An Ordinary Person

Why Fil-Ams Should Care About Human Rights in the Philippines

As part of my volunteer work with Fil-Am human rights group Katarungan, I will be participating in a formal presentation to a class on Philippine history in the University of Maryland. The instructor asked us to present Katarungan’s human rights work within the context of answering two questions:

1. What’s going on and what you are doing

2. Why should we care? This part would be a debate around where we should put our resources as Filipino Americans and whether we are just being the new colonists by intervening in Philippine affairs.

Answering number 1 will be easy enough. Answering number 2, I think is harder. It involves critical self-examination of our status as Filipino-Americans and whether or not it is appropriate for us as American citizens to involve ourselves in the internal affairs of another country.

Background

• Demand the Release of Labor Lawyer in the Philippines

• Free Jonas Burgos!

• Philippine Government Using Abusive Prosecutions to Silence Labor Activists

The links above illustrate the situation in the Philippines where the government and military, under the auspices of the War on Terrorism, has implemented a plan to eradicate the CPP-NDF-NPA and its alleged front groups — organizations which represent the armed Communist insurgency.

The end result, however, has been politically-motivated assassinations, disappearances, arbitrary arrests and human rights violations targeting civil society and labor leaders and activists. The vast majority of the victims of these killings and abductions, according to reports by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the United Nations, and Philippine human rights watchdog Karapatan, are community organizers, labor leaders, church workers, human rights attorneys, farmer advocates, journalists and others who are not rebels but who have been openly critical of the Gloria Arroyo government.

Hundreds of people have been victims of these abuses according to these reports. To date, however, there have been zero convictions of military personnel linked to these human rights abuses.

Why I Care as a Filipino-American

I care because although I chose to become an American citizen as an adult, I still maintain close ties with people back home. My parents are from there, half of my life in my childhood was lived there, my wife is from there and we both keep in close touch with family members and friends on a regular basis. I care what happens in the Philippines because it affects me in numerous indirect ways as a Filipino-American. If there are problems which tarnish the image of the Philippines on the world stage, I hear about it. I care because I don’t want the Philippines to have a negative image abroad. As a Filipino-American I also don’t want people to perceive Filipino-Americans as oblivious to or indifferent about problems back home.

As an American citizen and taxpayer, I have a vested interest where my tax dollars go. Since George Bush instituted the international War on Terror and the Philippine government joined as a willing participant and ally, the Philippines has become the largest recipient of U.S. military and other aid in Southeast Asia. I want my tax dollars used in productive ways to address and solve problems. I don’t want any of it to contribute to political repression, violence, and human rights violations. Affecting U.S. military and other aid is one of the ways in which Filipino-Americans can have leverage in putting pressure on the Philippine government to seriously address the issue of human rights and political repression.

I also care as someone who believes in democracy and the rights of ordinary citizens to participate in civil society and other avenues to make their voices heard in a democratic system of governance. The Philippines is supposed to be and touts itself a democracy. Yet these politically-motivated human rights violations are happening in contradiction to those ideals. The Philippines became internationally celebrated as a beacon of democracy because of the People Power I and II revolutions where a dictator and a corrupt President were ousted by mass movements of ordinary people. The continuing existence of politically-motivated human rights violations seriously tarnishes the image of the Philippines as a legitimate democracy in the international community.

Finally, as a human being I find that what is happening in the Philippines to be morally reprehensible. Politically-motivated killings and human rights violations, no matter how you look at it, is wrong. That more than a thousand cases of these incidents have been documented and publicized by international human rights watchdogs like Amnesty International, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Philippine human rights groups confirms there is a serious problem and it needs to be addressed. No one should be arrested and face torture or death just because they are practicing their rights as citizens in a supposed democratic society.

Why Filipino-Americans Should Care

Nothing concrete will happen to seriously address the human rights issues in the Philippines unless there is international pressure on the Philippine government. There is domestic pressure coming from local activist and human rights groups. But that has not been enough — the killings and violations continue and haven’t stopped. Something more in addition to domestic pressure must be applied. That is where the Filipino-American and other communities worldwide in the Filipino diaspora come in. The Philippine government will respond to international pressure but that pressure will only come if the various Filipino communities worldwide are mobilized.

Pressure can also come from these communities contacting their Congress members and other legislative bodies whose authority the Philippine government respects and listens to. Imagine if prominent American politicians like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others appeal to the Arroyo government to seriously address these human rights violations. But that isn’t going to happen unless these politicians, in turn, are pressured by their constituents — many of which are Filipino-Americans and members of religious and other groups that have a vested interest in human rights issues.

Does that make groups like Katarungan neo-colonists for involving itself in the internal affairs of the Philippines and accusing the Philippine government of either ignoring or actively contributing to heinous and reprehensible human rights and political violations?

I am not sure if I care if I am labeled a “neo-colonist” or some other pejorative. There is a serious problem that needs to be addressed and if human rights groups like Katarungan shy away from doing this type of work for fear of being accused of being neo-colonists, then who will do the work? As American citizens we are in an optimal position to address these issues because we are constituents of American legislators, are American taxpayers, and our rights to political expression are protected by the American Constitution. We can speak out and appeal to our legislators in a way that Philippine-based activists cannot.

Moreover, Philippine-based activists actively seek the aid and support of the international community. Where domestic pressure has failed to move the Philippine government in addressing the issue, international pressure has had a measure of success with the publication of the UN, Amnesty and Human Rights Watch reports. It would not be right if a human rights organization based in the U.S. were to ignore their Filipino counterparts knowing the situation over there.

Therefore, if you are a Filipino-American (or any American, for that matter) who cares about human rights, democracy, and the rights of citizens to participate in the democratic process, you should care about what is going on in the Philippines. Not only as members of the human family but also because of our common background as Filipinos and Filipino-Americans.

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