Violations made during the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon “should not be automatically meted with arrest,” the Commission on Human Rights said Friday. CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia in a statement disclosed that they have received complaints of taxi drivers, a homeless senior citizen, and a number of minors being arrested for violating the curfew…
MANILA, Philippines – Manila Police arrested Monday night, March 16, a 69-year-old homeless woman after she supposedly shouted expletives at barangay officials who were roving in the area to disseminate information about the looming curfew in Manila. Dorothy Espejo, jobless and who lives on the streets in Leveriza, Malate, faces 3 charges including violation of…
Buo na matatanggap ng mga kawani ng Pasig City ang kanilang sahod sa panahong umiiral ang enhanced community quarantine, ayon sa kanilang alkalde na si Vico Sotto. “Wag kayong mag-alala, tuloy-tuloy kayong makakatanggap ng buong sweldo […] Gagawan natin ng paraan. Basta, mag-ingat, at hangga’t maaari sa bahay lang muna kayo,” sabi ni Sotto sa…
MANILA, Philippines – No more ifs, and, or buts – the Department of Justice (DOJ) made it clear on Tuesday, March 17, that if you are found outside your house and you are not among the narrow exemptions of the Luzon lockdown, then you can be arrested even without a warrant. “The offense a person…
Seven national youth groups on Monday have raised seven-point demands in a bid to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that has caused worldwide fears and panic. These groups are Anakbayan, Panday Sining, League of Filipino Students (LFS), National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines…
A leukemia patient based in Marikina City ended up walking all the way to Quezon City to get his chemotherapy medicine due to the lack of public transportation on Tuesday. Anticipating the lack of vehicles due to the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, Hedel Cruz made a sign in advance asking for help in getting…
Senators Risa Hontiveros and Francis Pangilinan vote against the measure and warn of its possible abuse Voting 19-2, the Senate approved on third and final reading the measure that would give law enforcers a stronger legal backbone against terrorism and would effectively repeal the 2007 Human Security Act. Senate on Wednesday, February 26, approved Senate…
Members of an alliance of labor groups from Laguna and Batangas provinces held a rally outside the office of the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board here on Wednesday (Feb. 26) calling for new increases in wages in the Calabarzon region. Members of groups belonging to Workers’ Initiative for Wage Increase (Win for Win), an…
The director Joel Lamangan has helmed films, movies, and stage plays but his mode of expression this Monday morning, February 24, was, plain and simple, his words. Representing the Director’s Guild of the Philippines, Lamangan appeared at the senate hearing for the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN and spoke about freedom of expression, a subject very…
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Human rights has deteriorated in the Visayas, human rights defenders and leaders from the Catholic Church said here on Tuesday, December 10. “It’s deteriorating on all fronts,” Fr. Jose Bagadiong, a Catholic priest of the Society of the Divine Word, told Rappler on the sidelines of Task Force Detainees of the…
A string of criminal charges were filed Monday against a policeman who allegedly killed 23-year-old construction worker Kim Ramos and wounded his friend Lauro Lagarde in Marikina City in October. Lawyer Ansheline Bacudio told reporters that charges of murder, frustrated murder, and planting of evidence were filed before the Marikina City Prosecutors’ Office against Police…
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…
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…
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…
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…
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) expressed concern over alleged faked consultation and approval from affected indigenous communities to push through the construction of Kaliwa Dam in Quezon CHR spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the free prior and informed consent (FPIC) is necessary to activities that affect indigenous peoples’ (IPs) ancestral lands, territories and…
The University of the Philippines Visayas’ Student Council and other student organizations over the weekend said they “strongly condemn” the harassment received by UPV organization the Skimmers after their cheer critical of the Duterte administration’s policies went viral. “With the increased instances of red-tagging by this oppressive state whenever the University raises awareness and action…
MANILA, Philippines — A British filmmaker is urging President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters to watch his documentary on the war on drugs before dismissing it as mere ‘black propaganda’. James Jones said his team did not come to the Philippines with a biased notion of the Duterte administration’s drug war, contrary to recent statements…
The decision to keep secret the venue of the latest advance screening of “On the President’s Orders” says a lot about the atmosphere of fear in the country, a human rights advocate said on Wednesday night. “Haven’t we pondered if our situation today is not normal? The fact that we have to hide, that we…
