Under the Marcos Jr. administration, Karapatan said that there are 14 enforced disappearances, 134 extra-judicial killings, 822 arbitrary arrests, 577 forced or fake surrenders, more than 70,000 victims of indiscriminate firing and 48,000 victims of forced evacuation.
MANILA – Justice and accountability for the victims of human rights violations.
As in the past, International Human Rights Day (IHRD) on December 10 was the time to remember those who were killed, forcibly disappeared, and arrested on trumped-up charges, among other human rights violations. These happen as the nation bleeds from widespread corruption.
“We are the living proof that there is no justice here in the Philippines,” said JL Burgos, brother of disappeared activist Jonas Burgos who has been missing for almost two decades. “We have won several cases in courts, but all these remain in papers. All of us, families of victims of human rights violations will continue to search for justice. We will grieve but we will also fight.”
Hundreds of human rights defenders and activists gathered from Liwasang Bonifacio to Mendiola Peace Arc, as part of the IHRD protest in Manila. The victim-survivors of human rights violations and their families marched in the frontlines, together with activists from various sectors.
“I was only a minor when the state forces arrested my older sister (Marielle Domequil). I could not fully understand why they were arrested in the first place, when the politicians themselves are still free, swimming in the money they plunder from the people,” said Iris Domequil, youngest sibling of Marielle, a volunteer of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and one of the “Tacloban 5” human rights defenders arrested on February 7, 2020.
Many of the human rights defenders arrested for their advocacy follow the same pattern of charges: illegal possession of firearms and explosives and twin-terror laws (Anti-Terrorism Act and Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act). There are more than 700 political prisoners in the country, according to human rights group Karapatan.
Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, said that the names of Marcoses and Dutertes will forever resonate as fascists and corrupt officials. “Not one in the highest seat of power has been jailed for the plunder by bureaucrat-capitalists.”
The Philippines loses an estimated P700 billion ($11.7 billion) to P1.4 trillion ($ 23.5 billion) each year to corruption across all levels of government, based on a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). These losses are due to problems like rigged procurement, ghost projects, bribery, smuggling, and entrenched political patronage.
Read: Marcos, Duterte face corruption, rights violations
Photo by Carlo Manalansan/Bulatlat
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) called out the Marcos-Duterte administration for the 2026 budget marred with pork barrel insertions. Ibon Foundation said that the Marcos Jr. administration has the highest sum of unprogrammed appropriations compared to previous administrations, from P251 billion ($ 4.2 billion) in 2022 to P807 billion ($ 13.6 billion) in 2023, P731.5 billion ($ 12.3 billion) in 2024, and P531.7 billion ($ 8.9 billion) in 2025.
The current administration also has the biggest budget increase in flood control projects through the years, with P283.2 billion (USD 4.7 billion) in 2023, P352.8 billion ($ 5.9 billion) in 2024, and P350.5 ($ 5.9 billion) billion in 2025.
“Worse, still unfolding corruption exposés confirm that hundreds of billions of pesos in government funds, including from borrowing, has not gone towards improving the people’s welfare or ensuring genuine development,” Ibon said. “These funds are instead going to the pockets of the powerful and wealthy few via pork barrel insertions throughout the budget process.
Makabayan lawmakers estimated that over P695.8 billion of the proposed 2026 budget is presidential and legislative pork. A recent investigation by Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism observed that Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Sandro Marcos and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, the president’s son and cousin respectively, have the highest shares of “allocable” funds that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) provides to congressional districts.
In the wake of the corruption scandal, anti-corruption activists have become victims of arrests. More than 200 individuals have been arrested since the major anti-corruption protest on September 21, including 91 children. Torture and ill-treatment were documented by human rights organizations as charges continue to hound the victims.
According to CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations, the detention of protesters and activists was the most alarming trend across Asia Pacific this year.
“Governments are criminalising dissent on a massive scale. Peaceful protest is being painted as a crime, and those who dare to speak out and mobilise are paying with their freedom,” said Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Monitor’s Asia-Pacific researcher.
Under the Marcos Jr. administration, Karapatan said that there are 14 enforced disappearances, 134 extra-judicial killings, 822 arbitrary arrests, 577 forced or fake surrenders, more than 70,000 victims of indiscriminate firing and 48,000 victims of forced evacuation.
Earlier this year, Marcos Jr. issued the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD), a supposedly “blueprint for peace” with the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as its lead agency.
“The NAP-UPD was not forged in a vacuum,” Karapatan said in a statement. “For decades, repressive anti-people programs drawn up by Philippines regimes have hewn to US counter-insurgency doctrines.”
Palabay said that military bases of the United States continue to sprout in the Philippines. Since the Marcos Jr. administration, there have been additional four sites under Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), serving as access for US troops for joint training, warehouses, runways, and storage.
Earlier this week, international delegates from Bayan-USA and International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines exposed the impacts of US military exercises in the grassroots communities. Farmers were prohibited to dry their palay on roads, fisherfolks were directed with no-sail zone, and the rest of those whose livelihood were affected received meager aid or none at all.
Read: Int’l mission confirms disruption of residents’ lives due to US–PH military exercises
“When the government is the primary perpetrator of abuses, plunder of billions of people’s money, restrict our freedoms, and inflict violence to those who are seeking justice — our duty is to resist,” Bayan Chairperson Teddy Casiño said. “The call to remove Marcos and Duterte in their seats are justified, reasonable, and rooted in our call to respect the people’s rights. This International Human Rights Day is a reminder that our collective action is key to our human rights.” (DAA)
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