Marcos admin urged to heed UN expert’s call to disband NTF-ELCAC

MANILA, Philippines — The Marcos administration should heed the recommendations of a United Nations human rights expert, which includes the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, green and rights organizations said Thursday.

Groups noted that Ian Fry, the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, was the first UN expert who said that the Philippines should disband the NTF-ELCAC and revoke the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. 

The NTF-ELCAC, set up by former President Rodrigo Duterte, has frequently labeled activists, environmental defenders and journalists as communist sympathizers without providing evidence. 

Groups have also said that the anti-terrorism law is being used against government critics and to suppress dissent.

“These statements are a reminder for the Marcos Jr. administration that a critical step towards addressing climate change in the Philippines is ensuring that the security and rights of environment and human rights defenders are protected,” Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and the Philippine Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Watch said in a statement Thursday. 

Fry also said at the end of his 10-day visit to the Philippines Wednesday that the harassment of environmental human rights defenders was prevalent and called for an independent probe into the task force’s past actions. 

The Philippines has been consistently named as the worst place in Asia for land and environment defenders, according to watchdog Global Witness. 

Katribu Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng Pilipinas said the statements of Fry give hope to indigenous peoples who have been attacked in the fight for their rights to land, self-determination, and genuine development.

“We hope the government, especially, the NTF-ELCAC, drops the act, and just heed the advice of the UNSR to disband its own as it does not bring any humanitarian service to the Filipino people,” KATRIBU national convenor Beverly Longid said. 

Visits with communities 

During his visit, Fry met with environmental activists, human rights defenders, and communities to examine the challenges faced by Filipino environmental defenders and the impacts of climate change on human rights. 

He spoke with Tumandok indigenous peoples in Iloilo on the construction of the Jalaur Mega Dam project. In 2020, nine Tumandok leaders opposed to the construction of the dam were killed in combined police and military operations.

The UN rights expert also visited Baseco in Manila, a coastal community in Manila Bay threatened by reclamation and sea-level rise.

“Fry’s visit to the country comes at a crucial time. It puts on center stage the sinister role played by the NTF-ELCAC and the dangerous impact of the terror law on the lives and safety of environmental human rights defenders in the country,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

Fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas also said that Fry’s report “reflected the testimonies of grassroots sectors on the impacts of the climate crisis in marginal communities, and how it fuels human rights violations.”

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, who is part of the NTF-ELCAC, criticized Fry for failing to raise his concerns with the government and called his report “incomplete.”

Kalikasan PNE and the Philippine UPR Watch also said they support Fry’s recommendations for the Marcos administration to take an active role in discussions on loss and damage from climate change, and establish adequate facilities and plans to monitor the worsening impacts of climate change. — with report from Agence France-Presse