A new weapon against press freedom in the Philippines Carlos Conde, former correspondent for The New York Times in Manila, is the Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch. As a former journalist, I often find myself straining to explain press freedom in the Philippines. Many people I meet seem to have a rather straightforward view:…
On the first anniversary of the unresolved T’boli massacre Group hits Duterte plan to extend martial law in Mindanao Quezon City, Philippines – Progressive groups Sanlakas and Partido Lakas ng Masa Partylist staged protest actions at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Armed Forces of the Philippines, Camp Aguinaldo as they commemorate…
Labor Rights Group Releases “Bananas and Bullets: A Special Report on the Struggle of Banana Workers in Sumifru in Compostela” On October 1, 2018, workers of Sumifru Philippines Corporation, a Japanese-owned multinational company, launched a strike over the company’s various labor rights violations. As the workers resisted and protested against the exploitative measure of the…
Another Rights Lawyer Murdered in the Philippines Killing Highlights Land Conflict in Negros By Carlos H. Conde Researcher, Asia Division Human Rights Watch @condeHRW By most accounts, Benjamin Ramos died doing exactly what he had always done as a human rights lawyer: helping his clients free of charge. On the evening of November 6, Ramos…
AFAD Expresses Concern over the Election of India, Philippines and Bangladesh in the United Nations Human Rights Council The Asian Federation Against Enforced Disappearances (AFAD) expresses serious concern over the election of some of the 18 new member states into the United Nations Human Rights Council. Among the elected states of the Asia Pacific region,…
Teachers press for implementation of six-hour workday nationwide The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) again reminded the Department of Education (DepEd) to issue policy to implement the six-hour workday with uniformity. The TDC said that by next week, public schools will have its semestral break to give way for the school-based in-service trainings (INSET) of teachers.…
Labor Rights Group Condemns Brutal Dispersal of Banana Plantation Workers’ Strike; Demands Accountability of Sumifru and Its Cohorts in Duterte Government Labor rights group, Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) strongly denounces the violent dispersal of the workers’ strike at Sumifru Philippines Corporation in Compostela Valley. On October 11, 2018, 11th day of…
BALAY shows a film that merges past & present in remembering martial law The past continues to haunt nation even as it is once again confronted with a breakdown in the rule of law. This is a tragic commentary that was highlighted in the BALAY-sponsored showing of the film Respeto at the Cine Adarna Theater…
UN: Philippines, Eritrea Don’t Belong on Rights Council Competition-Free Slates Undermine Body’s Credibility, Effectiveness (New York, October 11, 2018) – United Nations member countries should oppose the candidacies of the Philippines and Eritrea for the Human Rights Council because of their egregious human rights records, Human Rights Watch said today. Serious rights violations in Bahrain…
Artist group organizing film screenings in schools slams ‘red-tagging’ DAKILA, the artist-activist group behind the Active Vista Human Rights Film Festival, condemns the ‘red-tagging’ of the Duterte administration of schools, youth, artists and groups organizing Martial Law-themed film screenings. DAKILA, a group known to organize film screenings complemented with discussions on social messages of the…
On AFP & Malacanang’s Statement Implicating Trade Unions in “Red October”: Ridiculous, Irresponsible and Sinister The Center for Trade Union and Human Right (CTUHR) slammed the statements made by AFP Chief Galvez and AFP Chief of Staff for Operations Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade with Ms. Tina Monzon-Palma on September 21,2018, alleging that the issue of…
SONAY -State of Nanays Address Sama-sama po ang mga Nanay mula sa batayang sektor ang magpapahayag ng tunay nilang karanasan sa dalawang taon na pamumuno ni Duterte. Sa panahon na mataas ang bilihin dahil sa TRAIN Law, sa panahon na hindi sustenable ang produksyon ng pagkain ng bansa dahil walang pa rin sapat na ayuda…
Non-Moro IP Provisions in Senate Bill 1717 and House Bill 6475: Compliant to FAB-CAB and the 1987 Philippine Constitution By Alim M. Bandara[1] The two versions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) –Senate Bill 1717 and House Bill 6475 have been met with diverse reactions from different stakeholders in the Bangsamoro core areas and outside…
Philippines: End Police Abuses New Police Chief Should Reject ‘Drug War,’ Ensure Independent Investigations The new head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) should urgently address police involvement in “drug war” killings and other abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a June 11, 2018 letter to Director General Oscar Albayalde. The police chief, who assumed…
The Philippines’ Scourge of Killers on Motorbikes The riding-in-tandem attacks underscore the extent to which rule of law has been diminished by President Rodrigo Duterte’s incitement of killings of drug suspects By Carlos H. Conde On June 11, in the northern Philippine province of Nueva Ecija, Father Richmond Nilo of Zaragosa town was preparing Mass…
Rebalancing privatization: Keeping public services public by Rene Ofreneo The approval by the House of Representatives of House Bill 7437 prohibiting the privatization of government hospitals is a welcome development. As explained by the bill’s principal author, Angelina Tan, public health institutions “should remain public and should continue to serve the poor.” There are more…
Philippine Police Chief Halts Crime Suspect ‘Perp Walks’ Nod to Due Process Underscores Wider Accountability Deficit in ‘Drug War’ By Carlos H. Conde The Philippine National Police (PNP) did something extraordinary this week: It took action to protect the rights of criminal suspects. On Monday, PNP chief Oscar Albayalde declared that the police will stop…
Duterte administration, worst and harshest to workers’ rights- CTUHR Labor rights NGO Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) affirms the recent report of International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) which ranked the Philippines as among the 10 worst countries for workers’ rights. “The ITUC Global Rights Index 2018 report re-validates CTUHR own findings that…
Priest killings, hindi dapat ipagkibit-balikat ni Reyn Letran Ito ang panawagan sa mga mamamayan ni Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija Bishop Roberto Mallari kasunod ng marahas na pagkamatay ni Fr. Richmond Nilo ng Diocese of Cabanatuan matapos na barilin ng hindi pa nakikilalang salarin noong linggo sa kapilya ng Nuestra Señora de la Nieve…
The Coal Death March: Limay, Bataan’s Case for Climate Justice by Beatrice Tulagan, ClimateStories.ph Once upon a time, there was a fifty-seven-year-old grandmother with kind eyes. She was loved dearly in her community for leading the charge against a coal stockpile in her neighborhood. In her spare time, she manned her family’s karaoke bar and…
