đź“·: Karapatan – NCR | FB
Human rights alliance KARAPATAN warned that rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates are in a “critical situation” under what they described as state-sponsored terror by the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The statement was issued on December 9, marking the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and International Anti-Corruption Day, on the eve of International Human Rights Day.
“State-sponsored terror under Marcos Jr. continues to weaponize laws and fully mobilize the state’s armed forces to silence staunch defenders of people’s rights and anti-corruption advocates, to intimidate citizens and activists in protests, and to terrorize communities,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of KARAPATAN. “Trumped-up charges, including the dangerous use of the terror law and the terrorist financing law, as well as arbitrary and illegal arrests continue to hound human rights defenders across the country.”
Palabay stressed that criminalization of activists remains “one of the most systematic and pervasive forms of harassment,” designed to drain resources, restrict movement, and delegitimize the work of human rights and community advocates.
She cited the arrest of Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc. (PDG) workers Federico Salvilla, Perla Jaleco, and Dharyll Albañez on accusations of “terrorism financing” earlier this year. KARAPATAN had warned that such arrests signal the administration’s continuing policy of filing trumped-up terrorism and terrorist financing cases in 2025.
Palabay also pointed to the arbitrary designation of leaders of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, which has been at the forefront of anti-corruption protests in the region.
“The cases of the PDG and CPA are just a few of the many examples. At least 227 individuals have already been charged under terror laws, HRDs who are now trapped in prolonged legal battles, subjected to surveillance, or burdened with frozen assets. At least 30 of those charged with terror laws are behind bars,” Palabay said. “The Anti-Terrorism Act has become a weapon for branding community organizers, humanitarian workers, and anti-corruption activists as enemies of the state. This is a direct assault on the rights guaranteed under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and it must end.”
KARAPATAN added that abductions and enforced disappearances have resurged, with at least 14 victims documented under the Marcos Jr. administration, including peasant organizers, environmental defenders, and activists.
“Worse, legal remedies have proven to be inutile,” Palabay said, citing the cases of James Jazmines and Felix Salaveria Jr., whose families filed petitions for protective writs but received court orders months after the abductions. “How can this be called protection when there is no urgency, not even from the courts?”
Palabay underscored that extrajudicial killings remain the gravest attacks against rights defenders. KARAPATAN has documented 134 such killings under the Marcos Jr. government, most of them farmers, indigenous peoples, environmental defenders, and leaders of people’s organizations who had been red-tagged or threatened prior to their deaths.
“Killing human rights defenders is the most evident and brutal attack—and it is what makes this situation truly critical. Dismantling the State machinery that plans and executes these operations is most urgent,” she said. “The deepening impunity fosters a culture not only of fear but of frustration, especially when perpetrators of human rights violations walk free, just like those involved in large-scale corruption and plunder in government.”
“The police brutality, violence, torture, inhumane and cruel treatment, harassment and intimidation, red-tagging and judicial harassment against citizens and anti-corruption protesters in the past months illustrate the use of various forms of political repression and reprisal, when people exercise their right to seek redress of grievances,” KARAPATAN said.
Palabay reiterated: “Defending rights is not a crime. Protest and dissent are justified and necessary in the face of repression, fascism, and the massive embezzlement of public funds. We demand that this administration uphold its obligations under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Ultimately, it is the people’s collective action that ensures our rights are realized because we fight for them.”
She concluded: “On December 10, we will march to emphasize our call to stop the criminalization of human rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates, junk the Anti-Terrorism Act, surface the disappeared, stop the killings, and demand justice and protection for all who defend human rights.” (ZIA LUNA)
