Carmma Panay

12/04/2026

JUSTICE FOR LUISA AND NILO!
Our cry for justice does not end!

Why the regime of Gloria Arroyo cannot escape accountability for the enforced disappearance is because of the pattern of this most cruel form of human rights violation that victimized 202 persons from 2001 to 2010, among killings and other atrocious attacks on unarmed citizens. These attacks on the people’s basic and legitimate rights continue blatantly, remaining as an intrinsic element of the present system of governance. The state is, until this very day, resorting to white terror to cow its citizens into suffering in silence while it makes their living worse with faulty policies that plunge them deeper into the mud amid the worsening crisis. And the state conveniently labels them as terrorists and gets rid of them with its iron fist.

Full statement here: https://medium.com//justice-for-luisa-and-nilo-ec561ddad4dd

26/01/2026

Hands off Atty Rey Gorgonio

PRESS STATEMENT
January 26, 2026

Hands off NUPL Negros Chairperson Atty. Rey Gorgonio and PDG development workers! – NUPL

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) condemns the death threat directed at Atty. Rey Gorgonio, chairperson of the NUPL–Negros Chapter, and the continuing attacks against development workers of the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) Inc.

On January 25, 2026, while NUPL–Negros was holding a public forum on the Writ of Kalikasan and the campaign to stop the palm oil plantation in Candoni, PDG development worker Joselito Macapobre received a threatening text message explicitly warning against Atty. Gorgonio and intimidating those working with him. The message referred to drone surveillance near Macapobre’s home and implied grave harm should Atty. Gorgonio continue his work. It read: “Si Gorgonio, huwag lang nya sobrahan ng tapang. Kasi lahat ng katapangan, babagsak yan sa katahimikan. Pag napunta na sa katahimikan, walang saysay kung anumang posisyon o titulo niya ngayon. Huwag ka na sumabay sa kanya. Baka madamay ka pa.”

This threat echoes the killing of the late Atty. Benjamin Ramos, former secretary general of NUPL–Negros and executive director of PDG, who was gunned down on November 6, 2018 by suspected military personnel after being heavily red-tagged and surveilled. To this day, no one has been held accountable. Atty. Gorgonio now represents the clients left behind by Atty. Ramos, including farmers, peasants, and political prisoners, and is assisting in the campaign for the humane treatment of detainees at the Negros Occidental District Jail in Bago City.

On January 18, elements of the 15th Infantry Battalion attempted to abduct Macapobre, who is assisting farmers resisting the operations of Hacienda Asia Plantation Inc. His motorcycle was blocked by a black vehicle in Barangay Caningay, Candoni. He was forcibly seized by three armed personnel and brought toward a waiting van. Fortunately, as he was being pushed inside the vehicle, he managed to free himself and escape. Prior to this incident, soldiers from the same unit had repeatedly gone to his home and accused him of being a recruiter for the New People’s Army.

Soldiers also harassed another PDG Inc member, Analyn Merano, on January 16 and 17. She received threatening messages from a person claiming to be an agent of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, accusing her of links to the NPA and pressuring her to “cooperate” in exchange for money and assurances of safety. These incidents form part of a broader pattern of harassment against PDG Inc staff and partner communities, including terrorism financing charges against several workers and the coercion of farmers to monitor PDG’s activities amid intensified military operations and the implementation of the Retooled Community Support Program (RCSP).

These attacks against Atty. Gorgonio and his clients, whom the military has labeled as “high value individuals,” are part of the continuing weaponization of counterterrorism measures against development workers and human rights defenders. They create a chilling climate meant to intimidate and hinder human rights lawyers from independently performing their duties and providing legal services without fear.

These attacks must stop.

Hands off Atty. Gorgonio and Negros peoples’ lawyers!
Hands off PDG and development workers!



Reference:
Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
NUPL Secretary General
+639174316396

25/01/2026

FREE THE DUPAX DEL NORTE 7!

KARAPATAN human rights alliance and HUSTISYA (Victims United for Justice) condemn in the strongest terms the arrest of at seven anti-mining protesters, including two elderly women, in Dupax del Norte, Nueva Vizcaya this morning, January 23, 2026.

Those arrested formed part of a human barricade along the Keon Barangay Road to block the entry of Woggle Corp., an affiliate of FCF Minerals Corporation. Woggle had obtained a highly questionable exploration license for 3,100-hectares in Dupax del Norte in August 2025, targeting gold and copper deposits. The mining area includes titled land owned by one of the elderly women arrested. Also hauled off to the Dupax del Norte Police Station was Florentino Daynos, president of the anti-mining group in Dupax del Norte.

The entry of Woggle into Dupax del Norte was made possible through the Duterte regime’s reinstatement of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 which had been suspended since 2012 over serious environmental and other concerns. Since the suspension was lifted, new mining contracts have been allowed.

The residents manning the human barricades are opposed to Woggle’s mining activities, fearing that their town, which earns significant revenues from the production of corn, rice, vegetables and fruits, as well as livestock, will suffer economically. They cited the environmental destruction that has befallen Kasibu town, where the notorious OceanaGold operates, and Quezon town, where Woggle’s affiliate FCF Minerals has mining activities.

The destruction to the environment in Kasibu and Quezon towns includes the contamination of water resources, the depletion of the water table and the destruction of local biodiversity. Despite demands from residents of these areas, OceanaGold and FCF Minerals have refused to rehabilitate the mined areas, leading to damage to crops and agricultural areas and the spread of diseases.

In Dupax del Norte, Woggle Corp. was able to secure an order from a local court on January 19, 2026 directing the dismantling of the barricades and the arrest of protesters. The violent police dispersal of the protests and the arrests are ongoing as of this writing.

KARAPATAN and HUSTISYA demand the release of the detained protesters and will continue to closely monitor the developments in Dupax del Norte, as they stand behind the community members in their staunch defense of their economic rights and the integrity of their environment.

Free Dupax del Norte 7:
Bro. Florentino Daynos II
Kagawad Krislyn Pocday
Adela Modi
Analiza Balliao
Amelia Rabino
Janet Macario
Sonnette Nginsayan Bullecer

04/01/2026

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄!
𝐔𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐀'𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍!

What is unfolding in Venezuela mirrors the broader reality of US imperialist violence worldwide. From the US-backed genocide of the Palestinian people to endless wars and bombardments across the Middle East, to US military intervention, counterinsurgency support, and repression in the Philippines, the pattern is unmistakable. The US has turned the world into its battlefield, with the peoples of the Global South paying the highest price.

In the Philippines, US intervention has long meant heightened militarization, attacks against activists and environmental defenders, and intensified repression of indigenous peoples and communities resisting land-grabbing and foreign-driven “development” projects. The same imperialist forces sanctioning and attacking Venezuela enable and sustain repression in our own country.

Facebook post | https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1259938812835213&set=a.221458736683231

Medium | https://medium.com//bayan-panay-condemns-us-attacks-and-imperialist-aggression-against-venezuela-229a268d5bf0⁩

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐎𝐏𝐋𝐄!
𝐔𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐙𝐔𝐄𝐋𝐀'𝐒 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅-𝐃𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍!

What is unfolding in Venezuela mirrors the broader reality of US imperialist violence worldwide. From the US-backed genocide of the Palestinian people to endless wars and bombardments across the Middle East, to US military intervention, counterinsurgency support, and repression in the Philippines, the pattern is unmistakable. The US has turned the world into its battlefield, with the peoples of the Global South paying the highest price.

In the Philippines, US intervention has long meant heightened militarization, attacks against activists and environmental defenders, and intensified repression of indigenous peoples and communities resisting land-grabbing and foreign-driven “development” projects. The same imperialist forces sanctioning and attacking Venezuela enable and sustain repression in our own country.

Full statement here: https://medium.com//bayan-panay-condemns-us-attacks-and-imperialist-aggression-against-venezuela-229a268d5bf0?postPublishedType=initial

03/12/2025

BBM AT SARA: MGA SALOT SA BAYAN, ALIS DIYAN!
November 30, 2025

KARAPATAN joins legions heeding calls from the Kilusang Bayan Kontra Kurakot (KBKK), Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw Network Alliance (TAMA NA) and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) to flood Luneta, Manila and other major cities and provinces on November 30th with another big anti-corruption protest to demand accountability for large-scale bureaucratic corruption and urgently call for systemic change.

In light of recent revelations made by former Rep. Zaldy Co, the people will not only be expressing their anger against corruption but demand genuine, meaningful changes in governance all the way to the top.

While Co himself should be made accountable for his role in massive corruption, his revelations point to no less than Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as the apex of the monstrous system of corruption that has emptied the public coffers of hundreds of billions of pesos worth of kickbacks from ghost and substandard infrastructure projects. Co has confirmed what the Makabayan bloc in Congress have long exposed — that it is Marcos Jr.’s authorization of unprogrammed allocations and budgetary insertions that have made many of these anomalies possible.

Yet the ongoing investigations are designed to deflect attention from the top bureaucrat capitalist himself who has stolen suitcases full of the people’s money. Marcos Jr. is attempting to mollify the people’s indignation by highlighting the arrest of government engineers linked to the flood control anomalies and the upcoming apprehension of other lower-ranking officials. But these are small fry, compared to the real big-time operators in Malacanang.

Day by day, the government-sponsored investigations lose credibility as the biggest and most corrupt politicos of them all are being deliberately spared.

The people will have none of it.

The angry legions of Filipinos who will flood Luneta, major cities and provinces, as well as other countries, are acutely aware that Marcos Jr.’s constitutional successor Sara Duterte is just as rotten to the core with her unexplained use of hundreds of millions of pesos of confidential and intelligence funds. They are likewise aware that many of the senators and congressmen, who are allies of both Marcos and Duterte, have undeniable links to corruption.

When the people flood Luneta in their numbers this November 30th, there will not only be an outpouring of outrage but a deluge of demands for a decisive end to the insidious evil of systemic corruption. It is systemic corruption that has siphoned away funds and gravely deprived the masses of affordable food, education, health care, housing, mass transport, sound public infrastructure and many other basic rights.

It would be a grievous crime to suppress the people’s right to express their rage and demand real, meaningful changes from this government that has oppressed, exploited and failed them at every turn.

To Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte, the King and Queen of Corruption, the people cry:

MGA SALOT SA BAYAN, ALIS DIYAN!
SOBRA NA, PALITAN NA!

Artwork by: Mervin Pimentel

03/12/2025

Ang December 10 ay Pandaigdigang Araw ng Karapatang Pantao (International Human Rights Day). Ang tanong lagi ng marami: umigi na ba ang sitwasyon ng karapatang pantao sa bansa?

Mayorya ng mga kababayan natin ang di nakakamit ang mga batayan nilang karapatan — pagkain, tirahan, kalusugan, kabuhayan, edukason. Laganap ang kawalang-hustisya, dahil ang mga makapangyarihan ang may karapatan na mabuhay nang maginhawa ất maunlad. Kapag inalmahan ng mamamayan ang inhustisyang ito, lalo pang nilalabag ang karapatan nilang magsalita, magpahayag, mag-organisa, magprotesta. Samantala, hindi napapanagot ang mga lumalabag sa karapatan ng mamamayan. Nangungunyapit pa sila lalo sa pwesto, habang nagpapasasa sa pondo ng taumbayan.

Paulit-ulit ito, dahil pangunahing ang sistema ang lumalabag sa mga karapatan natin, dahil ang isinusulong nila ay ang kanilang interes. Sa kasalukuyan, naghahari ang mga Marcos at Duterte. Parehong pahirap, parehong korap.

Ayaw na natin ang ginagawa nilang pagpapahirap at pagnanakaw, kaya tayo kumikilos. Pero dahil pinoprotektahan nila ang kanilang interes, ginagamitan nila tayo ng dahas. Pasismo ang sagot nila sa mga protesta at pagkilos ng mamamayan. Paglabag muli ito sa ating karapatan. Kaya sa December 10, panawagan muli sa atin na ngayon digit kailanman, igiit natin ang karapatang mabuhay nang may dignidad, may hustisya, at maunlad. Dahil hangga’t ganito ang sistema, hangga’t namamayagpag ang mga tulad ni Marcos at Duterte, tayong mamamayan ay dapat kumilos para baguhin ito.

03/12/2025

Today, December 3, on the International Day in Solidarity with Political Prisoners, we continue with our resounding call to jail the corrupt, and free all political prisoners in the Philippines!

The unjust imprisonment of 696 political prisoners across the country stands in stark contrast to the impunity enjoyed by top government officials implicated in corruption cases. While activists, human rights defenders, and community organizers are jailed on trumped-up charges, fabricated evidence, and perjured testimonies, not a single high-ranking official accused of plunder has been made to face jail time.

03/12/2025

03/12/2025

The Marcos Jr. regime has intensified its all-out war against the Filipino people through the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace and Development (NAP-UPD) 2025–2028. Cloaked in the rhetoric of “peace and development,” the program expands the powers of the NTF-ELCAC, enabling it to further attack people’s organizations, human rights defenders, and entire communities.

Across the country, most severely in the countryside, militarization and aerial bombardments have driven communities from their homes. The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) are repeatedly used as weapons to criminalize dissent and suppress legitimate political action.

Fascist terror, long an everyday reality for rural communities, is now increasingly visible in urban centers shaken by escalating protests. Marcos Jr.’s police forces displayed brazen brutality during the September 21 mobilizations, beating and arbitrarily arresting more than 200 demonstrators and bystanders, and causing the deaths of two individuals.

This violence is not accidental. It is fully aligned with the regime’s NAP-UPD, its blueprint for heightened repression and creeping authoritarianism. Under this plan, more extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, fabricated charges, and unjust arrests loom on the horizon for activists, dissenters, and other perceived enemies of the state.

Marcos Jr. is now mobilizing his entire repressive machinery to clamp down on the surging anti-corruption movement, whose calls for systemic overhaul are resonating nationwide. Revelations of massive corruption have dragged into the spotlight not only Marcos Jr. but also Vice President Sara Duterte and their cohorts. The people are exhausted by the cycle of recycled, corrupt traditional politicians who continue to dominate reactionary elections.

Yet the people have shown unmistakable defiance. Despite threats and intimidation from the regime, tens of thousands pushed through with the September 21 and November 30 rallies. Meanwhile, the struggle for justice against Marcos Jr.’s predecessor, fellow fascist Rodrigo Duterte, has gained momentum with the International Criminal Court’s denial of his bid for interim release.

United in our understanding of the country’s deepening crises, we once again invite everyone to join the commemoration of December 10 by standing against the Marcos Jr. regime’s puppetry to US imperialist dictates, its blatant complicity in bureaucratic corruption, and its escalating repression marked by widespread human rights and international humanitarian law violations. As the regime has proven itself no different from its fascist predecessor, the despised Duterte regime, we the people should be determined now more than ever to hold them accountable.

The struggle for justice is ours to continue.

10/11/2025

Under the Marcos Jr administration, political prisoners still languish in jail

#𝑭𝑹𝑬𝑬 𝑮𝑬𝑹𝑴𝑨𝑵 𝑨𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑺𝑨!
#𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑬𝑨𝑺𝑬 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑷𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑳 𝑷𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑶𝑵𝑬𝑹𝑺!
#𝑫𝑹𝑶𝑷 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑻𝑹𝑼𝑴𝑷𝑬𝑫-𝑼𝑷 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑮𝑬𝑺 𝑨𝑮𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑻 𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑺!
#𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷 𝑹𝑬𝑫-𝑻𝑨𝑮𝑮𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑺𝑬𝑪𝑼𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑺!
#𝑴𝑨𝑹𝑪𝑶𝑺 𝑺𝑼𝑲𝑻𝑶𝑵! 𝑫𝑼𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑻𝑬 𝑷𝑨𝑺𝑨𝑩𝑻𝑶𝑵!
#𝑫𝑬𝑭𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑫𝑬𝑭𝑬𝑵𝑫𝑬𝑹𝑺!

⁨𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗦𝗔 𝗡𝗢𝗪 | 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐚’𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭

For detainees like Allesa, the assurance that those arrested would have their “day in court” is more of an insult than a constitutional guarantee. The rules of court mandate that a trial should last no longer than 180 days. This rule is intended to protect the parties’ right to a speedy trial, especially those detained during the pendency of their cases. Allesa has been in prison for 6 years, and state prosecutors wrapped up their presentation of evidence only earlier this year. This means it took the government around half a decade to prosecute this case. To say that the justice system in this country moves at a snail’s pace is an insult to the snail; even that sluggish creature does not need half a decade to get from one point to another.

FB | https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1141503274832680&set=a.162022739447410

Medium | https://medium.com//peasant-leader-german-allesas-sixth-year-in-jail-exposes-how-the-justice-system-fails-to-protect-9df9b121093b⁩

15/10/2025

BURUKRATA KAPITALISMO IBAGSAK | The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) once again defended the use of unprogrammed appropriations, saying these are “fiscal buffers” and not “secret funds.” For BAYAN Panay, behind these technical terms lies the same old story: a government budget made to serve the rich and powerful and not the ordinary toiling Filipino people. The pattern from Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr. has become clear: the use of public funds for plunder and political patronage, and dependence on foreign loans.

From Marcos Sr. to Marcos Jr., nothing has changed: the same families still rule, the same corruption continues, and the same people suffer. Hence, the fight against unprogrammed funds is a fight against bureaucrat capitalism. It is time to end the cycle of programmed plunder and demand a government that truly serves the people. We must build the people’s power where ordinary citizens, workers, and farmers have a real voice in deciding how our country’s wealth is used.

Full statement here:

PRESS STATEMENT October 15, 2025