News
Cordillera: Intensified political persecution of activists
Human rights groups such as Karapatan and the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance opposed a resolution (No. 2023-04) passed in April 2023 by the Kalinga Provincial Task Force To End Local Communist Armed Conflict (PTF-ELCAC). According to the memorandum issued June 13,...
Massacre in Himamaylan City in Negros
Human rights organization Karapatan called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to launch an independent investigation into the killing of Roly and Emelda Fausto and their two minor sons, Ben and Ravin Fausto. The Fausto family was found shot dead in their home in...
No end to the “war on drugs” under Marcos
Human rights experts at the United Nations called in June 2023 for an end to the global so-called "war on drugs", which primarily affects poor and marginalised communities – such as it is the case in the Philippines. Ahead of the 2023 International Day Against Drug...
Marcos government to fight disinformation
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on June 19, 2023, that he would launch a media and information education campaign to combat disinformation. Philippine fact-checking platform Tsek.ph recorded that Marcos benefited from the rapid spread of misinformation,...
EU Parliamentarians call for De Lima’s release
After ex-senator Leila de Lima's application for release on bail was rejected by a Philippine court on June 7, 2023, members of the European Union (EU) Parliament sent a letter to Philippine President Marcos and Secretary for Justice demanding her release as well as...
Further cases of enforced disappearances in Cagayan
Two peasant and youth rights activists, Michael Cedrick Casaño and Patricia Nicole Cierva, are the latest reported victims of enforced disappearances in Cagayan province. According to local community reports, Philippine Army soldiers allegedly abducted the activists...
Philippines challenges ICC investigation again
On May 19, 2023, the Philippine government made a fresh attempt to challenge its commitment to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) regarding its investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in the so-called "war on drugs" under R. Duterte,...
Political prisoner Leila De Lima’s request for bail denied
On June 7, 2023, a Philippine court rejected the application for bail of former opposition senator Leila de Lima. When she criticised human rights violations in the so-called "war on drugs" of then President Rodrigo Duterte, she was then falsely accused of drug...
Vice President Duterte to be NTF-ELCAC Vice Chair
Philippine Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte was appointed vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on May 10, 2023. This government agency is notorious for so-called "red-tagging" of Human Rights...
“Red-tagging” threatens labor rights activists
An alliance of major labor unions in the Philippines, the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition (NLC), criticized the lack of responsibility of the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. government to protect the rights of workers. The groups expressed that their freedom of association...
Third journalist killed under President Marcos
Radio journalist Crescenciano Bunduquin was found shot by two unidentified persons on motorcycles in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro on May 31, 2023. Bunduquin succumbed to his bullet wounds and died on the way to the hospital. He is the third murdered journalist under...
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...