We are deeply concerned and outraged over the recent crash of a U.S. Department of Defense contracted surveillance plane in a rice field in Maguindanao del Sur, Philippines that claimed the lives of a U.S. marine, 3 defense contractors, and a Filipino farmer’s carabao, which the farmer depended on for their livelihood.

This preventable tragedy raises the alarm and begs the question of why U.S. troops and defense contractors have boots on the ground conducting covert U.S. surveillance and military operations on Philippine soil, and why this operation was being conducted in Mindanao when US-PH security concerns have been focused on the West Philippine Sea.

Since 2022, there has been an escalation in U.S. military cooperation and security assistance to the Philippines in response to the U.S. geopolitical rivalry with China and attempts at containing China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific. In 2024 alone, the US exponentially increased military aid to the Philippines by $500 million, with an additional $128 million for the infrastructure of the US bases in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Act (EDCA).

The increasing aid comes despite the abysmal human rights track record and war crimes of the Marcos Jr. administration. Since July 2022, 119 extrajudicial killings, 255 illegal or arbitrary arrests, 63,380 indiscriminate firings, 43,582 forced evacuations, 14 enforced disappearances, 560 forced or fake surrenders, 46,921 indiscriminate bombings, and 3,706,431 cases of threats, harassment, and intimidation have been inflicted against the Filipino people. Out of those who have stood up against the Marcos Jr. administration,154 have been arrested and imprisoned.

For too long there has been a lack of transparency on what US military aid and security assistance are funding in the Philippines. The Philippine Human Rights Act Coalition is a coalition of over 250+ organizations coming from various sectors of faith, labor, youth and students, arts and culture, law, LGBTQ+, and Filipino community organizations. We demand:

1. An immediate and thorough investigation of the U.S. surveillance plane crash and intelligence operations in the Philippines
2. Full transparency from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of State on U.S. military intelligence operations in the Philippines past and present
3. Full transparency on what the $500 million military aid package from 2024 went towards in the Philippines
4. Pass the Philippine Human Rights Act in US Congress
5. Compensation for impacted communities in the Philippines