“She dedicated her life to helping and serving women who are victims of abuse. She also actively led in the 80’s the cases of women victims of sex trafficking. She became active in campaigns against giant mining companies, and ran for council in her hometown in Mindanao.”
“The perjury case brought by the government may also be a form of retaliation for the human rights activities of these local human rights defenders. We have seen in recent years that many defenders have been dragged before the courts, smeared, red tagged and murdered in the Philippines. This intimidation should stop immediately.”
“We all have our own sphere of influence: our friends, families, colleagues. No one else can connect with those people in such an intimate way we can.”
Both are being charged with double murder in relation to an alleged ambush by the New People’s Army which resulted in the killing of two soldiers in Ragay, Camarines Sur on May 13, 2018. According to Karapatan-Bicol, both have filed their respective counter-affidavits denying their participation in the alleged ambush in December 2019. By ANNE…
Most of the breadwinners in their village earn a living either as construction workers or market vendors.
Gabriela condemned the arrest and called for the immediate release of Agovida and Bartolome.
It should be pointed out that these organizations are being targeted for the invaluable work they do – the defense of human rights of the poor and marginalized.
“National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr.’s actions show that this government is indeed hell-bent on silencing its critics using the entire extent of its resources and through deliberately magnifying technicalities to veer the conversation away from the core issue of state-sponsored attacks by the Duterte government. ”
Cristina Palabay,secretary general of Karapatan, said, “We have not been given the chance to be heard.”
“The comfort woman statue supposedly serves as a reminder to future generations of Japan’s atrocities and abuses against Filipino women during the Second World War, and women’s historical victimization in times of wars of aggression.”
Gabriela Women’s Party Reps Arlene D. Brosas and Emmi de Jesus recommended measures to secure the shelter and livelihood of around 6,000 poor households in Vitas, Tondo, Manila.