“Marcos Jr. regime has lost a platform for its brazen hypocrisy on the Philippines’ dirt-and-grime human rights record.”
MANILA – “A most deserved rejection.”
Rights groups stressed this point as the Marcos Jr. administration lost its bid for a non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
For them, this is the government’s failed attempt to whitewash its human rights record.
UNSC is a primary international organ that can make legally-binding decisions that the UN member-states are obligated to implement. It has the power to investigate, authorize sanctions and force, as well as make recommendations to the General Assembly.
“This defeat wounds the hypocrisy of Marcos,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, at a protest in front of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s general headquarters on June 4. “Millions of dollars are used to campaign for the UNSC seat only to be defeated.”
The Philippines failed to secure the required two-thirds majority of the UN member-states, losing to Kyrgyzstan for the representation of the Asia-Pacific group. The other four elected member-states were Austria, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zimbabwe.
“Marcos Jr. regime has lost a platform for its brazen hypocrisy on the Philippines’ dirt-and-grime human rights record,” Palabay said. “It has used the UN and the international stage to whitewash the regime’s violations of human rights and international humanitarian law before the world.”
The group cited the massacre in Toboso, Negros Occidental on April 19, 2026, that killed nine civilians, including community journalist RJ Nichole Ledesma, and 10 members of the New People’s Army (NPA).
By the end of 2025, Karapatan documented 135 extrajudicial killings related to counterinsurgency, 16 enforced disappearances, more than 800 arbitrary arrests, almost 600 forced surrenders, and over 700 political prisoners.
The UP Third World Studies Center recorded more than 1,250 drug-related extrajudicial killings as of May 31, 2026. In a separate report, the institution documented 390 individuals killed in state-related violence in 2025, with the police and the military accounting for 85 percent of the killings.
“Marcos Jr. ‘s loss at the UN Security Council shows that no matter his aggressive PR campaign to distance himself from his dictator-father’s notoriety, his regime’s stench continues to reek in the international community,” Palabay added.
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) welcomed Marcos Jr.’s loss to secure the UNSC non-permanent seat, describing the Philippines as one of the most repressive regimes in the Southeast Asia region.
“The loss of this bid shows the failure of Marcos Jr to sanitize his family’s bad reputation as well as that of his own administration. This poor reputation follows the notoriety of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, now committed to trial for the crime against humanity of murder at the International Criminal Court (ICC),” said Peter Murphy, chairperson of ICHRP.
The Philippines also faces greater scrutiny as the global human rights watchdog CIVICUS added the country to the Monitor Watchlist, flagging serious concerns about its crackdown on dissent, criminalizing protesters, and targeting activists.
It has been rated “Repressed” for five consecutive years, the second worst rating a country can receive, indicating severe restrictions to the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.
Read: Philippines on human rights watchlist due to crackdown on dissent
Furthermore, Karapatan said that the obedience of Marcos Jr. to the United States (US) is glaring, which had already earned him praise from US Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth.
Hegseth said that the Philippines enhances “interoperability with US forces” through the recent conclusion of the largest Balikatan exercises, featuring joint training and exercises that involve the most advanced US capabilities.
The Philippines is the largest recipient of US military assistance in the Indo-Pacific region, getting more than P57 billion ($1.14 billion) worth of planes, armored vehicles, small arms, and other military equipment since 2015.
The counterinsurgency framework of the Philippines is based on the doctrinal framework of the US. This earned the ire of human rights defenders who have called for the accountability of the US for directing the brutal counterinsurgency of the Philippine state security forces.
“The Philippines cannot posture itself as a model for peace and international stability as long as the militarization and killings continue, failing to resolve the roots of armed conflict in the country,” said peasant leader Ronnie Manalo of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.
Human rights groups stressed that a seat at the UNSC will only give Marcos Jr. a more prominent position to support the US on security issues like the US-Israel genocide in Gaza and war on Iran, its rivalry with China for supremacy in Asia-Pacific, and the drive to seize control over countries rich in oil and rare earth minerals.
“The Marcos government would not be an independent actor at the UN Security Council. Its growing dependence on US military, economic, and diplomatic support means that a Philippine seat would, in practice, function as a de facto extension of Washington’s influence, giving the United States not just one vote, but an echo vote inside the Council to justify its war crimes,” Murphy said.
The US has a veto power at the UNSC, together with Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom. For more than 50 times, it blocked UNSC resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza since October 2023. Due to this, the UNSC was repeatedly criticized for its failure to stop the genocide in Gaza and other global warfares.
There are other 10 non-permanent members elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The Philippines previously served as a non-permanent Security Council member four times, two of them during the administrations of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
“Our contributions across the whole spectrum of UN work, since its inception, are borne out by history. Always ready to be part of the solution, the Philippines has regularly proven itself to be an independent, trusted partner, an innovative pathfinder, and a committed peacemaker,” Marcos Jr. said during a special address to the UN General Assembly in New York on March 10, 2026. (AMU, DAA)
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