The Philippine government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is facing criticism for its alleged misuse of anti-terror laws against civil society organizations. This raises concerns about the erosion of human rights and civil liberties in the country.
Western nations proclaiming human rights and civil liberties should scrutinize the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. European and North American diplomats have favorably compared the son and namesake of the late Martial Law dictator to former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose controversial drug war resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Filipinos.
However, these partners of the Philippine government and numerous civil society organizations within the country should examine the survey conducted by the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and the Center for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) on the escalating number of terror financing cases. \The 129 non-profit civil society organizations facing government sanctions collectively provide vital aid to millions of impoverished Filipinos across various sectors, including human rights, environmental protection, sustainable agriculture and fisheries, disaster relief, and the defense of indigenous lands and waters. They now find themselves targeted by what the NUPL describes as the “weaponization of terror laws” as the Marcos government desperately attempts to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Grey List.” The FATF list comprises countries grappling with significant money-laundering issues, a category the Philippines undoubtedly falls into. Investigations conducted in both the Senate and the House of Representatives have uncovered massive money-laundering operations carried out by foreign nationals. Under the guise of being Filipino, they have acquired extensive tracts of land and constructed sprawling complexes using cash transfers ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of pesos between 2016 and 2023. \Duterte initiated the utilization of Republic Act No. 10168 (the 2012 Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act) against legitimate organizations voicing opposition to his brutal drug war and large-scale projects encroaching on indigenous lands. Among the first targets was the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), an interreligious organization comprising priests and laypeople who support farmers, fishermen, and indigenous communities. Why was the RMP targeted? Because it actively assisted indigenous communities, particularly in Mindanao, in their struggles against land grabbing and environmental destruction. Assaults against rights defenders persist under Marcos, with 119 activists killed and at least 225 arrested. As courts post-Duterte began dismissing an increasing number of fabricated charges against rights defenders, the number of enforced disappearances surged, with 14 recorded from July 2022 to December 2024. The cases target even organizations that have met the stringent auditing standards of Philippine government agency partners and foreign states. In essence, when trumped-up criminal charges fail to gain traction in court, the government resorts to anti-terror laws that hinder the defense due to a lack of transparency. Human Rights Watch characterizes the current situation as “terror-tagging” by a government that claims to have ended the practice of red-tagging. However, the NUPL-CPDG report also reveals that 62% of affected civil service organizations experienced widespread red-tagging, and 57% reported surveillance and other forms of physical harassment.
Philippines Marcos Jr. Terrorism Civil Society Human Rights FATF Money Laundering
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