II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1055 

To restrict the exportation of certain defense articles to the Philippine National Police, to work with the Philippines to support civil society and 

a public health approach to substance abuse, to report on Chinese and 

other sources of narcotics to the Republic of the Philippines, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. RUBIO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To restrict the exportation of certain defense articles to 

the Philippine National Police, to work with the Philippines to support civil society and a public health approach to substance abuse, to report on Chinese and 

other sources of narcotics to the Republic of the Philippines, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Philippines Human Rights Accountability and Counter6 narcotics Act of 2017’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Policy statements. 

Sec. 4. Definition. 

Sec. 5. Restriction on assistance to the Philippine National Police. 

Sec. 6. Leahy vetting report on foreign assistance cases related to the Philippine National Police. 

Sec. 7. Report on Chinese and other sources of narcotics to the Philippines. 

Sec. 8. Human rights, democracy, and public health promotion. 

Sec. 9. Report on United States military assistance and arms transfers to the 

Philippines. 

Sec. 10. Report on plans for Philippines partner capacity building. 

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

4 (1) On August 28, 2016, Archbishop of Manila 

5 Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said, in response to the 

6 extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, ‘‘I know that 

7 the big issue nowadays is the recent spate of 

8 killings—which, they say, afflicts even those not 

9 guilty, the innocent—but whether a person is guilty 

10 or not, life should be cared for and respected.’’. 

11 (2) The Department of State’s 2017 Human 

12 Rights Report, released on March 3, 2017— 

13 (A) states that ‘‘police and unknown vigi14 lantes have killed more than 6,000 suspected 

15 drug dealers and users’’ in the Philippines be16 tween July and December 2016, a period dur17 ing which extrajudicial killings ‘‘increased 

18 sharply’’; and 

19 (B) chronicles the environment for 

20 extrajudicial killings allegedly undertaken by 


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1 vigilantes, security forces, and insurgents and 

2 the ‘‘apparent governmental disregard for 

3 human rights and due process; and a weak and 

4 overburdened criminal justice system’’. 

5 (3) On January 31, 2017, Amnesty Inter6 national reported, ‘‘Since President Rodrigo Duterte 

7 took office in June 2016, there has been a relentless 

8 campaign of violence against alleged drug offenders, 

9 incited by the President and his administration. 

10 More than 7,000 people have been killed, roughly 

11 one-third during formal police operations and the 

12 rest by unknown shooters who often arrive masked 

13 and on motorbike to kill specific people.’’. 

14 (4) Human Rights Watch has reported that 

15 since President Duterte took office, police and un16 identified gunmen together have killed more than 

17 7,000 suspected drug users and dealers, with police 

18 officials themselves claiming to have killed almost 

19 3,000 in ‘‘encounters’’ with supposed drug sellers or 

20 users. The police have attributed 3,271 other killings 

21 to ‘‘vigilantes’’ and drug gangs, although Human 

22 Rights Watch research suggests that many of these 

23 cases may also entail police and police agent involve24 ment in extrajudicial executions. 


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1 (5) On February 14, 2017, national police chief 

2 Ronald Dela Rosa announced that he was sus3 pending anti-narcotics operations after a South Ko4 rean businessman was killed at national police head5 quarters. 

6 (6) On February 23, 2017, an arrest warrant 

7 was issued against Philippines Senator Leila de 

8 Lima for alleged involvement in drug trafficking. 

9 The prosecution of de Lima came following her re10 peated criticism of the Duterte administration for its 

11 conduct of the drug war, her holding of Senate hear12 ings where alleged former members of a death squad 

13 testified that Duterte participated in extrajudicial 

14 killings in Davao City when he was mayor, and re15 peated threats against her from Duterte and his al16 lies. 

17 (7) On December 16, 2016, Reuters reported, 

18 ‘‘China isn’t only a source of meth expertise—it is 

19 also the biggest source of the meth and of the pre20 cursor chemicals used to produce the synthetic drug 

21 that are being smuggled into the Philippines, accord22 ing to local drug enforcement officials. ‘It’s safe to 

23 say that the majority of the meth we have comes 

24 from China,’ said Philippine Drug Enforcement 

25 Agency spokesman Derrick Carreon.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. POLICY STATEMENTS. 

2 It is the policy of the United States— 

3 (1) to reaffirm its commitment and support for 

4 the Philippines, including the longstanding United 

5 States policy regarding Article V of the United 

6 States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, signed at 

7 Washington August 30, 1951 (3 UST 3947); 

8 (2) to work with the Philippines to promote 

9 economic growth and development through— 

10 (A) programs such as the Partnership for 

11 Growth, which seeks to strengthen regulatory 

12 quality, fiscal management, and human capac13 ity development in the Philippines; and 

14 (B) other appropriate bilateral and multi15 lateral economic development and trade initia16 tives; 

17 (3) to work with the Philippines to support a 

18 public health approach to substance abuse, drug ad19 diction, and the illegal use of narcotics utilizing com20 prehensive, voluntary, and community-based treat21 ment and rehabilitation programs in line with inter22 national standards; 

23 (4) to support the people of the Philippines in 

24 their efforts— 

25 (A) to strengthen the rule of law and anti26 corruption measures; 


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1 (B) to further effective judicial and legal 

2 institutions; and 

3 (C) to promote human rights and civil soci4 ety. 

5 (5) to expand opportunities for more robust co6 operative security assistance programs, particularly 

7 programs involving maritime security and maritime 

8 domain awareness; 

9 (6) to pursue and coordinate robust cooperative 

10 security assistance programs for capacity building of 

11 the Philippines to establish a credible defense pos12 ture, and to support counter-terrorism and maritime 

13 law enforcement; 

14 (7) to coordinate closely on the implementation 

15 of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, a 

16 mutually beneficial agreement that will— 

17 (A) enhance the United States ability to 

18 provide rapid humanitarian assistance; and 

19 (B) help build capacity for the moderniza20 tion of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; 

21 (8) to enhance military-to-military cooperation 

22 and inter-operability through joint exercises, capac23 ity-building, and intelligence sharing and support 

24 work to establish a robust information security proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1055.IS S1055

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1 gram, which will lead to achieving a General Secu2 rity of Military Information Agreement; and 

3 (9) to enhance cybersecurity cooperation be4 tween the United States and the Philippines. 

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITION. 

6 In this Act, the term ‘‘appropriate congressional com7 mittees’’ means— 

8 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

9 Senate; 

10 (2) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

11 Senate; 

12 (3) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

13 Senate; 

14 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

15 House of Representatives; 

16 (5) the Committee on Armed Services of the 

17 House of Representatives; and 

18 (6) the Committee on Appropriations of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 SEC. 5. RESTRICTION ON ASSISTANCE TO THE PHILIPPINE 

21 NATIONAL POLICE. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subsections (b) 

23 through (d), no defense articles or defense services may 

24 be exported, and no licenses for export of any item con25 trolled by the United States for law enforcement, riot conVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:33 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1055.IS S1055

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1 trol, or related purposes may be issued, for the use of the 

2 Philippine National Police or entities associated with the 

3 Philippine National Police. 

4 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—The restrictions under subsection 

5 (a) shall not apply to the exportation of defense articles 

6 or the provision of training for maritime law enforcement 

7 (Coast Guard drug interdiction), criminal justice pro8 grams, human rights training, and counter-terrorism pro9 grams for use of the Philippine National Police. 

10 (c) WAIVER.—The President may waive the restric11 tions under subsection (a), on a case-by-case basis, if— 

12 (1) the President determines that the export of 

13 such item or service is in the national interest of the 

14 United States; and 

15 (2) the President notifies the appropriate con16 gressional committees of the determination under 

17 paragraph (1), including the justification for such 

18 determination, at least 30 days before invoking such 

19 waiver. 

20 (d) SUNSET.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The restrictions under sub22 section (a) shall terminate on— 

23 (A) the date that is 5 years after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act; or 


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1 (B) the date set forth in paragraph (2) if 

2 the President determines that— 

3 (i) the Philippine National Police and 

4 its associated entities have been sufficiently 

5 reformed; and 

6 (ii) sufficient safeguards, reporting, 

7 investigatory, and judicial measures have 

8 been established to prevent recurrent 

9 human rights abuses. 

10 (2) NOTICE.—The date set forth in this para11 graph is 30 days after the President notifies the 

12 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and 

13 the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of 

14 Representatives that the President has made the de15 termination described in paragraph (1)(B) and pro16 vides such committees with justification for such de17 termination. 

18 SEC. 6. LEAHY VETTING REPORT ON FOREIGN ASSISTANCE 

19 CASES RELATED TO THE PHILIPPINE NA20 TIONAL POLICE. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter 

23 until 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

24 the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appro25 priate congressional committees on foreign assistance 


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1 cases related to the Philippine National Police, or entities 

2 associated with the Philippine National Police, submitted 

3 for vetting for purposes of section 620M of the Foreign 

4 Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d) during the pre5 ceding fiscal year, including— 

6 (1) the total number of cases related to the 

7 Philippine National Police submitted, approved, sus8 pended, or rejected for human rights reasons; and 

9 (2) for cases rejected, a description of the steps 

10 taken to assist the foreign government in taking ef11 fective measures to bring the responsible members of 

12 the security forces to justice, in accordance with sec13 tion 620M(c) of such Act. 

14 (b) FORM.—The report required under subsection (a) 

15 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may be accom16 panied by a classified annex. 

17 SEC. 7. REPORT ON CHINESE AND OTHER SOURCES OF 

18 NARCOTICS TO THE PHILIPPINES. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

20 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

21 the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the Admin22 istrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the 

23 Secretary of Defense, shall submit a report to the appro24 priate congressional committees that describes, for the 

25 previous calendar year— 


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1 (1) Chinese and other sources of narcotics and 

2 precursor chemicals to produce narcotics in the Phil3 ippines; and 

4 (2) Chinese and other sources of expertise for 

5 the production of narcotics in the Philippines. 

6 (b) FORM.—Each report under subsection (a) shall 

7 be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a clas8 sified annex. 

9 SEC. 8. HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH 

10 PROMOTION. 

11 Of the amounts made available for the Department 

12 of State and the United States Agency for International 

13 Development to support global health and civil society, in14 cluding human rights defenders, and to promote the rule 

15 of law and good governance in fiscal years 2017 and 2018, 

16 up to $25,000,000 may be used to support human rights, 

17 democracy, and public health in the Philippines, includ18 ing— 

19 (1) supporting Filipino defenders of human 

20 rights; 

21 (2) assisting victims of human rights violations; 

22 (3) responding to human rights emergencies; 

23 (4) promoting and encouraging the rule of law, 

24 including the support for nongovernmental organiza25 tions in the Philippines; 


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1 (5) promoting a public health approach to sub2 stance abuse, drug addiction, and the illegal use of 

3 narcotics utilizing comprehensive, voluntary, and 

4 community-based treatment and rehabilitation pro5 grams that are consistent with international stand6 ards; and 

7 (6) carrying out such other related activities as 

8 are consistent with paragraphs (1) through (5). 

9 SEC. 9. REPORT ON UNITED STATES MILITARY ASSISTANCE 

10 AND ARMS TRANSFERS TO THE PHILIPPINES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

13 with the concurrence of the Secretary of Defense, shall 

14 submit a classified report to the appropriate congressional 

15 committees on whether— 

16 (1) United States military assistance, coopera17 tion, security assistance, and arms transfers (includ18 ing items prohibited under section 5, and any de19 fense or other items or services controlled for export 

20 by the United States that have been provided for the 

21 use of the Philippine National Police and its associ22 ated entities) are used by the Philippine National 

23 Police and its associated entities— 

24 (A) to commit gross violations of human 

25 rights; or 


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1 (B) in violation of other United States 

2 laws applicable to United States military or se3 curity assistance, cooperation, and arms trans4 fers that are related to human rights and pre5 venting human rights violations; and 

6 (2) the United States has the ability— 

7 (A) to determine whether United States 

8 military assistance and arms transfers are used 

9 to commit gross violations of human rights; 

10 (B) to detect other violations of United 

11 States law concerning United States military or 

12 security assistance, cooperation, and arms 

13 transfers, including the diversion of such assist14 ance or the use of such assistance by security 

15 force or police units credibly implicated in gross 

16 human rights violations; and 

17 (C) to determine whether individuals or 

18 units that have received United States military, 

19 security, or police training or have participated 

20 or are scheduled to participate in joint exercises 

21 with United States forces have been credibly 

22 implicated in gross human rights violations. 

23 (b) TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER STATUS REPORT.—Not 

24 later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the 


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1 appropriate congressional committees, in unclassified form 

2 to the maximum extent possible, that summarizes the sta3 tus of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency’s efforts 

4 to implement the End-Use Monitoring Enhancement Plan 

5 relating to government-to-government transfers and com6 mercial sales of defense articles, defense services, law en7 forcement articles, law enforcement services, and related 

8 technologies. 

9 SEC. 10. REPORT ON PLANS FOR PHILIPPINES PARTNER 

10 CAPACITY BUILDING. 

11 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of State, with the concur13 rence of the Secretary of Defense, shall submit a classified 

14 report to the appropriate congressional committees that 

15 includes a plan that describes, for each of the 6-month, 

16 1-year, and 5-year periods beginning on the date of such 

17 report— 

18 (1) partner capacity building assistance to the 

19 Philippines to enhance maritime capabilities, re20 spond to emerging threats, and maintain freedom of 

21 operations in international waters and airspace in 

22 the Asia-Pacific maritime domains; 

23 (2) recommendations, if any, for additional for24 eign military sales, foreign military financing, and 


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1 international military education and training to be 

2 made available to the Philippines, including— 

3 (A) any necessary updates to the report 

4 detailing steps taken by the Government of the 

5 Philippines to investigate and prosecute army 

6 personnel involved in human rights violations, 

7 as required by Senate Report 114–79; and 

8 (B) an assessment of the commitment of 

9 the Government of the Philippines to inter10 national human rights conventions; and 

11 (3) how the assistance referred to in paragraph 

12 (1) will be implemented in accordance with appro13 priate human rights laws, including— 

14 (A) the regular process for vetting partici15 pants in security assistance and training pro16 grams funded by the United States under sec17 tion 620M of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

18 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2378d); and 

19 (B) the restrictions on assistance to for20 eign security forces set forth in section 362 of 

21 title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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