“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it …” (1 Cor. 12:26).

“American Christians, who live under the mandates of the gospel and who share the rights and privileges of constitutional government and the freedoms attached thereto, must speak out to defend human rights everywhere, particularly when their taxes and their leaders support oppression and tyranny…” (Minutes, UPCUSA, 1974, Part I, p. 595).

Most Americans believe that human rights abuses in the Philippines ended with the fall of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in 1986. But, unfortunately, human rights violations have reemerged as a major issue under the presidency of Gloria Arroyo, who took office in 2001. Since that time, hundreds of cases of extrajudicial murder, abduction, illegal detention, and torture have been documented. The victims are members of civil society, such as labor leaders, land reform activists, journalists, judges, lawyers, and church workers, including pastors. Credible evidence compiled by both Filipino and international human rights organizations indicates that elements within the Philippine military are responsible for these abuses. The United Nations special investigator for extra-judicial killings and the United States Department of State have also expressed concern over these abuses and have attributed most of them to the Philippine military.

Different organizations list different numbers for the victims of extrajudicial murder, according to the varying levels of evidence required by reporting agencies to meet the definition of extrajudicial murder. Some list, for instance, 300 murder victims, and others as many as 900. No matter which number is correct, the evidence points to an overwhelming abuse of human rights by the Philippine military.

Among the victims of human rights abuses by the Philippine military since 2001, more than thirty church workers and pastors have been killed, abducted, or tortured. The majority of these are from the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP), but also included are members of the United Methodist Church and the Independent Philippine Church.

The UCCP has had a long-standing partnership with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Through the Young Adult Volunteers Program and other mission arrangements, the UCCP has helped to train leaders in our denomination. Individual churches and presbyteries have had partnerships with churches and conferences in the UCCP, which have further developed and strengthened the connection between our two churches.

The killing and abduction of pastors and church workers in the Philippines has had a profound impact on churches and individuals in our denomination who have known and worked with many of the victims through the years. The 217th General Assembly (2006) responded with a resolution expressing its deep concern for the UCCP and its leaders who have been killed, calling upon the Philippine government to “bring to justice the killers of the pastors, other church workers, and other Filipinos similarity executed and/or tortured by military forces.”

Presbyterian churches in the Presbytery of Sacramento were responsible for bringing the general secretary of the UCCP to the United States in 2007 to speak out against these human rights abuses and to testify before a hearing on human rights abuses in the Philippines conducted by California Senator Barbara Boxer, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia and Pacific Islands Concerns Committee.

Earlier this year, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s Philippine Solidarity Project sponsored a nine-person delegation to the Philippines, February 19–27, which was hosted by the UCCP. Asked how Presbyterians in the U.S. could be most helpful to the UCCP, five suggestions were offered:

—Tell the stories of the victims of empire to churches and communities in the U.S.

—Pray and stand strongly with the UCCP as we exercise our prophetic ministry in the Philippines.

—Lobby your country and government for fairer and more humane policies toward the Philippines.

—Join in the movement toward global peace and against U.S. interventionist wars.

—Organize regular and frequent immersion trips to the Philippines for pastors and leaders of the PC(USA).

This resolution presented to the 218th General Assembly (2008) builds on a long history of standing with our brothers and sisters in the Philippines who are being oppressed and abused.

The government of the United States gives millions of dollars every year to the Philippine military. This has increased dramatically since 2001. In 2000, the Philippines was the 47th largest recipient of U.S. military aid in the world; in 2006 it was the 11th largest. While some of this money is meant to help the Philippine military fight terrorism and insurgency, it is more often used to silence those elements in society who call for land reform, labor rights, and fair treatment of indigenous peoples. Pastors and church workers often become victims when they stand up on behalf of church members who are being oppressed.

Last year members of church and human rights groups in the U.S.A. attempted to limit the money going to the Philippine military until certain human rights conditions were met. The efforts were partially successful in getting, for the first time in Philippine-American relations, human rights conditions placed on appropriations to the Philippine military. It was, however, attached to only a small part of the appropriated money.

This year the U.S. State Department has reduced the amount of money it is asking for the Philippine military and has channeled some of the funding into human rights training for military personnel. This is a welcome change. However, the murders and abductions continue, and the Philippine military refuses to cooperate with investigations into human rights violations by those in authority over the military. It is imperative that the Philippine government know that the American people do not support the killing of unarmed civilians and that the United States Congress restrict all military aid given to the Philippines under the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill with the human rights conditions that were only applied to part of the money in last year’s bill.

Meanwhile, church leaders in the UCCP and other churches are under siege. While maintaining a faithful witness to biblical principles of justice for the poor and the oppressed, the churches in the Philippines are faced with threats of violence. As long-time partners of the UCCP and its ministry, we are called to stand with them in solidarity through our faithful prayers, financial support, political advocacy, and continual encouragement.