Attack demonstrates vulnerability of Philippines
to attack in a war in which it has no
part
“The International Coalition for Human
Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls on the Marcos Jr
government to pull out all stops to assist Filipino migrant
workers stranded and endangered in the Gulf states, Lebanon
and Israel,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy
today.
“We know that one Filipino worker has been
killed by missile fire in Israel, and that there are
initially 1,033 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) stranded
because of the shutdown of air space over the region. But
these numbers will grow every day while this war rages,”
said Murphy. “With almost 2.5 million OFWs in the war
zone, there will be an immediate emotional and financial
impact on Philippine society.
“The Marcos Jr
administration should not rely on Trump statements that this
war will be over soon. Instead, it should listen to the
workers involved, and their families, and use charter
flights or military aircraft to rescue Filipinos who need to
get out of danger. For those who cannot leave but who may
run out of money in this crisis due to work stopping, we
call on the administration to provide sustenance,” said
Murphy. “The basic human rights to life, to food, shelter
and health care must be honoured.”
The war has
disrupted oil and gas shipments out of the Persian Gulf,
which mainly go to India, China and the Asia-Pacific region.
The price of fuel in the Philippines has already increased
by 2 pesos and is speculated by oil monopolies to rise
further by another 16 pesos per liter for diesel and 7.7
pesos for gasoline in the coming days. This will really hurt
the great majority of the people who struggle with grinding
poverty. If oil and gas supplies are disrupted for more than
two weeks, there will be a broader global economic and
financial crisis which will really impact the Filipino
people immensely.
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At a deeper level, the new war in
West Asia exposes the place of the Philippines in the US war
machine, because the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS
Abraham Lincoln was deployed to the war zone from the
Philippines, where it had been refueled and replenished. In
retaliation to the illegal bombardment launched on February
28, the Iranian regime has hit many targets related to the
US and Israeli military within range of its missiles and
drones. While no Iranian missiles can reach the Philippines,
other asymmetric warfare could be launched against targets
in the Philippines by Iranian agents. But the Marcos Jr
administration had no role in Trump’s decision to go to
war.
In the event that the US goes to war against
China – they are preparing to do this in 2027 – all its
many military bases in the Philippines will be targets, as
has happened with Iran targeting them in the Persian Gulf
region. This obvious danger needs to be addressed urgently,
to enable the Filipino people to exercise their basic human
rights to life, peace and genuine development.
In the
last three months, Trump has ordered airstrikes in Somalia,
Nigeria, Venezuela and now Iran, he has kidnaped the
President of Venezuela, and, along with assassination of the
Supreme Leader and other senior leaders of Iran by Israel.
He has repeatedly threatened to seize Greenland, and to
absorb Canada and Mexico. He supports Netanyahu’s ambition
for a ‘Greater Israel’. Despite his rhetoric about
ending wars and building peace, Trump does whatever he
likes, breaking international law at will, to assert
“America First”. This clear pattern of aggression bodes
ill for the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific
region.
“ICHRP urges the Marcos Jr administration to
extract itself from the US strategy for war with China, and
hear the calls of Filipinos for an independent foreign
policy. Instead, it should pursue the unfinished peace
agenda first set out in the Hague Joint Declaration of 1992
for social and economic reforms, political and
constitutional reforms that would not allow any foreign
intervention and control,” said Murphy.
“However,
we know that this will not happen unless the Filipino people
can create the political conditions for any Manila
administration to seriously take the path of peace. We
strongly support the broad people’s efforts to confront
the massive corruption scandal, to impeach political leaders
who brazenly plunder and sell out to foreign powers, and the
pursuit of accountability for state murders at the
International Criminal Court,” said Murphy.
“ICHRP
urges the whole international community to wake up to the
danger exposed in the attack on Iran, and to stand together
to uphold international law and the vital human rights of
all peoples, including those in Palestine, Iran, and the
Philippines,” Murphy
concluded.
