News
Marcos assures protection of press freedom
Shortly after the 30th International Press Freedom Day, the Philippine Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) reported 75 cases of abuse against media workers since the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In the international ranking on "press freedom" by...
Marcos meets Biden: Security more important than human rights
Shortly after the reopening of four US military bases in the Philippines, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos met with US President Joe Biden in Washington DC on May 1, 2023. However, instead of putting pressure on the Philippine government to respect human rights,...
Marcos acknowledges human rights abuses under Duterte
During an event at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington DC on May 4, 2023, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. acknowledged that human rights abuses related to the so-called "war on drugs" took place under the previous...
Students shall learn about “red-tagging”
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) supported the Department for Education's (DEPEd) proposal to include lessons on human rights violations in the curriculum. The 10th grade curriculum will now include topics on so-called “red-tagging,” trolling, and...
Labour rights activist murdered, two indigenous rights activists disappeared
April 2023 saw the murder of labour rights activist Alex Dolorosa and the disappearance of two activists, struggling for indigenous rights, Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus and Bontoc-Ibaloi-Kankanaey Dexter Capuyan. Alex Dolorosa was found dead with 15 stab wounds in Bacolod...
Film Screening Cologne: 11,103 – A film about Martial Law survivors in the Philippines
On May 2, 2023, the documentary 11,103, produced by Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala and directed by Jeannette Ifurung and Mike Alcazaren, was screened by the Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte-Philippinen and Dakila-Active Vista at the Asienhaus in Cologne. The film chronicles the...
AMP Online Workshop: Threat Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines | June 13, 2023
Attacks, vilifications, criminalization, and violence against human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Philippines are continuing under the new administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Accessing protection measures for HRDs are gaining more importance. Against...
Marcos intends to cut-off communications with ICC
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos declared in an interview on March 28, 2023, that he would cut off communications with the International Criminal Court (ICC). The day before, the ICC rejected the government's request to not reopen investigations into human rights...
Philippine government refuses to end “red-tagging”
During the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, the Philippine government rejected recommendations to end the practice of the so-called "red-tagging" (i.e. being accused of supporting the armed communist insurgency). In its Universal Periodic...
NTF-ELCAC criticises Human Rights Defenders Protection Bill
The Human Rights Committee approved the Human Rights Defender Bill (or House Bill 77/HB77) in February 2023, which is currently under consideration in the plenary. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) emphasized that protecting human rights defenders (HRD) is a "legal...
EU trade benefits require improved human rights situation
EU Special Representative for Human Rights Eamon Gilmore criticised that the two convictions in the so-called "war on drugs" under ex-President Duterte are "not enough" to justify an improvement of the human rights situation, considering the at least 6,000...
Police officer convicted of murder of teenagers
Navotas Regional Trial Court Branch 287 sentenced police officer Jefrey Sumbo Perez on March 13, 2023, to "reclusion perpetua" with up to 40 years in prison for the 2017 murders of 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz and 14-year-old Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman. In November...
Philippine government appeals reopening of ICC investigation
The Philippine government filed an appeal with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the reopening of the ICC investigation into alleged crimes against humanity on March 13, 2023. In its appeal brief, the government argues that the ICC probe would “lack legal...
Indigenous groups protested Kaliwa Dam construction
A group of over 300 indigenous peoples (IPs) started on February 15, 2023, a nine-day protest march against the construction of the Kaliwa Dam from General Nakar in Quezon province to the Malacañang Palace. Only a part of the indigenous groups had accepted...
Justice Department lowers bail amounts for indigent detainees
Bail amounts for criminal detainees will be lowered, based on arecent order from the Department of Justice, which could free about three out of ten incarcerated people in the Philippines. A memorandum issued by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on February 20,...
“Red-tagging” threatens human rights defenders
Bishop of San Carlos, Gerardo Alminaza, admonished media platform SMNI, known for misinformation, on February 24, 2023, after they accused him of supporting the communist insurgency. The media group of self-proclaimed son of God Apollo Quiboloy called the bishop a...
EU-Parliamentarians discussed human rights situation with Philippine government in Manila
Six members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) visited the Philippines from 22-24 February 2023 for an assessment of the current human rights situation and readiness of the Philippine government to act. The EU delegation met...
Leila De Lima’s trial could be resolved by March 2023
After nine years in prison, following a Supreme Court ruling, former aide of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Jessica "Gigi" Reyes was released from prison on January 19, 2023. Reyes was involved in a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal ("pork barrel") and was...
Charges dropped against 17 police officers in “Bloody Sunday” murder case
The Department of Justice (DOJ) junked charges against 17 police officers on January 16, 2023, for the murder of labor leader and general secretary of BAYAN-Cavite Emmanuel "Manny" Asuncion in Cavite. The murder case occurred as part of the so-called "Bloody Sunday"...
Annual review: Human rights violations under Marcos continue
In its 2023 World Report, the organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a review of the human rights violations in the Philippines in 2022. In a press conference on January 12, 2023, HRW called on the new government under President Marcos to provide justice to...