The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights welcomes the report to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council that was submitted by Special Rapporteur Irene Khan about her visit to the Philippines from January 23 to February 2, 2024.

The report, released this month, rightly captures the Ferdinand Marcos Jr administration’s hypocrisy and inaction as regards protecting freedom of opinion and expression and labor and human rights. It shows how the government has been trying to earn brownie points from the international community while refusing to carry out crucial steps to truly protect journalists, media workers, labor and human rights defenders and civil society actors.

We affirm Ms. Khan’s analysis that despite the government’s high-profile actions, “Critical voices in civil society are still being subjected to threats, vilification and harassment. Arbitrary detention, including prolonged pretrial detention, and the prosecution… for legitimate political expression continue…”

Arising from a truthful analysis of the situation in the country, the report’s recommendations are also correct and should be implemented by the government. Among these recommendations, which CTUHR has been demanding to the Marcos Jr government, are: release journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, her colleagues, and other political prisoners from detention; investigate cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances; stop the governments’ practice of red-tagging and abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC); and amend the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 in accordance with international human rights norms and standards.

These recommendations mirror those that have been forwarded by local labor and human rights organizations. These are what the Marcos Jr government refuses to do despite its posturing that it is in favor of labor and human rights and democracy, in contrast to its predecessor.

The report not only stresses the analysis and demands made by local labor and human rights organizations, it also shines a spotlight on relatively lesser-known but important facets of human rights in the Philippines:

>> The situation of political prisoners: “the pace of judicial procedures is remarkably slow, extending the pretrial detention period to such an extent that it is sometimes equivalent to a conviction. Prolonged pretrial detention, the refusal to grant bail when there is no risk of flight and the extremely slow disposal of cases, especially when trumped-up charges are later dismissed by the judiciary, make a travesty of justice, equating the innocent with the guilty.”

>> The government’s anti-terrorism campaign, which it uses as an excuse for red-tagging: the government “should define terrorism precisely, according to resolutions of the United Nations, as acts against civilians committed with the intention of causing death or serious injury. The Government must ensure respect for the rule of law in its strategy to counter terrorism, which should also be in line with international human rights obligations. Reporting critically on State policies, informing the public about the state of the insurgency, documenting or speaking out against human rights violations committed by State authorities, protesting against economic and social injustices that are root causes of violent extremism and working in the community to reduce such injustices are not acts of terrorism or support for terrorists but legitimate activities under international human rights law and the national laws of the Philippines.”

>> The deficits in the country’s legal framework in comparison to international laws: “In the light of the history of enforced disappearances, unlawful killings and persistent impunity in the Philippines, the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and to open discussions for re-accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

In its effort to project itself as more open to human rights and democracy compared to its predecessor, the Marcos Jr government welcomed Ms. Khan’s visit to the Philippines. Now, Ms. Khan has submitted a truthful report with urgent recommendations. Marcos Jr is running out of time in the presidency and should immediately implement Ms. Khan’s recommendations. Should he fail to do so, his actions will be further exposed as a fraud.