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Two men on board a motorcycle arrived outside the compound of Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Groun (PDG) in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental, at approximately 9:30 a.m. One of them took photographs of the vicinity using a mobile phone, while the driver remained on standby.
“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.
“With Duterte's invocation of his role as lawyer and prosecutor as some kind of authority in his recent testimony at the hearings at the House of Representatives and the Senate, we believe it is time for victims of human rights violations to speak up."
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said the inquiry is an “important step in coming up with a clear picture of how prevalent red-tagging is across the country and its detrimental effects on the conduct of human rights work, and what accountability mechanisms can be adopted to put a stop to it.”
"This is a dangerous and malicious act of red-tagging by the BJMP. They are using an unverified social media post from a discredited source to justify surveillance and monitoring of a sitting member of Congress and political prisoners."
Human rights group Karapatan criticized the Philippine government's push for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, saying Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is misleading both national and international audiences with a record of extrajudicial killings and military repression.
Nicolas Aca’s performance expressed a critique on “how religion can bind devotees to their leaders' agenda as if in chains.”
‘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 said this incident shows a pattern of systemic abuse and inadequate training among jail authorities, who violated the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology's rule that strip searches should only occur when necessary, and that the invasive, traumatic body cavity search should only be performed with probable cause after a strip search.
PDG, at its core, has spent decades advocating for agrarian reform, sustainable agriculture, and the rights of small farmers and fisherfolk in Southern Negros. Genol told Bulatlat that PDG was founded in 1987 in response to the Negros famine.
“The practice of filing trumped up charges of “illegal assembly” must stop. Marching to Mendiola to denounce injustice should not be criminalized,” they said, mentioning how the ‘wholesale filing’ of the MPD even misidentified Mody Floranda of Piston as “female” and Moro leader Amirah Lidasan as a member of ACT.
"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.
Cardinal David also stressed that the prevalence of inequality in the country leads to struggle. He said he longs for the day that it is no longer necessary for people to take up arms to correct the inequities in society.
“Although Tatay Pepe was able to identify that the remains in Dimatulac Funeral Homes were his daughter’s, both the Roxas police and 4th IBPA are making things hard on him for no discernible reason,” human rights watchdog Karapatan Southern Tagalog said in a statement. “They are miring Tatay Pepe through documents and bureaucracy, despite the law clearly stating what considerations and rights should be given to indigenous people.”
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).”
Ronilo Villanueva is a coconut farmer who was found by elements of the 85th Infantry Battalion while out processing copra. Tanggol Quezon said Villanueva was shot on the knee and stomach before he was arrested on unknown charges. Another farmer named Genero was also arrested, according to eyewitness accounts.
“Earlier in 2023, I was still able to talk to him. He would call me and it seemed like nothing had changed with Kuya Chakoy. He's still the same, bubbly as ever, like a long-distance friend,” Manaog said.
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.
"I will carry on Betchay's legacy by continuing the fight she started,” Nanay Enda vowed, her voice shaking with both sorrow and resolve, recounting the events of the infamous Bloody Sunday Massacre.
Liezel Asuncion, widow of slain labor leader Emmanuel “Ka Manny” Asuncion, recounted the harrowing events of that day, detailing how the police raided their home and shot her husband. "They claimed my husband fought back, but I was there—I saw what really happened," she said. Asuncion highlighted the use of defective search warrants and fabricated charges that have plagued similar cases against activists.
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