Some 25 members of the United States Congress have filed a bill seeking to suspend the provision of all forms of security assistance to the Philippines over the alleged human rights violations in the country and the passage of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pennsylvania-7), along with 24 other members of the US House of Representatives, filed H.R.8318 or the Philippine Human Rights Act, a bill that also seeks the government in Manila to comply with certain reforms within the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The bill was later referred to the Committees on Foreign Affairs and Financial Services for appropriate action by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“We cannot ignore these abhorrent abuses, nor allow our foreign assistance to be used for the repression of basic rights and dignity. I’m proud to stand with the labor movement both at home and abroad,” Rep. Wild said in a Tweet on Thursday.
In her sponsorship of the bill last week, the US Democratic legislator from the 7thCongressional District of Pennsylvania criticized the administration of President Duterte for using the anti-terrorism law against labor leaders and political foes.
“Today across the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal regime is using the pretext of a so-called anti-terrorism law to ramp up efforts targeting labor organizers, workers, and political opponents.
This law allows suspects to be detained by the police or military without charges for as long as 24 days and placed under surveillance for up to 90 days,” Wild said in her speech before the US Congress.
In response to the alleged abuses, the American lawmaker said she introduced the Philippine Human Rights Act, which would block U.S. funding for police or military assistance to the Philippines, outlining a series of basic criteria, “which would have to be met in order to resume such funding.”
“I am proud to stand alongside so many faith and civil society organizations in advocating for this legislation,” she said, adding that it should be made clear that the United States will not participate in the repression.
“Let us stand with the people of the Philippines,” she said.
More than 30 petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the anti-terrorism law.
Earlier, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that seeks the revocation of the Philippines’ tariff under the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) due to the “seriousness of the human rights violations” in the country.