The state of civic space in the Philippines remains rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor in its People Power under Attack report published in December 2024. Concerns documented in recent years include the arrest and detention of activists, often on fabricated charges. Human rights defenders have also been ‘red-tagged’, putting them at risk of arrest or even being killed. Civil society has also documented the harassment and attacks against journalists.
Efforts to bring former president Rodrigo Duterte to justice have persisted. Since August 2024, the Philippine House of Representatives have held joint hearings that have examined extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs” during the Duterte administration and whether money from drugs and illegal gambling were used by the Duterte administration to finance killings by the police.
The International Criminal Court is investigating extrajudicial killings that occurred when the Philippines was still a party to the Rome Statute until March 2019 when a withdrawal from the court ordered by Duterte took effect. The office of the current president, Ferdinand Marcos Jr said in November 2024, it would be willing to consider handing Duterte over to the ICC if an Interpol request was made. In December 2024, the House Quad Committee recommended the filing of crimes against humanity charges against Duterte, Senators Christopher Lawrence Go and Ronald Dela Rosa and other police officials in connection with the alleged extrajudicial killings during the previous administration's drug war.
In recent months, activists have continued to face enforced disappearance as well as harassment and red-tagging, including an environment activist, a student activist and trade unionists. Two trade union organisers were arbitrarily arrested, while terrorism financing charges were brought against Ilocano development workers. UN experts raised concern on a bogus terrorism case against Visayas NGO workers while a solidarity activist was denied entry to the country. Tacloban police disrupted a student protest while activists faced illegal assembly charges. A film on enforced disappearances was briefly banned, a female journalist was killed in a Mindanao shooting while authorities are increasingly using Facebook to stifle young activists.
Association
Environmental activist resurfaces after two-month enforced disappearance
Environmental activist Rowena “Owen” Dasig (picture above), who went missing after she was released by the police in August 2024, resurfaced in October 2024. Dasig is the Secretary-General of Anakbayan Southern Tagalog. A resident of Rizal Province, she advocates for the rights of marginalised communities, especially farmers and fishermen affected by environmental threats.
Rowena Dasig along with Miguela “Ella” Piniero, were arrested while conducting research in a liquefied natural gas plant in Atimonan, Quezon, in July 2023. The two were investigating the possible impact on the community of the proposed combined cycle gas turbine power project and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal plant when arrested by government forces.
Baseless charges of ‘illegal possession of firearms’ were brought against them, but they were acquitted by the Gumaca, Quezon Regional Trial Court Branch 172. Dasig was supposed to be released from Lucena City District Jail (LCDJ) on 22nd August 20024 while Peniero remained detained due to other charges she faces. When their lawyers checked with the prison, they were informed that Dasig had already been released.
On 22nd October 2024, human rights group KARAPATAN Southern Tagalog announced that Dasig had been found and was now in the company of friends and her legal team. The group deferred announcing how Dasig was found as well as the circumstances of her disappearance pending the result of her debriefing with her lawyers.
Enforced disappearances remain a persistent human rights violation in the Philippines. According to the The Asian Forum for Development and Human Rights (FORUM-ASIA), at least 14 individuals have gone missing after being abducted by armed men since President Marcos Jr. took office.
Student activist faces continued harassment
Karapatan Southern Tagalog strongly condemns the redtagging and campus repression done against youth leader and human rights worker Paolo Tarra!#DefendPaoloTarra#DefendHumanRightsDefenders pic.twitter.com/PBWSUi3BFl
— Karapatan Timog Katagalugan (@KarapatanST) June 1, 2024
On 4th August 2024, agents from the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), a counter-terrorism task force, visited the family of student activist Paolo Tarra in Trece Martires City, Cavite, threatening him with charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
This incident is the latest in ongoing harassment against Tarra, who has been under surveillance since February 2024 for alleged involvement with “leftist groups,” stemming from his participation in humanitarian missions and attendance at the State of the Nation Address as a guest of Rep. Raoul Manuel. Tarra is the coordinator of the Coalition of Concerned Lasallians (CCL) and a human rights worker in Cavite and other parts of the Southern Tagalog region.
Tarra expressed concern over the threats against his elderly parents, accusing state agents of using intimidation tactics to silence dissent.
There have been calls from civil society and UN experts for NTF-ELCAC to be abolished as it has been operating beyond its original mandate and is red-tagging activists, people from the community and indigenous peoples.
Red-tagging of labour leaders
In September 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that the government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has harassed and threatened union leaders and their members by accusing them of being combatants or supporters of the communist insurgency, This practice, known as “red-tagging,” has led labour activists to withdraw from unions and has led individual unions to end their affiliations with labour federations critical of the government.
Human Rights Watch research in the Southern Tagalog region, south of Manila, where many foreign companies operate in “special economic zones,” found that local officials and members of the police or military repeatedly visit the homes of union leaders and officers, and threaten action against them for allegedly being members or sympathisers of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
When those targeted were not at home, the officials would pressure their family members to convince them not to support the NPA. Because of many past killings of labour activists who had been red-tagged, those targeted and their relatives said the harassment made them fear for their lives.
Two trade union organisers arrested
Two Southern Tagalog trade union organisers were arbitrarily arrested in October 2024. Arrested in Makati City were Gavino Panganiban, Director for Campaigns of the Kilusang Mayo Uno-affiliated Pagkakaisa ng Manggagawa sa Timog Katagalugan (PAMANTIK), and Maritess David, a labour organiser of the Organised Labor Association in Line Industries and Agriculture-Kilusang Mayo Uno (Olalia-KMU). David faces trumped-up charges of murder while Panganiban faces charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
CIVICUS has documented reports of evidence being planted by the police and military forces to justify arrests or violence against activists.
Terrorism financing cases brought against Ilocano development workers
Development workers from Ilocos have been targeted by the authorities using anti-terror legislation.
In October 2024, Petronila Guzman and Lenville Salvador, board members of KADUAMI (Katinnulong Daguiti Umili ti Amianan), and Myrna Zapanta, a lay worker and member of the secretariat of the Ilocos Regional Ecumenical Council (IREC), received subpoenas from the Department of Justice (DOJ) directing them to answer trumped-up charges of allegedly violating the terrorist financing law.
Nida Tundagui, executive director of KADUAMI and spokesperson for the Defend NGO Network-Northern Luzon, said: “Our existence is rooted in serving communities that have long faced historical neglect. These are not acts of terrorism.” Tundagui accused the government of intensifying its focus on anti-terrorism financing to target NGOs working in underserved rural areas, claiming this is part of the Philippines’ initiative to exit the FATF “grey list.”
UN experts raise concern on bogus terrorism case against Visayas NGO workers
Estrella Catarata, CERNET: 27 of the 58 individuals with terrorism financing cases are from CERNET. Our demand is to dismiss the fabricated charge vs 'CERNET 27'. pic.twitter.com/a6OmYa1Rej
— AlterMidya (@altermidya) December 4, 2024
In August 2024, five UN experts sent a communication to the government over the criminalisation of 27 human rights defenders and development workers affiliated with anti-poverty network Community Empowerment Resource Network Inc. (CERNET), a Cebu-based development NGO servicing the whole of the Visayas, who face trumped up terrorism and terrorist financing charges. The letter was made public in November 2024.
The UN experts decried the criminalisation and red-tagging of the 27 former and present CERNET officers and staff, most of whom are women, calling such acts a “deliberate misapplication of counter-terrorism legislation…for the purpose of discrediting legitimate human rights and humanitarian activities.”
In particular, the UN human rights experts asked the Philippine government to explain the factual and legal basis for the charges brought against 27 human rights defenders with past or present connections to CERNET; and the specific measures taken to ensure that human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and other members of civil society in the Philippines can carry out their legitimate work in a safe and enabling environment, without fear of harassment and intimidation from authorities.
As previously documented, CERNET has been the target of unfounded and baseless accusations of having links to the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army (CPP-NPA). In May 2024, terrorist financing charges were filed against CERNET and individuals currently or previously on its council, board or staff. CERNET was accused of handing over funds to the South Eastern Front (SEF) group of the National People’s Army (NPA) in Dumaguete City, which is classified as a terrorist organisation.
Solidarity activist denied entry to the country
In October 2024, the authorities barred a US-based activist from attending the national congress of human rights alliance KARAPATAN held in Quezon City, as an observer.
On 5th October 2024, Copeland Downs, Chairperson of Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines and an active member of the International Coalition on Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), was held by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, his luggage searched and passport held, and he was eventually deported.
Downs was told that he cannot enter the Philippines because he is on a blacklist for “attending a rally in 2022” in the Philippines. Downs denied the allegation and stated that he previously visited peasant and urban poor communities in the Philippines in an international observers’ mission that investigated the 2022 national elections.
The ICHRP-US condemned what they call unjust denial and blacklisting of Downs. They said the blacklisting of Downs is a clear retaliation for “exposing the truth about the illegitimate Marcos Jr regime.
Baguio City passes human rights defender ordinance
On 9th December 2024, the Baguio City Council overwhelmingly voted for the long-awaited ordinance to protect human rights defenders.
The legislation establishes crucial protective mechanisms and allocates necessary funds to ensure the safety and security of those working to uphold human rights in the community. The ordinance defined political vilification and red tagging, recognising the acts as human rights violations and abuses. Notably, Section 39 prohibits public authorities in Baguio City from falsely or unfairly labeling human rights defenders.
It also mandates authorities to correct false or derogatory labels as part of reparations for affected individuals, to remove materials that promote such labeling, and for a public apology or clarification from offenders. Failure can result in administrative and criminal charges.
The measure dedicates funding to ensure the effective implementation of these protections. The ordinance also establishes legal and psychosocial assistance, and sanctuaries for high-risk human rights defenders, human rights violation victims, and their families.
The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) hailed the ordinance as a “significant pushback against the culture of impunity,” emphasising its importance amid “shrinking civic spaces.”
KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay said: “The passage of local ordinances protecting human rights defenders is actually long overdue, especially after a nationally legislated human rights defenders bill hurdled Congress but has not yet been approved in the Senate.”
Peaceful Assembly
Tacloban police disrupt student protest
On 16th August 2024, police disrupted a student-led rally in Tacloban City, detaining youth activists from the University of the Philippines (UP) during a protest against the anti-terrorism law and red-tagging.
Over 100 students, who attended the 57th General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC), were blocked from returning to UP Tacloban by police, who demanded a list of participants. Protesters were dispersed toward RTR Plaza, with some held by police, including a delegate from UP Mindanao who was handcuffed and arrested. Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel, present during the protest, negotiated the release of 77 students after approximately two hours, including the detained delegate.
Police cited Article 146 of the Revised Penal Code, which penalises unauthorised assemblies, to justify the arrest, claiming participation without a permit warranted legal action. The students were eventually allowed to return to the UP Tacloban campus.
Activists face illegal assembly charges
Activists from MAKABAYAN, a left-leaning political coalition, and transport leaders are facing charges of illegal assembly.
Transport leader Modesto “Mody” Floranda and urban poor leader Eufemia “Mimi” Doringo have been charged with alleged violations of Batasang Pambansa 880 (BP 880) or the Public Assembly Act 1985. The complaint also included Ruben “Bong” Baylon, secretary general of PISTON, as well as Manibela transport group leaders Mario Valbuena and Regie Manlapid, citing the 14th August 2024 protest rally in Welcome Rotonda, Manila, against the Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) modernisation programme. Drivers and operators are grappling with the fear of losing their livelihoods due to the exorbitant costs associated with modernisation.
The Public Assembly Act 1985 has been misused by the authorities to restrict the right of the people to peaceful assembly by requiring application for permits before conducting protests.
Atty. Sol Taule, Karapatan Deputy Secretary General, said: “The baseless charges against Floranda and Doringo and other progressive leaders are clearly meant to harass them. Such charges violate their right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”
Expression
Censors reclassify banned film on enforced disappearances
MTRCB lifts ban on the documentary film "Alipato at Muog" after its secondary review body deemed the need to balance freedom of expression and "maintaining public order and integrity." pic.twitter.com/KDORAEC0bf
— BusinessMirror (@BusinessMirror) September 6, 2024
In August 2024, the Philippine government censorship board, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTCRB), banned the documentary “Alipato at Muog” ((Flying Embers and a Fortress) by giving it an X rating, citing that the film "undermines faith and confidence in the government."
The documentary, directed by JL Burgos, recounts the 2007 enforced disappearance of his brother, Jonas Burgos, a peasant activist abducted by suspected military agents in a mall in Quezon City. Among those implicated in the case is Col. Eduardo Año, now national security advisor to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who denies involvement.
The film’s ban, which prevents public screening, highlights ongoing concerns about freedom of expression in the Philippines, drawing criticism from human rights groups who are urging the Marcos administration to overturn the decision and allow the documentary's release.
Following a public outcry, the film was reclassified in September 2024 to R16 (suitable for audiences aged 16 and above) following a second review of the five-member board committee of the MTRCB. According to a statement, the committee "considered the importance of balancing the interests not only of the constitutionally protected right to freedom of expression with the State’s interest in maintaining public order and integrity."
Female journalist killed in Mindanao shooting
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— Carlos H. Conde 🇵🇭 (@carloshconde) October 23, 2024
Radio broadcaster Maria Vilma Rodriguez was spending time with family members in Zamboanga when attacked
Female journalist shot dead in the Philippines, 5th killed under Marcos Jr. - UCA News https://t.co/DJx2UVPdJk
Female radio anchor Maria Vilma Rodriguez was killed after unknown assailants shot her at a store near her home in Zamboanga City on the southern island of Mindanao on 22nd October 2024.
According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), eMedia Production Network radio anchor and local community leader Maria Vilma Rodriguez was shot three times in the abdomen by unidentified assailants on motorcycles outside a store near her home in Zamboanga City. Despite her injuries, Rodriguez managed to walk home and informed her daughter of her injuries before being transferred to Zamboanga City Medical Centre, where she was declared dead by attending physicians.
Police arrested a suspect on 23rd October 2024. Investigators have also recovered a spent cartridge case from the crime scene, believed to be from a .38 calibre firearm. Rodriguez is the fifth journalist to be killed in the Philippines since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in June 2022.
NUJP Zamboanga City said: “We condemn this atrocious attack against a journalist, and a woman at that. We are urging the Zamboanga City Police Office to probe deeper into this, unmask the killers and their masterminds, and put them behind bars. We don't need a tale of another unsolved case that ended up as archives or statistics."
Authorities increasingly using Facebook to stifle young activists
READ THE FULL REPORT HERE: https://t.co/zt9e4jriUE#NoToRedTagging #ActivismisNotTerrorism #ProtectTheProtest pic.twitter.com/onzDhDY7bR
— Amnesty Philippines (@amnestyph) October 14, 2024
According to Amnesty International, Philippines authorities are increasingly using Facebook in red-tagging campaigns targeting young activists, including those who investigate alleged human rights violations by the military, police and other government agencies.
A new report by Amnesty International from October 2024 details how the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has increasingly weaponised digital tools, misinformation and vague anti-terror laws to harass, intimidate and repress young activists.
Red-tagging has intensified under the administration of President Marcos Jr, with opponents targeted through Facebook posts and press statements despite his administration’s attempts to present itself as more respectful of human rights. The attacks are particularly notable on the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) Facebook page, which has thousands of followers. The NTF-ELCAC shares numerous posts and press statements on its Facebook page, many of them wrongly vilifying young activists as “terrorists” or falsely accusing them of being associated with armed groups.
Facebook is the leading social media network in the Philippines, with 95 percent of social media users logging in to the platform each month, which also makes it a key focus for red-tagging and online harassment. Amnesty International found consistent failures by Meta to enforce its community guidelines and to remove red-tagging content that incites hatred and violence.
Amnesty International researchers also analysed ads that were approved and published by Meta on its Facebook platform. Multiple accounts were able to red-tag and “terrorist-tag” youth and other groups repeatedly through advertisements to send messages which often lead to direct threats and off-line attacks.