Cagayan de Oro City ~ Amnesty International Philippines reiterated today that the dire human rights situation in Mindanao is the consequence of decades of impunity and the failure in holding the government to account for leaving communities vulnerable to precarious living conditions and uncertain futures. On the last leg of the rolling launch of Amnesty International’s Annual Report on the State of the World’s Human Rights 2025/26, two days after the devastating earthquake that struck the region, Amnesty stressed that the conversation can no longer be limited to merely disaster preparedness or quick emergency response.

Iloilo City – Amnesty International Philippines said that it sees no meaningful progress in the government’s effort to address the human rights situation in the Visayas despite rising protest actions across regions. Launching its State of the World Human Rights Report 2025/26 in Iloilo City during the Visayas leg, Amnesty International Philippines reports locally on armed conflict, political repression, attacks on press freedom, displacement, and corruption under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Baguio City – Amnesty International Philippines today warned of a widening gap in human rights protection across Luzon due to systemic violations as the organization presented the Philippine entry to its State of the World’s Human Rights Report 2025/26 during the Luzon Leg, the first stop of its rolling launch held in Baguio City. 

The world is on the brink of a perilous new era, driven by powerful states’, corporations’ and anti-rights movements’ assaults on multilateralism, international law and human rights, Amnesty International warned today upon launching its annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights. States, international bodies and civil society must reject the politics of appeasement and collectively resist these attacks to prevent this new order from taking hold, the organization said in its assessment of the human rights situation in 144 countries. 

On 11 March, former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by police in the capital city Manila on a warrant issued by the ICC for murder as a crime against humanity. The warrant was issued in relation to unlawful killings in the “war on drugs” while he was president[1] and for killings in Davao City during his time as mayor (2013-2016), a development welcomed by families of victims and civil society[2]. He was subsequently transferred to The Hague and remained in detention at the end of the year.[3] The ICC Office of the Prosecutor was preparing to request that Duterte be charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, but his lawyers submitted that he was unfit to stand trial. The ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber postponed his confirmation of charges hearing, originally scheduled for 23 September. No new date had been set by the end of the year.

Amnesty International Philippines emphasized a deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines during the last leg of its rolling launch of Amnesty International Report 2025: State of the World’s Human Rights in Manila. Marked by widespread impunity, shrinking civic space, persistent red-tagging of human rights defenders (HRDs) including journalists, indigenous cultural community leaders, and environmental activists, Amnesty International Philippines Acting Director, Jepie Papa, said that these issues are all underscored in the organization’s Human Rights Legislative Agenda for the 20th Congress updated from 2022 national elections following the mid-terms.

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. 

The Trump administration’s anti-rights campaign is turbocharging harmful trends already present, gutting international human rights protections and endangering billions across the planet, Amnesty International warned today upon launching its annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights.

Responding to President Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation’s Address, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director Butch Olano said:

Cagayan de Oro – On the last leg of the launch of its State of the World’s Human Rights 2023/24 Report, Amnesty International celebrates its 63rd anniversary with a press conference in Mindanao on 28 May. The rights group said that in all its years of existence, their annual reports have established one thing – that undermining peoples’ agency to strip them of their dignity is a force entrenched in human rights violations.

Cebu City – Activists and human rights defenders in the Visayas are caught in a very dangerous situation between standing up for human rights and fighting for their lives amid attacks and red-tagging, said Amnesty International Philippines during the Cebu leg of its Amnesty International State of the World’s Human Rights 2023/24 Report rolling launch.

Responding to news that the Office of the President created a “super body to champion human rights”, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director, Butch Olano, said:“AO 22 is a step in the right direction, however, this has always been a go to solution of the Office of the President when push comes to shove. It doesn’t really make any impact in actual human rights cases as we’ve already seen in past administrations. The bleak human rights situation in the country does not need another level of bureaucracy,”