International Center for Transitional Justice Disrupting Cycles of Discontent TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND PREVENTION IN THE PHILIPPINES June 2021 Cover Image: Relatives and friends hold balloons during the funeral of three-year-old Kateleen Myca Ulpina on July 9, 2019, in Rodriguez, Rizal province, Philippines. Ul- pina was shot dead by police officers conducting a drug raid targeting her father. (Ezra Acayan/Getty Images) Disrupting Cycles of Discontent TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE AND PREVENTION IN THE PHILIPPINES Robert Francis B. Garcia JUNE 2021 International Center Disrupting Cycles of Discontent for Transitional Justice About the Research Project This publication is part of an ICTJ comparative research project examining the contributions of tran- sitional justice to prevention. The project includes country case studies on Colombia, Morocco, Peru, the Philippines, and Sierra Leone, as well as a summary report. All six publications are available on ICTJ’s website. About the Author Robert Francis B. Garcia is the founding chairperson of the human rights organization Peace Advocates for Truth, Healing, and Justice (PATH). He currently serves as a transitional justice consultant for the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and manages Weaving Women’s Narratives, a research and memorialization project based at the Ateneo de Manila University. Bobby is author of the award-winning memoir To Suffer thy Comrades: How the Revolution Decimated its Own, which chronicles his experiences as a torture survivor. Acknowledgments It would be impossible to enumerate everyone who has directly or indirectly contributed to this study. Many are bound to be overlooked. That said, the author would like to mention a few names represent- ing various groups whose input has been invaluable to the completion of this work. These include Roger Duthie and the reviewers at ICTJ; Chito Gascon and other colleagues at the CHR; Byron Bocar and the members of the Transitional Justice League; Vene Rallonza and the team at Weaving Women’s Narratives; Earl Parreño and the members of PATH; Satur Ocampo and the other respondents from the armed resistance movements; Vice President Leni Robredo, Senator Risa Hontiveros, Secretary Hermo- genes Esperon, Congressman Kit Belmonte, and the other government respondents; and, of course, his wife Debbie and three children Anton, Una, and Juan. ICTJ is grateful to the Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Minis- try of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg for support that made this research possible. About ICTJ The International Center for Transitional Justice works across society and borders to challenge the causes and address the consequences of massive human rights violations. We affirm victims’ dig- nity, fight impunity, and promote responsive institutions in societies emerging from repressive rule or armed conflict as well as in established democracies where historical injustices or systemic abuse remain unresolved. ICTJ envisions a world where societies break the cycle of massive human rights violations and lay the foundations for peace, justice, and inclusion. For more information, visit www.ictj.org © 2021 International Center for Transitional Justice. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or other- wise, without full attribution. iv www.ictj.org International Center Disrupting Cycles of Discontent for Transitional Justice Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................1 Marcos Martial Law: Context and Transitional Justice ................................................................................... 5 The Post-Authoritarian Transition ...............................................................................................................................5 Historical Background of Marcos’s Authoritarian Rule ............................................................................................7 The Marcos Dictatorship: Rent-Seeking on Steroids ................................................................................................8 Transitional Justice for Marcos Martial Law: Institutional Reforms .............................................................................9 Government Restructuring ......................................................................................................................................9 Constitutional Change ...........................................................................................................................................11 Judicial Reform ..................................................................................................................................................... 12 Security Sector Reform ...........................................................................................................................................13 “Depoliticizing” the Military (or: Putting the Security Sector in Its Place) ..........................................................15 Structural and Operational Reforms .................................................................................................................. 16 Counterinsurgency and Human Rights .............................................................................................................. 17 Justice, Reparation, Prevention .............................................................................................................................. 18 U.S. Class Action Suit ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Presidential Commission on Good Government ................................................................................................20 Republic Act No. 10368 .....................................................................................................................................22 Additional Legislation ........................................................................................................................................24 Armed Conflict: Context and Transitional Justice ......................................................................................... 29 The Communist Armed Challenge ............................................................................................................................29 Peace Processes: CPP-NPA .....................................................................................................................................31 The Communist Armed Challenge: Transitional Justice ............................................................................................. 32 Muslim Mindanao: Context ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Transitional Justice in the Bangsamoro ...................................................................................................................... 38 Transitional Justice and Reconciliation Commission .............................................................................................. 38 Transitional Justice in the Bangsamoro Organic Law ............................................................................................. 41 Inter-Cabinet Cluster Mechanism for Normalization ............................................................................................42 Legislative Initiatives ..............................................................................................................................................42 Transitional Justice–Related Civil Society Initiatives in Mindanao .........................................................................43 Transitional Justice and Prevention: Contributions and Challenges ............................................................. 45 Reparation and Inclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Lack of Accountability and Reform ...........................................................................................................................47 Persistence of Corruption ..........................................................................................................................................49 Education and the Lessons of the Past ....................................................................................................................... 52 Resilience of the Insurgencies .................................................................................................................................... 54 CPP-NPA .............................................................................................................................................................. 54 Bangsamoro ...........................................................................................................................................................56 Persistence of Human Rights Violations .................................................................................................................... 58 An Inexorable Return to Authoritarianism ..............................................................................................................