WE RECENTLY celebrated International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, and we all know that every person deserves to be born and live free.
Everyone has the right to life, food, clean water, freedom and security, and to live free from harassment, threats, false imprisonment, slavery, abuse and torture. All people deserve equality under the law, and freedom from discrimination, especially from racism and marginalization.
Civil and church leaders of integrity and true faith are challenged to campaign and act to defend human rights and stand with the poor and exploited. “Faith without action is dead,” wrote Saint James. Besides, we possess these rights, no matter our nationality, ethnic origin, race, or religious belief.
Other vital and essential rights are freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion without censorship and rejection. These rights are enshrined in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and human rights laws, yet they are frequently violated by the state.
According to the World Justice Project’s (WJP) 2023 Rule of Law Index, the Philippines ranked 100th out of 142 countries and 13th out of 15 countries in East Asia and the Pacific region — only Myanmar and Cambodia fared worse — for failing to respect human rights.
For Christianity to be relevant, every believer should be active in defending human rights, challenging corrupt government officials, and helping and empowering the poor. This is what Jesus of Nazareth expects of those claiming to be his followers.
Many Filipino rights defenders have been killed protecting human rights and the poor over the years. One report counted 208 such defenders slain between 2015 and 2020. Many more have been killed since then, including 162 journalists for reporting the truth.
Dedicated rights defenders are helping thousands of young women and children escape captivity. They are prisoners of debt bondage and held by traffickers and pimps in brothels; many are victims of child abuse.
Many brave social workers strive to alleviate poverty. Many in the country’s 117-million-strong population suffer from hunger. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report that there were 17.5 million living in absolute poverty in 2023. They were unable to meet their most basic food and nonfood needs.
Of these, 4.8 million Filipinos, or 4.3 percent of the population, were in “dire poverty,” with almost nothing to eat. They were begging and likely eating scraps or leftover food from restaurants. A survey this year found that 14.2 million Filipinos rated themselves as poor. Their children do not attend school. In a 2020 survey, out-of-school youth numbered 10.7 million. No Merry Christmas for them.
Forbes reported in April 2025 that there were 15 Filipino billionaires with a combined net worth of $53.7 billion, and an estimated 12,800 Filipino millionaires. Very few of them, it seems, are working to help alleviate poverty and uphold human rights. Only a few committed Christians of integrity working for justice continue to question and protest government wrongdoing.
Since the trillion-peso flood control fund scandal broke out, many corrupt politicians who got millions of pesos in kickbacks from contractors have yet to be made accountable. Meanwhile, many of the poor lost all their possessions and livelihoods in the recent typhoons.
This shameless inequality is the result of a group of super-rich families dominating Congress and the business world that pass laws to benefit themselves and their cronies. The corrupt politicians continue to be unchallenged by the Church and civil society. (To be continued)/PN
