LIGHTS & SHADOWS

Six years after President Duterte won on the promise to eradicate crime within six months, the deadly "war on drugs" shows insufficient regard for civil rights, due process, human dignity, and the value of life. Human rights groups recorded over 12,000 deaths of mostly poor Filipinos, more than a hundred of children killed (regarded by government as "collateral damage"), and thousands left orphaned. At least 6,000 killings were attributed to the police, with thousands left as "deaths under investigation." The International Criminal Court (ICC) was supposed to start an investigation but was suspended after the government requested its deferment, months after the president outrightly refused to cooperate with the said investigation as he tried to evade accountability with the killings.

Along with the culture of impunity, the president and his allies neutralized political opposition, especially those criticizing the violent anti-drug campaign, and weakened checks and balances. Opposition Senator Leila de Lima was arrested and detained on charges of involvement in the illegal drugs trade. Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was removed through a quo warranto petition based on an invalid appointment after impeachment complaints were filed and found to have probable cause in the House of Representatives. Meanwhile, the president’s political allies benefited from his administration. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Senators Ramon Revilla, Jr., and Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, for instance, were acquitted of plunder charges, and the body of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. was allowed to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Despite the prioritization (but which led to failed attempts) of the administration to reinstate cruel and inhuman punishment through legislation (i.e., reimposition of the death penalty and lowering of the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 9 years old), several laws were enacted in the past six years which uphold dignity and value of human life. These include the Universal Health Care Act (Republic Act No. 11223), 105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Law (RA No. 11210), and child-related laws such as those that expand nutrition and health programs to cover children from the first day of the mother’s pregnancy to their first two years (RA No. 11148), prohibit the practice of child marriage (RA No. 11596), and increase the age to determine statutory rape from below 12 to below 16 years old (RA No. 11648).

Photo credit: (L) Eloisa Lopez / Reuters, (R) Noel Celis / AFP

The presence of fishing vessels from foreign countries in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) diminished the fishing opportunities of local fishers. The weak assertion of the government on the Philippines’ territorial jurisdiction over the WPS allowed vessels from China and other neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan to conduct illegal fishing activities. This has resulted in loss of catch and income for the Filipino fishers as well as threats to the country’s food security. With the presence of Chinese vessels in the WPS, as much as 3,600 metric tons of fish are lost, which may double to 7,200 metric tons for every month that the vessels are allowed to stay in the area. In Zambales, fishers lose 70% of their income, from an average of ₱1,000 to ₱300 per fishing trip, with the continued incursion of Chinese vessels in Panatag Shoal.

The National Land Use Act (NLUA) has not been passed into law during the Duterte administration despite being always on the president’s priority list for legislation. And notwithstanding the president’s avowed disdain for oligarchs, many of them saw their business interests prospering under his administration, at the expense of the public good. No committee hearings had been conducted in the senate in the 17^th and 18th Congresses under the leadership of Sen. Cynthia Villar, who is Chair of the Committees on Agriculture and Food, and Environment and Natural Resources. Passage of the NLUA could have prevented irrational and unjust land conversions or preparatory activities for land conversion such as the issuance by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) of a Special Private Land Timber Permit allowing Vista Residences Incorporated, a real estate business owned by the family of Sen. Villar, to cut 54 pine trees in Baguio City in June 2020 and make way for the construction of a subdivision. Another example is the 2,500-hectare Aerotropolis reclamation project in Bulacan initiated by business tycoon and one of the Philippines’ richest oligarchs San Miguel Corporation (SMC) President Ramon Ang, which is set to displace fishing communities and destroy fishponds and mangrove forests. Construction of the ₱735 billion airport city began in October 2021.

Photo credit: (L) Official Gazette, (R) Walter Bollozos / The Philippine Star

The small coconut farmers may have been served justice when President Duterte signed RA No. 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act into law in February 2021. It has been 50 years since some 3.5 million coconut farmers have fought for the ownership of the coco levy fund. The law, however, lacks farmer or basic sector representation in the board of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) tasked to lead the development and implementation of an industry development plan, and the management of a trust fund which had been entrusted to a committee composed of members from the Departments of Finance, Budget and Management, and Justice.

The passage of RA No. 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law in February 2019 was meant to lower the price of rice, following the anticipated entry of cheaper imports and lower palay prices. But consumers have not fully enjoyed the benefit of low-priced rice. Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data indicated that although palay prices fell drastically, the price of rice in the market remained high. Suffering from low production and incomes for decades, the small rice farmers bore the greater brunt as the average buying price of palay, only four months since the passage of the law, dipped to as low as ₱12 per kilogram which was about the same level as the cost of production. One year after the establishment of the Rice Competitive Enhancement Fund (RCEF), designed to provide a package of support services, assistance from its various components had yet to be received by farmers.

Photo credit: (L) The Philippine Star, (R) Department of Agriculture

By addressing the lack of infrastructure that hampers economic development, the Duterte administration’s Build! Build! Build! (BBB) Program sought to accelerate growth and create conditions for poverty reduction. The BBB Program is reported to have generated 6.5 million jobs from 2016 to 2020—a figure disputed by analysts—but the projects completed are not only fewer than the target but also benefit mainly those who can pay toll and other user fees, take private cars, and afford traveling by plane. The Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law (TRAIN Law), officially designated as RA No. 10963 and constitutes the initial package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) of the Duterte administration, pushed more Filipinos into poverty. Although it lowered personal income taxes for most taxpayers, the higher oil excise that resulted in increased fuel prices affected transport workers, farmers, and fishers the most. The poverty situation became worse for these sectors and other marginalized and vulnerable groups—particularly women and children—as the government failed to mitigate the social and economic disruption caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo credit: (L) Mark Demayo / ABS-CBN News, (R) UNICEF

Promoting the value of human work had been challenged since the start of the Duterte administration as it strived to fulfill its campaign promise to end contractualization (also known as end-of-contract or "endo". Although executive and administrative orders were released and implemented to crack down endo, a law is still deemed necessary to end it systematically and effectively. The passage of such a law, however, remains unrealized after President Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure bill in 2019, citing the need to balance the interests of businesses and workers. Other challenges faced by the Duterte administration to advance workers' rights included the end of killings of labor and union leaders, prioritization of Chinese over Filipino workers in the Philippine offshore gaming operations (or POGOs), and the continuous call of many workers for a higher wage hike.

Addressing the plight and concerns of migrant workers showed to be alarming also during the Duterte administration. In 2016, President Duterte allowed the capital punishment of Mary Jane Veloso who was arrested by the Indonesian government in 2010 for allegedly smuggling heroin. In 2020, the president announced not being too keen about the repatriation of overseas workers from Kuwait despite the cases of maltreatment of Filipino workers there. With these, the establishment of the Department of Migrant Workers in 2021 could be considered a welcome development to promote the rights of migrant workers.

As the country battled the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers faced the brunt of the inefficiencies in managing the pandemic. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) cushioned the adverse effects of the pandemic by implementing the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program for the formal workers, Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers for informal workers, and Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong for overseas workers. The healthcare workers served as among the frontliners during this crisis, but support to them was dismal, particularly at the onset of the pandemic. The nurses later triumphed on the increase of their entry-level salary, but they continued to call on timely and just distribution of their hazard pays and other benefits. Much remains to be done to genuinely champion the value of human labor in the country.

Photo credit: (L) Marriane Bermudez / Philippine Daily Inquirer, (R) AFP Photo

The Philippines has the longest-running communist insurgency in the world and continues to battle armed extremist forces in Mindanao. Peace and active nonviolence demand the painstaking work of building trust and responding to systemic injustices. The Duterte administration was off to a good start when it engaged the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army (CPP-NDF-NPA) in peace talks, and appointed sympathizers and members associated with the Left to top positions in government. However, incensed by the movement’s continued armed attacks on government troops and civilians, President Duterte decided to permanently terminate the peace talks in 2019.

Ratified in July 2019, the Bangsamoro Organic Law created the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), to be governed by the Bangsamoro Transition Authority with former rebels running the government. This major step augured well for peace as it inspired trust in the government and brought hope for self-determination, redress of decades-long neglect and grievances for the Moro peoples, and an end to armed conflicts in Mindanao. The promise of peace in Mindanao was, however, severely challenged by the administration’s response to an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack that led to the massive siege of Marawi City in 2017, leaving over a thousand people dead, massive economic losses, and displacement of the city’s residents. The excruciatingly slow rehabilitation of the city has drawn attention to the injustices brought upon the local population.

Photo credit: (L) Manman Dejeto / MindaNews, (R) Fernando G. Sepe Jr. / ABS-CBN News

For many years, several establishments in the island of Boracay and along Manila Bay built illegal structures that are not connected to the sewage and drainage systems, which made the country’s tourist attraction and historical landmark tainted with untreated wastewater. Two months after calling Boracay a “cesspool”, President Duterte issued Executive Order No. 53 to rehabilitate Boracay Island. After a year, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the coliform level in Boracay waters “has significantly gone down”. Demolition orders were also served to establishments violating laws on waste management and land use. However, the directive, which entailed an abrupt closure of the island, garnered criticisms from opposition senators and civil society organizations as it lacked a comprehensive plan that should have taken into account potential socioeconomic effects on the people residing and working on the island. The approval of the construction of a megacasino and megahotel in Boracay while closing down local businesses and tourism also raised doubts whether the administration was genuinely concerned about the congestion, pollution, and the environment in general. The Duterte administration also implemented a multi-million-peso “white sand beach” project to rehabilitate a badly polluted part of the Manila Bay coastline at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The project also drew opposition and criticisms from scientists, environmental groups, and NGOs, pointing out that dumping crushed dolomite—used as synthetic sand—could pose risk and harm to the marine environment.

President Duterte was vocal in protecting the environment, particularly with respect to mining, as he rejected the call to lift the ban on open-pit mining in 2017. Three years later, however, he signed Executive Order No. 130, authorizing the government to enter into new mining deals and review existing mining applications for renegotiation. The policy was justified as necessary to resuscitate an economy devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Opposition lawmakers, advocacy groups, and the Catholic Church pointed out that there is usually no economic improvement in the lives of people in the countryside resulting from mining operations. Mining companies typically leave behind a trail of scarred landscape and adversely affect local ecosystems, threatening the well-being of local communities.

Photo credit: (L) Noel Celis / AFP, (R) Manila Bulletin

Under the Duterte regime, there was a disturbing escalation of efforts to clamp down on opposing voices and to discourage dissent, generating a chilling effect on free speech, association, and public discourse. Activists, human rights defenders, and government critics became targets of red-tagging, systematic profiling, and attacks led by high level security officials and law enforcement bodies. The passing of the heavily contested Anti-Terror Law further sowed fear that it would be used against independent voices raising legitimate grievances. Although the Supreme Court declared two provisions of the law as unconstitutional, it upheld other provisions that arguably violate due process, the right to security of person, and other human rights under the Constitution.

Threats and attacks on journalists and media practitioners perpetrated by state agents have raised concerns about the state of press freedom and freedom of expression in the country. Already under intense pressure, the Philippine press was dealt a major blow in the shutdown of the media giant ABS-CBN and non-renewal of its broadcasting franchise, and the conviction of Rappler’s Maria Ressa for cyber libel.

One early source of light during the Duterte administration was the president’s promulgation of Executive Order No. 2 operationalizing in the executive branch a public disclosure and transparency policy intended to give citizens access to information about government policies and programs and use of public funds. This early development, however, has been diluted by the failure to pass a Freedom of Information Law within the President’s term and the Duterte administration’s enabling of widespread digital disinformation.

Photo credit: (L) Presidential Communications Operations Office, (R) Rolex dela Peña / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock