KARAPATAN: US “counter-terrorism facility” in Pagadian City will spur more rights violations in PH
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
19 August 2026
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: US “counter-terrorism facility” in Pagadian City will spur more rights violations in PH
KARAPATAN views with alarm the planned construction of a permanent “counter-terrorism facility” in Pagadian City under the US State Department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance program, saying it will lead to worsening violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the Philippines.
The “anti-terrorism hub” which will be funded by a US$500,000 (P30.8-million) US grant, will reportedly be hosting 2,000 police officers annually, training them in advanced investigation techniques, crisis response and intelligence coordination.
“Currently, Philippine police forces are already being assailed for their increasingly repressive handling of protesters,” said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay. “If the local police will be taught techniques now being used by US ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operatives against migrants and even US citizens, then we may be looking at the further intensification of police brutality in our country.”
ICE agents have been known to conduct arbitrary arrests and use excessive and unnecessary force even against minors, the elderly and those offering no resistance. Families of those arrested are rarely told where their loved ones are detained, and the latter are often shunted from one facility to another without informing families. Conditions in ICE detention centers are deplorable.
Palabay also noted that once constructed, the “anti-terrorism hub” will be the fourth location in Mindanao from which US forces will be operating, following two facilities in Zamboanga City (Edwin Andrews Air Force Base and Camp Basilio Navarro) and the EDCA site in Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City.
“Counter-terrorism is again being used as a pretext to justify and normalize growing US military presence in the country and escalating US intervention in the Philippines’ internal affairs,” added Palabay. “When the US trains Philippine soldiers and police personnel, it teaches counter-insurgency doctrines that are contemptuous of human rights and international humanitarian law.”
“We call on Congress and the Senate to investigate these disturbing developments, especially since US involvement and influence over the conduct of police and military operations have resulted in greater rights violations.”
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.