[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 28, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S627-S628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE PHILIPPINES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President I want to take a few moments to discuss an 
issue that has garnered some attention in recent months, which is our 
relations with the Government of the Philippines, including President 
Duterte's counter-drug strategy and his government's treatment of those 
who have openly criticized that strategy.
  It is important to first recount the long history of friendship and 
strategic cooperation between the United States and the Philippines. 
Family and cultural ties that extend back many generations bind us 
together, as do our shared goals in East Asia and the Pacific. Our 
Armed Forces regularly engage in joint exercises to enhance regional 
security. Despite our differences, relations between our two countries 
are strong and based on mutual respect.
  We should also extend our deepest sympathies to those harmed by the 
recent eruption of the Taal volcano in Luzon. It has displaced tens of 
thousands of families and destroyed the livelihoods of many. The U.S. 
Agency for International Development and international organizations 
that receive U.S. funding like the World Food Programme are responding 
with humanitarian aid to those in need, which I and others in Congress 
strongly support.
  One of the manifestations of our longstanding, close relations with 
the Philippines is the assistance we provide annually to promote a wide 
range of interests there, from humanitarian and economic assistance to 
military assistance, which in fiscal year 2019 totaled more than $150 
million. However, as is the case for other recipients of U.S. 
assistance, those funds are not an entitlement and they are not a blank 
check. For example, in the Philippines they may not be used to support 
police counter-drug operations. We condemn the thousands of 
extrajudicial executions of suspected drug users and drug-traffickers 
by police and their collaborators. Such a strategy is not consistent 
with due process and the rule of law, nor an effective way to combat 
the trafficking and abuse of illegal drugs that every country, 
including the United States, is struggling with. We do support 
treatment programs for Filipinos suffering from drug addiction.
  We also stand strongly in support of freedom of expression, whether 
in the Philippines or anywhere else, including in our own country, and 
that, as well as President Duterte's counter-drug strategy, is what 
underlies our current

[[Page S628]]

disagreement with his government that is illustrated, most recently, by 
the passage without opposition of S. Res. 142, which condemns the 
imprisonment of Senator Leila De Lima and calls for her immediate 
release. It also calls on the Government of the Philippines to 
guarantee freedom of the press and to drop charges against Maria Ressa 
and the online news network Rappler.
  As said by Senator Durbin who, like I, cosponsored that resolution, 
``[i]n the end, [De Lima's] freedom and the end of government 
harassment against journalists like Maria Ressa will be important tests 
of whether cherished democratic norms we share with our long-standing 
Filipino allies will be respected by President Duterte.''
  The response of the Duterte government was regrettable, albeit not 
uncharacteristic. Like Senator Durbin, I have become accustomed to 
being on the receiving end of baseless personal attacks by President 
Duterte's spokesman, as if those attacks might intimidate us or boost 
domestic support for his government. Rather than respond substantively 
to legitimate concerns about extrajudicial killings, impunity, and 
freedom of expression that I, Senator Durbin, Senator Markey, our 
Democratic and Republican colleagues, the U.S. State Department, the 
United Nations, and respected human rights organizations have raised 
over the years, we are told that S. Res. 142 is based on ``bogus 
narratives . . . promoted by Duterte's usual antagonists.'' We are 
accused of being ``prejudiced'' and ``misguided,'' our support for 
Senator De Lima ``a direct and shameless affront to the Republic of the 
Philippines, which has long ceased to be a colony of the United 
States.'' Our actions are called ``brazen and intrusive to the dignity 
of an independent, democratic and sovereign state'' which would ``not 
be bullied by any foreign country or by its officials, especially by 
misinformed and gullible politicians who grandstand at our expense.'' 
Going a step further, the Duterte government inexplicably threatened to 
deny visas to Americans who seek to visit the Philippines and who have 
nothing to do with these concerns.
  Such vitriolic hyperbole is barely deserving of a response, but 
suffice it to say that none of us remotely regards the Philippines as a 
colony of the United States, nor are our concerns about the treatment 
of Senator De Lima and Maria Ressa an intrusion of the Philippines' 
sovereignty, which we respect. S. Res. 142 is based on consistent 
reporting by the Trump administration's State Department, the United 
Nations, and other credible observers, including in the Philippines, 
who share the conviction that defending freedom of expression has 
nothing to do with sovereignty. To the contrary, it is everyone's 
responsibility, wherever it is denied. If there is any ``intrusion of 
dignity'' or ``shameless affront'' in this instance, it is the 
harassment, threats, false charges, and imprisonment of those who have 
dared to criticize the Duterte government's lawless counter-drug 
strategy.
  None of us here, nor in the Philippines, has an interest in 
prolonging this dispute. To the contrary, we want to enhance our 
cooperation in a multitude of areas of common interest--from maritime 
security to human trafficking to climate change. What 100 U.S. 
Senators--Republicans and Democrats--have urged is succinctly spelled 
out in the resolution. Rather than deny visas to Americans, many of 
whom have family in the Philippines, and rather than resort to ad 
hominem attacks, there is, as Senator Durbin has said, ``an easy and 
honorable way forward.'' As I have said for months, we are not aware of 
any credible evidence that Senator De Lima, who has been detained for 
nearly 3 years, is guilty of the crimes she has been accused of. If 
such evidence exists, it should be promptly produced in a public trial, 
and she should be provided the opportunity to refute it. Otherwise she 
should be released. As a former prosecutor, I know that is the minimum 
to which anyone accused of a crime is entitled.
  And respected, courageous investigative journalists like Maria Ressa 
should be able to publish without fear of retaliation. There is no 
surer way to destroy the underpinnings of democracy than by using 
threats and unlawful arrest to silence the press.

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