News
Why is Marcos Jr. such a popular presidential candidate?
With the May 9 presidential elections approaching, several news reports and election observers are still concerned with the question of how presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son of a former dictator, managed to take a clear lead in the election polls....
Detained Senator De Lima again exonerated
Alleged drug lord Kerwin Espinosa withdrew his accusations against Senator Leila de Lima in a sworn affidavit. De Lima has already been imprisoned for more than five years on allegedly trumped-up and politically motivated charges. ‘Any statement he made against the...
U.S. Government says human rights reports are credible
On April 12, 2022, the U.S. Department of State released its 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. It rated reports of human rights violations committed by state security forces in the Philippines as credible. According to the report, numerous human rights...
Walden Bello counters cyberlibel complaint
On April 20, 2022, vice Presidential candidate Walden Bello handed in his counter affidavit regarding a cyberlibel complaint filed against him at the Davao City Prosecutor's Office. The complaint was filed by former City Information Office head Jefry Tupas. Tupas...
5 members of the Manobo-Pulangiyon indigenous community hurt in shooting incident
On April 19, 2022, 500 members of the indigenous Manobo-Tulangiyon community were set to re-possess an area of their ancestral lands in Bukidnon when they were shot by alleged security guards of the agri-business corporation Kiantig Development Corporation (KDC), who...
Peace consultants abducted and arrested
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), peace consultant Ezequiel Daguman of the National Democratic Front (NDFP) was supposedly killed in an armed clash between the New People’s Army (NPA) and the AFP in Davao de Oro on March 27, 2022. The NDFP,...
Duterte vetoes controversial SIM card registration bill
President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the SIM card registration bill on April 13, 2022. The so-called “Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration Act” was already passed by the Senate last February and is intended to counter cybercrime, for instance, by identifying...
New forensic investigation reveals forged death certificates
An independent investigation of exhumed victims of the so-called war on drugs exposes forged death certificates. Forensic pathologist Dr. Raquel Fortun (one of only two in the entire country) initiated and carries out the investigation together with activist priest...
Two soldiers convicted for murder after more than 10 years
A regional court in Bacolod City convicted two Philippine Army intelligence officers for the murder of activist Benjamin Bayles on March 31, 2022. In broad daylight, the two men shot Bayles – coordinator of the party-list Bayan Muna and member of the Iglesia Filipina...
AMP Statement on the arbitrary arrest of Aldeem Yañez
The Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte – Philippinen (AMP, German Action Network Human Rights) expresses in a statement its deep concerns about the arrest of Aldeem Yañez, a dedicated volunteer at the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI). On April 10, 2022, Yañez was...
No end to trumped-up charges and unlawful detentions
On March 25, 2022, the Bayugan City Regional Court dismissed the kidnapping and serious illegal detention case against community doctor and Lumad supporter Dr. Navidad Castro. The court based its decision on grounds of the denial of her substantive right to due...
34 murder charges because of “Bloody Sunday” massacre
March 7 marked the first anniversary of the so-called "Bloody Sunday" massacre. State security forces killed nine activists while six activists were arrested. In the meantime, 34 police and military personal who were involved in a total of three killings have been...
Even after 6 years no accountability for killings
Victims of the so-called war on drugs as well as human rights organizations continue to criticize the lack of accountability of the Philippine Government for human rights abuses. Yet the current administration gives no reason to hope for improvement. Amnesty...
Increasing cases of red-tagging during election campaign
In the light of the upcoming May 9 elections, cases of red-tagging against the opposition - especially presidential candidate Leni Robredo and her supporters - are on the rise. In a statement, the human rights group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) suspects that...
Deadly consequences of the Anti-Terrorism Act: motion for partial reconsideration filed
26 of the previous 37 petitioners filed another joint motion for partial reconsideration of the highly contested Anti-Terrorism Act before the Supreme Court (SC) on March 2, 2022. The SC dismissed their last petitions on December 7, 2021 and ruled the law only...
Increased repression against press freedom and cyberattacks during election campaign
Since the official start of the presidential election campaign on February 8, 2022, attacks against journalists and news sites have increased, making neutral reporting more difficult. Restrictions on news coverage affect public discourse to inform voters about the...
Human rights organizations call for international sanctions
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls on foreign governments to impose Magnitsky sanctions on Philippine officials. Such sanctions allow states to punish individuals who share responsibility for human rights abuses in the...
Marcos’ campaign benefits from disinformation
Philippine presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is heading the opinion polls ahead of the May 9 elections. Election observers have linked this success to a long-standing disinformation strategy. For the past six years, the Marcos family has systematically...
European Parliament adopts Urgency Resolution on the Philippines
On February 17, 2022 the European Parliament (EP) adopted another Urgency Resolution on human rights situation in the Philippines (627 votes in favour, 26 against and 31 abstentions). In the six years under Dutertes presidency, there have now been five Urgency...
Peace talks and counterinsurgency are campaign issues
The more than 50-year-long armed conflict between the Philippine government and the New People's Army (NPA), the militant branch of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP), is another issue in the current election campaign. During his term in office, Duterte's...