cancellation of hearings.The continued clamp down by the government of human rights activists and the
rampant red tagging and trumped up cases were also mentioned.
Women IDPs
Through the Commission’s Center for Crisis, Conflict, and Humanitarian Protection (CCHP) and the
regional offices, continued human rights monitoring of IDPs was ensured. This included monitoring of
IDPs in region IV as a result of the 2020 Taal eruption, IDPs in Marawi, Tacloban and Lianga. Continued
monitoring by the CCHP and the Regional offices surfaced the gendered impact of the pandemic. This
included loss of income due restricted mobility, the exacerbated impact of lack of or interrupted access to
water, and the multiple burden of keeping children in transition sites in compliance with quarantine
measures. In Mindanao, most IDP sites monitored by CCHP, particularly, evacuation centers, lack latrines
and bathing areas. Without such facilities, women and girls are more exposed to possible GBV.74
May of 2020, CCHP also reported that IDPs still struggle with their access to water. As water supply runs
out in the hot summer weather and personal water connection is still not in place, IDP communities had to
rely on water rationing from the government. In the cities of Tacloban and Marawi, IDPs had already been
reliant on water rationing pre-COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of confirmed COVID-19 cases,
communities need to access potable water in larger volumes, and rationed water by the government is no
longer sufficient to meet the needs of affected persons.75
On top of the threat of COVID-19, many women especially in Mindanao, continues to face challenges of
displacement. In August, it was noted that most of the displaced persons in South Cotabato were women,
children, and elderly.76
Women and LGBTQI Human Rights Defenders
In view of the passage of the Anti-Terror Bill, and the numerous petitions questioning its constitutionality
before the supreme court, human rights defenders are among those who are particularly vulnerable during
the pandemic. The imposition of containment measures has also limited the movement and the right of
persons to peaceably assemble and has resulted in the arrests of individuals conducting humanitarian
services and those expressing dissent through rallies. Reports have also been reported in the Commission’s
regional offices of red tagging of activists, including those from indigenous cultural communities.77
To cite some specific example, a group of volunteers in Marikina who were then conducting feeding
program were arrested for quarantine violations. This included teacher Lita, a volunteer teacher in Batibot
74
CHR Report on the COVID-19 Emergency Situation in IDP Areas in Mindanao Regions 27 June 2020 to
July 31, 2020
75
CHR-CCHP. Report on the COVID-19 Emergency Situation in IDP Areas in Region VIII and Mindanao Regions. 4-8
May 2020.
76
CHR Report on the COVID-19 Emergency Situation in IDP Areas in Mindanao Regions 27 June 2020 to
July 31, 2020.
77
CHR IV, Human Rights Situationer report; See also ‘Cultural Survival. Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Duterte Regime Seeks
to Discredit Indigenous Humanitarian Organizers in the Philippines’ 19 May 2020.
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/amid-covid-19-crisis-duterte-regime-seeks-discredit-indigenoushumanitarian-organizers
19
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