On the eighth year of the killing of HR worker Elisa Badayos
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
28 November 2025
Reference: Atty. VJ Topacio, Hustisya spokesperson
On the eighth year of the killing of HR worker Elisa Badayos
Today, the 28th of November, HUSTISYA (Victims United for Justice) marks the eighth anniversary of the ambush-killing of human rights worker Elisa Badayos.
At the time of her killing in 2017, Badayos was the regional coordinator of KARAPATAN in the Visayas. She was leading a 30-strong fact-finding mission in Bayawan, Negros Oriental to investigate reports of human rights violations perpetrated by private armies of landlords who doubled as paramilitaries in the employ of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
The fact-finding mission was harassed and briefly held at gunpoint early on by men belonging to the private army of Bayawan Mayor Pryde Henry Teves, a notorious warlord and known Duterte ally. When the investigating team split, with one group conducting interviews and case documentation and a second group comprising Badayos and four others proceeding to file a police report 1 the harassment, armed men shot at Badayos’ group, killing her and one other member on the spot while wounding another. The suspects have been none other than Mayor Teves’ private army that also doubled as force multipliers for the military in the counter-insurgency drive.
Up to 104 activists and human rights defenders had already been extrajudicially killed under the Duterte regime at the time of Badayos’ ambush, eight of them slain that year in Negros Oriental alone. By the time Duterte ended his term, a total of 422 political activists and human rights defenders were victims of extrajudicial killing, with an additional 574 victims surviving attempts on their lives.
Duterte was infamous for mocking human rights defenders, often threatening to kill them for being vicims’ advocates.
Not one of the killings of human rights defenders under Duterte’s term has been resolved, not a single perpetrator held accountable. Despite being Duterte’s political rival, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has not lifted a finger to address the killings under his predecessor’s regime. Instead, the killings, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and detention of human rights defenders continue without let-up under Marcos Jr.
HUSTISYA will not relent in demanding justice for the human rights defenders killed. Whether under Duterte’s bloody reign or under the current regime of Marcos Jr., the fight for accountability continues.
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KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.