Bulatlat News
By YZELLE ROSE PADA
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – A coalition of human rights groups from different parts of the world vowed to continue advocating for the defense of human rights in the Philippines under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) held its assembly in Bangkok, Thailand on Nov. 6 to 9, and was attended by over 30 organizations from various countries. During the forum, mother of a disappeared activist and Karapatan national council member Edith Burgos and National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia presented the human rights situation in the country.
As of June 30, 2023, human rights group Karapatan has documented 60 victims of extrajudicial killings in 40 incidents in the country under Marcos Jr.
“Twenty of the victims were from Negros and 16 were from Bicol, two of the three regions singled out for more massive military and police deployment and intensified counter-insurgency operations under Duterte’s Memo No. 32, which Marcos Jr. would continue to enforce,” Karapatan detailed in its report.
In a statement, ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy emphasized the pivotal role of solidarity in supporting Filipinos’ desire for a just and lasting peace.
“The devastating number of attacks that continue under the Marcos regime in the Philippines – the many disappearances, the forced surrenderees, and the killings of NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) peace consultants, are all violations of international humanitarian law done in the guise of US-designed counterinsurgency programs. The international community must oppose these,” Murphy said.
According to Burgos, the counterinsurgency programs of the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration is, “responsible for the steadily deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines and escalating violations of International Humanitarian Law directed against the Filipino people.”
Read: On Human Rights Day, rights group assails zero justice for killings, rights violations under Marcos Jr.
Read: A year into office, Marcos Jr. shows no love for the Philippines
Suzanne Adely, president of the US-based National Lawyers Guild, explained that counterinsurgency as “the organized use of subversion and violence to seize, nullify, or challenge political control of a region.”
Adely added that the US has employed counterinsurgency tactics since its colonial operations in the Philippines began in 1898. She also pointed out how the use of the term “insurgency” attempts to delegitimize people’s resistance, including armed resistance, as “terrorism,” and drew parallels between the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation and the Filipino people’s fight against the US-backed Marcos regime.
Meanwhile, Olalia explained the significance of international humanitarian law in the context of the dire human rights situation in the country, stressing that armed national liberation movements fighting oppression is covered by the Geneva Conventions.
Olalia also highlighted the call to protect civilians and non-combatants in the context of civil war.
Read: Civil war caused by inequality, injustices
Read: Negros killings, ‘a war against unarmed civilians’ — groups
Read: CPP calls Duterte, forces ‘coward for retaliating against civilians’
The ICHRP conference concluded with organizations across the globe pledging to continue their commitment to embolden solidarity support for the Filipino people through continuous conduct of information dissemination about the Philippines’ situation and collective condemnation of foreign support for war crimes in the country.
“The struggle for a just and lasting peace in the Philippines is not a struggle isolated from the people of the world; we will continue to fervently campaign until the demands of the Filipino people are met and activists no longer live in fear of reprisal,” Murphy said. (AMU, RTS, JJE) 
