Human rights group Karapatan assailed the terrorist designation of red-tagged community doctor Natividad Castro per the Anti-Terrorism Council Resolution No. 35.
Rights group DEFEND Southern Tagalog condemned the decision, asserting that the DOJ’s insistence on “presumption of regularity” is a “grave injustice.”
NPA fighters Aurily Havana and Jennifer Binungkasan were allegedly abducted by members of the 402nd Infantry Brigade last November 3, 2022, in Barangay Libertad, Butuan City.
In the Philippines, victims of rights violations face dead ends as they turn to the Office of the Ombudsman for justice and redress.
Political prisoner Reina Mae Nasino visited her late daughter, baby River Emmanuelle’s grave after three years of incarceration on charges that were found to have failed to establish strong footing.
The most recent Land and Rights Watch Report shows that killings remain the most common human rights violation (HRV) with 51 incidents and 74 victims. This is followed by arrests, detention and legal persecution, with 32 incidents and 477 victims. Worth noting is that almost half or 14 of those arrested or legally persecuted in cases linked to land conflicts are women.
Kapatid compared the bail amount to the P300,000 ($5,371.50) bail posted by former first lady Imelda Marcos after she was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for using her government position to maintain Swiss bank accounts while her husband was in office.
A local court granted the bail petition of three political prisoners, citing "failure of the prosecution to prove that the evidence of guilt against all accused is strong."
"Despite these sordid figures, there has been zero justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings. The culture of impunity continues to rear its ugly head."
“State security forces continue to perpetrate with impunity extrajudicial killings, torture, forced disappearances, illegal arrests, and detention based on trumped-up charges."
“This libel case is an attack on truth and those who wield it to champion peoples' political rights.”
Residents of Maisan in Sampaloc, Manila find the demolition unjust as negotiation for their relocation is ongoing with the city government of Manila.
Human rights workers and the relatives of detained development worker Ma. Salome “Sally” Ujano have renewed their calls for her release, nearly a year since she was arrested and detained based on trumped-up cases.
Over the past five years, at least two people from rural communities have been killed weekly in the struggles against land grabs, based on estimates by the Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PANAP). More than eight are arrested and detained weekly, and more than two are harassed or assaulted.
“In short, we are attacked because we take on cases, clients and issues which many others cannot or will not take on.”
“The signed SIM Registration Law poses problems for privacy rights as the Philippine government is notorious for illegal surveillance and violations of data privacy. The SIM registration can become a vast surveillance network used against the people.”
Dissent is ostracized and criminalized to isolate those who are defying and challenging the powers that be.
Before she was abducted, Cha became a victim of red-tagging, Azase said. She said her mother told her about receiving death threats and felt she was often being tailed.
Abducted labor organizers Elizabeth 'Loi' Magbanua and Alipio 'Ador' Juat, campaigned for the release of the ten-thousand peso aid for workers and the urban poor. They have also been under surveillance due to their involvement in establishing a community network to fight threats of demolition in the Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila.
Rights groups seeking to investigate the death of a nine-year-old girl in Taysan, Batangas province have been prevented by soldiers from talking to the victim's family. Karapatan-Southern Tagalog said the military is preventing the truth from coming out.
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