UCU: Attacks on trade unionists and rights defenders in the Philippines

Motion

Motion title: Attacks on trade unionists and rights defenders in the Philippines

Motion text: Congress notes the worsening climate of impunity in the Philippines and relentless attacks against education and trade unionists, and human rights defenders. The Anti-Terror Law, the government-formed National Task Force to End Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), and other draconian measures from Duterte to Marco Jr. present serious challenges to academic freedom, and human rights in universities and schools. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the largest education union in the Philippines, has been a target of vilification and harassment by the NTF-ELCAC and state security agencies. ACT members have been subjected to profiling and surveillance, trumped up charges, detention, and abduction. Congress calls on the NEC to raise awareness about human rights in the Philippines by strengthening UCU’s links with ACT, affiliating with Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines, and engaging the UK Government to pressure the Marcos Administration to maintain international human rights and academic freedom standards.