Commentary
“Upholding human rights coincides to an effective, legitimate, and impartial justice system” – A commentary on the acquittal of Juanito Jose Remulla III on possession of dangerous drugs
January 19, 2023“The judicial system appears to be cruel to the poor but merciful to the rich. People deprived of liberty with connection to power and elite background, like Juanito Jose Diaz Remulla III, son of the Justice Secretary of the Philippines can manipulate the broken judicial system or at the very least experience “due process”, says Liza Maza, spokesperson of the Council for People’s Development and Governance. In contrast, the poor are discriminated against, are criminalized, put behind bars, and worse, killed – like Kian delos Santos, Jefferson Bunuan, Carl Arnaiz, Reynaldo de Guzman, and the thousands more victims of the drug war killed without being given due process. Many others are incarcerated while awaiting trial for years already. The already overcrowded prison cells across the country have become all the more cramped and unhealthy for PDLs.
CPDG to Facebook: Uphold freedom of expression, enable civic spaces
January 15, 2023The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) joins the Commission on Human Rights in calling Facebook to review its takedown of the pages of civil society organizations. Facebook unpublished the pages of several organizations and individuals in the Philippines without any explanation except that the pages and individual accounts supposedly violated community standards. “Facebook […]
“Rebellion is not Terrorism”
October 8, 2022Rebellion is not terrorism- an insight of the recent Manila Court ruling dismissing the proscription case against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) filed by the Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2018 under Section 17 of the Human Security Act (HSA). According to the decision, the CPP-NPA must […]