SMNI published an article on April 28, regarding the findings drawn by the United States Department of State in its “2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Philippines,” where it called out the Philippine government for “significant human rights issues included credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors.”

In the SMNI article, which derived its claims from an interview by SMNI founder and owner Apollo Quiboloy with Jeffrey Celiz – a self-proclaimed “former member” of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – it was noted that the US State Department report was biased against the Duterte administration, as it only mentioned human rights violations supposedly perpetrated by the government, while remaining silent on alleged atrocities committed by the CPP.

Celiz explained that the reason behind this is because the US State Department largely relied on reports done by the human rights group Karapatan, which he then explained as being a “front” of the CPP.

CLAIM:

The CPP is source of US State Department’s report on human rights practices in the Philippines

RATING:

FALSE 

FACTS:

This is not the first time the US State Department released a report of such nature. “For nearly five decades, the United States has issued the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, which strive to provide a factual and objective record on the status of human rights worldwide – in 2021, covering 198 countries and territories,” the US State Department explained in the preface of its world report.

The 2021 report focused on the universality of human rights, and highlighted that several governments throughout the world have in fact served as hat some the worst abusers of human rights in their country.

The 2021 issue of the report on human rights practices in the Philippines exposed the abuses perpetrated by state security forces, especially by members of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other paramilitary units.

The US State Department cited several Philippine-based and international human rights groups and watchdogs in the said report, including Karapatan, among others. The report cited Karapatan’s records on politically-motivated killings, where it is mentioned that activists are being targeted after the state red-tagged them. The US State Department also labeled Karapatan as an “NGO [Non-Government Organization] focused on human rights defense.” 

WHY THIS MATTERS: 

The Duterte administration has been internationally criticized for its bloody ‘war on drugs,’ its ceaseless red-tagging campaign, and other human rights violations. The US State Department only summarized what several international and Philippines-based human rights watchdogs have long reported.

This is also not the first time Celiz has released spurious claims on several topics, many of which usually involve activities hosted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). Celiz even served as former AFP Gen. Antonio Parlade’s star witness in Senate hearings that red-tagged several organizations and public figures. While currently branding himself as a “rebel returnee,” Celiz has previously denied being a member of the CPP or the New People’s Army (NPA) back when he was still based in Iloilo City. Even the NPA has denied as early as 2020 that Celiz ever joined their ranks. Celiz’s tone changed markedly after being included in President Duterte’s 2016 ‘narco list.’ – Maez Estrada and Joseph Gloria

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