Gordon Mutch, a member of the Baltimore Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (BaltCHRP), was blocked at the airport and barred from entering the Philippines on April 26. Mutch was in the country to observe the 2025 elections and to witness the situation of Filipinos under the Marcos Jr regime. The Philippine Bureau of Immigration detained him for four hours then deported him on the basis of his “anti-government activities” in the country.

BaltCHRP is a member organization of the International Commission for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP). As in the 2022 elections, ICHRP sent a group of observers or an International Observers Mission (IOM) for the upcoming election. Mutch was part of the first IOM.

According to ICHRP, the detention and deportation of Mutch is an example of authoritarian overreach that is not new in Philippine politics. This is part of a long list of policies and political persecution to keep the US-Marcos regime in power. Last year, Copeland Downs, a peace activist, was also blacklisted and barred from entering.

ICHRP has documented 18 incidents of attacks against solidarity activists and ICHRP members since 2018. The attacks include: surveillance of activists in solidarity while visiting the Philippines, harassment using tarpaulins hung in the Philippines claiming that activists support terrorist groups, Red-tagging of ICHRP members on social media, and monitoring by Canadian state forces regarding ICHRP activities. In addition, the Philippine government expelled Sister Patricia Fox, an Australian activist, and Gill Boehringer under the Duterte regime.

“Why would the Philippine government, ostensibly allied to the US, have an issue with an American citizen legally visiting their country? If this regime has nothing to hide, then they have nothing to fear from a peaceful activist visiting their country,” according to ICHRP.

“ICHRP-US will not be intimidated. This incident is another reason to strengthen our solidarity with the Filipino people. We demand the immediate lifting of the ban against activists living abroad who have been denied entry to the Philippines. We call on third party governments, especially the US, to end military aid to the Philippines until the attacks on activists and critics cease,” ICHRP added.