Press Release
Iloilo City – Amnesty International Philippines, during its press conference in Iloilo City on Friday, raised serious concerns over what it calls “multiple burden” faced in the Visayas due to the continuing repression of human rights defenders and worsening climate-related disasters.
“Living under multiple threats and attacks to basic civil and political rights and economic social and cultural rights should not be normalized. The newly elected local and congressional officials in the Visayas region should do better in addressing incidents of red-tagging of activists, harassment of development workers who are not just working on socio-political issues but environmental issues as well. This situation is not isolated in the Visayas, Amnesty International reports that in 2024, human rights violations and abuses persist all over the country under President Marcos Jr’s. administration,” said Amnesty International Philippines Acting Director, Jepie Papa.
Living under multiple threats and attacks to basic civil and political rights and economic social and cultural rights should not be normalized. The newly elected local and congressional officials in the Visayas region should do better in addressing incidents of red-tagging of activists, harassment of development workers who are not just working on socio-political issues but environmental issues as well. This situation is not isolated in the Visayas, Amnesty International reports that in 2024, human rights violations and abuses persist all over the country under President Marcos Jr’s. administration.
– Jepie Papa, Amnesty International Philippines Acting Director
Amnesty International Report 2024/25, globally launched in April, outlines the state of the world’s human rights with 150 country entries including the Philippines. It reports an overview of various human rights issues as it happened in 2024 and early 2025. The Philippine entry highlights the issues of disappearances, red-tagging of human rights defenders including young activists, and killings in the context of the ‘war on drugs’.
“Governments’ repressive tactics, a trend that has been building for years but gained momentum in 2024, have included unjust prosecution of activists criticizing and questioning discriminatory and repressive policies and practices. In some cases, as in the Philippines, critics of governments have been unlawfully killed, forcibly disappeared, or sentenced to prison. We have seen this firsthand in the fabricated charges against Leila De Lima. Even locally here in the Visayas, reports since 2024 show that civic spaces are shrinking with massive impact on the exercise of the freedom of the press, expression, association, and peaceful assembly. And the Philippine government through the state-sponsored NTF-ELCAC continue to instill fear and entrench power to avoid accountability,” added Papa.
Amnesty International reiterated that the Philippine government must reverse course and recognize the critical role played by civil society, human rights defenders, and independent media in protecting human rights in the country and ensuring accountability. The organization also called for the protection of land and environmental human rights defenders, including indigenous peoples leaders, from attacks or any state-sponsored violence.
Locally in Iloilo City, Amnesty International Philippines received reports of increased military presence before the mid-term elections although this situation has already been happening for a number of years now. Iloilo City was dubbed ‘insurgency-free’ in 2023, and the city also attributes its fast economic growth to peace and order. Amnesty maintains that peace can never be achieved without justice or by silencing protest and dissent. The organization believes that people should not have to choose between safety, stability and dignified living conditions and a loss of human rights.
“Amnesty International has been denouncing authoritarian practices for years, even during Marcos Sr.’s Martial Law. Today, we see protests led by human rights defenders where issues are not just limited to the socio-political but an intersection of many human rights concerns. And because of this interdependence of issues, land and environmental activists have also become targets of red-tagging and harassments for documenting and exposing abuses perpetrated by big businesses, and human rights violations related to the climate emergency,” explained Papa.
Amnesty International has been denouncing authoritarian practices for years, even during Marcos Sr.’s Martial Law. Today, we see protests led by human rights defenders where issues are not just limited to the socio-political but an intersection of many human rights concerns. And because of this interdependence of issues, land and environmental activists have also become targets of red-tagging and harassments for documenting and exposing abuses perpetrated by big businesses, and human rights violations related to the climate emergency.
Amnesty International Philippine highlighted two of their research reports released in early 2025, one of which exposed human rights violations and abuses related to nickel mining and its impact to the environment, noting as well, the harm it brings to livelihood and health. And in late 2024, the report on online harassment of young human rights defenders, focused on the vulnerability of young activists, most of whom also carry climate justice in their advocacy, citing the climate crisis as an emerging driver of poverty in the country also fueling massive protests.
“The world over, Amnesty has documented the criminalization and punishment of legitimate freedom of expression and protests, including the use of ‘terrorism’ legislation against people demonstrating Palestinian Solidarity in many countries, and climate activists in others. But there seems to have a lack of punishment for perpetrators of human rights violations, except in March this year, the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte became a significant moment in the pursuit of justice for the thousands of victims and survivors of Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’, as well as their families,” added Papa.
Amnesty International also said that to date, there has been almost no accountability for crimes committed in the ‘war on drugs’. The arrest of a former president is an important signal for victims in the Philippines and the rest of the world that those who are suspected of responsibility for crimes under international law, in the country or elsewhere, will not enjoy impunity forever, no matter how powerful they are.
“Amnesty International continues to believe in a world where the multiple burdens and threats to human rights will somehow end. But this situation can only be helped if governments around the world listen to peoples’ movements pushing back for a reverse in the current policies and trends. If this does not happen, future generations will have to endure an increasingly inhospitable climate, be more likely to live in poverty, enjoy fewer personal freedoms, face increased discrimination and would have to deal with a potentially seismic wave of not just offline forms but as well as tech-driven human rights violations and abuses.” Concluded Papa.
PHILIPPINE ENTRY
The last fabricated charge against human rights defender Leila de Lima was dismissed. Concern grew as more activists were forcibly disappeared. The practice of “red-tagging” human rights defenders, including young activists, persisted, and the government continued to use counterterrorism measures against humanitarian workers. Killings in the context of the “war on drugs” continued. Human rights violations – such as of the right to health – beset the country’s drug treatment programme.