STATEMENT: APS National Assembly calls for junking of military agreement; end to all election-related violence

STATEMENT: APS National Assembly calls for junking of military agreement; end to all election-related violence

Aotearoa Philippines Solidarity celebrates a successful national assembly held in Auckland on Saturday, 10 May. Activists from Filipino communities and concerned New Zealanders gathered to discuss the current human rights situation in the Philippines and resolved to organise solidarity actions here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This assembly came at an opportune time, given that the National Party-led Coalition Government in New Zealand recently signed a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the Philippine government. This accord allows for closer military relations between the two countries, which includes giving access to each other’s militaries to enter the country to participate in joint exercises.

Given the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) appalling human rights record and continuing attacks on activists in the Philippines, it is deplorable for the New Zealand Government to even consider forging such an agreement with them. By entering into a VFA with the Philippines, the Coalition Government is being complicit in crimes against humanity being perpetrated by the AFP and the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against the Filipino people.

Having such an agreement in place with the Philippine military tarnishes Aotearoa’s global reputation of respecting human rights and having an independent foreign policy. The APS reiterates its call to the New Zealand Government to junk the VFA with the Philippines and to end all ties with the Philippine military.

Attendees of the assembly also discussed the ongoing election campaign happening in the Philippines right now and the violence borne out of it. Elections are typically a bloody affair in the country, but the vote set to occur on Monday 12 May is especially volatile given the high stakes nature of the poll. The country’s two dominant political factions, the Marcos and Duterte camps, are vying for control of the country’s political arena and there is no telling how far they would go to obtain power.

There are already reports of campaigners going missing, being extrajudicially killed and also being detained without due process. We expect electoral fraud and violence will again be committed by the biggest political dynasties especially against the progressive candidates representing the most marginalised sectors. The Philippine government must do everything it can to avoid further bloodshed and violent skirmishes that aim to preserve power for the competing political dynasties.

In particular, we call for immediate and unconditional freedom for Bayan Muna campaigner Pauline Joy Panjawan. Her abduction, torture and continuing detention on trumped up charges speak volumes about the reality of ongoing human rights crisis in the Philippines.

With the recent assembly, the APS renewed its commitment to raise awareness over the human rights situation in the Philippines and do everything it can to raise solidarity with the Filipino people struggling to achieve a truly just and democratic society.