News
AMP-Statement: Human rights defenders keep disappearing under Philippines’ Marcos Jr.
The Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte – Philippinen (AMP, German Action Network Human Rights-Philippines) is concerned about the alarmingly high number of disappeared human rights defenders in the Philippines since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022....
Police “abducted” activist Lejun de la Cruz
Elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) attempted but failed to assassinate Lejun de la Cruz, a former communist guerilla, human rights activist, and nominee of the Magsasaka party-list in the coming May election. This was announced by Magsasaka Party in a...
UN Committee reviews Philippines’ human rights compliance
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) reviewed the Philippines in the context of the seventh periodic report in Geneva on February 19, 2025, on the state of the country’s compliance with economic, social, and cultural human...
Trumped-up charges against 70-year-old activist
Human rights activist Myrna Cruz-Abraham was arrested by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army in San Rafael, Bulacan on January 27, 2025. She was then transferred to the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Camp...
Protecting human rights in EU-Philippines free trade agreement negotiations
When the Philippines began the second round of talks over a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) last February 2025, concerns were raised about potential negative impacts on vulnerable sectors and the country's ongoing human rights issues....
Historic step towards justice: Rodrigo Duterte arrested, charged at ICC
After receiving an international arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity, delivered by Interpol, the Philippine authorities arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila on March 11, 2025. Duterte was...
Philippines exits FATF grey list amid concerns over human rights violations
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) declared that the Philippines has fulfilled its compliance requirements on February 21, 2025, following a visit by officials of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog just a month earlier. The country has...
House of Representatives votes for impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte
The Philippine House of Representatives voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on February 5, 2025, making her the first vice president in the nation’s history to face such a process. The impeachment followed a complaint that included the following accusations: ...
Lawmakers want reinvestigation into extrajudicial killings in Duterte’s “war on drugs”
The Philippine House of Representatives' so-called quad committee called for a reinvestigation into the extrajudicial killings (EJK) linked to the so-called “war on drugs” of former President Rodrigo Duterte. Several members of the committee brought up the idea during...
Three Congress panels will investigate disinformation in the Philippines
The Philippine House of Representatives has launched an investigation into the spread of fake news and disinformation in the country. Three House panels – committees on public order, public information, and information and communications technology – will jointly...
Dismissal of terrorism financing case highlights crackdown on Philippine NGOs
The City Prosecutor's Office in Tacloban City has dropped charges against the Leyte Center for Development Inc. (LCDE) for alleged violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10168) due to insufficient evidence. In a...
Justice Secretary declares limited cooperation with ICC possible
In January 2025, the Philippine Coalition for the ICC (PCICC) urged the Marcos Jr. administration to expedite its cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to address the crimes committed during the previous administration's so-called “war on drugs.”...
Human rights violations still not addressed in 2024
In its World Report 2025, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stressed that Philippine President Marcos Jr. “initiated some human rights improvements in 2024 but failed to address past and ongoing violations.” Drug-related and extrajudicial killings associated with the so-called...
ICC appeal to Philippine police officers
The International Criminal Court (ICC) launched an appeal on November 29, 2024 to obtain further information from Philippine police officers and other state security forces on the human rights violations in the context of the so-called "war on drugs." The aim is to...
New terrorism financing charges and arrest of activists
On December 2, 2024, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, an activist of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), was indicted for alleged violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression of Act (Republic Act No. 10168). An alleged former member of the communist armed...
Philippine media concerned about Meta’s termination of fact-checking in the US
The decision of the internet company Meta to stop working with fact-checkers on its social media platforms Facebook and Instagram in the US has also raised concerns among journalists and civil society organizations in the Philippines. In a statement on January 11,...
“Quad Committee” recommends charges against Rodrigo Duterte
On December 18, 2024, the so-called quad committee of the Philippine House of Representatives presented its first progress report on a joint investigation over the past months into the links between illegal drug trade, Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) as...
Possible consequences of Sara Duterte’s death threats
On November 23, 2024, in a digital press conference on her Facebook social media channel, Vice President Sara Duterte threatened to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Martin Romualdez, killed if she herself...
UN experts condemn abuse of Philippine counter-terrorism financing laws
On August 29, 2024, five United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs issued a public letter condemning the Philippine government's alleged abuse of laws to combat money-laundering and terrorism financing against 27 former and active members of the non-governmental...
New task force to investigate cases of extrajudicial killings in “war on drugs”
The Philippine Department of Justice (DOJ) has set up a new task force to investigate extrajudicial killings under the former Duterte administration's so-called “war on drugs.” On November 4, 2024, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla signed Department Order No....