Ten years have passed since the passage of the landmark legislation prohibiting the act of torture in the Philippines. However, torture still persists in the country with total impunity. In November 2009, the Philippines enacted the Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 otherwise known as the Anti-Torture Law which criminalizes torture and ill treatment and provides…
WATCH: Dumagat and Remontado leaders of General Nakar, Quezon stand up against aggressive building of Kaliwa Dam | #IPHeroesDay Indigenous peoples hold a special and sacred connection with their lands. However, for years they have been forced to leave their ancestral domains as the state disguises corruption and profit with development. Their land is not…
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) denounces the recent raids of activist organisations in Manila and Negros Occidental, and the continuous attempts to discredit civil society organisations in the Philippines. FORUM-ASIA calls on the Government and all State agencies to ensure respect for the rights of all individuals involved, including their freedoms…
We respectfully recommend to Vice President Leni Robredo that she make it among her top priorities as ICAD co-chair to stop and investigate what is clearly a policy of disinformation, misinformation and information manipulation to justify the drug war, specifically the extrajudicial killings. The people have a right to information, and we are sure the…
The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND) condemn the recent raids of people’s organizations in Negros and in Manila as well as arrests of activists, as preventive actions against people’s dissent, as government policies continue to result in economic crises, social unrest, unmitigated disasters,…
Interfaith organization Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP) expressed overwhelming fear over the list of alleged “front organizations of local Communist terrorist groups (CTG)” as presented by the Department of National Defense (DND). The list included the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP). The list was presented on November 5 by Major General Reuben…
Six years ago, typhoon Yolanda made landfall in the country and devastated regions in Southern Luzon and the whole Visayas. Nearly a million shelters were destroyed, displacing more than 4 million families, and severely affecting more than 13 million people. About 6,000 individuals lost their lives, and up to a thousand are still missing. Despite…
Workers, farmers, fishers, indigenous peoples, rural women, and health and trade justice advocates have all come out on the streets over the last few weeks to lead various protest actions across the region against the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or RCEP—touted as the biggest regional free trade and investment deal. The negotiations are now…
The country’s biggest labor coalition, Nagkaisa!, is demanding a tripartite investigation over the simultaneous raids and mass arrests conducted by security forces Thursday night against members of militant labor and women groups in Bacolod City to protect workers’ right to self-organization. “We won’t let this assault on freedom pass without demanding accountability from authorities who…
(Bangkok, 2 November 2019) – Today, for the first time in five years, a formal inter-face meeting took place between ASEAN Foreign Ministers and representatives of ASEAN civil society groups. The civil society organizations came as representatives of the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF), which was held in Bangkok in September 2019. The…
[VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY] The Youth Strike for Climate Philippines is a national, youth-led movement and network of youth-led actions and organizations aiming to empower young people to take action in addressing the effects of Climate Change by taking part in demonstrations on the streets to demand action from the government. We believe that we must be…
itinirik nila’y halaman imbes na kandila katabi ng larawan ng mahal nilang winala halaman upang tumubo, pag-asa ang sagisag simbolong bawat isang naroo’y maging matatag uusbong ang halaman upang maging isang puno na magbibigay ng lilim sa bawat nahahapo magbibigay ng bunga sa bawat gutom at luha at tutulong upang mapawi ang malaking baha mga…
Green group cites quakes and ASEAN statement to protect the environment Quezon City – Green group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) asked Pres. Duterte to stop the Tampakan Copper-Gold Mining Project in Mindanao, citing the recent quakes caused by the Cotabato Fault System. In a letter received by the Office of the President last Nov. 4,…
On October 31, elements from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the 3rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, and the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, armed with search warrants issued by a Quezon City court, raided the offices of Bayan Muna, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela, Anakpawis and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW)…
Whoever came up with these clichés must not have known a desaparecido. The vivid narratives about their lives, heroism, and martyrdom endlessly told and retold by their families interweave truthful memories of those forced out of sight but can never be forced out of mind. The families’ vacillation between the hope of finding the disappeared…
wala kaming puntod na titirikan ng kandila hanggang ngayon, sa mahal namin ay nangungulila sila’y aktibistang nagsikilos upang lumaya mula sa pagsasamantala ang bayan at dukha inorganisa ang kababaihan, manggagawa magsasaka, kabataang estudyante, ang madla ang guro, manininda, abugado, mangingisda subalit sila’y dinukot, sinaktan, iwinala hinanap ng pamilya ang kanilang katauhan nagtungo sa mga ospital,…
“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ― Shannon Alder TODAY, November 2 in the Philippines, marks All Souls’ Day where families come together to visit the graves of their loved ones. But for many families of the disappeared,…
Ngayong Undas, alalahanin ang mga pinaslang lalo ang mga inosenteng pinatay ng halang kayraming biktimang itinumba sa murang gulang hustisya ang hiyaw ng kamag-anak at magulang bakit sila pinaslang nang wala man lang proseso wala man lang paglilitis kung may sala nga ito ganyan ba magpahalaga ang gobyerno sa tao pinairal nila’y mga polisiyang barbaro…
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said on Thursday evening that combined forces of the police and military have raided the regional offices of Bayan Muna, Gabriela, and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in Bacolod, Negros Occidental. According to information from Zarate, elements from the Philippine Army wrongly alleged that 57 persons, including…
Human rights group Karapatan has denounced the alleged “raid” that were conducted in the offices of some groups in Bacolod City on Thursday afternoon. In a statement, Karapatan claimed that authorities had used a search warrant to target the offices of Gabriela, Bayan Muna as well as the National Federation of Sugar Workers in the…
Karapatan strongly condemns the raid of the offices of Gabriela, Bayan Muna and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) in Bacolod City on the evening of October 31, 2019. Police operatives used a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert of Branch 89 of the Regional Trial Court in Quezon City to target…
A labor group, Partido Manggagawa (PM), on Wednesday called on the government to consider re-nationalizing public utilities involved in the delivery of essential services in the face of deteriorating condition particularly in water and power services. The call was in response to President Duterte’s pronouncement that he may utilize his emergency powers, which include taking…
Officials of the new regional autonomous government in Muslim Mindanao are conducting a separate probe into reports that seven youths, including several minors, were massacred by government troops on October 23 amid an outpouring of anger on social media in southern Philippines provinces, towns and villages. Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) Spokesperson and…
Join us on November 5, 2019, Tuesday, 6 pm, at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish for #RESIST Eucharistic Celebration and silent protest for all the social injustices that is happening in our country. Please bring your candles. “Manalangin, Magsumamo sa Dakilang Lumikha – Ipag-adya Mo kami sa lahat ng Masama.” (Pray, plead to Our…
The implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for a new law that penalizes catcalling, wolf-whistling, sexist and homophobic slurs, unwanted sexual advances and other forms of sexual harassment in public spaces, workplaces, schools, and online were signed on Monday. Members of the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and the Technical Drafting Committee (TDC) led the signing…
