In the lead-up to the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law in the Philippines on September 21, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is organizing an ecumenical forum that will look at the implications of the Marcos Regime, and its recurrent form, for faith leaders and human rights advocates within the ecumenical community.

The global faith community will gather on Zoom on September 15, 10 AM EST (4 PM Geneva, 10PM Manila) for a conversation entitled:  Reflections on the 50th anniversary of Martial Law and the return of Marcos: Implications for the Global Faith Community.  The gathering will be convened by Bishop Reuel Norman Marigza of the NCCP and Rev. Dr. Chris Fergeson the former General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches.

The discussion will cover three converging themes:

1. The Human Rights Record of the previous Duterte Government and its potential continuity under Marcos-

   Duterte 2.0

2. Reflections recent election and implications for the future 

3. Martial Law at 50 and implications for the Faith community

The purpose of the meeting is to solidify the global network of ecumenical activists within the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) network, and to build consensus around immediate actions to support the struggle for democracy and social rights in the Philippines. The plenary discussion will develop a longer-term strategy for potential actions from the faith community in building a global faith network through ICHRP and the intensification of work on national lobbying around accountability for crimes against humanity.

This initiative is a follow-up to the Investigate PH Inquiry, coming out of the December Ecumenical Roundtable where one of the follow ups was the creation of an ICHRP-Ecumenical Network.  This proposal was subsequently endorsed by the National Council of Churches of the Philippines.  

Read the full invitation here.