• Human Rights in the Philippines
    The Philippines is a multi-party democracy, with an elected president and legislature, a thriving civil society, and a vibrant media. Several key institutions, including the judiciary, remain weak. The military and police commit human rights violations with impunity. The Aquino administration has promised reforms but has achieved little progress. Killings and “disappearances” of leftist activists and petty criminals continue, with the government failing to address involvement by security forced and local officials. Armed opposition groups, including the communist New People’s Army and various Islamist Moro groups, commit serious abuses against civilians.
  • Mothers and their children at the maternity ward of the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, a government hospital in Manila, Philippines.
    © 2011 Carlos Conde/Human Rights Watch
    Philippines: Landmark Law Crucial for Women’s Health

    The Philippines’ expected passage of a reproductive health law will be a massive step forward to promote women’s health and lives, Human Rights Watch said today. The prime objectives of the Reproductive Health Bill, which is scheduled for a final vote during the week of December 17, 2012, include increasing access to a range of reproductive health services and reducing maternal deaths.

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Philippines

  • Philippines: Milestone Law Criminalizes Forced Disappearances
    Dec 21, 2012

    The new law that criminalizes enforced disappearances in the Philippines is the first of its kind in Asia and a major milestone in ending this horrific human rights violation, Human Rights Watch said today. President Benigno S. Acquino III signed the law today.

  • Philippines: Landmark Law Crucial for Women’s Health
    Dec 16, 2012

    The Philippines’ expected passage of a reproductive health law will be a massive step forward to promote women’s health and lives, Human Rights Watch said today. The prime objectives of the Reproductive Health Bill, which is scheduled for a final vote during the week of December 17, 2012, include increasing access to a range of reproductive health services and reducing maternal deaths.

  • A law that can make PH a leader
    Nov 22, 2012
    I approached the school—high in the hills of northern Luzon—with a bit of trepidation. It was late in the day, and schools that lack the joyous cacophony of children playing always seem a little eerie to me.
  • Philippines: No Progress Disarming, Demobilizing Militias
    Nov 21, 2012
    The Aquino administration has done little to disarm and demobilize militias and paramilitary forces three years after the massacre of 58 people by the “private army” of a powerful political clan in the southern Philippines.
  • Keep Soldiers Out of Schools and Universities
    Nov 20, 2012
    The use of schools and other education institutions for military purposes by armed forces and non-state armed groups during wartime endangers students and their education around the world, said the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack in a study released today.
  • Civil Society Denounces Adoption of Flawed ASEAN Human Rights Declaration
    Nov 19, 2012
    Disregarding the deep concerns expressed by senior United Nations officials, human rights experts and hundreds of civil society and grassroots organisations at the national, regional and international levels, ASEAN leaders nonetheless adopted yesterday an “ASEAN Human Rights Declaration” that undermines, rather than affirms, international human rights law and standards.
  • Philippines: Aquino Should Sign Landmark Disappearances Law
    Oct 17, 2012

    President Benigno Aquino III should sign into law a bill criminalizing enforced disappearances in the Philippines.

  • Philippines: Amend Draft Law on Child Soldiers
    Oct 16, 2012
    The Philippines Senate should remove a provision in a draft law that allows for the prosecution of the parents of children recruited to be soldiers. With that revision, the proposed law, the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Bill, should be enacted into law, the groups said.
  • Philippines: New ‘Cybercrime’ Law Will Harm Free Speech
    Sep 27, 2012

    A new Philippine “cybercrime” law drastically increases punishments for criminal libel and gives authorities excessive and unchecked powers to shut down websites and monitor online information. President Benigno Aquino III signed the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012on September 12, 2012.

  • UN Human Rights Council: Adoption of the Outcome of the Philippines' UPR
    Sep 19, 2012
    Human Rights Watch welcomes the adoption of the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines, which reflects recommendations that could enhance human rights education, labor and migrant workers’ rights, and women’s rights, among others. Human Rights Watch regrets, however, that the Philippine government’s expressed commitment to eliminate extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance by members of the state security forces - as reflected in the first UPR - has not resulted in the successful prosecution of perpetrators.
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