KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT & PHILIPPINE UPR WATCH
PRESS STATEMENT
7 November 2023
On the continuing human rights violations against anti-reclamation advocates under Marcos Jr.
As UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights Ian Fry begins his official 10-day visit to the Philippines, we continue to call for justice for our environmental and human rights defenders that have faced relentless attacks under the Marcos Jr. administration. We urge the Special Rapporteur to thoroughly investigate the growing number of human rights violations against environmental advocates associated with reclamation projects across the country, such as the emblematic case of abduction survivors Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano.
Reclamation projects have continued under the Marcos Jr. administration, even well after the supposed verbal suspension order from the president. Communities have documented negative impacts such as economic displacement and potential impacts on critical ecosystems. Reclamation projects have also been linked to worsening climate impacts such as floods, as documented in some areas in the northern Manila Bay region.
Civil society groups and environmental advocates have long opposed reclamation in Manila Bay for these reasons. As such, in relation to the continuing series of attacks against environmental defenders and civil society advocates in general, anti-reclamation advocates have also been targeted by state forces in recent months. Institutions such as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and policies like the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 are weapons that can and have been used by the state against environmental advocates, including anti-reclamation advocates.
A well-documented case of such nature is that of Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, two young women environmental defenders from community organization AKAP KA Manila Bay. While en route to a community consultation with fisherfolk in Bataan regarding reclamation and flooding issues, they were abducted by suspected state agents in early September 2023. After around two weeks of being held incommunicado, state officials claimed that the two voluntarily surrendered as communist rebels. However, at a press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC, the two publicly countered the NTF-ELCAC narrative and revealed their situation to the public, leading to their eventual release. Reprisals against the two continue to this day, with the Department of National Defense filing a perjury case against Jonila and Jhed.
Other attacks have been documented as well. In the southern region of Manila Bay, fisherfolk organizer Aries Soledad of PAMALAKAYA-Cavite was visited by state agents in their own home last September 2022, demanding that they disaffiliate from their organization to “clear their name” from a government list. In another incident, environmental organizations Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and AKAP KA Manila Bay were publicly red-tagged by state officials for allegedly spreading “communist propaganda” in a press conference presenting the findings of a fact-finding mission investigating the disappearance of Jhed and Jonila. Outside of the Manila Bay region, fisherfolk from the Save Gubat Bay Movement campaigning against illegal reclamation in the province of Sorsogon were also recently red-tagged and harassed by local government officials.
It is because of these incidents that we express concern over the human rights situation of environmental advocates under the Marcos Jr. administration. President Marcos Jr. has yet to comment, much less respond to, the clear human rights violations taking place against our defenders. With the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur, we hope this will push the Marcos Jr. administration to commit to protecting the rights of our defenders and scrap its draconian policies, particularly the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which help perpetuate these human rights violations. #
