‘President Marcos must match words with action on rights’

MANILA, Philippines — Despite his assurances to the international community that human rights will be the priority of his administration, President Marcos has failed to “match his words with actions,” especially in addressing past and ongoing violations, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.

In its World Report 2025 annual review, the New York-based HRW said that while the “human rights situation in the Philippines has improved slightly” under Marcos, abuses continue to exist, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and harassment and intimidation of critics through “red-tagging.” 

“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.

“New revelations about the role of senior Duterte administration and police officials in ‘drug war’ atrocities highlight the need for sweeping reforms in law enforcement,” she added, referring to the legislative inquiries conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives into the Duterte administration’s drug war.

HRW noted that drug war killings continue, citing data from a local monitoring group that showed 332 drug suspects killed by the police and unidentified assailants from Jan. 1 to Nov. 15 last year.

Some 841 have reportedly died in drug-related killings since Marcos took office in 2022.

“Accountability for killings in the ‘war on drugs’ remains insignificant, although four police officers were convicted in June for the murders of a father and his son. Only three other cases have resulted in police officers being convicted for extrajudicial killings,” read the report.

“The International Criminal Court’s investigation into possible crimes against humanity in the ‘drug war’ is ongoing, although the Marcos administration refuses to cooperate with the court,” it added.

Moreover, the report also highlighted Philippine authorities’ abuse of power under the Anti-Terror Act to file charges against activists and civil society groups – often for alleged terrorist financing. According to the HRW, this is a step beyond red-tagging known as “terror-tagging.”

“Some individuals are facing charges in court, although at least 22 cases have been dismissed for lack of merit,” the report further read.

HRW said Marcos should promptly carry out the sweeping reforms needed to improve the country’s human rights situation, while the Philippines’ international partners must urge the government to deliver accountability for the human rights abuses.