EDITORIAL | Damned If You Do…

For years, human-rights organizations have criticized the Philippine government for allegedly refusing to cooperate meaningfully with international mechanisms. The government has been urged to open its records, accept scrutiny and engage the United Nations on allegations arising from its counterinsurgency campaign.

Now that the government, via the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, has submitted documentation on alleged killings carried out by the Communist Party of the Philippines - New People’s Army  to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the engagement itself is being attacked.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers described “any collaborative work” between UN OHCHR and NTF-ELCAC as a violation of the UN office’s reason for existence. Karapatan slammed the initiative as an act of “desperation for legitimacy,” while Amnesty International Philippines dismissed “spy-tagging” as a deflection tactic.

This is an impossible standard. When the government does not engage international bodies, it is accused of avoiding scrutiny. When it presents its evidence to the same institutions, it is accused of exploiting them.

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Would it have been better for the government to withhold the documents? As lawyers and supposed human rights advocates, did NUPL, Karapatan and Amnesty International Philippines think the victims would be better served if their cases remained outside international examination?

Engagement is not endorsement. UN OHCHR’s acceptance of documents does not mean it agrees with NTF-ELCAC or absolves the government of previous accusations. It simply allows the allegations and evidence to be examined. Greater engagement should be welcomed because it creates more opportunities for transparency, verification and accountability.

A second inconsistency, however, is more serious. 

Buklod Kapayapaan Federation Inc. reported that 63 civilians were allegedly killed by the CPP-NPA in Negros between January 2025 and July 2026. Its recent 22-day fact-finding mission covered 13 locations and gathered testimonies from 35 respondents, many of them relatives of alleged victims.

Instead of examining the cases, all three organizations chose to bare fangs and dismiss “spy-tagging” as an invention intended to divert attention from government violations.

Does that mean they believe the 63 killed civilians in a little more than two years were all figments of the bereaved families imagination?

In an overwhelming majority of the cases, NPA units across Negros claimed responsibility for the killings, after accusing the civilian victims of being spies. Why does this fact seem to go over the heads of Karapatan, the NUPL and Amnesty International Philippines? Instead of nitpicking whether UN OHCHR should receive documents from NTF-ELCAC, they should unequivocally condemn the alleged killings and demand investigation.

Falsely accusing a person or organization of having links to the CPP-NPA must be condemned. So must the CPP-NPA’s practice of branding civilians as spies and executing them outside the law. Choosing to condemn one while remaining silent about the other is not a principled defense of human rights. It is a clear declaration of where your loyalties lie, and whose victims you choose to ignore.