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.

Companies are extracting vast troves of online data through unlawful web scraping to build their generative artificial intelligence (AI) products in a way that is enabling a mass invasion of privacy, making these systems unlawful by design, Amnesty International said in a new briefing today. 

This briefing examines how standalone generative AI systems, based on unlawful web scraping, are in conflict with international human rights law (IHRL) and standards through their design, development and deployment. While these technologies promise sophisticated automation and efficiency, they rely on data collection and model training practices that abuse privacy rights, enable discrimination, and threaten freedom of expression and thought. Amnesty International finds that standalone generative AI systems, based on unlawful web scraping, depend on mass invasions of privacy by design, and are fundamentally incompatible with IHRL. As such, Amnesty International is calling for a prohibition of such systems.

Amnesty International Philippines, on its movement’s 65th anniversary, announced the winners of Ignite Awards for Human Rights Season 4, the country’s first ever award-giving body exclusively dedicated to honoring Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). The four awardees, selected from dozens of nominees across the Philippines, were recognized for their courage and commitment to defending human rights, and the impact it brings to the lives of so many people especially the most vulnerable.

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.

In response to reports that former police chief Ronald ‘Bato’ dela Rosa has fled the Senate building allowing him to evade an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, Ritz Lee Santos III, Section Director of Amnesty International Philippines, said:

The Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court (PCICC) strongly opposes the protective custody reportedly extended by the Philippine Senate to Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. We call on Philippine authorities to immediately arrest Senator dela Rosa and surrender him to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Following the confirmation of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for former Philippines National Police (PNP) Chief, Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Ritz Lee Santos III, Section Director of Amnesty International Philippines, said:

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. 

Ngayong Mayo Uno, buong tatag na nakikiisa ang Amnesty International Philippines sa lahat ng mga uring manggagawa sa buong mundo. Sa gitna ng tumitinding krisis sa langis na lalong nagpapahirap sa sambayanan, matinding hamon ang sinusuong ng mga manggagawang nananatiling sumasahod nang kakarampot. 

Responding to news on civilians killed during an armed encounter in Toboso, Negros Occidental, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director, Ritz Lee Santos, III, said:

The Philippine Coalition for the International Criminal Court (PCICC) highly welcomes the recent double win for victims of the drug war in two separate decisions at the International Criminal Court (ICC), The Appeals Chamber of the ICC, by a majority vote, affirmed jurisdiction over the case against Rodrigo Roa Duterte on August 22. Today, the Pre-Trial Chamber I concluded that there are substantial grounds to believe that former Philippine President Duterte is responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and attempted murder pursuant to Article 7 (1)(a) of the Rome Statute. These are very significant steps forward in the pursuit of truth and accountability for the alleged crimes against humanity committed in the context of the Philippines’ so-called “war on drugs.”