Unity Statement We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, are united in our stand against the violation of the people’s right to development thru the continued intimidation, harassment and attacks among human rights and development workers in the Philippines, particularly in the Visayas in general, and in Panay Island in particular. Power dynamics, uneven distribution of…
December 10th is the 71st commemoration of International Human Rights Day. This year focuses on young human rights defenders all over the world, and the challenge of shrinking civic spaces in the Philippines. The past couple of years marked an extraordinary rise of young people’s movements which call out injustice, corporate greed, violence and inequality.…
[Today], the Commission on Human Rights joins nations and communities everywhere in commemorating International Human Rights Day and the 71st Anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Over seven decades ago, world leaders convened to adopt the UDHR, a declaration that would form the foundations of core human rights treaties…
Public school teachers in Central Luzon or Region 3 have successfully voted to have a union. The teachers see this as an important victory for the education sector. An overwhelming majority of them voted to have a union despite the “no union” campaign by local governments and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA). The “no…
Universities as higher institutions of learning act as safe spaces that encourage the free flow and exchange of ideas. It serves as an arena of ideas where only the most logical and sound arguments prevail. It is facilitated by academic freedom which develops critical thinking. As Critical Thinking thrives in schools, they become “infrastructure of…
“My order is shoot to kill you. I don’t care about human rights, you better believe me.” – President Rodrigo Duterte 1 And true to his words, drug-related deaths are now into the thousands. Yet there are no clear statistics on how many have in fact been killed. 2 A. SOURCE: #RealNumbersPH Number KILLED in…
QUEZON CITY – Alyansa Tigil Mina joins various human rights and advocacy groups in marching to celebrate the International Human Rights Day. They are voicing out their concern on the alarming threats against human rights defenders, caused by the politics of fear perpetuated by the current administration. Global Witness, an international human rights NGO, identified…
We, the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, express our support to Sr. Elenita Belardo, RGS, 80, the former National Coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, the oldest Mission Partner of AMRSP. Likewise, we decry the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office for issuing a warrant of arrest against her for perjury. The…
Justice remains elusive two years since the killing of eight members of the T’boli-Manobo indigenous people in Mindanao who are locked in a struggle with a coffee plantation over land. Task Force Tamasco, a group of non-governmental organizations supporting the T’boli-Manobo S’daf Claimants Organization (TAMASCO), condemns the agonizingly slow action of the Department of Environment…
We, the members of the media, campus journalists, online bloggers, digital activists and human rights defenders and civil society organizations are gathered here today, for the 3rd Freedom of Expression Conference or the FreeXP.Con3, organized by the Human Rights Online Philippines (HRonlinePH) and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) to discuss the state…
Nakapanlulumo ang naging resulta ng 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), pandaigdigang pagsusuri sa kakayahan ng mga batang mag-aaral sa Reading Comprehension, Science at Mathematics na sinalihan ng Pilipinas ngayon. Sa 79 na bansang kasali sa pang-78 ang Pilipinas sa Mathematics at Science samantala pang-79 sa Reading. Bagama’t totoong may mga detalye pang hindi…
Vice President Robredo barely warmed her seat before President Duterte fired her as co-chairperson of the Interagency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs. Was his offer of involving her in finding solutions to the situation of drugs in the Philippines ever really serious? He didn’t even give Robredo the chance to show what she could do to…
“This incident only shows the vulnerability of our teachers to different forms of abuse. Thus we call on the DepEd to take measures to protect our teachers from harassment, intimidation, threat, violence, extortion and public humiliation. One urgent step is to hire dedicated lawyers to defend our teachers, both for administrative and criminal charges. Meanwhile,…
World March of Women Statement International Day for the elimination of violence against women Kapangyarihan sa kababaihan. Today, we, Filipino women from different sectors, chant these words. Perform this call. Move our bodies as we embody this power to the beat of sticks and drums—to the sound of the same chant, of similar invocations, by…
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…
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,…
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…
