On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June 2025), UN anti-torture experts reiterated that torture is absolutely prohibited under international law and cannot be justified under any circumstance—including during protests or public emergencies. They raised alarm over the growing use of excessive force, arbitrary detention, and other abusive tactics by law enforcement during peaceful assemblies, warning that these practices erode democratic space and disproportionately target human rights defenders (HRDs), journalists, and marginalized groups.
The UN mechanisms called on governments to ensure that policing the protests aligns with human rights obligations, including transparency, accountability, and independent oversight. They emphasized that peaceful assembly is not a threat but a vital expression of democratic participation—and that responsible policing must protect, not punish, public dissent. The experts also stressed the need for States to provide redress and rehabilitation to victims of torture, to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.
In the Philippines, these warnings ring painfully true. Despite the existence of Republic Act No. 9745 (Anti-Torture Act of 2009), torture and ill-treatment persist. The experience of environmental advocate Francisco “Eco” Dangla III is vivid proof: he and his colleague Joxelle “Jak” Tiaong were abducted in March 2024, held incommunicado for days, and subjected to repeated beatings, threats of electrocution, simulated “burying,” psychological torture, and coercion to falsely confess alleged links with insurgents—before they were eventually released bruised and traumatized.
This brutal treatment unfolds amid a broader attack on civic space in the Philippines. Authorities, often invoking counter-insurgency or national security frameworks, have red-tagged activists, HRDs and development workers, journalists, lawyers, and community leaders alike. They deploy surveillance, and use excessive force to disperse demonstrations and picket lines. HRDs are harassed, arbitrarily detained, charged with trumped up cases including terrorism financing, at worst enforced disappeared or extra-judicially killed—all combining to stifle dissent.
The Philippine government must be held accountable for both its domestic and international obligations. It must comply with genuine commitment to uphold human rights. Ending torture is not just a matter of policy on paper—it demands concrete action: genuine political will, independent oversight, and an end to repression of civic space. Until Filipinos can speak, organize, and protest without fear of state reprisal, the government remains complicit in perpetuating a culture of impunity.
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