Members of the US Senate on 26 July called on the administration of President Joseph Biden to address what they called “the pattern of human rights violations” of the Duterte government. The senators urged the Biden administration “to stand with the people of the Philippines as they continue to fight for their universal human rights.”

In a letter addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific led by Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Edward J. Markey, demanded that the State Department condemn human rights violations in the Philippines at the highest diplomatic levels, as well as publicly.

In discussions with Philippine government officials, they asked, has the State Department raised the Duterte government’s systematic human rights abuses? They also wanted to know if the US government is considering any sanctions against Duterte officials involved in these abuses.

The senators also expressed concern about the practice of ‘red-tagging’ of opposition figures, journalists and activists who criticize the Duterte government, the continued unjust detention of Philippine Senator Leila De Lima and the political harassment of journalist Maria Ressa. They pointed out that, amid these systematic human rights violations under the Duterte government, US security assistance and arms sales to the Philippines should be reviewed.

Aside from Sen. Markey, the letter was also signed by Democratic Party Senators Patrick Leahy, Jeffrey A. Merkley, Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Ron Wyden, Bob Casey, Cory Booker, Richard J Durbin, Elizabeth Warren, and Chris Van Hollen.

In 2020, the Duterte government banned Senators Markey, Leahy and Durbin from entering the Philippines following the senators’ support for the banning of Duterte officials involved in the detention of Sen. De Lima from travelling to the US.