Justin Umali would like you to think that he is not the corniest person in the room. A full-time activist from Southern Tagalog, he writes stories highlighting local and sectoral issues and community struggles. His hobbies include sending drafts at 2 a.m. and drinking too much coffee.
Justin Umali would like you to think that he is not the corniest person in the room. A full-time activist from Southern Tagalog, he writes stories highlighting local and sectoral issues and community struggles. His hobbies include sending drafts at 2 a.m. and drinking too much coffee.
According to reports, at least 3 Mangyan-Iraya children were killed while their mother was injured. At least 769 people were also forced to flee from the area.
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay called it “baffling” that Anicoche would be found a week later despite the presence of four military battalions in the area.
“By fighting for their rights, the Ninja Van workers have successfully defended their jobs and have pushed the government to commit to upholding labor rights in their workplace and in the entire platform industry.”
“The real objective of US aggression against Venezuela is not the fictitious ‘war on narcotics’. What US imperialism seeks is control over Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and strategic resources, control over its political orientation, and control over the direction of [Latin America and the Caribbean] as a whole.”
“Military presence is repeatedly being used not to protect the people but to secure disingenuous projects like mining, renewable energy projects, and eco-tourism that only serves the interests of the few.”
“These soldiers accused, forced into silence and attempted to detail at will through fabricated evidence and rehearsed witnesses packaged as rebel returnees. And now, they can walk away unaccountable because the state calls it ‘procedure.’”
“There might be an Assumption of Jurisdiction order from Labor Secretary Laguesma, but we will continue to fight until we fully achieve our benefits, just wages, and the return to work of our seven fellow unionists that were illegally dismissed by the company.”
The use of government as an extension of business is known as bureaucrat capitalism. Bureaucrat capitalism emerges when political power is concentrated to a small class of economic elites, propped up by and in service to foreign interests.
“Politicians are taking money from the workers and the people that should be spent for social services, social protection and social justice programs that advance labor and human rights."
This climate of fear undermines not only the safety of indigenous peoples but also the democratic rights of all Filipinos
The decision to reinstate Fajardo and Marquez came after Nexperia workers staged a strike last March 2025 over a deadlock in CBA negotiations.
"If the ‘iron-clad’ alliance comes with selling out the [Philippine] economy in exchange for ‘military aid’, then that’s not really an ‘alliance’ and that’s not really ‘aid’. That’s neocolonialism.”
Activists and community organizers like the Banjawan sisters are no longer just “arrested” or “disappeared”. They end up experiencing torture to break their spirit before returning them to the land of the living, denied of their liberty for the crime of finding a cause worthy of their life and dignity.
The slow pace of justice for the victims of Bloody Sunday mirrors the ongoing state of human rights in provinces across the region.
The slow judicial system was made worse by the appalling jail conditions in Quezon province.
Of the six arrested during Bloody Sunday, Eugenio was only the third whose charges were dropped.
“The so-called ‘Strengthened Strategic Partnership’ is not about mutual security, but about tightening a US-led military net aimed at ensnaring China in an inter-imperialist conflict."
“The military’s actions aim to undermine the rights of marginalized sectors, including farmers and women, and silence those advocating for change."
Bayan Muna ST has called Banjawan’s disappearance an “attack on progressive organizations and party-lists” and part of a worsening trend of attacks under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration.
“Standing up to assert our national sovereignty is necessary when foreign interests create artificial islands in our territory, destroy our marine habitat to create a military base on our shoals, and deny our fishermen of their livelihood.”
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