The Philippines has been deemed one of the deadliest countries in the world for land defenders, journalists and trade unionists.
THE BACKSTORY
Since 2016, the United States has sent 550 million dollars of aid to the Philippine military and police, not including arms sales. Despite well publicized documentation of state sanctioned and politically motivated killings, mass deplacement of indigenous people due to aerial bombings and repression of press freedom and the harassment of human rights defenders, the United States continues to provide aid to Duterte’s regime.
Since his election, President Duterte has garnered international attention from grassroots organizations, civil society organizations, and governmental and intergovernmental organizations. The human rights violations of the Duterte regime have not failed to gather the attention of people in the United States, especially among the country’s 4 million Filipinos.
In the spring of 2019, members of Kabataan Alliance, the Malaya Movement and the U.S. Network of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, came together to lobby the United States Congress for a hearing featuring the human rights situation in the Philippines alongside a resolution condemning Duterte’s attack on human rights defenders.
Through these lobbying efforts, we have seen many successes:
In 2019, the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on Southeast Asia where attendees questioned the role U.S. taxpayer money played in human rights abuses.
In March 2019, Congress introduced a bi-partisan bill condemning the Duterte administration’s targeting of political opponents.
In September 2019, the San Francisco city council passed a resolution condemning the attempted assassination on environmental activist Brandon Lee and calling for the suspension of military aid to the Philippines.
Despite these victories, and the common knowledge that the Duterte administration engages in flagrant and systemic human rights abuses, the United States has recently announced that it intends to pursue a $2 billion arms deal with the Philippines. In an effort to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines and hold the Duterte administration accountable, ICHRP-US, Malaya Movement, and Kabataan Alliance, along with partner organizations have decided to put forward the Philippine Human Rights Act.
COALITION FOR THE PHRA
SPONSORS
United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society (GBCS):
umcjustice.orgUnited Church of Christ Justice and Peace Ministries:
ucc.org/join_the_networkEcumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines (EANP):
facebook.com/eanphil
ENDORSERS
Anakbayan-USA
BAYAN-USA
CODEPINK
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA)
GABRIELA-USA
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines - US
Kabataan Alliance
Malaya Movement
Migrante-USA
National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)
350PDX
Action Corps, Action Corps NYC
AdvancED Consulting, LLC
Alameda County Democratic Party
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
Anakbayan Chicago
Anakbayan Hawai’i
Anakbayan Houston
Anakbayan North Jersey
Anakbayan Portland
Anakbayan Rutgers
Anakbayan San Francisco
Anakbayan SJSU
Anakbayan Silicon Valley
Anakbayan University of Illinois - Chicago
Andrés Bonifacio, Samahan (San Diego State University)
Anti Police-Terror Project
API Chaya
Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)
Asian American & Pacific Islander Social Work Collective
Asian American Studies Pathways Project
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO
Associated Students at San Francisco State University
Association of Filipino Scientists in America
Association of Legal Aid Attorneys - UAW Local 2325
Austin Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Barkada NYC
Blasian March
Boston Pilipinx Education, Advocacy and Resources (PEAR)
California Nurses Association
California State University Northridge Associated Students, Inc.
California-Nevada Philippine Solidarity Task Force
California-Pacific Conference United Methodist Church Justice & Compassion Essential Ministry Team
Cancel RIMPAC Coalition
CannaHelp
CCSF Collective
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Political Education
Center for International Policy
Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
Chicago Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (CCHRP)
Chicago Philippine Solidarity Network
Church in Ocean Park (Santa Monica)
CISPES - Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
Citrine Ink
Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites
Communist Workers League - Bay Area
Convivir Colorado
Council of Philippine American Organizations
Council on American-Islamic Relations - San Diego
Critical Filipino/a Studies Collective (CFFSC)
Dallas Anti-War Committee
Dallas Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
DSA - Central Jersey
DSA - Portland
DSA - San Diego
DSA - San Francisco
DSA - San Francisco Immigration Rights and International Solidarity Committee
DSA - Queens
DSA - Upper Valley
Dirt Media
Ecosocialist Horizons
Fairfield Change
Filipino Community Center
Filipino Migrant Center
Filipino Ugnayan Student Organization from the University of San Diego
Filipino Youth in Action
Filipinx Artists of Houston
Filipinx Health Initiative
Florida State University Filipino Student Association
For The People - Long Beach
Friends of Latin America
Gabriela Chicago
Gabriela New Jersey
Gabriela Oakland
Gabriela Stanford
GuateMaya L.A. Mujeres en Resistencia
Hawai’i Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Hawai'i Workers Center
Hawaiʻi Peopleʻs Fund
Hui o Nā Moku
Human Rights Alliance for Child Refugees and Families
Iglesia Filipina Independiente - New York/New Jersey
Improving Dreams Equality Access and Success (IDEAS)
Indigenous Environmental Network
Inner Route Education Consulting
International Committee -Baltimore Teachers Union
International League of Peoples’ Struggle - Seattle/Tacoma
Kalahi Filipino-American Student Organization
Kapwa Health Collective
Kasamahan at USF
Katarungan DC
Kitsap Advocating for Immigrant Rights & Equality (KAIRE)
Language Acquisition and Immersion for the New Generation (LAING) Hawai'i
Lausan Collective
LEAD Filipino
League of Filipino Students at SFSU
LGBT+ Welfare Rights Alliance
Liyang Western Mass
Magkaisa Filipino Club Fresno State
Malaya Colorado
Malaya DMV
Malaya Movement Northeast
Malaya Movement San Diego
Malaya South Bay
Malaya Tri-City
Methodist Federation for Social Action
Michael Jacoby Brown Training and Consulting
Migrant Center of New York, Inc. & Franciscan Network on Migration
Mindset Collaborative
Mount Holyoke Asian Students Association
National Ecumenical-Interfaith Forum for Filipino Concerns - Northern California
National Federation of Filipino American Associations - San Diego/Imperial Region
National Lawyers Guild - San Francisco Bay Area
National Lawyers Guild International Committee
National Lawyers Guild Philippines Subcommittee
National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns - Inland Empire (NEFFCON - IE)
Network of Religion and Justice for API LGBTQ+ people (NRJ)
New Students for a Democratic Society
New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
New York State Nurses Association
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development
Northern California Pilipinx American Student Alliance
Northwest Filipino American Student Alliance
NYC DSA Anti-War Working Group
OPAWL - Building AAPI Feminist Leadership in Ohio
Our Honor
Pagsikapan PASC at CSU Dominguez Hills
Palestinian Youth Movement - Houston
Pax Christi New Jersey
PAYA Fresno
People’s Revolutionary Party (Long Beach)
People’s Alliance
People’s Power Assembly
Philippine Cultural Society of the George Washington University
Philippine Studies Department, City College of San Francisco
Philippines Working Group
Philippines-U.S. Solidarity Organization - East Bay
Philippines-U.S. Solidarity Organization - San Diego
Philippine-U.S. Solidarity Organization - Southern California
Pilipino Workers Center San Diego
Pilipinx Pre-Law Pipeline (PPP)
Pink Hawks
Planners of Hawaii
Political Student Assembly
Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC)
Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines
Psychologists for Social Responsibility Hawai`i
Samahang Pilipino UCLA
San Francisco Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (SFCHRP)
San Jose Peace and Justice Center/Collins Foundation
Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition
Seattle University
SEIU Local 73
Shadow World Investigations
Shoeleather History Project
Showing Up for Racial Justice Portland (SURJ PDX)
Solidarity JC
Soul Stories
South Bay Indigenous Solidarity
Southern California Pilipinx American Student Alliance (SCPASA)
Southwest Brooklyn Tenant Union
Stand with Kashmir
Stanford American Indian Organization
Stanford Kayumanggi
Stanford Pilipino American Student Union
Stanford Solidarity Network
Stanford Students for Workers' Rights
Stephanie Gallardo for Congress
Storytellers 303
Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment
Student Labor Advocacy Project (SLAP)
Student Labor Advocacy Project at UCLA
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)
Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA
Students United for Palestinian Rights
Teeter Comm College Board 2020
The Future Left
The Local 100 Fightback Coalition
The People's Forum
The Philippine Cultural Society of the George Washington University
The Sisterhood of Pi Nu Iota
The Undergraduate Student Government of the University Of Southern California
Troy Philippines at the University of Southern California
UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC)
Undergraduate Student Government at the University of Illinois at Chicago
Underground Moving Images & Sound Ltd.
Union del Barrio
United Filipino Club - Seattle University
University of California Davis, Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies
USC Student Coalition for Asian Pacific Empowerment
Weathervane Cafe
Western Methodist Justice Movement
Wider Church Ministries Team, Central Pacific Conference, UCC
Win Without War
Workers World
Workers World Party - Bay Area
Young Democratic Socialists of America - George Washington
Young Ecosocialists
Young Ecosocialists - New Jersey
Zeta Chi Epsilon Fraternity