks between the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front and the Government of the Philippines and enables the Philippine governments deadly counterinsurgency campaign that has led to red-tagging, arrests, killings and the aerial bombings against civilians. At the heart of the peace negotiations are social and economic reforms that could address the root of armed conflict in the Philippines.
Conclusion
As people in the US, we see our interest and solidarity is with those poor and oppressed sectors of Philippine society against elitist rule and political dominance. We have common goals with the Filipino people for a peaceful and just society, and will not loiter along while lives are at stake in the Philippines. As the deepening human rights crisis and violations by state forces have become institutionalized, we cannot rely on the Philippine justice system to provide justice or create genuine change and must mobilize the broadest array of solidarity support to demand accountability and justice.
We call on people in the US to unite in solidarity with the Filipino people to advance the struggle for peoples’ rights and Reject US support of the Marcos Dynasty!
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