Dominic Gutoman is hungry for new ideas and connections. As a community manager and a reporter, his energy overflows as his reaction to most things mundane or sublime.
Dominic Gutoman is hungry for new ideas and connections. As a community manager and a reporter, his energy overflows as his reaction to most things mundane or sublime.
“The arrest and harassment of development workers not only undermine their ability to serve vulnerable communities but also erode the democratic freedoms enshrined in our Constitution,” said PDG in the letter.
Martial law survivors fear that the appointment of Geraldine Faith Econg could reverse hard-won gains in the anti-martial law struggle.
‘Palit-ulo’ is the practice of arresting and charging family members when the police fail to apprehend a suspect, a common pattern which Karapatan traced to the administration of Rodrigo Duterte at the height of the drug war.
"Kapatid hopes this new Supreme Court decision could pave the way for the dismissal of cases like theirs, where faulty and vague warrants have been used as a tool of persecution of activists, leading to their unjust and prolonged imprisonment," said Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim.
Known for being caring and responsible, JP learned to drive at a young age to assist his mother with errands, often taking her to the supermarket and his siblings to school.
“These heinous acts constitute a blatant violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and grave child rights violations identified by the United nations (UN) Security Council, affront to the fundamental rights of the children and youth, who deserve protection rather than victimization, especially in times of conflict,” CRC said in a statement.
In total, ten indigenous and non-indigenous residents of Sitio Mariahangin are currently facing a criminal complaint filed by Caesar M. Ortega, former NCIP director for the Ancestral Domain Office (ADO) and former officer-in-charge executive director, who identifies himself as the “authorized representative of the nine (9) land owners of the nine titled properties situated within Bowen Island (Sitio Mariahangin).”
We want to use this case as a potential defense mechanism for journalists who experienced the same kind of attacks and harassment,” said Atom Araullo in a press conference, Dec. 19 in Quezon City.
Mary Jane Veloso’s accounts reveal the realities of Filipino migrant workers who are victimized by human traffickers. Mary Jane’s family and supporters call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to grant her clemency, a conditional release of a person deprived of liberty (PDL), mitigating the consequences of criminal liability.
“[Secretary] Estrella, we are pleading to you. Please have mercy on us. The attacks against us have gone too far and our human rights are being violated. We can no longer go to school because of what San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is doing to us. Many young people among us still want to study, but I am one of those who had to stop because we can no longer live in peace there," Rustene Pelayo Leoncio said in Filipino.
“The issuance of Writs of Habeas Data and Amparo from the Supreme Court is important in our ongoing legal battle to know the truth, achieve justice, and to surface Dexter [Capuyan] and Bazoo [De Jesus],” the parents said in Filipino.
Residents said that in 2023, SMC initially presented a “resettlement program" for Mariahangin families, offering money amounting to P75,000 with land or P100,000 if without land. Recently, the offer has increased to P400,000 per family to urge them to vacate their ancestral lands.
In 2023, DAR revoked the NOC of the 10,821 hectares of land of the indigenous peoples in Bugsuk, Palawan which was initially issued in 2014. Residents said that this decision by DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III prompted escalated harassment and intimidation in their community in Sitio Mariahangin.
In all cases of enforced disappearances, Irene Khan urged them to provide information on the policies, procedures and measures adopted to prevent and investigate enforced disappearances carried out by members of State security forces or any other agent acting on their behalf or with their acquiescence.
“These executive orders and the NHRAP are desperate attempts by the Marcos regime to cover up its sordid human rights record. These are hypocritical actions while it continues to implement policies that infringe on Filipinos' basic rights and freedoms and wantonly violate IHL," said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
Eusebio Pelayo, 69, a community leader and a Molbog resident in Mariahangin, Bugsuk, Palawan, is summoned to court on December 4 due to a criminal complaint filed by Caesar M. Ortega, described as the “Authorized Representative of Land owners situated within Bowen Island” in the document. Ortega is NCIP’s former OIC executive director of the NCIP and Ancestral Domain Office’s (ADO) former director.
“We cannot sleep well these days because we fear that they will enter the community. Our husbands have skipped work and our livelihoods have been paralyzed just so we can defend our ancestral land from their attempts to seize it. Our children sometimes do not have anything to eat.”
Invisible Labor's director Joanne Cesario said that the documentary’s success was a collective effort by the workers’ movement and advocates dedicated to preserving labor history. Reflecting on a 2022 gathering of labor rights advocates, Cesario shared how they recognize the urgent need to mainstream labor history, even within the workers’ movement itself.
Karapatan said that the quadcomm hearings revealed the involvement of Duterte’s people in perpetrating human rights violations against activists and human rights defenders.
Lolita Abril urged the CHR to conduct an independent investigation into the killing of her husband Ronel Abril and another coconut farmer Roger Clores last September 26. The two were allegedly killed by elements of the 2nd Infantry Battalion (2nd IB) in an “armed encounter.”
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