At the invitation of our church partners in the Philippines, several Presbyterians participated as election observers in the May 10, 2010 election in the Philippines. Church partners in the country are hoping international attention will shine a spotlight on the country's ongoing human rights crisis.
Here's an opportunity for those of us who could not serve as election observers to stand against human rights abuses in the Philippines.
The U.S. State Department noted in its 2009 Human Rights Report that the Philippines Government is not adequately protecting its people from violence and abuse attributed to government-backed forces. Unlawful arrest, detention and abuse are common, and the courts fail to hold accountable authorities who abuse the law. Journalists, labor leaders and those who defend the rights of the poor, including church leaders belonging to our partner the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, have been targeted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Police, and government-armed private armies.
Policy of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):
In light of the numerous and well-documented human rights violations committed against church leaders and civil society groups in the Philippines since 2001, and to affirm new measures of solidarity with Philippine church partners, the 218th General Assembly (2008) does the following:
1. Calls upon the members and congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to become more aware of the suffering and injustice—including murder, abduction, torture, and other gross human rights violations—endured by the leaders of churches and other civil society groups at the hands of elements of the Philippine military, and to pray faithfully for the safety, wisdom, and courage of the leadership of the Philippine churches and other civil society groups as they face state violence and oppression.
2. Calls upon the appropriate agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to encourage presbytery partnerships, joint projects, and immersion experiences in the Philippines, in cooperation with the United Church of Christ of the Philippines, providing copies of this resolution (coordinated with the resolution on human rights in Colombia and others), and requesting participants to provide updates upon returning regarding the violence and oppression aimed at church leaders and other civil society groups.
3. Directs the appropriate agencies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to advocate that the United States Congress and the Department of State reduce U.S. funding of the Philippine military and to condition all future aid on: (a) concrete signs that the human rights of unarmed citizens and groups within civil society are respected by all levels of government, including the Philippine military; and (b) evidence that those elements of the Philippine military that are implicated in murder, abduction, torture, and other gross human rights violations are held accountable by the government.
4. Calls upon the members and churches of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to help provide, through special offerings, for the material needs of church leaders and their families who suffer because of murder, abduction, torture, and other gross human rights violations, channeling such aid through the appropriate offices of the United Church of Christ of the Philippines.
5. Directs the appropriate agencies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to advocate with committees and delegates of the United Nations to review, continually and diligently, through the proper agencies of the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the improvement or decline of respect for human rights by all branches of the Philippine government.
6. Directs the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to write the president of the Philippines about these concerns, urging her to use her authority as commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Philippines to stop the abuse of human rights by elements of the Philippine military and encouraging her to give greater energy and resources to ensure that all branches of the government honor human rights in every sector of Philippine society.