The rate of human rights violations in the country has consistently remained alarming over the years. This year in particular, the plummeting economy, climate crisis, press freedom, and unjustified murders made its rounds on raising this bar. In celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we look back at governance and how human rights are exercised in the Philippines.
The country is not new in facing economic difficulties, but it has not seen this low of a ground in a while. The clouds are red, like the onion that symbolizes the dystopia of such a horrid economic state. And with every right available in democracy, there should be enough will that we assess the leading heads choreographing this demise.
President Marcos Jr. drew criticism after attending the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix 2023 amid the economic crisis faced by the country. His attendance last year for the annual race with his son, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos, and his cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez, also drew flak as it was just days after the country was hit by Super Typhoon Karding. With the red onion dystopia of economic decline and rice nowhere found relatively affordable as promised, the president’s dubious foreign trips contributes to the already amped distrust of the people to the government, especially with the awareness of his family’s affluence during his father’s dictatorship. Insensitivity might not be a recognized concern for people nurtured in the upper tiers of the strata. There is a necessary expectation of good governance to be met by those elected by the people through whatever appeal, but Christmas never seems to come for the advent of these upper class political descendants who fail to fill in their chair’s responsibility, and, well, how exactly do you govern deprivation from a state of privilege?
Leaves in Fading Green
Indigenous displacement for urban development is nothing new and we witness this in constant replay everyday. The Kaliwa Dam construction is a project that aims to address the water shortage in Metro Manila. It poses a massive concern endangering indigenous families as emphasized by Stop Kaliwa Dam Network. Stated in their petition “Stop Kaliwa Dam, Save Our Future!”, the project will destroy the biodiversity and habitat of 126 species in 300 hectares of the Sierra Madre, submerge 291 hectares of forests, and endanger 100,000 residents downstream with the risk of massive flooding. The loaned funds would also contribute to the downhill economic state of the country as the national debt rises. It is crucial that alternatives be considered instead of sacrificing communities and contributing to the global environmental challenges, but it seems to be the least of the government’s concern to find a way to save everyone as the project pushes and is now a quarter complete.
When we speak of climate change, one is reminded of the incident that took place earlier this year where two young environmental activists were freed from military abduction. Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano disappeared for two weeks after appearing at a government organized press conference. It was said they went “off-script” after sentiments of the military got opposed by the activists’ claims of abduction and calls for the “resurfacing of other victims of forced disappearances.” Global Witness cites the Philippines as one of the most dangerous countries for land and environmental defenders, with 11 activists killed in 2022. With the continued communist labeling and extreme warrantless measures, especially by NTF-ELCAC, blood is bound to flood.
Murders of the Panopticon
What is morality when it is the panopticon that kills?
Red Tagging by NTF-ELCAC has been sung at several funerals in the country, including Chad Booc’s, a young Lumad teacher slain in an encounter at New Bataan, Davao de Oro. His death, along with his fellow teachers, was only a few of the many injustices executed by this gunned authority. The entanglement of IP discrimination and NPA labeling with little to no basis at all might be complex but it is not hard to understand because Booc’s death simply states that we are all in danger. What do you do when the government dictates you be dead?
Juan Jumalon, 57; Mohammad Hessam Midtimbang, 32; and Cresenciano Bunduquin, 50—these are the names of journalists killed in 2023 alone. Jumalon was the fourth killing under Marcos’ current term. The country is dubbed as one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, with almost 200 deaths (maybe even more) since 2000. It is one of its greatest records. Press Freedom is a constant advocacy of the Filipino people as the government remains to be the devil’s advocate, suppressing with all their armed glory.
Some may consider extrajudicial killings old news but there is never a wrong time to remember the harrowing volume of these massacres, and it is actually still active to this day. Former President Duterte let blood flow in the country during his term. We saw humanity undressed as gun wielding uniformed men sought out to kill. Simply, kill. The amount of education, discipline, and order never occurred heavier than the gun during these encounters. And because of its weight, bearers often leaned into wide margins of error, severing lives; young, old, guilty, and innocent. Kian de los Santos (17), Danica Garcia (5), Erwin Polo (38)—we are now simply left to remember their names.
Human rights are inalienable. So a government that fails to recognize such is a government that fails to govern, because even criminals bleed red. There is no butter in blood. No amount of force can wring milk to churn from the throats of these people if not painted ruby; only blood results from violence because we are all human beings.
Muffled Ballads of Anger and Hunger
Moreover, events cementing how this is a country of so much institutional suppression piles up to this day. The recent bombing in MSU-Marawi has caused immense damage and trauma, killing 4 people and injuring over 40. Yet, interestingly, classes resume on December 11 as if the distraught students and faculty had already settled. Organizations even beyond the MSU system calls out the directive and criticizes the muted treatment of the situation.
There is a need to emphasize what the people need. Minimum wages are not enough to feed poor families, teachers are yet to be appropriately compensated for their work, human rights are universal but the SOGIE Bill remains a bill to this day, and this is especially crucial in the rising HIV cases in the country. These are not merely stories; these are records that continue to grow as of today and indefinitely in the future. Inescapable as it seems, let us not allow the bleak state of human rights in the Philippines remain as unsolved tales.
When a government is stoic and apathetic of the citizen’s woes, our awareness and clamor shall be the catalysts of pulling them from such a high state of power. There might not be much mobility and range for actions, but we are more than capable of making our government act on the frustrations that riddle Filipinos because we have a voice. And our voice should assert that the state respects, protects, and fulfills our human rights because we have every right to do so. The heavens are crimson, looming over lands of clots from all the years of blood that have hardened under hot hands of violence and abuse. And we can only hope for better skies when less blood is shed.
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