📷:N.Bacarra|Kodao
Rights defenders and activists gathered at Liwasang Bonifacio on International Human Rights Day to denounce what they described as continuing human rights violations and systemic corruption under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Led by the human rights alliance Karapatan, protesters condemned large-scale bureaucratic corruption, violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), and the weaponization of laws against dissent. The group branded the current administration as “among the most rotten regimes in the country’s history.”
Corruption as a Rights Violation
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay stressed that corruption itself constitutes a violation of the people’s rights. She accused Marcos Jr. of using his presidency to recover his family’s ill-gotten wealth from sequestration and to evade payment of multi-billion peso estate tax liabilities, even before the flood control corruption scandal erupted.
Palabay also pointed to Vice President Sara Duterte’s “fascistic and militarist mindset” and her anomalous use of hundreds of millions of pesos in Confidential and Intelligence Funds. She cautioned that replacing Marcos Jr. with “an equally corrupt and authoritarian successor” would not resolve the crisis.
“Every peso stolen by bureaucrat capitalists is a peso diverted from urgently needed social services,” Karapatan said, adding that corruption, coupled with U.S.-imposed neoliberal economic programs and counter-insurgency schemes, has deprived Filipinos of the means to live decently.
Human Rights Violations and IHL Breaches
Karapatan reported alarming figures since Marcos Jr. assumed office in July 2022:
– 134 extrajudicial killings (EJK)
– 15 enforced disappearances
– 822 arbitrary arrests
– 577 forced or fake surrenders
– 70,028 cases of indiscriminate firing
– 57,156 cases of indiscriminate bombing
The group also cited 48,247 victims of forced evacuation and millions subjected to threats, harassment, intimidation, and red-tagging.
“These scourges are added afflictions on peasants, workers, and the middle class already reeling from a chronic economic crisis,” Palabay said.
Karapatan accused the government of continuous IHL violations, noting that most EJK victims were peasant leaders falsely portrayed as rebels. Indiscriminate firing, aerial bombardments, and artillery attacks during military operations were likewise described as violations affecting civilians, livelihoods, and properties.
Political Prisoners and Weaponized Laws
The group lamented that hundreds of political prisoners remain detained nationwide, calling them “living proof of the regime’s repression.” As of the fourth quarter of 2025, Karapatan recorded at least 696 political prisoners, 163 of whom were arrested under Marcos Jr. This includes 12 peace consultants and staff of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Karapatan further accused the government of weaponizing the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) to suppress dissent. The group reported that 227 mass leaders and activists have been falsely charged, with 30 currently detained, while 34 personalities, including NDFP consultants, have been arbitrarily designated as “terrorists.”
Counter-Insurgency and U.S. Influence
Palabay said Marcos Jr.’s issuance of the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD) in May 2025 demonstrates his intent to stamp out dissent. With the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as lead agency, the plan allegedly profiles activists, red-tags them, and pressures them to surrender as rebels.
“Those who refuse to fall into the NTF-ELCAC’s trap become victims of EJK, enforced disappearance, or trumped-up charges,” Palabay warned.
She argued that the NAP-UPD is a continuation of U.S.-designed counter-insurgency programs, aligning with the U.S. National Defense Strategy and Bilateral Defense Guidelines. “The U.S. wants its puppet Marcos Jr. to whip everyone in line to ensure the Philippines plays its role as pawn in America’s power struggles with China,” she said.
Karapatan concluded that such policies endanger the security and welfare of the Filipino people, who risk being engulfed in a conflict not of their own making.
The group marched to Mendiola after its main program at Liwasang Bonifacio. (ZIA LUNA)
