Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines UK

05/05/2026

Protest in London against the killing of 19 activists in Negros, Philippines!

27/04/2026

ICHRP Condemns Massacre in Negros, Calls for Independent Investigation

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines condemns the Toboso Massacre of 19 people on Sunday April 19 on Negros Island.

We express our profound condolences to the families of all those slain and to the whole community of Toboso, where over 650 people had to flee their homes, jobs and lands.

One of those killed was Lyle Prijoles, an ICHRP leader from California, who had decided to integrate with the farmer community to deepen his understanding and demonstrate that these people are not forgotten, to show real solidarity for their campaign for genuine land reform.

Lyle is much respected and loved for his selfless commitment. His life has now been taken by the ruthless Philippine military.

ICHRP never puts its people in harms way, and the communities whom our people visit put safety of everyone as their top priority.

This is why we are so aghast at Lyle's killing and the killing of the other 18 people last Sunday.

Also killed were two students from the University of the Philippines, Maureen Santuyo and Errol Wendel. As well, a local journalist, RJ Ledesma was identified among the dead. Our hearts go out to their families and friends.

This is not what happens in a genuine battlefield encounter. This was a massacre of unarmed civilians by the 79th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army.

ICHRP calls for the immediate withdrawal of this military unit to barracks and a vigorous independent investigation of the massacre.

ICHRP repeats its call to all the foreign governments who supply weapons and training to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to suspend all military aid until the the human rights of the Filipino people are fully respected.

That means the USA, Australia, Canada,South Korea, Japan and Israel.

ICHRP will not be intimidated by this massacre, and it will review all procedures to ensure that its people will not be faced with threats like those at Toboso last Sunday.

ICHRP reaffirms its commitment to uphold the rights of the Toboso community, the landless farmers of Negros, and all the workers, peasants and Indigenous Peoples of the Philippines.

For now, we embrace all Lyle's family and friends in ICHRP-US. We are together in this time of grief and anger.

For media inquiries, questions and comments, or to get involved with ICHRP, please use the form below. You may also contact us by direct message on Facebook, Instagram, or X at the handle , or on Bluesky .net.

26/04/2026

19 Massacred in Toboso, Negros Occidental Philippines

The Armed Forces of the Philippines massacred 19 people in the community of Toboso, Negros Occidental, on 19 April. The AFP says that all the dead were armed rebels of the New Peoples Army (NPA). However, the NPA has said that only three of its members were killed. The other 16 victims include local peasant leaders, a journalist, a student council member from the University of the Philippines, and several visitors who had come to observe community development work in the municipality.

Toboso is one of the most impoverished municipalities in the sugar-producing province of Negros Occidental, where extreme poverty and harsh repression have long been realities of life. The province has seen several previous massacres by the military, which regularly conflates community organisation with the guerilla movement. In recent months, human rights organisations have been raising the alarm over increased military harassment of local development workers and human rights defenders. Human rights organisations believe that the notorious National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is behind this strategy of harassment, extra-judicial killings, and repression.

The Toboso Massacre is the worst so far under the Marcos Jr. administration. One of the Toboso victims, Lyle Prijoles, was a member of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines in the United States (ICHRP- US), which, like CHRP-UK, is a member of the global ICHRP human rights network. ICHRP-US, CHRP-UK, and other members of the ICHRP global network, regularly send members to the Philippines to work with communities and NGOs to gain a better understanding of the issues facing ordinary Filipinos in the cities and the countryside. They are civilians not engaged in any armed conflict. We can only express our outrage at these latest killings.

We grieve with the families and friends of all the victims of this massacre and vow to continue our campaigns for social justice and human rights for the Filipino people and to stop state- sponsored killings.

CHRP-UK joins human rights organisations in the Philippines calling for:
A full independent inquiry into the Toboso Massacre
An end to the harassment and red-tagging of development workers and human rights defenders
Respect for International Humanitarian Law
The abolition of the NTF-ELCAC

09/04/2026

CHRP and UK Filipino community organisations are working with the Cebu and Bohol Relief and Rehabilitation Centre to support typhoon victims and communities fighting against displacement.

24/03/2026

The Lumad indigenous people continue their fight for their right to education. The Philippines government has forcibly closed all Lumad schools. 11 teachers and two former members of congress who rescued pupils from a Lumad school being harassed by a paramilitary group were convicted of "child abduction" by the military. Known as the Talaingod 13 they are currently appealing their case to the Supreme Court.

This year CHRP and the Dara Bascara Trust gave financial support to the Save Our Schools Network(SOS) for an exhibition about the Lumad schools and for an SOS programme of mental health workshops. The exhibition was launched at an event held at the University of the Philippines in February 2026.

22/02/2026

CHRP supports showing of JL Burgos film on Jonas Burgos Disappearance

Film director JL Burgos takes a selfie showing around one thousand students packed into the main auditorium of Far Eastern University in Manila for the showing of Alipato at Moog. The film tells the story of the enforced disappearance of the director’s brother, student activist Jonas Burgos, in 2007, and the family’s long campaign to force the military to surface him. No trace of Jonas has ever been found. Their campaign led to the setting up of the organisation Desaparecidos, which is led by families of the disappeared. Desaparecidos continues to campaign against all enforced disappearances. An attempt to censor the film was overcome by public protests. The film has since won several awards. Enforced disappearances have been rising under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with around 45 cases - around one per month - reported since he took office. These include the enforced disappearance of people known to CHRP-UK, such as James Jazmines, Felix Salaveria Jr, Dexter Capuyan, Bazoo de Jesus and others. CHRP-UK is working with Desaparacidos to have the film shown both in the Philippines and abroad, and was given special recognition at the end of the showing. Students chanted loudly calling for an end to enforced disappearances.

18/02/2026

The UK Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines (CHRP-UK) condemns the continuing persecution of Journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and the undermining of press freedom in the Philippines.

The refusal of bail to Frenchie Mae Cumpio on 17 February illustrates the determination of the Philippines government to send a chilling message to those who speak truth to power in the Philippines. Frenchie Mae, a journalist in the Eastern Visayas province, was arrested in 2020 when she was twenty years old on trumped-up charges of murder and illegal possession of fi****ms as well as of “financing terrorism”. Such charges have become the norm for the military as a means to keep their targets in jail without bail.

Frenchie Mae spent the next five years in prison before even appearing in a courtroom. In November 2026, she was acquitted of the murder and possession of fi****ms charges for lack of any credible evidence. An appeal court had previously dismissed accusations by the military that she was connected to and financially supported the rebel New People’s Army. Yet it was on this last charge of “financing terrorism” that the judge found Frenchie Mae guilty on 22 January this year. In order to do so, the judge did not use any of the discredited evidence previously put before them by the military, but gave a verdict based purely on the uncorroborated testimony of a group so-called rebel “returnees”, people claiming to be former rebels now under obligation to assist the military. This blatant miscarriage of justice means that Frenchie Mae now faces a prison sentence of 12-18 years. Her lawyers are appealing the verdict.

Frenchie Mae was a young journalist whose courageous investigations in the Eastern Visayas dared to expose corruption and abuses in the military in her region, particularly in the wake of super-typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. The determination of the authorities to put her behind bars is meant to send a chilling message to those concerned with maintaining freedom of the press and the defence of democracy in the Philippines.

The charge of financing terrorism which appears to require little material evidence has become the weapon of choice to silence opposition. Marielle Domequil a development worker who was arrested along with Frenchie Mae, has been found guilty on the same charge. Other development workers in such reputable development NGOs as CERNET in Cebu, including CHRP-UK’s own chairperson Father Herbert Fadriquela, face similar charges of “financing terrorism”.

CHRP-UK joins other human rights organisations including the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines JP in calling for:
an end to the weaponising of anti-terrorism laws and charges of “financing terrorism” to stifle criticism and freedom of the press;
the abolition of NTF-ECLAC which has authored and abused these anti-terrorism laws;
The dropping of all charges and the overturning of all wrongful verdicts based on these unjust laws.

We call on all those concerned with democracy and freedom of the press to join the international campaign for Justice for Frenchie Mae Cumpio.

Contact CHRP-UK: [email protected]

22/01/2026

Frenchie Mae Cumpio has had multiple trumped up charges, including murder and illegal possession of fi****ms, dismissed by the courts, but a guilty verdict was given on the one remaining charge of "Financing terrorism". She now faces a 12 to 18-year prison sentence. Charges of "financing terrorism" using a sweeping Anti-Terrorism Law have become the military's weapon of choice against human rights defenders, trade unionists and development workers across the Philippines. Bail is rarely given. Frenchie Mae and five others have already been in jail for nearly six years, even before this verdict.

Frenchie Mae, whose investigative reporting exposed police and military abuses in Eastern Visayas, is the first journalist to have these charges used as a means to silence her. According to the international organisation the Committee for the Protection of Journalists this is an extremely worrying development and "a serious blow to the freedom of the press in the Philippines". Frenchie Mae's lawyers intend to launch an appeal. The campaign to free her continues.

A partial victory, and a promise to keep fighting

(REVISED) The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines condemns the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil in the Terrorism Financing case against them.

The verdict is an injustice, especially in light of a Court of Appeals reversal in the forfeiture case for the money confiscated in their arrest.

We have held from the start that the charges against them are trumped up and are products of a questionable arrest and testimony from dubious witnesses.

Frenchie, as colleagues have testified in court, is a community journalist and was, at the time of her arrest, executive director of news site Eastern Vista and a radio broadcaster reporting on community issues, including alleged police and military abuses.

Her case has been emblematic of the challenged state of press freedom, and more broadly of freedom of speech and expression, in the Philippines and her conviction does not bode well for the media’s ability to report on the issues that Frenchie did without fear of reprisal and retribution.

NUJP and the coalition will stay in the fight for her and for the rest of the Tacloban 5. We call on the media community and the public to continue to monitor the case as it moves forward.

We welcome their acquittal on the Illegal Possession of Fi****ms and Explosives case, however partial that victory may be.

The victory is a testament to Frenchie’s and Marielle’s courage and perseverance to fight the charges despite the odds and the resources arrayed against them, but also a reminder that we can win through the collective effort of her lawyers, supporters, friends, and her community.

NUJP is proud to have been in this fight with them and with you alongside Altermidya, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Press Unlimited, and Reporters Without Borders.

We acknowledge as well the solidarity and support from the Media Freedom Coalition and the diplomatic corps, who have monitored hearings and conducted visits to ensure Frenchie’s wellbeing in detention.

REFERENCE:
National Directorate
+639602784263 | [email protected]

20/01/2026

Representatives from international organisations, including the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have gathered together with the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines and Filipino human rights organisations, calling for the remaining charges to be dropped against community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio.

CHRP-UK highlighted her case last March inside the UK Houses of Parliament and worked with Plaid Cymru MP, Liz Saville Roberts, in getting Frenchie Mae's case raised in an Early Day Motion, as well as holding meetings with the UK embassy in Manila, getting it and other embassies to act as observers at Frenchie Mae's trial hearings. We also worked with Prisoners of Conscience and NUJP to get some financial support to Frenchie Mae's family.

Frenchie Mae has been in jail for nearly six years without having been found guilty of any crime. Last November, ludicrous charges of murder and membership of the New People's Army were thrown out of court. On Thursday, 22 January, the court will give a verdict on two other sets of charges: illegal possession of fi****ms, and financing terrorism. These are trumped-up charges commonly brought by the military against community organisers or critics of the government.

According to Beth Lih Yin of CJP, "the only thing Frenchie Mae is guilty of is persistently documenting and reporting government corruption". The charges against her are meant to have a chilling effect on press freedom in the Philippines. Friday, 23 January, is Frenchie Mae's 26th birthday. We very much hope she spends it reunited with her family in freedom.

02/01/2026

2025: A year of intensifying suppression of workers’ rights and continuing government corruption

Throughout 2025, CHRP pushed forward its solidarity work in the UK, strengthening its trade union solidarity work, lobbying the UK government and parliament, and fundraising for justice campaigns.

Union links and solidarity

Just as the year was ending, Mike Cabangon, a National Council member of the KMU labour group and a regional organiser for the jeepney drivers union, PISTON in Northern Luzon, was arrested in Baguio City under the government’s sweeping Anti-Terrorism Law charged with “financing terrorism”. CHRP is raising his case with trade unions in the UK and the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF).

Charges like those made against Mike Cabangon, usually based on planted evidence or the testimonies of “anonymous informers”, are regularly used in the Philippines to neutralise the activities of NGOs, community organisations, and trade unions. During 2025, CHRP continued to campaign against similar trumped-up charges made against CHRP’s own chairperson, Fr. Herbert Fadirquela, and 27 other members of the development NGO CERNET in the province of Cebu. The case is also being monitored by UN Special Rapporteur, Mary Lawlor, who has called for an end to government harassment of CERNET. CHRP aims to step up its campaign in support of CERNET in 2026.

CHRP continued its work building solidarity between the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in the Philippines and the National Education Union (NEU), and the University Colleges Union (UCU) in the UK. CHRP had a presence at the UCU national conference in Liverpool in May 2025, with Carl Marc Ramota from ACT being invited to speak at a UCU conference on academic freedom held in London in June. CHRP also had a presence at the NEU international Solidarity Conference in 2025 held in London in October, meeting with its international officers and focusing on the case of former ACT leader France Castro, former Congressman Satur Ocampo, and 11 teachers who had rescued pupils at a remote indigenous Lumad school from the threats of a right-wing paramilitary group working with the Philippines army. In a gross parody of justice, the teachers were convicted of child abduction by a local court. In December 2025, their appeal against these convictions - which would have required the government to admit its terror campaigns against Lumad schools - was denied. Castro and Ocampo have been two of the loudest and most persistent critics of government corruption. The campaign for justice for the Talaingod 13 continues.

Media freedom

In coordination with the Philippines National Union of Journalists (NUJP), CHRP continued its UK campaign to pressure for the release of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, jailed on trumped-up charges for her investigative journalism against corruption in the Eastern Visayas Region. Her case is central to the issue of press freedom in the Philippines. CHRP held meetings with the UK Foreign Office (FCDO) officials, and UK embassy representatives attended the court hearings dealing with her case, and encouraged other embassies to do the same. The Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts tabled an Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament calling for Frenchie Mae’s release and wrote to the Philippines Government. The UK National Union of Journalists raised her case with its network of MPs and in its union journal, putting into practice the solidarity links forged during the visit to the NUJ head office in London by the NUJP Secretary General Len Olea, in 2024, organised by CHRP. The most serious charge of murder manufactured against Frenchie Mae was dismissed in November, but she remains in detention facing other charges under the Anti Terrorism Law.

CHRP continues to work with the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Human Rights and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) to protest against the conviction of France Castro and Satur Ocampo and to support defenders of true democracy in the Philippines.

To mark International Women's Day in 2025, CHRP held an information stand inside the Houses of Parliament, providing briefings for UK parliamentarians on the cases of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and France Castro.

CHRP continued to press the TUC for a higher priority to be given by British trade unions to the issue of trade union repression in the Philippines. Several national unions now support the KMU campaign to free imprisoned trade unionists in the Philippines. The TUC has actively supported KMU at the ILO in Geneva to pressure the Philippine government to meet the recommendations made by the ILO High Level Mission to the Philippines in 2023.

The KMU scored a major victory against company attempts to crush its workers’ union at the huge Nexperia silicon chip factory outside Manila. CHRP raised funds to support the KMU campaign and is currently in contact with the Nexperia unions at the UK’s major Nexperia plant with the aim of developing future plant-to-plant workers' solidarity.

Enforced disappearances

State abductions, enforced disappearances and murders continue to be the most serious human rights violations in the Philippines. Following the forced disappearances of labour and environmental campaigners James Jasmines and Felix Salaveria Jr in 2024, CHRP raised funds to help the families maintain their campaign to pressure the military to release information about the fates of the two men. CHRP raised these cases with the UK embassy in Manila which sent observers to the press conferences organised by the families of James and Felix, CHRP also donated funds to the Desperadidos organisation of the mothers of the disappeared, to support showings of the award-winning film Alipato at Moog made by the brother of disappeared student activist Jonas Burgos.

Support for social justice

During 2025, CHRP became a referral agency for Prisoners of Conscience and obtained grants to give support to families of peasants, workers and community organisers who have been arrested on trumped-up anti-terrorism charges. We were able to provide some support to three different families in 2025 in coordination with organisations in the Philippines such as Karapatan, CERNET and the NUJP. We hope to provide more support in 2026.

CHRP once more joined the Dara Bascara Trust, in providing funds to support the campaign of the Talaingod 13 and to the Save Our Schools campaign for the education rights of indigenous Lumad children. This campaign was particularly close to the heart of former CHRP secretary Dara Bascara before her death.

CHRP donated funds to a breast cancer screening programme for women factory workers being run by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER).

CHRP joined in community fundraising in the UK along with the UK community organisations like the United Domestic Workers Alliance (UDWA), Southeast and East Asian Women’s Association, Dara Bascara Trust and Philippines Theatre UK to raise £1360 for victims of a succession of super-typhoons. The revelation that vital funds to construct anti-flood defences around the country had gone into the pockets of government officials and businesses has led to the emergence of a powerful broad-based movement against Government corruption, which is likely to grow stronger in 2026.

Website

During 2025, CHRP revamped its website to be a more effective tool in providing information about CHRP and the human rights situation in the Philippines and to assist our campaign work in 2026.

CHRP is an affiliate of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).