August marks three years since I was targeted for assassination by military agents in the Philippines under the Duterte administration. I was shot in front of my home in the presence of my daughter and family. The attack has left me scarred, nearly dying from eight cardiac arrests, and now permanently paralyzed without the use of my legs or my hands.

After being medically evacuated back to the U.S., it horrifies me to think that the bullet fragments still lodged in my body have been funded through American tax dollars. Until now, there has been no investigation or accountability for this brazen attack, sanctioned by the Philippine government in an atmosphere of total disregard for human rights and the lives of its people.

Under Duterte, the de facto policy has been to kill the poor by the thousands in the guise of a war on drugs. Official numbers report over 6,000 Filipinos were killed in police operations, not including victims of vigilante-style killings estimated at around 30,000 by human rights groups. This brutal record has led to the international watchdog Global Witness declaring the Philippines under Duterte the deadliest in the world for defenders of human rights, the environment, and natural resources.