US State Dep’t: Harassment of left-leaning rights activists continue under Marcos Jr. admin
MANILA, Philippines — A new report published by the US State Department noted that while the Philippines has moved forward from being uncooperative with global human rights groups, but abuses still continue under the Marcos Jr. administration.
It also noted that the government’s own rights bodies also did not have enough resources to follow up on leads or reports presented to local offices.
“Leftist and left-leaning human rights activists continued to report harassment by local security forces, including arbitrary arrest and abuse of detainees by police and prison officials,” the report read.
It also recalled recalled how President Rodrigo Duterte’s government refused to cooperate or even recognize and respond to the findings or cases highlighted by human rights groups.
More evidently, Duterte refused to cooperate with the International Criminical Court when it sought to complete an investigation on the killings caused by his administration’s “war on drugs.”
The Philippines notified the United Nations secretary-general that it would be withdrawing from the ICC’s Rome Statue to prevent further investigations. Even after his presidency, Duterte said the probe would be an “insult” to the country.
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Even if the Marcos administration already clarified that it would not be rejoining the Rome Statute of the ICC, the Philippines still engages and submits responses to the ICC in what Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said is done “out of respect” and “not out of compliance.”
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The US report also noted that the state’s human rights bodies — such as the Commission on Human Rights — has local village presence through human rights action centers, but they pointed out that “it nonetheless lacked sufficient resources to investigate and follow up on all cases presented to its regional and subregional offices.”
It also pointed out criticisms against the Presidential Human Rights Committee, such as its “limited ability to influence human rights policy.” — Kaycee Valmonte