Our Grassroots Human Rights Advocacy Partnership
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We work in collaboration with several national and international organizations to impact Canadian mining interests on the Indigenous Peoples of the Cordillera region.
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We sponsor resolutions affecting United Church policies
We appear before Parliamentary Committees We speak at human rights conferences We host international visits We work for justice and peace |
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The Beaconsfield Initiative is currently based on two exposure missions to the Philippines. During these two missions, the damage and human rights violations we observed caused by the Canadian Mining Industry were prominent and disturbing. This information can easily be linked to similar problems in the Congo and Guatemala.
We visited the Philippines for 13 days, visiting many rural communities. Most of these were directly impacted by mining activities that resulted in environmental degradation, human rights violations, militarization, and other socioeconomic impacts on the communities.
Upon entering the communities, we were met with unabashed hospitality and openness. Instead of finding a people filled with fear, as our North American minds might have expected, we found a people filled with radiance, warmth and welcome.
We visited the Philippines for 13 days, visiting many rural communities. Most of these were directly impacted by mining activities that resulted in environmental degradation, human rights violations, militarization, and other socioeconomic impacts on the communities.
Upon entering the communities, we were met with unabashed hospitality and openness. Instead of finding a people filled with fear, as our North American minds might have expected, we found a people filled with radiance, warmth and welcome.
This is why we sponsored a motion calling for the end of human rights violations, end of illegal arrest, protection of the land, and end of abuse towards women in the Philippines in 2015.
The hoped outcome of this motion was to change the Mining Act to limit the damages caused by the Canadian Mining Corporation, and force them to follow our human rights and labour laws when outside our country.
The hoped outcome of this motion was to change the Mining Act to limit the damages caused by the Canadian Mining Corporation, and force them to follow our human rights and labour laws when outside our country.
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Links regarding the Beaconsfield Initiative:
The United Church of Canada The Vancouver Sun Bulatlat.com The Philippine Solidarity Network |
Update!!!
Individuals and congregations urged to protest the
Philippines government’s attack on freedom of information
The Beaconsfield Initiative urges you and your congregation to join a campaign condemning the
Philippines government’s recent shutdown of the nation’s largest broadcaster. This attack on
the freedom of the press contributes an overt human rights violation, particularly dangerous
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Beaconsfield Initiative, through the newly formed Canadian section of the International
Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP-Canada), is meeting with Canadian
members of Parliament, arguing that it is Canada’s duty to openly condemn the rulers of the
Philippines for arbitrarily shutting down ABS-CBN, its largest broadcaster, on May 5.
Unbiased news, not government propaganda, is essential to prevent more Filipino deaths and
serious illness, say protesters in the Philippines, Canada, and other countries. If you would like
to know more about how you can help this effort on behalf of this Southeast Asian nation and
its 107 million Filipino citizens, contact the Beaconsfield Initiative at
beaconsfieldphilippines@gmail.com , or call Rev. Patricia Lisson at 514-241-9036.
The Beaconsfield Initiative
The Beaconsfield Initiative is sponsored by Conseil régional Nakonha:ka Regional Council and
Beaconsfield United Church on Montreal’s West Island. It was created ten years ago to protest
against the Canadian mining industry’s work in the Philippines because it was having a serious
negative effect on human rights there.
Today’s Beaconsfield Initiative protest is only one of many. The United Nations recently
reviewed President Duterte’s government since it took power in 2016. The UN report was
described in the New York Times on June 4 as a “scathing” list of widespread human rights
violations.
In separate statements, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP); the Foreign
Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP); and the Asian American Journalist
Association’s Asia Chapter (AAJA-Asia) condemned the government’s May 5 media shutdown.
ABS-CBN is not the only target of repressive measures regarding press freedom. On May 5, less
than 24 hours after the announcement of the broadcaster’s closure, Cornelio Pepino, a media
worker, (also known as Rex Cornelio), was shot dead in Dumaguete City.
Critical of national and local politics, Pepino is the third media worker to be murdered in
Dumaguete City since 2018 and the 16th nationwide since the 2016 presidential election.
The website Rappler and its chief executive officer, Maria Ressa, are facing close to 12 court
cases filed by the Philippines government. And, following pressures from the government, the
journal The Philippine Daily Inquirer was sold in 2017 to billionaire Ramon Ang, an ardent
supporter of Duterte’s government.
Defend Human Rights!
Stop all Aid to the Philippine Military and Police!
Stop the Killings!
ICHRP Canada Statement for International Human Rights Day
December 10, 2019
In 2019, the Philippines has continued its slide towards authoritarianism, placing human rights
defenders and government critics and all those working to improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos
in grave danger. As we mark International Human Rights Day, we denounce the human rights
tragedy that we see unfolding in the Philippines. Every day the situation appears to become
graver with new measures by the Duterte Regime to oppress, harass and murder social and human
rights activists. Martial Law has effectively been expanded beyond Mindanao to cover many areas
of the Central Philippines including Negros, Samar, Leyte and Sothern Luzon. The apparatus of the
government under Duterte is increasingly controlled and coordinated by military and ex-military
officials giving it a junta character similar to the brutal regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Many
Filipinos are worried the Duterte government is laying the ground for open authoritarian rule with
its “shoot-to-kill” and arbitrary arrest policies.
Political and drug related killings and arbitrary arrests continued unabated through 2019.
Amnesty International reported in July of this year that in the three years since President Rodrigo
Duterte unleashed the crackdown almost 27,000 people have been killed in either police anti drug
operations or by unknown perpetrators. In addition, Karapatan reported that over 1,000 civilians
were killed in military actions related to the War on Terror in Marawi City; over 222 political
killings; 111 documented instances of torture; 85,236 victims of threat, harassment and
intimidation; 368,391 who have suffered due to indiscriminate firing and aerial bombing; and
447,963 internally displaced who were subject to forced evacuation (Dec. 10, 2018).
2019 was a year where the international community has finally stood up and taken notice of the
Philippines human rights catastrophe. On July 12th, the UN Commission on Human Rights voted on
a resolution by Iceland to conduct an independent investigation on the Duterte regime’s war on
drugs. The resolution requested that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle
Bachelet, prepare and present a “comprehensive written report” on the human rights situation in
the Philippines. To protect itself from accountability the Duterte Regime has now withdrawn from
the Rome Statue1
and the International Criminal Court. In the past 12 months we have seen: Mass arrests of around 60 peasants, women, trade union and other activists in Negros and
Manila following searches of their offices on dubious pretexts (October 31st, 2019)
1 The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
the crime of aggression.
The October 23rd killing of seven minors in a joint military and police operation in
Mindanao. While the military claimed they were members of the Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters, relatives claimed they were minors falsely branded as child soldiers. The September 22nd ambush and killing of two abaca farmers in Panganiban in Southern
Luzon by members of the 9th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army. One of the victims,
Lito Aguilar, was fishing for his wedding feast, which was to take place two days hence.
Negros has seen a particular spike in human rights violations in 2019. On March 14 individuals primarily farmer activists were killed in joint police military
operations. In July, a further 17 civilians were killed over a 10-day period between July 18
and July 28th. Most of the victims were in their homes when armed men attacked them in
the wee hours of the morning. According to the human rights group “Defend Negros”
there have been at least 84 political killings in Negros since 2017. These killings have
spiked since the government instituted de facto Martial Law on the Island in November
2018.
The acceleration in Human Rights violations, red-tagging, trumped up charges, weaponizing of the
law against critics, opposition are all components of the government’s “whole of nation approach”
under Executive Order #70.
What remains of the peace process between the National Democratic Front (NDFP) and the
Philippine government has also been under attack by the Duterte Regime. Journalist and NDFP peace consultant, Randy Malayo, was assassinated while asleep on a
bus in Nueva Viscaya (January 30, 2019) by suspected military agents. The Philippine government continue to arrest those formerly involved in the Peace process
in violation of its own commitments. The arrest of NDFP peace consultants Winona
Birondo, her husband Alexander Birondo,(July 24, 2019) and Esterlita Suaybaguio (August
26, 2019) served as additional blows to any remaining hope for the peace process.
In December 2018 the Congress granted Duterte a 3rd extension of military rule in Mindanao to
the end of 2019. Under Martial Law in Mindanao Duterte has close all indigenous schools in Mindanao, in
early October of the this year the last 55 schools in Davao with 3500 students were
shuttered by the department of eductation. There were more troop and police deployments to reinforce counterinsurgency operations
in Samar, Negros and Bicol provinces through 2019 virtually putting these under martial
rule as in Mindanao.
Judicial harassment of the opposition continued throughout 2019
Opposition parties and candidates such as Bayan Muna were red-tagged and harassed
during the May elections, This followed 700 activists in Mindanao being slapped with trumped-up charges on
December 8, 2018.
Journalism is under attack. The owners of the formerly independent broadsheet, the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, were forced to sell last year to a Duterte ally. The independent news service,
Rappler, has been under constant attack. Earlier this year its editor, Marie Ressa, was jailed in
March over trumped-up tax evasion charges following Rappler’s in-depth reporting on the War on
Drugs.
Those who oppose the Duterte regime continue to be tagged as terrorists. In March 2018, over
600 individuals were identified as terrorists by the Philippine government. The long list tagged as
“terrorists” include NGO representatives, peace proponents, human rights advocates, UN
personnel, and Indigenous Peoples’ representatives.
Attacks on human rights defenders intensified across the Philippines during 2018-19. According to
the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), 34 lawyers have been killed in the Philippines over
the two-year reign of President Duterte (including judges and prosecutors).
Meanwhile, the influence of the Philippine military is now fully established in both the Cabinet and
senior civil service posts. The majority of senior cabinet positions is now occupied by ex-military
and police, giving the Duterte Regime increasingly the look of a military dictatorship.
We are alarmed at the new level of impunity and the deterioration of the rights situation and
democratic spaces. The Duterte government’s track record regarding human rights and
democracy is alarming. Its campaign to weaken any opposition to its authority is characterized by
the same scale and ruthlessness with which it wages the brutal drug war. In both its wars on drugs
and on political opposition, the Duterte government is running rough shod over human rights and
the rule of law, sanctioning the use of extra-legal means, including extrajudicial killings. It has
weaponized the legal system against its political opponents, critics of its policies and human rights
defenders. Martial Law s virtually in place all across the country, not just in Mindanao. Since it
assumed power in 2016. the Duterte government has systematically and rapidly disabled and
dismantled the country’s democratic systems and institutions.
Despite Canada’s declaration that human rights is core to its foreign policy and its commitment to
support efforts in the Philippines to “advance inclusive and accountable governance, diversity,
human rights, and the rule of law”, its response to the Duterte government’s attack on human
rights and democracy has been timid. There has been no clear and strong statement from the
Canadian government about its position and concerns regarding the state of human rights and
democracy in the Philippines. Canada’s recent support for Iceland’s resolution on the situation in
the Philippines approved in the United Nations Human Rights Council was a welcome
development. Canada’s guidelines to support human rights defenders around the world provides
practical tools for Canadian diplomats working around the world to protect and support human
rights defenders who seek help. Yet, reports received by ICHRP do not show that these tools are
being utilized on the ground to defend and support human rights defenders, especially those who
bear the brunt of the attacks from the Duterte government, including many who are the targets of
vicious vilification campaigns and facing acute risk to their lives.
Call for Action
ICHRP Canada calls on the Canadian Government to respond in the strongest and
unequivocal terms to the subversion of human rights and democracy by the Duterte
government by ending Canadian support for it. Specifically we call on the Canadian
Government to:
Publicly support the UNHCR process and investigation of human rights crimes
in the Philippines under Duterte and actively lobby other governments to
support the process.
Hold hearings on the Human Rights situation in the Philippines through the
Parliamentary Human Rights Sub-committee during the current session of
Parliament.
Establish a Philippine Peace secretariat at GAC in Ottawa including a Senior
Peace Liaison officer to conduct liaison work between the Government of the
Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. The Peace
Secretariat would support restarting discussions for some of the tables
examining social and economic reforms as part of the peace process and
provide logistical and research support to the two sides as well as host
meetings in Canada for the discussion of technical issues.
Challenge the Duterte Regime on its abysmal human rights record with
concrete and measurable steps. The Canadian government should make
representation to the Duterte government to:
Restart the peace process with the National Democratic Front.
Reverse the terrorist listing of Indigenous and other civil society leaders.
Stop the arming of paramilitary groups that fuel human rights violations.
Stop the militarization in Negros which has fostered mass killings
Return to civilian rule by ending Martial Law in Mindanao.
Call on the Philippine Government to revoke Executive Order #70
institutionalizing the Whole-of Nation counterinsurgency approach and End all Canadian support including financial, socio-economic programming,
tactical, logistical and training support, military sales and defense cooperation
to any government policies and projects that are related to the Philippine
counter-insurgency program, as conducted under EO #70.
ICHRP-CANADA
2852 Grandeur Ave.
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K2B6Y9
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- SUBMISSION TO THE OHCHR FOR HRC REPORT 41/2 BY
ICHRP CANADA
2 JANUARY 2020
In response to the Call for Submissions by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Michele Bachelet, in accordance to the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on the
Philippines.1, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Canada
(ICHRP-Canada), is submitting this report on the human rights situation in the
Philippines. ICHRP-Canada, is a network of civil society, migrant, faith based and human
rights organizations and advocates.
Based on documentation gathered by our network between July 1, 2016 to date and
observations of our members during fact finding missions in the Philippines (July 2016,
November 2018, July 2019, August 2019) we have concluded that the human rights
situation in the Philippines is worsening. State attacks on human rights defenders,
lawyers, clergy, community organizers, government critics and all those working to
improve the lives of ordinary Filipinos have escalated. The Duterte government has
fostered a climate of impunity by its failure to hold human rights violators accountable
and by allowing the disregard for human rights in the conduct of its wars on drugs and
insurgency. Under Duterte’s Presidency there is growing disrespect of the right to life and
civil liberties and a closing of democratic space with attacks on freedom of the press, and
judicial independence. In addition, there is a flagrant disregard for international
humanitarian law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
1 Promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines, OHCHR Website, 17 July 2019.
https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/41/2
International Covenant on Economic Social and cultural Rights, the Convention Against
Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and other UN
Instruments.
The Rodrigo Duterte government has conducted with unabated brutality its “war on
drugs” generating a human rights catastrophe. As confirmed by face to face meetings
with families who have lost family members, killed, as a result of the <<war on drugs>>2
. Amnesty International reported in July, 2019 that “in the three years since President
Rodrigo Duterte unleashed the crackdown almost 27,000 people have been killed in
either police anti-drug operations or by unknown perpetrators. Of these killings, at least
6,600 of the killings have been attributed to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and
local police anti-drug operations. The Duterte government has been relatively transparent
about its anti-narcotics program, the President has repeatedly boasted about killing drug
suspects. Early on in his Presidency in 2016 he was quoted as saying “Hitler massacred
three million Jews, now there is three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter
them.”3 There is little doubt about Command culpability in the war on drugs. It was
initiative of the President, encouraged by the President, and he has removed any
obstacles to its prosecution, including impeachment of a Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court.
In addition to the War on Drugs, political killings, illegal arrest and detention, enforced
disappearance, torture, and forced evacuation have occurred relentlessly throughout the
Duterte Presidency. Karapatan reports more than 1,000 civilians killed in military actions
related to the War on Terror in Marawi City. Since July 2016 across the Philippines there
were over 293 political killings (including 167 human rights defenders), 629 political
detainees (382 new detainees under Duterte), 204 documented instances of torture,
94,075 victims of threat, harassment and intimidation4
. In the previous year it was also
reported that indiscriminate firing and bombing during military operations caused
suffering for 368,391 and forced evacuation resulted in the internal displacement of
another 447,963 (Dec. 10, 2018). To protect itself from accountability the Duterte Regime
2 Observations of ICHRP Canada Chair Rev. Patricia Lisson from Aug 2019 fact finding mission
3 www.Pbs.org Frontline Patrice Taddonio “If They Are Stubborn, Then We Will Kill Them”: Inside Rodrigo
Duterte’s War on Drug Suspects in the Philippines. Oct 7, 2019. 4 www.karapatan.org Karapatan National Press Release, “Karapatan cites urgency of the human rights crisis in
the country presses for probe and accountability during 2019 IHRD.” Dec 10, 2019.
has withdrawn from both the Rome Statue5 and the International Criminal Court.
In this context ICHRP-Canada would like to highlight a few key areas of concern:
1. Impunity and Intensifying Repression
Every day the situation appears to become graver with new measures by the Duterte
Regime to oppress, harass and murder social and human rights activists and drug
suspects. More recently in Negros the government has begun blurring the lines between
drug suspects and those it considers as its critics.
Even through Martial Law has now “formally” ended in Mindanao the government has
imposed Martial Law measures in many other areas of the country including Negros,
Samar, Leyte and Sothern Luzon. In late November 2018, under the pretext of
suppressing “lawlessness”, the Philippine government announced Memorandum Order
32, and deployed more police and ground troops to intensify on-going counter-insurgency
operations in the Bicol Region of Luzon, Samar and Negros placing more civilians in
harm’s way. The result was Memorandum Order 32 intensified repression throughout the
Central Philippines in 2019.
Negros is an area where a number of ICHRP members have visited and where ICHRP
Canada have received reports of a spike in human rights violations over the past 15
months. On 20 October 2018, nine farmworkers were killed as private security forces
open fired on members of the National Federation of Sugar Cane Workers in Sagay,
Negros Occidental. Shortly thereafter on November 5th, 2019 human rights lawyer
Benjamin Ramos, was gunned down in the street by motorcycle riding gunmen, Ramos
had been involved in the Sagay 9 case as well as many other human rights cases in
Negros. No one has been held accountable for the killing of either the Sagay 9 or
Attorney Ramos.
Since the deployment of more troops in late 2018 there has been a proliferation of extra-
judicial killing involving the military and para-military forces. In Negros there have been 3
5 The Rome Statute established four core international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes,
and the crime of aggression.
distinct killing clusters involving the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local police the first instance was a large-scale AFP-PNP military operation carried out in
Negros Oriental from Dec. 27 to Jan. 15, 2019. The operations resulted in seven
persons killed and 40 others arrested and charged, invariably, with illegal
possession of firearms and explosives. A second operation was carried out on March 30 in Canlaon City and the towns of
Majuyod and Sta. Catalina. Result: 14 farmer-activists were killed in their homes
during the search operations for alleged illegal firearms some were declared to be
drug suspect at the time of the incident. The third operation took place in July in NEGROS Oriental, Philippines – At least
17 civilians – were killed following a string of shooting incidents in this province
over just 10 days, from July 18 to July 28, 2019. Most of the victims were in their
homes sleeping when armed men attacked them. These killings continued into the
month of August, claiming at least 4 more lives.
Again no one has been charged in any of these killings and in fact some military and
police personnel received commendations for their work. This is not surprising in light of
the President’s own direction.
2. Attacks on Journalists
Journalism is also under attack in the Philippines, the Freedom for Media, Freedom for
All Network reported at least 128 threats and attacks against members of the press under
Duterte including the killings 12 journalists6
. According to the media freedom organization
Reporters without Borders, the Philippines remains one of the most dangerous countries
for media in the Asia Pacific. Journalist and NDFP peace consultant Randy Malayo was
one of the victims, Malayo was assassinated while asleep on a bus in Nueva Viscaya
(January 30, 2019) by suspected military agents. Duterte himself has fueled the risk to
journalists stating “Just because you’re a journalist you are not exempted from
assassination, if you’re a son of a bitch,”7 Another area of concern has been attacks on not just individual journalists, but corporate
6 www.Rappler.com “Over 100 attacks vs journalists since Duterte assumed office – monitor” Rambo Talabong,
May 3, 2019. 7 www.time.com Duterte Says Journalists in the Philippines are “Not Exempted from Assassination” Simon
Lewis, June 1, 2016
entities that have run afoul of the Duterte government. The owners of the formerly
independent broadsheet, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, opted to sell their paper to a
Duterte ally in the face of unrelenting pressure from the Duterte administration.8
. The
independent news service, Rappler, has been under constant attack in recent months
and its editor has been charged with tax evasion following their in-depth reporting on the
War on Drugs. In recent weeks Duterte has threatened to not renew licensing for ABS-
CBN the largest media conglomerate in the Philippines advising them to sell out before
their license expires9
. 3. Attacks on the Judiciary
Duterte’s presidency has been marked by attacks on legal institutions in the Philippines
and the independence of the judiciary. According to the National Union of Peoples’
Lawyers (NUPL), 34 lawyers have been killed in the Philippines during the first two-years
reign of the Duterte Presidency (including judges and prosecutors). Counsels for victims
of human rights violations, in particular, are targets of attack. The November 2018 killing
of Attorney Ben Ramos, mentioned earlier in this paper, is not an isolated case. The
killing of Judge Mario Anacleto Bañez on November 5, 2019 while onboard his vehicle in
San Fernando, La Union has been linked to his acquittal of health worker, Rachel
Mariano, who was accused of being a member of the New People’s Army and
masterminding the murder of a soldier.
The Chief Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court, Maria Lourdes Serrano was
impeached by Duterte in May 2018. According to the NY Times Serrano had been at
odds with Duterte over the legality of his conduct of the “War on Drugs”10. Serrano had
also voted against Duterte’s declaration of military rule in the southern Philippines. The
impeachment of Serrano for blatantly political reasons undermines the independence of
the Philippine judiciary. Another former justice official who clashed with Duterte over the
War on Drugs was former Minister of Justice Senator Leila De Lima, for her efforts she
was imprisoned in February 201711
, on what appear to be trumped up drug charges. Prior to 8 www.rappler.com, Jodesz Gavilan, Duterte’s target: The Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 16, 2017
9 https://www.aljazeera.com/ajimpact/philippines-duterte-tells-media-conglomerate- owners-sell-
191230114922285.html, Philippines’ Duterte tells media conglomerate owners to sell out, January 1, 2020. 10 NY Times, May 11, 2018 “Philippines’ Top Judge Took on Duterte Now, She’s Out”. 11 Aljazeera.com Feb 24, 2017 “Senator Leila de Lima Arrested in the Philippines”.
her arrest De Lima had led a series of Senate investigations over allegations that police officers
were involved in the anti-drug killings and that hired killers were operating under orders from
police.
4. Red Tagging and Suppression of Dissent
Those who oppose or speak out against the Duterte regime are Red-Tagged. In February
2018, the Department of Justice issued a petition that identified over 600 individuals as
terrorists. The long list tagged as “terrorists” include NGO representatives, peace
proponents, human rights advocates, among those identified was Victoria Tauli-Corpuz,
the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. Among those
most vulnerable to Red-Tagging are the human rights workers carrying out the work on
the ground. Cristina Palabay, the general secretary of Karapatan, a national alliance of
human rights organizations, is the subject of ongoing death threats sent as text
messages to her telephone. In many cases, red-tagging precedes extrajudicial killings of
human rights defenders as in the case of Ben Ramos.
This type of judicial harassment is ongoing used again on mass on December 8, 2018
when 700 political and social activists in Mindanao had trumped up charges filed against
them.
The most recent series of mass political arrests occurred in late October 2019 when
around 60 peasants, women, trade union and other activists in Negros and Manila
following searches of their offices on dubious pretexts (October 31, 2019).
In late December 2018, Duterte called on the military to destroy the underground and all
of its alleged front organizations. In a speech to the troops on December 22, Duterte
stated “Change your paradigm, do not fight them (the NPA), destroy them. There is
evident danger in the President’s direction to the troops in that all legal organizations that
are maliciously suspected of being legal fronts of the CPP become targets of the lethal
actions of the armed forces. He has set- up a potential human rights catastrophe,
unleashing the Philippine military on civil society.
The Red-tagging, trumped up charges, weaponizing of the law against critics, opposition,
are all components of the government’s “whole of nation approach” under Executive
Order #70.
5. Political Prisoners
As noted above the number of political detainees has grown significantly under the Duterte
government. One case in particular that ICHRP Canada would like to highlight is that of Rowena
“Weng” Rosales she is just one of the 382 political detainees incarcerated under Duterte. Many
of us in the Canadian Human Rights and Labour community have met Weng over the past decade
in her role as the International Solidarity Officer for the Public Sector Union formation COURAGE.
COURAGE represents workers in a range of functions at National, Regional and Local government
levels. COURAGE has a long-standing partnership with the Canadian Union of Public Employees
and Weng served as the primary connection in this partnership for many years. She arranged for
numerous labour and human rights delegations to visit the Philippines. Over the years we were
made aware that Weng had been subjected to surveillance and ongoing harassment for her
union activities, the persecution she experienced culminated in her arrest in July 2018.
Like most of the 629 political detainees she was arrested on non-bailable charges. Rowena
Rosales was detained in August 2018 with her husband Olivier Rosales on fabricated charges.
Both were forcibly taken by armed men while on board their tricycle at Galvez St., Brgy. Wawa,
Balagtas, Bulacan. They were later taken to Camp Crame, Quezon City, where Weng was shown a
warrant of arrest charging her with illegal possession of firearms and explosives. The normal
process for political detainees is that they must fight the charges in court, a process that takes
five to six years before the charges will ultimately be dismissed for lack of evidence. In many
instances the government will file cases in other jurisdictions to ensure the accused will be
denied liberty indefinitely.
With the War on Drugs, the Philippine courts are choked with a backlog of new cases creating
further delays, leaving the accused to languish in over-crowded prisons for long periods of time.
For over six months the Rosales were held in terrible conditions at the National Capital Region
office of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG),
The PNP CIDG-NCR detention facility in Camp Crame is supposed to be a temporary facility for
persons arrested by its operations. Hence, the 1m x 3m cell for women and 3m x 7m for male
detainees, sandwiched between the offices and the kitchen. Oliver Rosales was crammed
together with 30 other inmates in a cell that was meant to be for 10 persons, with only two
makeshift beds. Rowena Rosales was detained with three women, in a cell designed for two
medium-built persons lying on the floor. At the time of her arrival in the facility she was
considered “fortunate” as prior to her, detention, there had been eight detainees in the same
cell.
Rowena and Olivier are now in their 3rd year of detention, with little progress towards resolution
of their cases. ICHRP Canada highlights their cases as examples of the risks associated with being
labour and political activists in the current situation and for the intolerable conditions that are
experienced by political detainees.
6. Marawi City: Humanitarian Disaster
In May 2017, an incursion by approximately 200 members of the Maute Terrorist group
into Marawi City and subsequent six-month siege of the city of 300,000 by the Philippine
military led to over 1,000 civilian deaths and the total destruction of one of the largest
Islamic cities in the Philippines.
The Philippine government then expropriated much of the lands in the center of the city
as a military reservation, permanently displacing more than 300,000 residents of the city.
In a huge land grab operation, the military is asserting legal rights to 6,000 of the 8,000
hectares of land in Marawi in order to construct a second military camp in Marawi City.
As of October 2019, more than 100,000 people, or half of Marawi's pre conflict
population, were still in temporary government-built shelters unable to return to their
homes in the city’s centre, where most of the fighting took place.
7. The War on Indigenous Peoples
The Duterte Regime like its predecessors has continued a low-level counter-insurgency
campaign against Lumad or indigenous communities to create a more favorable business
climate for domestic and multinational mining operations. Of the 68 extra-judicial killings
that occurred in the first 12 months of Duterte’s Regime 46 took place in Mindanao and
21 involved Indigenous Peoples.12 Lumads, or the non-Muslim indigenous peoples of Mindanao, have been vocal against
the repression experienced by their communities, numerous human rights violations were
recorded by independent human rights organizations including the occupation and
bombing of Lumad schools by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine
National Police, food blockades against Lumad communities, the capturing of ancestral
12 Karapatan Monitor, Issue No.2 April-June 2017. P. 9
lands from indigenous Lumad, the killing of suspected Lumad alleged to be affiliated with
rebel groups, the censorship of various media outlets in Lumad communities, and the
killing of numerous Lumad leaders.
Martial Law in Mindanao has also resulted in the occupation of indigenous communities
and schools by military and para-military forces. Since the opening of the school year in
May 2018, Save Our School Network has recorded seven cases of military encampment
in Salugpongan Ta Tunu Igkanugon Community Learning Center schools in Talingod.
Since the implementation of Martial Law in Mindanao in 2017, all of the 180 Lumad
Schools in Mindanao have been closed by military occupation or via order from the
Department of Education.
In Central Luzon thousands of Aeta are being displaced without compensation as a result
of the massive New Clark City development. Planned hydroelectric projects associated
with the New Clark City project will also flood upland valleys displacing more Aeta
communities. These communities are now increasingly militarized.
8. Attacks on Human Rights Defenders
Attacks on Human Rights defenders continue to intensify across the Philippines. Human Rights
defenders were the most targeted political group since Duterte came to power in June 2016,
with 167 human rights defenders killed over that period. Civil society organizations including
Human Rights groups, humanitarian NGO’s and sectoral groups such as Karapatan have been
stigmatized by public vilification campaigns linked to Executive Order 70, where by leaflets,
posters and flyers have proliferated on-line and in public spaces. At least 12 Human Rights
workers from Karapatan have been killed after public statements to incite violence against
individuals.
ICHRP Canada is alarmed at the new level of impunity and the deterioration of the rights
situation and democratic spaces. The Duterte government’s track record regarding human rights
and democracy is alarming. Its campaign to silence any opposition to its authority is
characterized by the same scale and ruthlessness with which it wages the brutal drug war. In
both its wars on drugs and on political opposition, the Duterte government is running rough shod
over human rights and the rule of law, sanctioning the use of extra-legal means, including
extrajudicial killings. It has weaponized the legal system against its political opponents, critics of
its policies and human rights defenders. Under the Duterte Governments counter-insurgency
program and Executive Order 70, Martial Law is virtually in place all across the country. Since it
assumed power in 2016. the Duterte government has systematically and rapidly disabled and
dismantled the country’s democratic systems and institutions.
Recommendations:
1. For the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution providing for
the initiation of an independent fact-finding mission or a Commission
of Inquiry regarding the Human Rights Situation in the Philippines.
2. For the Philippine government to officially invite UN special
procedures13, including those on extrajudicial killings, human rights
defenders, indigenous peoples, political prisoners, freedom of
association and peaceful assembly freedom of expression, to conduct
independent investigation on allegations of rights violations in the
Philippines;
3. For the Philippine government to stop extrajudicial killings, enforced
disappearances, torture, illegal or arbitrary arrests and detention and
other human rights violations and provide measures to ensure
accountability of perpetrators;
4. For the Philippine government to rescind its policies and program
pertaining to its campaign against illegal drugs and counterinsurgency
campaigns that gravely impact on the human rights situation;
5. For the Philippine government to release all political prisoners and to
halt the policy and practice of judicial harassment, criminalization of
human rights work and political dissent;
6. For the Philippine government to work for the legislation of the Human
Rights Defenders Protection Bill;
13 Special procedures are individual independent human rights experts, or groups of such experts, who report
and advise on human rights issues. They are called by many names
including Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives, Working Groups, and Independent Experts.
7. The Philippine government should put an end to the practice of red-
tagging and end the public disclosure of drug lists.
8. The Philippine government should allow Lumad schools to re-open
and reinstate their charters under the Department of Education.
9. For the Philippine government to abide by all international instruments
pertaining to human rights and international humanitarian law.
10. For the Philippine government to demilitarize Marawi City and provide
full compensation to the original inhabitants for loss of domicile and
loss of livelihood, to all for the reconstruction of their homes.
List of Participants on the Beaconsfield Initiative
The Very Reverend Dr. Bill Phipps, Former Moderator UCC, Calgary
The Reverend Shaun E. Fryday, Beaconsfield United Church, Montreal
Honorio Guerrero, Canadian Philippine Solidarity Group, Vancouver
Beth Dollaga, Canadian Philippine Solidarity Group
Darlene Brewer, Ph.D., (Theology), UCC, Fredericton (Principle Writer)
Guy Lin Beaudoin, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Patricia Lisson, St. Columba House, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Marie-Claude Manga, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Bob McElhinney, UCC, Toronto
Dorothy McElhinney, UCC, Toronto
Ivy Taguik Prénoveau
Alain Prénoveau, Former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Aboriginal Peoples, Québec, Laval
Connie Sorrio, Kairos, Toronto
Tess Tesalona, Centre for Philippine Concerns, Montreal
Darlene Brewer, Guy-Lin Beaudoin, Shaun Fryday (Writing Team)
The Very Reverend Dr. Bill Phipps, Former Moderator UCC, Calgary
The Reverend Shaun E. Fryday, Beaconsfield United Church, Montreal
Honorio Guerrero, Canadian Philippine Solidarity Group, Vancouver
Beth Dollaga, Canadian Philippine Solidarity Group
Darlene Brewer, Ph.D., (Theology), UCC, Fredericton (Principle Writer)
Guy Lin Beaudoin, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Patricia Lisson, St. Columba House, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Marie-Claude Manga, St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, UCC, Montreal
The Reverend Bob McElhinney, UCC, Toronto
Dorothy McElhinney, UCC, Toronto
Ivy Taguik Prénoveau
Alain Prénoveau, Former Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Aboriginal Peoples, Québec, Laval
Connie Sorrio, Kairos, Toronto
Tess Tesalona, Centre for Philippine Concerns, Montreal
Darlene Brewer, Guy-Lin Beaudoin, Shaun Fryday (Writing Team)