Human rights remain stagnant on President Marcos, Jr.’s fifth year in office
Marcos, Jr. has consistently received a “failed” mark from Amnesty International Philippines. In 2025, he failed to perform in three critical issues: protecting HRDs, press freedom, and advancing climate justice. The year before that he regressed in preventing a number of HR violations to worsen such as as access to health care, labor security, and cracking down on corruption. These are recurring failures, and he only has 2 more years in office.
Accountability for all perpetrators of extrajudicial killings in the War on Drugs! The Philippines must rejoin the International Cirminal Court (ICC)!
There are welcome developments in the crimes against humanity case against former President Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC)–this is solely an effort of the families of victims, civil society and the ICC itself, NOT President Marcos’ administration. A total of 1,184 drug-related killings have been recorded since the start of the president’s term. Accountability for those suspected of committing and ordering extrajudicial executions remain ignored and unlikely, as evidenced by the Bato dela Rosa’s continued evasion of the law. This failure to act is unsettling as President Marcos also remains steadfast in its refusal for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC claiming “There is no need for the Philippines to restore its membership [in ICC] to demonstrate its commitment to fighting impunity”; and is even considering support in the United States’ latest campaign to dismantle the international tribunal.
Legislate protection against discrimination and violence. Prioritize the Expanded Anti-VAWC Act,SOGIE Equality Bill, and Legal Gender Recognition!
President Marcos has been loud in his calls for women’s representation and gender equality in regional and international stages. But his policies do not match his rheotrics. 6,883 cases of violence against women and children have been recorded by the Protective Services Bureau (PSB) from August to November 2025 alone–50% of the previous year’s total reported cases in just three months. This shows an alarming rise in VAW-related cases, with many more unreported. Shifting technological landscapes has given rise to many forms of online gender-based violence (OGBV) left unchecked by outdated laws.
LGBTQIA+ people, especially transgender individuals, continue to face discrimination and live in constant fear of harassment, violence and persecution. The killings of Bella Lutap, Ali Macalintal and Gian Molina is evidence of the severe lack of visibility and protection under the law for the trans community. Furthermore, LGBTQIA+ people continue to experience disproportionately high levels of inequality when accessing healthcare, education, housing, and employment.
Increase the National Minimum Wage. Ensure accessiblity of basic goods and services. Social protection for all.
There is a surge in cases of labor rights violations. Some union leaders are also being red-tagged simply for demanding minimum wage increases to support the cost for a decent living. Workers are being punished by businesses for demanding what is already guaranteed by law. They should not have to go on strikes nor be harassed for demanding what’s legally theirs. Eighty-five pesos can barely get one person through the day. This amount of increase is not a win, it is an insult. The lack of effective measures to mitigate inflation and shortages after the oil crisis brought about by the US-Iran conflict has led to a downward spiral in people’s living standards.
Amnesty International is calling for social security to be made available to everyone especially when crisis hits, exposing huge gaps in government support and protection systems, leaving thousands of Filipinos facing hunger or trapped in a cycle of poverty and deprivation.
Strengthen the Philippines’ climate resilience. Leave no one behind in energy transition. Pass the Alternative Minerals Management Bill and Climate Accountability Bill!
High-level corruption, particularly related to flood control projects, amid widespread devastation from the country’s increasing vulnerability to climate disasters exposes glaring gaps in how the government chooses to address climate change and the absence for genuine concern for the ordinary Filipino. While President Marcos secures foreign investments for renewable energy sources, he markets our minerals for mining ($7.38 billion from exports in 2025). Nickel mining as an example; poor regulation of these extractive businesses have led to deforestation, environmental damage and serious harm to livelihood, health and access to water in n Palawan, Zambales, Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Davao Oriental, and Samar amongst others. President Marcos cannot keep positioning his administration as a climate justice champion in the region while executing policies and projects that disregards the lives of its people.
Condemn attacks against journalists. Repeal the Cybercrime Law.
While President Marcos acknowledges the criticality of a free media in any free state, the country remains a dangerous environment for journalists. So long as there journalists detained, killed, and red-tagged; media remains repressed and access to information restricted. Amnesty International calls on the Philippine government to cease its relentless efforts to muzzle journalists and media organizations, and to fulfil its obligations under domestic and international law to safeguard and respect the right to freedom of expression and media freedom.
Protect activists and human rights defenders. Abolish the NTF-ELCAC. Uphold the right to peaceful assembly
Government authorities increasingly subjected political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and government critics to “red-tagging” and using this as justification for detentionor even killings, as seen in the case of the Toboso 19. Red-tagging is primarily perpetrated by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which Marcos has continued to support; and is promoted by harmful legislations and willful inaction by the administration. This state-facilitated public vilification of any individual or group expressing concern or opposition has disproportionately targeted students, indigenous peoples, LGBTI activists, and other members of vulnerable groups; and ultimately serves to repress dissent and opinion. It has also motivated police response to protest and assemblies. Instead of facilitating the increasingly frequent protests as is the state’s obligation, these has been met by just as frequent arrests and violent dispersals.
The state’s repressive tactics ranges from online harassment to offline intimidation and surveillance and even enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. A legislation that recognizes both the work of human rights defenders, and the crime of red-tagging as committed by government officials and state authorities is needed for genuine protection and accountability of freedom of expression, and the preservation of our democratic space.
Ensure the NCIP is fulfilling its mandate effectively. Review FPIC.
Leaders, members, and allies of indigenous communities continue to be subjected to harassment, red-tagging, enforced disappearance, and killings by both state authorities and corporate private security. Corruption, bureaucracy, and the domineering presence of corporations have made the ancestral domain claiming process even more complex, tedious, and life-threatening. Cases wherein Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes being manipulated or hastened have been reported, particularly around business permits and mining projects. It has been nearly two (2) years since the NCIP was placed under the oversight of the Office of the President; but there has yet to be any improvement in the functions of the commission nor is there a concrete plan of action for addressing the growing concerns of indigenous communities.
Address the pervasive culture of impunity that continues to fuel corruption.
Impunity and corruption are not abstract issues. They determine whether families can eat, if children can go to school, or communities survive disasters. Corruption is a product of lack of accountability, the same as the culture of impunity it perpetuates at the national and local levels. Human rights cannot survive where fear, corruption, and impunity are allowed to flourish. This government must decide now whether it will continue to protect power and privilege or finally uphold the rights of every Filipino.
President Marcos Jr’s government must strengthen all national legal and institutional frameworks for fighting corruption and enhancing accountability for corruption offenses to curb the culture of excess that his father’s dictatorship left the Filipinos with, after their family’s years of exploitation of Philippine resources and our hard-earned taxes.
PRESIDENT MARCOS JR’S HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVES AND FAILURES
Human rights defenders and political activists have long been the subject of attacks from the government over the years. Government authorities increasingly subjected political activists, human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and government critics to “red-tagging”. Primarily perpetrated by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and promoted by harmful legislations and willful inaction by the administration, this state-facilitated public vilification of any individual or group expressing concern or opposition has disproportionately targeted students, indigenous peoples, LGBTI activists, and other members of vulnerable groups. The state’s red-tagging tactics ranges from online harassment to offline intimidation and surveillance and even enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. PASS THE HRD PROTECTION ACT! REPEAL THE ANTI-TERRORISM ACT! DEFUND NTF-ELCAC!
A free media plays an indispensable role in upholding the right to freedom of expression and enabling people to seek and receive information. Amnesty International is concerned that press freedom in the Philippines has been severely eroded and assaulted over the last few years. The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. CONDEMN ATTACKS AGAINST JOURNALISTS! REPEAL THE CYBERCRIME LAW!
Although drug-related killings have reduced under the Marcos government, they continue to be reported. The current administration has also failed to credibly investigate, let alone prosecute, those suspected of committing and ordering extrajudicial executions despite promises to deliver “real justice in real time” for victims of the “war on drugs.” REJOIN THE ICC! REVIEW THE DANGEROUS DRUGS ACT! ESTABLISH A NATIONAL PREVENTATIVE MECHANISM UNDER THE ANTI TORTURE LAW!
Killings and other violent attacks have escalated against leaders and members of Indigenous communities. Corruption, bureaucracy, and the domineering presence of corporations have made the ancestral domain claiming process even more complex, tedious, and life-threatening. The situation of Indigenous peoples remains concerning, with NCIP now under the Office of the President, the Legislative must fully exercise its mandate in ensuring that indigenous peoples rights are protected and upheld. REVIEW FPIC! AMEND IPRA!
The Philippine National Police recorded a total of 11,585 VAW-related cases in its Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System (CIRAS) for 2023. This has slightly increased to 11,636 cases in 2024. As alarming as these numbers are, they are also underreported.
With shifting technological landscapes, there has also been a rise in online gender-based violence (OGBV). LGBTI people continue to face discrimination and live in constant fear of harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and remain vulnerable to violence and persecution based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics. LGBTI people still face disproportionately high levels of inequality when accessing healthcare, education, housing, and employment. PASS THE EXPANDED ANTI- VAWC ACT! PASS THE SOGIE EQUALITY BILL AND THE COMPREHENSIVE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION BILL!
Climate change threatens the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of present and future generations of Filipinos. The Philippines is still recuperating from three typhoons one after another. PROTECT PEOPLE FROM THE IMPACT OF THE CLIMATE CRISIS! PASS THE ALTERNATIVE MINERALS MANAGEMENT BILL AND THE CLIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY BILL!
Despite President Marcos’s electoral promises to end endo and hence encourage Filipinos to work in the country instead of finding jobs abroad, the Philippines has not yet passed a security of tenure bill to end contractualization; neither have this administration listened to the calls of the labor sector for a nationwide wage increase. STRENGTHEN DOLE AND NLRC! INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE! FARE WAGES FOR ALL!
BBM Report Cards
Taon-taon tuwing SONA ni BBM, may pagbabago ba? Sinasagot nga ba nya ang kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino?
Hiningi ng Amnesty International Philippines ang Human Rights Action Plan ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. — hindi lamang ang kanyang katayuan sa mga isyu, kundi mga konkretong plano, programa at aksyon na nakikita niyang sagot sa mga problema sa karapatang pantaong hinaharap ng mamayang Pilipino.
Ang pagkakaron ng tapat at maayos na pagkakaintindi sa karapatang pantao, at sariling initiative na bumuo ng planong sumasagot sa iba’t ibang human rights issues ay paunang tanda lamang ng tunay na pagkilala ng pangulo sa kanyang responsibilidad sa taumbayan.
Nilipon ng Amnesty International Philippines ang mga tinitindigang isyu tungkol sa karapatang pantao ni Pangulong Marcos, Jr. noong nakaraang halalan, narito ang ilan na maaring ikumpara sa kanyang mga naging prayoridad sa pagpapalakad sa bansa nitong nakaraang dalawang taon sa panunungkulan.
Nagpadala ang Amnesty International Philippines ng isang open letter sa lahat ng kumakandidato bilang pangulo, pangalawang pangulo at senador noong 2022. Nilalaman ng sulat ang isang paalala, panghihikayat, at hamon na isama ang karapatang pantao sa mga plataporma at action plan ng mga kumakandidato. Nagsisilbi itong tanda ng pagtataya nila bilang mga lingkod-bayan sa kanilang pananagutan sa karapatang pantao.
Hiningi ang malinaw na tugon patungkol sa mga sumusunod na usapin, at patuloy itong binabantayan hanggang sa kasalukuyang administrayon sa ilalim ni Pangulong Marcos, Jr.:
Makalipas ang ilang taong panunungkulan ni Pangulong Marcos, Jr., tila walang pagbabago sa mga usaping ito. Nananatiling bagsak ang marka.
