Philippines

Since his election in 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has sought to assure the international community that human rights in the Philippines has improved. While his measured rhetoric is a stark contrast to the unabashedly anti-rights positions of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, the rights situation in the Philippines remains dire. The “war on drugs” begun by Duterte continues, in the face of the International Criminal Court’s investigation. Political activists, journalists, environmentalists, Indigenous leaders, trade unionists, and civil society actors remain under threat, mainly through “red-tagging” and the filing of spurious charges, and face violent attacks and enforced disappearance.  The conflict between the government and the communist New People’s Army continues.