KARAPATAN: Rights defenders, anti-corruption advocates in a “critical situation” under Marcos Jr.’s state-sponsored terror
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
December 9, 2025
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: Rights defenders, anti-corruption advocates in a “critical situation” under Marcos Jr.’s state-sponsored terror
On the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and International Anti-Corruption Day on December 9, eve of International Human Rights Day, rights group KARAPATAN warned that the Marcos Jr. government’s intensifying attacks against human rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates have placed them in a “critical situation.”
“State-sponsored terror under Marcos Jr. continues to weaponize laws and fully mobilize the state’s armed forces to silence staunch defenders of people’s rights and anti-corruption advocates, to intimidate citizens and activists in protests, and to terrorize communities,” said Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general. “Trumped-up charges, including the dangerous use of the terror law and the terrorist financing law, as well as arbitrary and illegal arrests continue to hound human rights defenders across the country.”
According to Palabay, such criminalization remains “one of the most systematic and pervasive forms of harassment,” designed to drain resources, restrict movement, and delegitimize the vital work of human rights and community advocates.
She cited the arrest of Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc. (PDG) workers Federico Salvilla, Perla Jaleco, and Dharyll Albañez on baseless accusations of “terrorism financing” at the beginning of the year. Karapatan had earlier warned that such arrests signal the Marcos Jr. administration’s continuing policy of filing trumped-up terrorism and terrorist financing cases in 2025. The PDG has provided vital services for the peasants, including farmworkers, in Negros.
Palabay also cited the arbitrary designation of leaders of the Cordillera People’s Alliance, which is at the forefront of the anti-corruption protests in the Cordillera Region.
“The cases of the PDG and CPA are just a few of the many examples. At least 227 individuals have already been charged under terror laws, HRDs who are now trapped in prolonged legal battles, subjected to surveillance, or burdened with frozen assets. At least 30 of those charged with terror laws are behind bars,” Palabay said. “The Anti-Terrorism Act has become a weapon for branding community organizers, humanitarian workers, and anti-corruption activists as enemies of the state. This is a direct assault on the rights guaranteed under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and it must end.”
Karapatan added that the resurgence of abductions and enforced disappearances further demonstrates the severity of attacks on HRDs. At least 14 victims have been documented under the Marcos Jr. administration, including peasant organizers, environmental defenders, and activists.
“Worse, legal remedies have proven to be inutile,” Palabay continued, citing the cases of James Jazmines and Felix Salaveria Jr., whose families filed petitions for protective writs—but the courts issued orders months after the two were abducted. “How can this be called protection when there is no urgency, not even from the courts?”
Palabay emphasized that the gravest attacks against human rights defenders are the continuing spate of extrajudicial killings. KARAPATAN has documented 134 extrajudicial killings under the Marcos Jr. government, most of them farmers, indigenous peoples, environmental defenders, and people’s organization leaders who had been red-tagged or threatened prior to their deaths.
“Killing human rights defenders is the most evident and brutal attack—and it is what makes this situation truly critical. Dismantling the State machinery that plans and executes these operations is most urgent,” she said. “The deepening impunity fosters a culture not only of fear but of frustration, especially when perpetrators of human rights violations walk free, just like those involved in large-scale corruption and plunder in government.”
“The police brutality, violence, torture, inhumane and cruel treatment, harassment and intimidation, red-tagging and judicial harassment against citizens and anti-corruption protesters in the past months illustrate the use of various forms of political repression and reprisal, when people exercise their right to seek redress of grievances,” KARAPATAN said.
Palabay reiterated: “Defending rights is not a crime. Protest and dissent are justified and necessary in the face of repression, fascism, and the massive embezzlement of public funds. We demand that this administration uphold its obligations under the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. Ultimately, it is the people’s collective action that ensures our rights are realized because we fight for them.”
“On December 10, we will march to emphasize our call to stop the criminalization of human rights defenders and anti-corruption advocates, junk the Anti-Terrorism Act, surface the disappeared, stop the killings, and demand justice and protection for all who defend human rights,” Palabay concluded.
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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.