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In this series of stories of indigenous women human rights defenders of Cordillera, we give human face to those who were tagged as “terrorists” by the Philippines government.
Roberto Mendoza is the father of Lieshel, a farmer who was charged by elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ 85 th Infantry Battalion last January 2024 with violating Section 12 of the Anti- Terrorism Law and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act.
"The fight for justice is not over, the dismissal of Hailey's case is proof that no matter what lies the state forces may fabricate, the truth will always prevail."
Jpeg Garcia’s advocacy for peace based on social justice made him a target of state forces, his fellow human rights defenders in the Southern Tagalog region said.
Cristina Palabay, secretary-general of Karapatan, said that the increased use of the anti-terror law and other trumped-up charges against activists has become a pattern during the first year of Ferdinand Marcos Jr administration.
As Filipinos return to the polling precinct next month, Bulatlat, the Philippines' longest-running online alternative news and authority in human rights reporting, has revisited the stand of those running for president and vice president on issues confronting the...
"The views of candidates on the ATA [Anti-Terror Act] are relevant in weighing their standpoint on human rights and democracy - with the ATA considered by petitioners at the Supreme Court as a law that can be most dangerously used to silence political dissent."
“Sometimes, the government is forced to do something depending on the resistance of the people outside the congress. “Even if the fight is hard inside, we can make it work through the support of the masses outside.”
Practically all the petitioners and their lawyers who have spoken up welcomed these two rulings. However, they found these inadequate, arguing that other provisions that would similarly curtail civil and political rights should be declared unconstitutional as well.
Trauma continues to haunt women relatives of farmers and activists who fell victims to extrajudicial killings in the last five years of the Duterte presidency. The pain they have to live with never really goes away and has turned their lives around.
“It is terrifying to see so much state power wielded with impunity against the powerless, defenseless and innocent. Yet it is also tragicomic that the high and mighty would plunge into such a squalid abyss for such puny gains, and ultimately counterproductive outcomes."
Karapatan called the ATC a 'copy-paste' of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that ‘incites violence’ now legitimized by the Anti-Terror Law.
“How can the ATC, three years hence, claim to have ‘verified and validated information’ against these peace consultants when it has already been proven in court that there is none? The ATC regurgitating false assertions has been a most dangerous weapon especially in the heat of oral arguments on the terror law.”
"But even if we mark World Press Freedom Day with many reasons to be fearful, we mark it also with hope, knowing that there are many of us still working each day to gather facts and shine a little light on what is happening in the country and on what isn't."
Human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares assailed Solicitor General Jose Calida for red tagging him and other progressive legislators during the online oral arguments on the Anti-Terror Law, April 27.
“The attacks on Atty. Guillen and the Southern Luzon activists are not just a condemnable assault on a member of the legal profession and civil society actors, but also a stab to the heart of the Constitution..."
“Even if you pass 10 more anti-terror laws, nothing will happen [without good policing and intelligence work].”
Detained artists Amanda Echanis, Cheryl Catalogo and Alvin Fortaliza have done nothing wrong and merely used their art to present the story of the masses.
“The Solicitor General’s allegation is nothing but a desperate attempt to discredit groups that stand firm in opposing the Anti-Terrorism Act, a law that is broadly criticized for the threats it poses against dissenters.”
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