Brace For A Sharper Fight For Human Rights In The Philippines Under Trump

November 8, 2024

Donald Trump’s election triumph means that US policy will be volatile in style. But for sure, there will be many continuities of the Biden regime’s policy with regards to its relations with the Philippine government, a policy focused on increasing US military presence and economic influence in the Philippines. Both the previous Trump and Biden administrations supported and blessed Philippine Presidents Duterte and Marcos Jr., both of whom were found guilty of war crimes during the 2024 International People’s Tribunal.

At this moment of change from Biden to Trump, ICHRP renews our call for an end to the US-led counterinsurgency campaign in the Philippines, and a stop to its widespread indiscriminate bombing and artillery strikes in the countryside. ICHRP calls for the respect of agreements made in peace talks between the government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), including the accord on the respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. It is essential to address the root causes of the social conflict to bring the armed conflict to a just end.

“ICHRP challenges the incoming Trump team to condemn the 105 cases of extrajudicial killings, 12 cases of enforced disappearances, and 28 cases of torture reported by the Karapatan human rights alliance under the 24 months of the Marcos Jr. administration up to June 30, 2024,” said Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson. “We call for the release of the 755 political prisoners now held by Marcos Jr,” he added

“Given the strident anti-people stance of Trump, ICHRP urges all its member organizations and the wider international community to brace for a sharper and more fast-moving campaign to uphold the basic rights of the Filipino people,” Murphy said.

The key interest of both US administrations was the utility of the Philippines as the biggest base in the ‘first island chain’ for containing China’s political and military influence. As long as the Manila government remains a reliable ally against China, the US continues to turn a blind eye to the dire human rights and democracy situation.

There is the US rhetoric about a “free and prosperous Indo-Pacific”, and then there is the stark reality of the misery of landlessness and poverty, and the lawlessness suffered by the Filipino people.

“ICHRP predicts that Trump will extend his bromance from Duterte to Marcos Jr. But we also predict that Trump’s global disdain for human rights and institutions will worsen the agony of the Filipino people,” said Murphy.

“Filipino plaintiffs managed to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Duterte administration for the crime against humanity of murder, in relation to its anti-drug operations. The US has never signed up to the ICC, but Trump in particular is militantly opposed to its operation,” said Murphy. The same applies to his attitude to the United Nations Human Rights Council and the UN system in general.

“These international institutions, based on treaties between nations, are one expression of the international community’s desire for human rights. Those like Duterte and Trump who directly undermine these institutions make the work of all human rights advocates harder. This will be felt in the Philippines and the freedom loving Filipino people will surely stand and defend their inherent right,” concluded Murphy.

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