Den langvarige opstand er én årsag til denne sørgelige tingenes tilstand, men en anden er de ikke særlig demokratiske, successive filippinske regeringer, og internationale organisationer såsom FN's Menneskerettighedsråd holder i vid udstrækning den seneste regering ansvarlig for i bemærkelsesværdig grad at sikre straffrihed for udenretslige drab og tvungne forsvindinger af i hundredvis af filippinske borgere, hvis aktiviteter mentes at have været i strid med regeringens officielle politik.
The long-standing insurgency is a factor in this sorry state of affairs, but so is the not-so-democratic status of successive Filipino governments with the latter being widely held responsible by international agencies, such as the UN Human Rights Council, for showing remarkable impunity from extrajudicial killings and the forced disappearances of hundreds of Filipino citizens whose activities were thought to have been in disagreement with official government policy.