Letter For President

Dear Mr. President Ferdinand Bong-bong Marcos,

Congratulations on your recent election to the presidency of the Philippines. In particular, we encourage you to bring energy to protecting and promoting the human rights of everyone in the country.

As president, it is your responsibility to protect the universal rights and freedoms of all Filipinos. You wield great influence in ensuring that security forces respect and enforce the rights and freedoms embodied in both the Philippine constitution as well as international human rights instruments. What you say in support of rights and freedoms can have significant influence around the country. That is why we are encouraged by your June 30 inauguration address pledge that your “adherence to due process and the rule of law is uncompromising” and that you will ensure that “the Republic of the Philippines will honor treaties and international obligations.” We also note that in your July 25 State of the Nation Address you stated that “rule of law must at all times prevail” and that government is obliged to “fulfill the human rights of our citizens.”

We urge you and your government to make these issues a priority. We divided our recommendations on each subject into those that can have near-immediate impact on the human rights situation of large numbers of people, and those that will require longer-term commitment of political will and resources.