I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8313 

To suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the 

Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military 

and police forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 

Ms. WILD (for herself, Mr. COSTA, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. JOHNSON of 

Georgia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, 

Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. POCAN, Ms. OMAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, 

Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and 

Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the Government of the Philippines has made 

certain reforms to the military and police forces, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Philippine Human 

3 Rights Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Human 

7 Rights Report on the Philippines states ‘‘There were 

8 numerous reports of government security agencies 

9 and their informal allies committed arbitrary or un10 lawful killings in connection with the government di11 rected campaign against illegal drugs.’’. The Report 

12 goes on to state, ‘‘Government mechanisms to inves13 tigate and punish abuse and corruption in the secu14 rity forces were poorly resourced and remained 

15 largely ineffective’’. The United Nations Office of 

16 the High Commissioner on Human Rights in its an17 nual report for the 44th Session of the Human 

18 Rights Council concluded that there is ‘‘long-stand19 ing overemphasis on public order and national secu20 rity at the expense of human rights has become 

21 more acute in recent years, and there are concerns 

22 that the vilification of dissent is being increasingly 

23 institutionalized and normalized in ways that will be 

24 very difficult to reverse;’’. 

25 (2) The United States continues to provide sup26 port via security assistance to the administration of 


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1 Philippines President Duterte, whose brutal Drug 

2 War and other campaigns have taken the lives of 

3 over 30,000 urban poor, peasants, workers, indige4 nous and environmental activists as well as human 

5 rights defenders, religious leaders, and peace advo6 cates. 

7 (3) Government agencies of the Philippines re8 port 4,948 suspected drug users and dealers, includ9 ing 60 children, died during police operations from 

10 July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2018, and according 

11 to Human Rights Watch, the Philippine National 

12 Police (PNP) have reported 22,983 deaths remain 

13 classified as ‘‘homicides under investigation’’ since 

14 the Drug War began. 

15 (4) As of April 2020, the Alliance for Advance16 ment of People’s Rights (‘‘Karapatan’’) has docu17 mented 308 extrajudicial political killings, 439 vic18 tims of attempted politically motivated killings, 214 

19 victims of torture, around 2,500 victims of illegal ar20 rests, over 100,000 victims of threats and harass21 ments, and nearly half a million internal refugees 

22 under the Duterte administration. 

23 (5) More than 16 mayors and vice mayors have 

24 been killed since President Duterte took office, and 

25 Duterte has personally spoke blatantly in press conVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313

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1 ferences advocating for the killing of Catholic 

2 bishops during a period where three Catholic priests 

3 were assassinated. 

4 (6) Labor leaders and legislators have also been 

5 amongst those attacked by the administration, with 

6 30 labor leaders killed, 3 labor leaders being held as 

7 political prisoners, and Senator Leila De Lima who 

8 has been a staunch critic of the drug war killings 

9 having been detained for over 2 years. 

10 (7) The international NGO Global Witness has 

11 declared the Philippines to be the deadliest country 

12 in the world for defenders of human rights, the envi13 ronment, and natural resources, with 13 environ14 mentalists, 54 indigenous people, and 207 farmers 

15 and peasants extrajudicially killed since Duterte 

16 took office in 2016. Included in the targeting of en17 vironmental activists was American citizen, Brandon 

18 Lee, who was subjected to an assassination attempt 

19 on August 6, 2019. Brandon has been subjected to 

20 repeated threats and harassment by the Philippine 

21 military due to his advocacy relating to the land and 

22 rights of indigenous people in Ifugao province and 

23 the surrounding Cordillera region of the Philippines. 

24 While Brandon Lee survived the attack, he has been 


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1 left paralyzed and his assailants have not been 

2 brought to justice. 

3 (8) It is widely recognized that the Duterte ad4 ministration silences dissent and the press. The 

5 State Department’s 2019 Report states, ‘‘Govern6 ment harassment of some media outlets occurred, 

7 however, and polls suggested many Filipinos con8 sider it dangerous to publish information critical of 

9 the administration.’’ In May 2020, ABS-CBN, one 

10 of the Philippines’ two major sources of news, and 

11 an occasional critic of Duterte’s policies, was forced 

12 off air due to the denial of a franchise license by the 

13 Congress of the Philippines, at the behest of the 

14 Duterte administration. Similarly, Maria Ressa, a 

15 vocal critic of the Duterte administration, Times 

16 Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018 recipient, and 

17 founder of the digital news site Rappler was con18 victed of cyber libel in June 2020. In July 2020, the 

19 Duterte administration signed the ‘‘Anti-Terrorism 

20 Act of 2020’’ into law. Countless Filipino and inter21 national commentators, including fifty U.S. Rep22 resentatives have warned that the law will be used 

23 to further target critics and silence dissent. 

24 (9) The United States continues to arm state 

25 security forces of the Philippines. Despite clear docVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313

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1 umentation of abuses and international condemna2 tion, in April 2020, the United States announced a 

3 pair of arms sales totaling $2,000,000,000 for items 

4 including hellfire missiles and attack helicopters. In 

5 July 2020, the United States announced an addi6 tional sale of $126,000,000 worth of assault boats 

7 and armaments. 

8 SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE. 

9 (a) SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—No 

10 Federal funds are authorized to be appropriated or other11 wise made available to provide assistance for the police 

12 or military of the Philippines, including assistance in the 

13 form of equipment or training until the date described in 

14 subsection (d). 

15 (b) LOANS FROM MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT

16 BANKS.—The President shall instruct United States rep17 resentatives at multilateral development banks to vote 

18 against providing any loans to the police or military of 

19 the Philippines. 

20 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

21 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspectors 

22 General of the Department of State and Department of 

23 Defense shall jointly submit to the Committee on Foreign 

24 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com25 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that— 


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1 (1) specifies all forms of security assistance or 

2 loans made available to the Philippine National Po3 lice or the armed forces of the Philippines, including 

4 any organizations or individuals operating with the 

5 authority of the Philippine National Police or the 

6 armed forces of the Philippines, by the United 

7 States or by multilateral development banks during 

8 the period beginning January 1, 2016, and ending 

9 on the date of the submission of the report; 

10 (2) contains all reports generated by recipients 

11 of United States security assistance or loans from 

12 multilateral development banks to the Philippines 

13 with respect to the use, investment, or transfer of 

14 such assistance or loans; and 

15 (3) details any and all misuses of security as16 sistance and loans during the period beginning Jan17 uary 1, 2016, and ending on the date of the submis18 sion of the report by the Philippine National Police, 

19 the armed forces of the Philippines, or any affiliated 

20 groups or individuals, such as extrajudicial killings, 

21 intimidation of political opponents, illegal sales 

22 under Philippine or international law, or misappro23 priation. 

24 (d) CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING SUSPENSION OF AS25 SISTANCE.—The suspension of security assistance under 


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1 subsection (a) shall terminate on the date on which the 

2 Secretary of State certifies to the Committee on Foreign 

3 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com4 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the Gov5 ernment of the Philippines has— 

6 (1) ) investigated and successfully prosecuted 

7 members of military and police forces who have vio8 lated human rights, ensured that the military and 

9 police cooperated in such cases, and affirmed that 

10 such violations have ceased; 

11 (2) withdrawn the military from involvement in 

12 domestic policing activities, in accordance with the 

13 Philippine Constitution and ensured that all domes14 tic police functions are separated from the military 

15 chain of command and are instead directly respon16 sible to civilian authorities; 

17 (3) established that it effectively protects the 

18 rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights 

19 defenders, critics of the government, and other civil 

20 society activists to operate without interference; 

21 (4) taken effective steps to guarantee a judicial 

22 system that is capable of investigating, prosecuting, 

23 and bringing to justice members of the police and 

24 military who have committed human rights abuses; 

25 and 


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1 (5) fully complied with domestic and United 

2 States audits and investigations regarding the im3 proper use of prior security assistance. 

Æ 


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