Individual cases
The AMP documents and accompanies individual cases of enforced disappearances, political killings, criminalizations of human rights defenders and journalists. The cases exemplify the patterns of structural human rights violations in the Philippines.
An updated list of cases of killings of human rights defenders and journalists are included in the AMP Human Rights Reports for the respective periods in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024 and 2026.
Enforced disappearances
Disappearances mean that state agents are involved in the abduction, arrest, and concealment of a victim’s whereabouts. The enforced disappearance of human rights defenders is a common tool of oppression against civil society and is frequently employed by autocratic governments such as of Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte. In some instances, the disappeared persons reappear deceased after a while.
Cases of enforced disappearances are difficult to document because relatives are often afraid to speak up out of fear of retribution from the perpetrators. Most cases remain unsolved and perpetrators are hardly brought to justice.
Under the current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the AMP observed 13 disappearances of human rights defenders, seven of whom remain missing (as of August 19, 2026). The AMP documented the most recent case in August 2024.
The Philippines has also yet to ratify the UN Convention against Enforced Disappearances, which describes the practice as a crime against humanity.
Political killings
Under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022), the AMP observed with 298 cases a significant increase in the number of political killings of human rights defenders and journalists.
Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took up office in 2022, the AMP recorded 27 killings of human rights defenders and journalists (as of August 19, 2026). This shows a significant decline in killings, even compared to the administration of President Benigno Aquino III (2010-2016).
To date, there has been hardly any accountability for those killings. Criminal investigations rarly take place. The perpetrators and the masterminds of the killings mostly remain unknown.
The climate of impunity and the killings of human rights defenders were clearly fueled by the repressive human rights policy of Ex-President Duterte.
The current administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has continued the repressive human rights policy of his predecessor and failed to put an end to impunity.
Criminalization
Criminalization are fabricated charges that use false evidence to accuse the victim of a crime they did not commit. Often fabricated charges are preceded by a campaign of abuse and intimidation. This practice is often used by security forces to defame human rights defenders and hold them in custody for the duration of the trial.
Especially for the charge of illegal possession of firearms and explosives bail can only be granted in exceptional cases.
Since 2024, the AMP has observed more frequent charges of alleged terrorism financing filed against human rights defenders and their organizations.