US Coalition & Rep Wild Commemorate Two Year Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Renew Call for Philippine Human Rights Act

On March 21st 2023, the Office of Rep Susan Wild, the Malaya Movement, Kabataan Alliance, the International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, and the Communications Workers of America held a virtual briefing on the Philippine Human Rights Act. The press conference comes after the March 7th  reintroduction of the bill   by Representative Susan Wild (PA-07), in commemoration of the second anniversary of Bloody Sunday in the Philippines.

The Bloody Sunday Massacre was a string of targeted assassinations by the AFP and PNP that lead to the murder of 9 union activists – one of which was Emmanuel "Manny" Asuncion, a Filipino labor leader – and the arrest of 4 others. Liezel Asuncion, the wife of Manny Asuncion, joined the briefing and stated “While we seek elusive justice, more and more community leaders like Manny, and even ordinary citizens are caught in the Philippine military and police's crosshairs. More lives are put at risk and wasted due to the bloodlust of the military and police.”

This type of event is not out of place in the Philippines as human rights violations and war crimes, including red-tagging, harassment of non-combatant citizens and aerial bombings continue without pause. The US sends significant military aid, in the form of money, weapons, training and soldiers, to the Philippines, allowing these raids and assassinations to take place. “Based on the many reports we gathered, It became unequivocally clear that the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine National Police are guilty of widespread human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law” shares Michelle Sherman of Pax Christi.

US activist Brandon Lee, who had moved to the Philippines to help advocate against mining projects that would ruin indigenous lands and displace many was shot in an assassination attempt orchestrated by the Philippine government that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Lee says “Since the attempted assassination on my life, there has been no accountability. Impunity runs rampant. That is why our tax dollars should not fund Philippine military death squads.”

Kenda Williams of CWA spoke on the importance of solidarity and freedom to organize, saying “When I talk about global solidarity at union meetings, the members understand that we are all in this together. Workers in the Philippines must be able to form their unions without fear of murder and intimidation by the Government… we cannot stand by while the Philippine government continues to harass workers who organize.”

The PHRA proposes the suspension of US security assistance to the Philippines until the Philippine government investigates and prosecutes  their military of police of the criminals who engage in these acts, withdraw the military form domestic policy, establish a form of protection for those who would have previously been targeted, ensure its judicial system can cleanly and fairly do its job of analyzing these situations, and fully allowing any external investigations to take place.

Individuals can sign a petition in support the PHRA here. Organizations can endorse the PHRA here.