Thematic Groups
Asserting People’s Rights Amid Impunity and Closing of Civic Space: A Roundtable Discussion on Repressive Bills and Alternatives
October 14, 2026As of July 2026, 222 human rights defenders have been charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA). 138 of them have been acquitted. Even so, banks keep freezing accounts, services to communities stop, and development workers with their families carry the cost while cases drag on. Now Congress […]
FINANCIAL & ORGANIZATIONAL ATTACKS: PH’s expanding system for political repression
October 13, 2026FINANCIAL & ORGANIZATIONAL ATTACKS:PH’s expanding system for political repressionKapit-Bisig Conference, Toronto, CanadaIBON Foundation/Defend NGOs Alliance, Sept 26, 2026by: Sonny Africa We can start from where Karapatan’s input ended. We’ve seen how dissenters are identified and criminalized through “lawfare,” or the weaponization of the law for political repression. This input will focus on how the state […]
CTUHR’s Kamz Deligente on the World Day for Decent Work
October 7, 2026Kamz Deligente, Executive Director of the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), on the right to organize and the celebration of the World Day for Decent Work. Filipino translation: Walang disenteng trabaho kung walang layang mag-organisa ang mga manggagawa. Ang kalayaan sa pagsapi sa asosasyon—karapatan ng mga manggagawa na mag-unyon—ang nagbibigay sa kanila […]
Broad Nets, Narrow Freedoms: The Chill of the New Espionage Act
October 6, 2026Broad Nets, Narrow Freedoms: The Chill of the New Espionage ActPosition Paper of the Defend NGOs Alliance on HB 964223 September 2026 The Defend NGOs Alliance strongly opposes House Bill No. 9642, “An Act Expanding the Coverage of Espionage Law,” cited as the “New Espionage Act,” authored by Representative Zamora (Y.M.), Oducado, Suan, Romualdo, and […]
CHR holds 2nd Roundtable Discussion on the Human Rights Defenders Protection Bill
September 26, 2026QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) organized its second roundtable discussion on the Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Protection bill aiming to consult stakeholders from various sectors and advocacies for inputs into the draft legislation. The roundtable discussion is part of a series of consultations the Commission has conducted to develop a […]
Martial Law and the Unbroken Chain of Deprivation
September 21, 2026Fifty-four years since Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared martial law, the nation is governed once more by a Marcos who has proven that the family’s defining trait was never merely authoritarianism. It was impunity: the conviction that public office is private property, and that no institution will ever make them answer for what they take. The […]
Silence in the Courts: The Quiet Erasure of Marcos Accountability
Dom Ybera | September 20, 2026On 21 September 2026, the country marks the 54th anniversary of Presidential Proclamation 1081 – the day Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. placed the Philippines under martial law and began fourteen years of a regime remembered for plunder as much as for repression. Twelve days earlier, on 09 September, court documents that the Supreme Court had […]
The Paradox of Violence: The False Rhetoric Behind “Terror Grooming”
Aira Cobico | September 15, 2026The recent school shooting incidents that happened at the San Jose National High School in Tacloban City, and at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Junior High School less than two months later, resulted in deaths and injuries that prompted public debate over school safety, violent influence among youth, criminal liability, and access to firearms. Several […]
When “Counter-Terrorism” Becomes a Weapon Against Civil Society
Dom Ybera | September 15, 2026When “Counter-Terrorism” Becomes a Weapon Against Civil Society: FATF, Financing Laws, and New Legal Threats in the Philippines This article traces how an international financial-compliance regime became a domestic tool of repression in the Philippines, and how new legislation pushed through Congress threatens to expand that tool considerably. A Community Organization Frozen OutFor years, the […]
No to Pax Silica, Yes to People-Centered Development
September 1, 2026PRESS RELEASEAugust 31, 2026 QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) joined the launch of Network Opposed to Pax Silica at the CICM Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City. The event was attended by advocates, farmers, indigenous leaders and indigenous community members, workers, people’s organizations, civil society organizations, environmental […]