MANILA, Philippines – The human rights situation in the Philippines may have improved in the past year, but President Ferdinand Marcos has not taken concrete actions to provide justice to victims of violations under Rodrigo Duterte. 

In its latest global report launched on Thursday, January 16, Human Rights Watch (HRW) pointed out that accountability “remains insignificant” when it comes to the killings under Duterte’s drug war. 

Marcos then should walk the talk and be more assertive in pushing for more ways to get justice for the thousands of drug war victims and their families, even as he continues to distance himself from his predecessor, according to HRW deputy Asia director Bryony Lau.

“While President Marcos sent a positive message that he intends to address serious human rights concerns in the Philippines, he needs to match his words with action,” she said. 

HRW said that Marcos “should promptly carry out the sweeping reforms needed to improve the country’s human rights situation.” 

Only four cops were convicted in 2023, adding to just a handful of drug war convictions overall. At least 6,252 people were killed in police anti-drug operations alone until May 2022. Human rights groups estimate the death toll to reach 30,000 to include victims of vigilante-style killings.

The International Criminal Court is currently investigating the alleged crimes against humanity committed under Duterte’s drug war. The ICC’s Office of Prosecutor recently issued a public appeal calling for “direct witnesses” to come forward and provide information. These include members of the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies with direct knowledge of these incidents and can be ideal insider witnesses who can give vital details about how systematic crimes were. 

The Marcos administration remains inconsistent and evasive regarding the ongoing ICC investigation and the lack of accountability.

The strongest indication of a pivot is the House of Representatives’ hearings into the extrajudicial killings, which highlighted how the previous administration’s drug war led to widespread and systematic abuse. If anything, it further marks the heightened fallout and tension between the President’s faction and Duterte’s family — specifically Vice President Sara Duterte.

But while the committees involved have officially recommended that Duterte be charged for crimes against humanity, there is no guarantee that it will lead to complaints filed before courts. The Marcos administration is yet to act on these findings.

The much-boasted reinvestigation of 52 drug war killings launched in 2020 has yielded dismal results. To date, 32 of these cases have been closed without the filing of a single criminal complaint. This starkly contradicts claims by both the Duterte and Marcos administrations that the local justice system is effectively holding accountable perpetrators of extrajudicial killings.

The HRW report also emphasized the continuing state abuse, including the number of drug-related killings and red-tagging. 

The Dahas Project of the University of the Philippines Diliman’s Third World Studies Center monitored 364 drug-related killings in 2024 alone. Together with data from the first two years of Marcos, the total is now at 879 as of January 7. 

These revelations “highlight the need for sweeping reforms in law enforcement,” Lau said. – Rappler.com