CPP: Fascist Tyranny Reigns In The Philippines On 75th Year Of Universal Declaration Of Human Rights
Marco Valbuena | Chief Information Officer | Communist Party Of The Philippines
December 10, 2023
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) today joins the broad democratic forces in commemorating the 75th year of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We recognize and adhere to this document and consider it an important reference for the defense of the rights and welfare of the Filipino people. The thirty articles that compose the UDHR set out the standards for social justice and democratic rights.
In marking the 75th year anniversary of the UDHR, it is our duty to put a spotlight on the grave situation of human rights in the Philippines under the US-Marcos fascist regime. Everyday, people’s rights are trampled upon by military, police and other armed state forces in the course of “counterinsurgency,” especially in the rural areas.
According to a recent report released by Ang Bayan, the rights of more than 127,000 Filipinos were violated in 957 cases involving state forces in the course of one year from December 1, 2022 to December 1, 2023.
These include 79 cases of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by fascist troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). In many of these cases, military officers falsely identify the victims as members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in order to cover up the crime and promote the culture of impunity among state forces.
There were also at least 87 cases of abductions, 28 cases of frustrated murder, 155 cases of unlawful arrest and detention, and 44 cases of torture. Most of the victims of state violence are peasants, farm-workers and minority people. There are presently around 800 political prisoners.
State forces target people who are active in fighting to defend their land against land grabbing and encroachment of mining companies, plantations, ecotourism, energy or infrastructure projects.
Military and police agents also target workers and union organizers who are active in fighting for fair wages, inhumane working conditions and right to employment. Also in the cross-hairs of state agents are environmentalists, urban poor organizers, student activists, church people, journalists as well as human rights defenders.
Marcos continues to reinforce the fascist state machinery with the combination of the AFP and the National Task Force (NTF)-ELCAC serving as the center of gravity of the campaign of armed suppression. Hundreds of billions of pesos are wasted on these bloated state agencies and used to purchase “modern weapons” including jet fighters, drones, helicopters, howitzers, bombs, artillery shells and other weapons. Many parts of the country remain under de facto martial law where the AFP and the NTF-ELCAC dominate government policy and all aspects of society, in utter contempt of the principle of the civilian supremacy over the military.
Violations of human rights have intensified in the course of what the AFP claims to be its “final push” against the NPA. Entire villages are garrisoned where people’s movement and economic activity are restricted and controlled by the military. The rights of captured revolutionaries and hors de combat under laws of civilized warfare are systematically violated. Civilians are being directly targeted by the military. Lives of civilians are put in danger as military units encamp at the center of communities using civilians infrastructure (schools, village halls, clinics), and aerial bombing and shelling are aimed at nearby fields and forested areas. Women’s rights and child rights are wantonly disregarded. People are forcibly conscripted to join paramilitaries.
The reign of state terrorism under the US-Marcos regime seeks to perpetuate the semi-colonial and semi-feudal system. It exposes how this system is rotten to the core. The exploiting classes of big bourgeois compradors and big landlords, together with US imperialism, can only perpetuate their rule by employing all-out state violence.
On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the UDHR, the Communist Party of the Philippines urges the Filipino people to intensify their resistance to state terrorism and fight to defend human rights and international humanitarian law. It is important for the Filipino people to know their rights by studying the UDHR, as well as other important human rights documents and statutes, including the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), a document signed in 1998 by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).
The Filipino people must amplify their demand for justice and to hold account all the fascists for their crimes against the people. They must continue to demand for the dismantling of the NTF-ELCAC and the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Law. They must also intensify their call for an end to US military intervention and support to the Marcos fascist regime.
Amid heightening fascist attacks against the people, the necessity and justness of waging armed struggle to defend and advance the national and democratic rights of the people becomes even more crystal clear. The Party calls on the people to take up arms to defend against the military abuses and armed suppression under the US-Marcos regime. Support the armed resistance and join the New People’s Army.
Red fighters of the NPA must fight even more fiercely and courageously to defend the peasant masses against their oppressors and exploiters and help them advance their struggle for genuine land reform and defend the minority peoples right to their ancestral land. They must carry out tactical offensives and target the worst of the fascist criminals to make them pay for their crimes.
The NPA will continue to march along the path of protracted people’s war and carry forward the struggle to realize the people’s aspirations for national and social liberation.
Source : https://philippinerevolution.nu/statements/fascist-tyranny-reigns-in-the-philippines-on-75th-year-of-universal-declaration-of-human-rights/