One day before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s second to the last State of the Nation Address (SONA), a labor rights NGO called on the chief executive to address the issue of political prisoners and the country’s human rights situation in his speech.

The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) said that as the president enters his “legacy phase,” assessments of his administration will surely discuss his inclusion or exclusion of the human rights situation in his SONA.

“The president is the son of a dictator that ruled the country, a successor of a mass murderer, and is himself accused of presiding over rights violations. He should weigh in – in his SONA, nothing less – on the human rights assessments of his presidency,” said Kamz Deligente, CTUHR executive director.

Deligente said that while a significant number of political prisoners from the labor movement has been released since Marcos became president in 2022, 20 remain in detention due to trumped-up charges and fabricated evidence. She said CTUHR is still verifying internal reports that an additional 10 farm workers in Negros should be included in the list.

“Marcos Jr has done nothing to expedite the release of the country’s political prisoners. It is the courts, without the atmosphere of intimidation created by Duterte’s presidency, that upheld the truth and justice and ordered the release of some political prisoners,” Deligente added.

CTUHR also said that there have been 106 reported cases of extrajudicial killings of workers and labor activists since 2016, but no one has been held accountable. It said that two labor activists, national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno’s (KMU) William Lariosa (disappeared in April 2024) and James Jazmines (August 2024), were disappeared under the current administration.

“The president may have allowed Duterte’s arrest for the ICC trial, but Duterte’s other rights violations have gone unpunished and Duterte’s murderous legacy persists under his rule. We continue to demand that he address these human rights violations in the labor sector and in the country, but we have never pinned our hopes on him,” Deligente stated.

The labor NGO said that what Marcos Jr will omit in his SONA will be at the center of the People’s SONA, the street protests of workers and other marginalized sectors in various parts of the country.

“Marcos Jr will most probably boast about the country’s newly-acquired upper-middle income status, but the People’s SONA will talk about widespread unemployment, low wages, high prices and poor-quality work. Marcos Jr will probably make it appear that the country’s democracy is working, but the People’s SONA will showcase violations of labor and human rights, which make democracy hollow,” Deligente stated.