MANILA – International human rights organizations commend the report of the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Irene Khan, underscoring the serious threat to the lives of human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society in the Philippines. 

“This is not only a matter of domestic concern, but a test of the Philippines’ commitments under ASEAN and international human rights conventions,” said ASEAN Parliamentarian for Human Rights board member, Maria Angelina Sarmento, also a member of Timor-Leste’s parliament. “APHR therefore calls on the Marcos administration to act without delay on these critical recommendations.”

During her speech in front of the UN Human Rights Council, Khan stressed that red-tagging remains a serious threat to civil society in the Philippines. 

“The overall aim of such vilification, harassment, threats and violence is to intimidate and chill expression,” she said, adding that the practice of tagging delegitimizes human rights work which ultimately weakens public trust. “It makes it difficult for critical voices to influence public opinion and it reduces the free flow and diversity of information and ideas which are essential for a healthy and dynamic democracy.”

Khan also called for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), an institution known for red-tagging civilians, and an end to the culture of impunity in the country. 

Read: UN expert recommends NTF-ELCAC abolition amid rampant red-tagging and media attacks

While the government claimed that it does not condone the practice of red-tagging, Khan said that it continues to happen. The Supreme Court ruling in May 2024 declared that red-tagging is a threat to a person’s right to life, liberty, or security. Khan added, “The government should now act on that decision and eliminate the practice totally.”

APHR’s chairperson and Indonesian lawmaker Mercy Chriesty Barrends said that the government must have issued a comprehensive executive order to explicitly prohibit vilification campaigns against critical voices.

“Without swift and binding measures to dismantle red-tagging and hold perpetrators to account,every day we continue to witness new victims denied both justice and due process,” Barends added.

Representing a network of policymakers that represent rights-holders in the parliament and in the communities, APHR honors Irene Khan’s recommendations. The Philippine government must abolish the NTF ELCAC, whose red-tagging operations have precipitated enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and dubious cases against human rights defenders, journalists and civil society.

Amnesty International also welcomed Khan’s reports in relation to her visit to the Philippines, emphasizing that many of the victims of red-tagging are children and young people, particularly students.

“While exercising their freedom of expression and right to protest, these young human rights defenders have repeatedly faced intimidation and harassment from state actors, among them the NTF-ELCAC which continues to operate with undeterred support and resources from the Office of the President,” said Amnesty International. “Red-tagging has led to a climate of fear and self-censorship.”

In her report, Khan further expressed concern about several provisions of the Anti-Terror Act of 2020 criticized both by international organizations and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). “The act raises concerns regarding surveillance, which has a chilling effect on the legitimate activities of journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists and the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression more broadly.”

In the Southern Tagalog region alone, 32 activists and human rights defenders have been charged with the Anti-Terrorism Act, according to Defend Southern Tagalog. A separate data from the National Union of the Peoples’ Lawyers reported 66 financing terrorism charges against development workers in 2024.

Khan also flagged the slow pace of judicial proceedings, prolonged pre-trial detention, the refusal to grant bail when there is no risk of flight, and extremely slow disposal of cases, “which makes a travesty of justice, equating the innocent with the guilty.”

Both Amnesty International and ASEAN Parliamentarian for Human Rights supported the report of UN expert Khan and called on the government to end the practice of red-tagging and impunity, abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act, and pass the Human RIghts Defenders Protection Act.

“In fully endorsing Irene Khan’s final report, APHR reiterates its commitment to stand with the Filipino people. Implementing these recommendations is not merely an exercise in compliance—it is a dedication to democratic resilience, social justice and regional credibility,” said APHR co-chairperson Charles Santiago.

Moreover, the pronouncements from the international human rights community also echoed the sentiments of the Filipino delegation of human rights defenders in Geneva under Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Watch. The delegation stated that Khan’s report reflects the wanton violations of human rights in the country under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration. 

Read: Rights defenders commend UN special rapporteur’s recommendations

“Like modern-day fascists elsewhere in the world, Marcos Jr. mocks international human rights conventions in continuing repressive policies and practices of his predecessor Duterte, while stating his so-called adherence to international human rights obligations. It is not just a mismatch of words and actions – its doublespeak is meant to deceive,” Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general and co-head of the Philippine UPR Watch, said. 

The Philippine government said that a UN expert’s report about the practice of red-tagging by the military, state security, officials and government officials is “incorrect and biased.” They also refused to adhere to the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC and that the president himself, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., categorically stated that the agency will remain operational “reflecting the administration’s firm commitment to the anti-insurgency campaign.”

“The Philippine government’s labeling of the special rapporteur’s statements as incorrect, misleading and biased is meant to proliferate their big fat lie that there is a rosy human rights situation in the Philippines. Denying the NTF-ELCAC’s record in red-tagging and terror-tagging is erasing the harm done to those who have been red-tagged, including those who were eventually killed, abducted and arrested,” Palabay added. (RTS, RVO)