PHIIPPINE President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration made some strides in addressing human rights issues in 2024 but failed to tackle past and ongoing violations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in its World Report 2025.
Extrajudicial killings tied to the country’s anti-drug campaign persisted, with 332 drug suspects killed from January to mid-November 2024, according to a local monitoring group.
Since Marcos assumed office in July 2022, the death toll from drug-related killings has reached 841.
Despite pledges to investigate and prosecute abuses, no legal actions were taken against officials of the previous Rodrigo Duterte administration, even as new evidence of their involvement in rights violations emerged.
“While President Marcos sent a positive message that he intends to address serious human rights concerns in the Philippines, he needs to match his words with action,” said Bryony Lau, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
The group’s 546-page report, now in its 35th edition, reviewed human rights practices in over 100 countries. HRW Executive Director Tirana Hassan wrote in the introduction that authoritarian regimes worldwide continued to stifle dissent, imprison activists, and commit atrocities, often with impunity.
In the Philippines, hearings in Congress since August revealed explosive claims about police involvement in extrajudicial killings and former President Duterte’s admission of leading a “death squad” during his tenure as Davao City mayor and later as president.
In response, the Department of Justice formed a task force in November to investigate these killings, but accountability remains elusive.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) continues its probe into potential crimes against humanity committed during the “drug war,” but the Marcos administration refuses to cooperate. Convictions for such killings remain rare, with only four police officers found guilty since 2018.
HRW also highlighted the ongoing harassment of activists through “red-tagging,” linking individuals and groups to communist insurgency without evidence.
The organization documented four enforced disappearances in 2024, many involving environmental and land rights defenders.
HRW urged the Philippines’ international partners to pressure the Marcos administration to implement reforms and hold perpetrators accountable for abuses, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
