On Dec. 10, 2024, to commemorate International Human Rights Day, members of Malaya Union City and community members attended the Union City city council meeting. The grassroots community organization gave five public comments, highlighting the human rights crisis in the Philippines.
The human rights situation in the Philippines has continued to worsen under current president Marcos Jr. Human rights group Karapatan found that the Marcos administration is responsible for at least 119 extra-judicial killings and 201 illegal arrests since coming into office in 2022. Under Marcos Jr., over 43,000 people have been forced to evacuate due to militarization. Karapatan also reported almost 47,000 cases of indiscriminate bombings.
The human rights crisis in the Philippines is fueled by militarism in the Asia Pacific, as the U.S. and China fight for control of the region. Marcos Jr. is willing to sacrifice the sovereignty and safety of the Filipino people to serve U.S. interests. For example, Marcos increased the number of military bases that the U.S. has access to, for a total of nine Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) bases. These bases undermine Philippine sovereignty and increase human rights violations, as military personnel have a long track record of abusing the local population.
The human rights situation is also worsening in the context of an economic crisis. The price of housing, bills, groceries and other basic necessities continue to skyrocket. Meanwhile, the rich continue to get richer off the backs of workers. Workers are squeezed for maximum profit under precarious and dangerous working conditions for little pay.
The average daily wage across the country is 440 PHP, far short of the recommended family living wage of 1,200 PHP. As the budget deliberations continue on through December 2024, Marcos Jr.’s priorities expose his anti-people agenda, pushing for more funding for fascist militarization and counterinsurgency over social services like public health and food security. Because of this, over 6,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) continue to leave the country everyday.
Speakers highlighted the urgent and current struggles of local Filipino migrant workers. For example, local fast food workers have recently been experiencing wage theft and workplace health and safety issues. Filipinos are forced to make hard decisions to be separated from family to find work abroad and send remittances to their families back home. It was highlighted that the money sent to repress voices urging for change can instead be used to support local Filipinos struggling to access healthcare.
Additionally, human rights defender Brandon Lee’s story was shared with the city council. Lee faced a planned assassination in front of his family back in the Philippines just for supporting the struggles of indigenous groups in the Cordilleras in Luzon.
All speakers urged the Union City city council to join local community efforts in advocating for democracy and human rights. They called on the council to encourage Swalwell to endorse the Philippines Human Rights Act (PHRA) and to reject the Philippine Enhanced Resiliency Act (PERA)
This is important because U.S. military aid to the Philippines, funded by taxpayer money, directly contributes to the violent suppression of human rights defenders who are striving to improve society for everyone.
We call on our community to join us in pushing for the Filipino-American Agenda. Through our ‘Workers Rights are Human Rights!’ campaign, we support workers and their right to organize. Additionally, we fight for genuine Philippine sovereignty and democracy through our campaign to ‘Pass the Philippine Human Rights Act/Reject the Philippine Enhanced Resilience Act.’ Folks can join Malaya by emailing ma**************@gm***.com or texting 510.619.0245.
Learn about Malaya Union City! tinyurl.com/JoinMalayaUC
Learn about the Philippine Human Rights Act: humanrightsph.org
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