May 10, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia are concerned that the upcoming administration in the Philippines may not include human rights in its agenda, given that the prospective winner in the national and local elections held on 9 May, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr., has systematically whitewashed the appalling human rights record of his father, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
This whitewashing has been part of massive disinformation campaigns, particularly online, that have enormously influenced the election results. Social media has become a powerful political tool in the Philippines with over 92 million recorded social media users, making the country a fertile ground for online campaigns of disinformation.
“The generalized spread of disinformation has created an environment which has made it difficult for many voters to make informed decisions at the polling station. Even though the electoral process has been conducted in a formally correct manner, we are concerned that voting choices based on lies and harmful narratives could have seriously undermined the integrity of the elections and democracy itself,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia, and APHR Chairperson.
According to initial results, Marcos Jr. is set to win the presidency by a landslide, while his running mate, Sara Duterte, is leading in the run for the Vice-Presidency. Duterte is the daughter of current President Rodrigo Duterte, responsible for his infamous war on drugs, which has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings and is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
“The victory of the son of a dictator and the daughter of a human rights abuser, both of whom have staunchly defended the legacy of their fathers, do not bode well for the restoration of rule of law and respect for human rights in the country,” said Santiago.
Marcos, Jr. has never acknowledged, let alone apologized, for the atrocities committed during the dictatorship of his father, who was ousted from power by a massive popular uprising in 1986. The apparent President-elect has also striven to protect the immense wealth that his family amassed during his father’s regime through all kinds of illegal means, as several court rulings both in the Philippines and abroad have proved.
In order to dispel those misgivings, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) urges the new administration to protect the Philippine Constitution and ensure that the government abides to all its international human rights obligations. Marcos, Jr. should also return to the Philippine people the ill-gotten wealth in his family’s possession, as ruled by the Supreme Court, and ensure that all his tax obligations are fulfilled.
We call on Marcos, Jr. to honor and provide reparations to the victims of human rights abuses committed during his father’s regime, as prescribed by the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013. He should also cooperate with the ICC and allow a full investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity committed during Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency.
The new government should also release Senator Leila de Lima immediately and unconditionally for the unjust detention she has suffered over the last five years, and drop all the trumped-up charges against her. De Lima was arrested on politically motivated charges in February 2017, shortly after she had launched a Senate investigation on the extrajudicial killings committed as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs.
We urge the incoming administration to also allow fundamental freedoms to thrive and put an end to the practice of baseless ‘red-tagging’ or ‘narco-tagging’ of critics and members of the political opposition.
With Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. due to be sworn in as President on 30 June 2022, APHR calls on Philippine civil society, human rights organizations, and the international community to remain vigilant and constantly monitor the actions of the Marcos, Jr. administration to prevent human rights abuses. APHR also invites all concerned stakeholders, including policymakers, in the Philippines and abroad, to work together in adopting policy measures to address disinformation at the institutional level and promote accountability. Together, all must continue to fight the scourge of disinformation.
Apr 27, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia are launching a social media campaign addressed to Presidential Candidates in the upcoming 2022 Philippine national and local elections urging them to make a pledge to immediately and unconditionally drop all the trumped-up charges against Senator De Lima and release her from unjust detention, if elected.
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) invites netizens in the region and beyond to join in the campaign on Twitter and other social media platforms, which will use the hashtag #PledgeToFreeLeila, and will ask the presidential candidates to publicly pledge to have Senator De Lima’s immediate release a priority of their government if elected. APHR has designed a toolkit with orientation for those willing to join the campaign that can be accessed here.
“People who value democracy in the Philippines and elsewhere are outraged at this gross miscarriage of justice. They can use social media to express their discontent and ask the next President to try and right the many wrongs done to Senator De Lima and release her as soon as they assume the presidency,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia, and APHR Chairperson.
Philippine Senator Leila De Lima has now spent virtually the entirety of her six-year term as Senator unjustly imprisoned, simply for carrying out her duty as legislator to hold the authorities accountable for their crimes.
As a human rights lawyer and advocate, Senator De Lima has been one of the staunchest critics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s infamous war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of extrajudicial killings throughout the country. She was arrested on 24 February 2017, shortly after she had launched a Senate investigation into these extrajudicial killings, and she has remained in detention ever since.
The trumped-up charges against De Lima are clearly politically-motivated. In November 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that her imprisonment “lacks a legal basis” and is a form of reprisal due to her human rights work. On 17 February 2021, the Senator was acquitted in one of three cases against her, but her remaining two cases are ongoing.
“There cannot be any doubt of Senator De Lima’s innocence as well as her commitment to democracy and human rights. Releasing her should be one of the first priorities of the next President if they want to restore a modicum of justice and rule of law in the government of the country,” said Santiago.
Apr 6, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Parliamentarians from Southeast Asia are alarmed by the dangerous use of offline and online disinformation during the campaign for the national and local elections on 9 May in the Philippines. Smear campaigns are a grave threat to democracy and the safety and security of candidates, and all concerned authorities must ensure a free, fair, and peaceful electoral process, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said.
The administration of President Rodrigo Duterte has a history of attempting to silence its critics by attacking them with unfounded accusations of having links with the Communist insurgency of the New People’s Army; or of being involved in the trafficking of illicit narcotics. These tactics, known in the Philippines as ‘red-tagging’ and ‘narco-tagging’ have in some occasions resulted in the individual identified being killed.
“Such attacks against candidates who have experienced public ‘red-tagging’ or ‘narco-tagging’ are a form of intimidation that should not take place in a democracy. Not only will they have a significant impact on the fairness of the elections, they also pose a serious threat to the safety and security of candidates,” said Charles Santiago, Member of Parliament from Malaysia, and APHR Chairperson.
The most egregious example of ‘narco-tagging’ is the arbitrary arrest and unjust detention of Leila De Lima, a Philippine Senator and APHR member who has been unfairly jailed for five years after attempting to hold authorities accountable for the reported crimes committed during the war on drugs.
More recently, Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP or Alliance for Change), a political party founded by Sara Duterte who is currently running for the Vice-Presidency, accused its rival Walden Bello of being a ‘narco-politician’. In a statement, HNP ‘narco-tagged’ Mr Bello, a former Philippine Member of Parliament and Board Member of APHR who is running for Vice-President under the Laban ng Masa (Fight of the Masses) political party. The accusation came after he called out Sara Duterte’s absence in the electoral debates and demanded answers on the issue of illegal drug trade in Davao City, where she currently serves as Mayor.
“The smear campaigns against candidates should stop immediately. It is incumbent on all parties concerned, including the relevant authorities and candidates, to ensure a peaceful environment during all the stages in the electoral process, one that is free from fear, intimidation, harassment, and violence, as an important ingredient to conduct a genuinely democratic process,” Santiago said.
Mar 9, 2022 | Internet Freedoms, Statements
Eleven human rights organizations call on the Philippine legislature to repeal or substantially amend the fatally flawed SIM Card Registration Act, which is a substantial threat to the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and information, and non-discrimination in the Philippines.
We are concerned about the grave risks that the SIM Card Registration Act poses to the rights to privacy, free expression and information, association and non-discrimination in the Philippines. We are further concerned about the discriminatory impact of the law on transgender and gender diverse individuals, in the absence of legal gender recognition in the country.
The SIM Card Registration Act was ratified by the House of Representatives and Senate on 2 February 2022, and lapsed into law on 4 March 2022. Under the Act, Public Telecommunications Entities (PTEs) must require the registration of SIM cards for collection in a centralized database as a pre-requisite to the sale and activation of SIM cards. Further, all social media account providers must record the real names and phone numbers as part of the registration process upon creation of an account. In effect, these requirements amount to a blanket prohibition on anonymity for telecommunication and social media users. Completed registrations will then be forwarded to a centralized database, without clear limitations on access to or use of personal information. Guidelines for the “proper implementation” of the registration program will be formulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, in consultation with government agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Privacy Commission, and PTEs, social media providers, and major consumer groups.
Prohibitions of anonymity interfere with the right to privacy and freedom of expression, protected under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Philippines is a party. As noted by the former Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression stated in his 2013 report, restrictions on anonymity “facilitate State communications surveillance” and “have a chilling effect, dissuading the free expression of information and ideas”.
In the Philippines, human rights defenders and those who lawfully exercise their right to criticize the government are frequently targeted and sanctioned for their work, including through the dangerous practice of red-tagging. Human rights defenders in the Philippines have reported that the Philippine police monitor Facebook posts to identify, arrest and interrogate people. The real-name registration requirements exacerbate concerns of surveillance of telecommunications and online activity by the Philippine authorities, and is likely to dissuade individuals from expressing themselves freely without fear of retribution.
Inconsistent with human rights law and principles
Under the ICCPR, where a government action interferes with human rights, it will only be permissible if its terms are defined narrowly and precisely and it is strictly necessary for a legitimate purpose such as protecting national security, public order or public health. The SIM Card Registration Act states that the registration requirements are intended to, among other things, “deter the […] spread of digital disinformation or fake news”. This is a vague and overbroad concept, left undefined in the Act. It is also not a legitimate purpose for the restriction of rights, absent a compelling national security, public health or public order purpose. The prohibition of “fake news” is “not in itself a legitimate aim”. Demands for user information by a “competent authority” may also be issued to PTEs and social media providers if a specific mobile number or social media account was or is being used to spread “digital disinformation” or “fake news”.
Even as the law has been introduced purportedly to combat anonymous crimes and scams, there is a lack of evidence as to how SIM card registration laws can effectively prevent such threats—evident from similar laws brought into force in other jurisdictions, including Kenya, Mexico and Malawi. Industry and technical experts have raised these concerns with respect to the current Philippine law. Without clear limitations on the type and quantity of user information collected; provisions to securely store and handle such information; and clauses limiting data storage to strictly legal and necessary purposes, the law will in fact increase the risk of data breach or information misuse and violate data protection and privacy.
The Act also runs afoul of the principles of necessity and proportionality, according to which any interference on rights must be necessary for a legitimate purpose and be the least intrusive means of achieving the purpose. The former Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression noted in his 2015 report that “[b]lanket prohibitions [on encryption and anonymity] fail to be necessary and proportionate”. Further, the prescription of criminal penalties, including imprisonment and/or onerous fines, for using fictitious identities to register and/or spoofing registered SIM cards appear to be disproportionate. Generally, criminal sanctions constitute “serious interference with the freedom of expression and are disproportionate responses in all but the most egregious cases”.
The criminal sanctions for using fictitious identities to register SIM cards or social media accounts will also disproportionately impact gender diverse individuals in the Philippines. The legislation itself unequivocally considers lived names as “fictitious identities”. In the Philippines, it is generally not possible for transgender and gender diverse individuals to change their names assigned at birth or gender marker on legal documents in the absence of a gender recognition law. Criminalizing the use of lived names to register for SIM cards or social media accounts is an act that is discriminatory, traumatizing and violent to gender diverse individuals.
The Act also grants sweeping powers to the Philippine authorities to demand disclosure of information obtained in the registration process without adequate independent oversight, empowering authorities to access data in an unfettered and potentially unlawful manner. Under the law, registration information may be disclosed in “compliance with a court order, legal process, or other government regulatory, or enforceable administrative request for information” or upon “order of a competent authority duly authorized under existing laws to issue subpoena”. The Act does not provide any safeguards to ensure strictly necessary and secure holding or furnishing of such information, and does not establish an independent oversight body, such as a court or oversight mechanism, to monitor State demands for disclosure of personal information.
Repeal or substantially amend the Act
In light of the above-mentioned concerns, we call for the Philippine legislature to repeal or substantially amend the SIM Card Registration Act, in compliance with the Philippines’ international human rights obligations. While we acknowledge the need to curb fraud and other crimes, we urge the Philippine authorities to do so in a manner that respects and ensures the rights to privacy, free expression and information, association and non-discrimination.
Signatories
Access Now
ARTICLE 19
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
EngageMedia
Human Rights Online Philippines (HRonlinePH)
ILGA Asia
In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND)
International Commission of Jurists
Open Net
Feb 24, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Half a decade after her arbitrary arrest, Southeast Asian parliamentarians have renewed their calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Leila De Lima, Philippine Senator and a member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
“Senator De Lima has now spent the vast majority of her six-year term as Senator unjustly detained in prison, seemingly targeted for attempting to hold authorities to account,” said Charles Santiago, APHR Chair and a Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP). “She continues to faithfully perform her duties as a legislator, despite being incarcerated, and serves as a voice to defend and protect victims of human rights abuses. We, her fellow parliamentarians in the region, applaud her fortitude and deep commitment to serving the people, despite the injustices she continues to endure.”
A human rights lawyer and advocate, Senator De Lima has been one of the staunchest critics of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s infamous war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of cases of extrajudicial killings in the country. Before her arrest, Senator De Lima launched a Senate investigation into the extrajudicial killings under President Duterte’s rule.
She has remained in detention since her arrest on 24 February 2017 on politically-motivated, trumped-up drug charges. In November 2018, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that her imprisonment “lacks a legal basis” and is a form of reprisal due to her human rights work in the Philippines. On 17 February 2021, the Senator was acquitted in one of three cases against her, but her remaining two cases are ongoing.
This judicial harassment against Senator De Lima illustrates just one example of the deteriorating state of democracy and human rights in the country, APHR said. Since President Duterte assumed office in 2016, there have been increasing attacks on human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition lawmakers. APHR’s recently published report, Parliamentarians at Risk 2021, revealed that disinformation campaigns and “red-tagging” of opposition parliamentarians increased alarmingly ahead of the 2022 elections, with baseless accusations made against left-wing lawmakers.
Senator De Lima recently filed her candidacy for another six-year term as senator, ahead of national and local elections that are due to take place in May.
“Senator De Lima is no criminal, and continues to stand up for truth, justice, and accountability. The Senator’s innocence is clear, as evidenced by the widespread and persistent calls for her immediate release, including from the United Nations. It is deeply shameful for President Duterte and his government to deprive Senator De Lima of her liberty and political rights, including her right to freely campaign for her candidacy. As long as the Senator is wrongfully deprived of her freedom, the Philippines cannot be seen as a country that respects the rule of law,” Santiago said.
