Marcos’s second SONA dodges accountability for past human rights violations

Responding to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA), Amnesty International Philippines’ advocacy and mobilization manager Wilnor Papa said:
“Similar to last year, President Marcos Jr remained disappointingly quiet on the dismal state of human rights in the country during his second State of the Nation Address.”

“There was not a single mention of the continuing lack of accountability for the tens of thousands of killings and other violations in the context of the ongoing ‘war on drugs’. Reminiscent of the former Duterte administration’s bloody campaign and rhetoric, however, President Marcos Jr said the fight against illegal drugs will continue, even as the International Criminal Court has recently allowed investigations into the country’s situation to resume.

“In his address that lasted more than an hour, President Marcos Jr dodged the most compelling human rights issues that his government must grapple with: the unrelenting red-tagging of human rights defenders and activists, the continued detention of prisoner of conscience and former Senator Leila de Lima and, more recently, the increasing use of the Anti-Terrorism Act against activists, including through the recent terrorist designation of four indigenous peoples’ rights defenders in the Cordilleras.

“If anything, President Marcos’s annual address brings to fore his administration’s jaw-dropping lack of commitment to human rights and justice, by ignoring past violations and abuses and even enabling their continued perpetration. Tirelessly, we will continue remind President Marcos of the 8-point human rights agenda we presented the candidates during the 2022 elections, as a critical instrument to delivering effective and genuine change in the country’s unabated human rights crisis.”

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