Written by: Ruhi Rizvi

The Philippines government since the beginning of COVID-19 cases has initiated measures beyond lockdown.

Several reports and statements indicate that there is a high level of human rights abuse under the Philippines government headed by president Rodrigo Duterte.

Essential information about COVID-19 and precautionary measures has been prevented from spreading on social media. Journalists and social media users are being severely reprimanded with penalties citing the COVID-19 law and face allegations for, “spreading false Information.”

Critics of the rules being imposed by the government are facing huge backlash. Human rights lawyer Manuel Diokno has spent recent weeks defending individuals who have been subpoenaed for freedom of expression.

Diokno has taken to Twitter to unmask the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Mostly the journalists are targeted and intimidated by government officials who have demanded an apology.

Seventeen people are facing steep penalties with up to two months in jail and a fine of 1 million pesos (US $19,600). Two are journalists who have cases filed against them. Manuel Diokno was publicly humiliated by president Duterte who openly accused him of “encouraging violation of [the] lockdown.”

One is inclined to question at this stage, whether the government is preventing information reaching Filipinos or concealing information as an ulterior motive.

Filipino prisons are already packed out with overcrowding as they have the highest jail occupancy in the world. Currently across the country, jails and lockups are overflowing with hundreds of thousand inmates and figures continue to rise. The measures of detaining citizens has not ceased, even with COVID-19, posing an exponential danger to so many lives. Right now, there has been no active move to give early reprieve to prisoners who are on shorter sentences or for those who may have committed minor offences. Since Rodrigo Duterte has been president since 2016, the figures have only exacerbated. Human Rights Watch has warned that “failure to act now amidst the COVID-19 crisis could lead to thousands of fatalities.”

“The Philippines government should urgently reduce overcrowding in detention facilities, by releasing minor offenders and prioritizing the release of older prisoners and those with underlying health conditions at particular risk from COVID-19,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at the Human Rights Watch.

He concluded that, “The judicial system is threatening the lives of prisoners whose health the authorities have a duty to protect.”

Families have expressed their concerns over sickness already existing and affecting their relatives, this includes respiratory illness such as tuberculosis. They have become aware that their relatives are at a greater risk for the COVID-19 and may not survive.

On April 8, president Duterte announced in a televised address to the nation that anyone seen to violate the curfew laws will be shot down by his soldiers and police. He specifically stated that his orders to the police and military during the pandemic were, “if there is trouble … shoot them dead.” Since this announcement, there have been reports of a 63-year-old man being shot dead and it’s more than likely other shootings may have taken place but perhaps not reported. Many journalists face forms of gagging orders and threatened with freedom of expression.

Amnesty International has an overwhelming concern in which they express that, “while hospitals are pleading for body bags and other emergency supplies, callous threats from authorities show a tone-deaf government that is unwilling to keep everybody safe during this global pandemic.”

The pandemic is not easily understood by adults and for children and youth who are used to their way of life, it becomes even more difficult to comprehend the rules of curfew or lockdown procedures. Police who have been given authority to shoot anyone seen outside of their home, are actively abusing children who violate COVID-19 curfew.

Margaret Wurth, a senior researcher for the Children's Rights Division has highlighted that young people have been locked in dog cages, coffins and even stripped naked as well as other forms of abuse. This abusive treatment is being subjected in many different regions of the Philippines for violating curfew and quarantine.

The report states that on March 26 in Cavite province, two children were locked up in coffins as punishment for violating curfew. On March 20, officials in Santa Cruz, Laguna Province, locked up five children in dog cages. In Binando, Manila, village officials arrested four boys and four girls, forcibly cutting their hair on March 19. If any child resisted, they were forced to strip naked and ordered to walk home.

The researchers of the above report emphasize the emotional impacts on children with parents who have been arrested. According to Rappler, data retrieved from the Philippines National Police (PNP) suggests 17,000 people were arrested for violation of COVID-19 curfew and reported that some 3,777 were fined and 48,273 received warnings for violation of the ‘enhanced community quarantine.

President Duterte has been criticized for many steps he has taken in running the Philippines since 2016. One of them being his harsh measures to effectively reduce drugs. Critics including his previous senator on April 12, Mr. Bong Go told the media he has body bags for “drug addicts or peddlers of fake news”. Amnesty International wrote, since the beginning of the Duterte administration in June 2016, thousands of Filipinos mostly from poor and marginalized communities have been killed – either by the police or by unknown armed individuals, some with links to the police – in the government’s so-called “war on drugs”.

Duterte’s actions are incomprehensible and hypocritical as he supports the illegal sanctions on Venezuela’s president Maduro. He supports the U.S. actions while his own government is steeping in the regularity of mayhem. Despite criticism of his presidency and handling of his war on drugs, he remains cemented in his position.

People have been given strict orders to remain at home and permitted essential visits for provisions for their homes which is understandable as with all countries taking precautionary measures. However, with controversy lingering over police abusing their authority, it seems that vigilantism has taken a new guise. The pandemic is highlighting cases of abuse and lawlessness in police officers and Barangay officials. They are abusing not just the civilians in regions of the Philippines but also in the authority they have been given by the government. Abuse may have been ongoing prior to this crisis but not highlighted in depth.

At the height of sensitivity during this pandemic, leniency is the way to go. Authoritarian measures will continue the psychological impact on both children and adults as well as prisons filling up to the brim, which inevitably will cause a huge loss of life and system breakdown. Human rights law recognizes serious public health threats as well as public health emergencies where there is justification of certain restrictions. It does not, however, permit abuse and going beyond the law. Human dignity must be preserved in all circumstances pertaining to human life and unless morals of good nature are followed and represented, especially in these times of difficulty then harms can come from imposition of overly broad measures.