MANILA, Philippines – During her historic visit to the Philippines, United States Vice President Kamala Harris showed solidarity with Filipino human rights defenders, telling them they are not alone in their struggles.

“So when I think about the fight for human rights, I think about it in the context of what it requires for the fighters. And one of the things that requires is that you remember, you are not alone,” Harris said during her meeting with human rights defenders on Monday, November 21.

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According to Harris, fighting for human rights starts with recognizing that there are human rights violations committed.

“That means seeing some of the worst of human behaviors. That means understanding and seeing what suffering looks like, what pain looks like, what unfairness looks like and for someone and anyone who has a level of empathy and understanding about them. It requires a great level of endurance to stick with it,” the second highest official of the US said.

In the sidelines of her visit to the Philippines, the US oldest ally in Asia, Harris chose to meet with the human rights sector to talk about the human rights situation and democracy in the Philippines. On Monday, she met with a human rights lawyer and a LGBTQIA+ advocate, a member of a network fighting against child labor and exploitation, a labor leader, and a journalist.

Some of Harris’ guests were red-tagged in their course of standing up for their advocacies.

The US Vice President, meanwhile, added that people should also be reminded that their human rights are God-given.

“And I think it’s important to start from our perspective of knowing not just believing, but knowing you’re born with rights, you’re born with these rights. You’re not asking someone to do us a favor through the benevolence of their existence to grant you these rights. They are your rights God-given.”

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‘Not welcome’: Activist groups respond to Kamala Harris’ visit through protest

On Monday morning, some progressive groups had a different way of responding to Harris’ visit. Various groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan trooped to the streets of Manila to protest the the visit, citing that the Philippines will only be used by the US for its militaristic plans in the Indo-Pacific region.

Rights defenders under siege

In the Philippines, progressive individuals, especially rights defenders are under attack in various forms. Most frequently, rights defenders are being attacked by Philippine government officials through red-tagging.

Like in the case of Ana Patricia Non, who pioneered the community pantry advocacy that helped underprivileged Filipinos during the pandemic. Instead of support from the government, Non’s charitable works were met with red-tagging from no other than officials of the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

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Aside from consistent red-baiting from the government and law enforcers, progressive inviduals are also being arrested and killed in the Philippines. According to the data of rights group Karapatan, there are at least 211 activists who were victims of extrajudicial killings from June 2016 to July 2021.

Among the darkest days for progressive groups was during the “Bloody Sunday” killings in March 2021, where nine activists were killed and six were arrested. Philippine authorities later revealed that there was a deliberate intent to kill the activists, and at least 17 cops were slapped with murder complaints for the killings. – Rappler.com