Tanggol Bayi - Philippines

25/03/2025

08/03/2025

Tanggol Bayi: Filipinas suffer political repression, poverty under Marcos Jr.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Tanggol Bayi, an association of women human rights defenders, joins other women’s rights activists and advocates of women’s liberation in expressing solidarity for all women victims of political repression, especially victims of extrajudicial killing, involuntary disappearance, sexual violence, abduction, torture and unjust arrest and imprisonment.

We are likewise in solidarity with the tens of thousands of women living in communities under virtual martial rule and whose lives and livelihoods have been upended not only by food and economic blockades, but by the military’s bombardment and artillery attacks on their production areas; and the millions of women who have been red-tagged, threatened, harassed and intimidated for belonging to militant people’s and sectoral organizations, or for simply living in areas of armed conflict.

Karapatan has documented at least 21 women killed extrajudicially under the Marcos Jr. regime’s brutal counter-insurgency war. The victims range from 9-year-old Kyllene Casao who was killed by soldiers and paramilitaries under the 59th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA); peasant activist Emelda Fausto, who was massacred with her husband and two minor children; hors de combat Kalixta Peralta and Hannah Jay Cesiste, as well as NDFP consultants Wilma Austria-Tiamzon and Co**ha Araneta-Bocala who were captured alive but killed in violation of international humanitarian law.

Four women — Elena Pampoza, Elgene Mungcal, Deah Lopez and Lyn Grace Martullinas — are among the 15 persons who have been forcibly disappeared under the Marcos Jr. regime. Pampoza, Mungcal and Lopez are peasant organizers while Martullinas is an aide of NDFP consultant Rogelio Posadas who is himself a victim of extrajudicial killing.

There are currently 157 women political prisoners unjustly incarcerated in various jails and prisons across the country. The eldest political prisoner is 80-year-old Rosita Taboy. Now on the second year of her detention, she suffers from diabetes and hypertension and has difficulty walking unaided. Tanggol Bayi urgently calls for the release of Taboy and other ailing and elderly women political prisoners on humanitarian grounds.

The Marcos Jr. regime has preferred to embark on PR extravaganzas like the drafting of a “national action plan (NAP) on women, peace and security” that turns a blind eye to the insidious violence of poverty afflicting the vast majority of Filipino women, rendering them vulnerable to brazen violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. Even as ordinary women and women activists continue to bear the brunt of State-sponsored violence and terrorism, the NAP proffers superficial solutions such as the token participation of women in so-called peace-building initiatives that are part and parcel of the regime’s counter-insurgency drive.

We in Tanggol Bayi condemn these cosmetic solutions that deliberately gloss over the deep-seated political and economic roots of social unrest and armed conflict and deny their inexorable link to State-sponsored violence against the people and women in particular.

We salute the militancy and courage of Filipino women for seeing though such deceptions and continuing to stand up against the repression and terrorism of the Marcos Jr. regime. We will not waver in our commitment to work in solidarity with Filipino women’s movements that genuinely promote and defend women’s and people’s rights.

06/03/2025

Tanggol Bayi: Free our sisters, free all political prisoners

Tanggol Bayi, an organization of women human rights defenders, joins activists from KARAPATAN, Samahan ng Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA), Free Amanda Echanis Movement, Tanggol Magsasaka, Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women, GABRIELA, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Bai Indigenous Women's Network, and the Ecumenical Women's Forum in renewing the call to
release women political prisoners, especially the sick and the elderly. We issue this urgent call before the Department of Justice, two days before International Women’s Day.

Out of the 761 political prisoners in the country, 157 are women. These women are not criminals. They are human rights defenders, activists and leaders in the struggle for genuine democracy and social justice. They include workers, peasants, urban
poor, writers and students, among others. They are mothers, sisters, daughters and wives cruelly wrenched from their families by the State that has ordered their unjust arrest and imprisonment on trumped-up charges. Their rightful place is with the struggling people, not in the bleak prison cells
where they have been unjustly remanded.

Many of them are elderly, frail and facing serious ailments compounded by the harsh conditions in the country’s jails and prisons. Yet they are often not given consideration for their age and health condition and many are without adequate medical care.

One of them—Cristina Garcia Miguel—died of lung cancer at the age of 67 at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology Facility in Tuguegarao City on November 20, 2023 after four years of detention. She was never granted access to appropriate medical treatment.

Among the country’s women political prisoners is Loida Magpatoc, a consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) who is detained at the Bukidnon Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. The country’s eldest political prisoner is 80-year old Rosita Taboy, who was arrested on May 26, 2023 in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan where she and her husband Antonio Legaspi were long-time residents. Taboy was widowed when her husband died of a heart attack in his jail cell in April 2024. Currently held at the Bulacan Provincial Jail, Taboy suffers from diabetes and hypertension and finds it difficult to walk without assistance.

Another ailing woman political prisoner is 74-year-old Virginia Villamor, who suffered a stroke and temporarily lost consciousness in September last year and was confined for several days at the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital and the National
Kidney and Transplant Institute. At the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital, she endured having to sit in a wheelchair for days at the emergency room because despite being a stroke patient, she was refused the use of a bed for not being “sick enough”.

Even the younger women political prisoners have had to endure not just the injustice of their detention but the pain of being torn away from their children. Cagayan-based peasant organizer and writer Amanda Echanis, now 35, was with her month-old baby when she was arrested in her home on December 2, 2020. Unable to witness the
milestones in her child’s development, she finds solace in, and maintains her militancy by writing poetry behind bars.

Despite the brutal conditions of their detention, the courage and unwavering commitment of our sisters in struggle to the cause of democracy and social justice remain unshaken.

We salute their sacrifices, their strength, and their militancy, and we stand in solidarity with them.
We demand that the Marcos Jr. regime immediately end the persecution of our sisters in struggle for fighting for a just and democratic society. In the name of justice and fairness, we call for the release on humanitarian grounds of all women political
prisoners, especially the ailing, the elderly and the long-detained.

Free our sisters!
Free all political prisoners!

01/12/2024

MAMAMAYANG PILIPINO VS PWERSA NG KASAMAAN, KADILIMAN

DAPAT PAREHONG PANAGUTIN sina Rodrigo Duterte at Ferdinand Marcos Jr. sa bawat buhay na kinitil, bawat biktima ng sapilitang pagkawala, bawat nabilanggo nang walang kasalanan, bawat pinaghinalaang adik o pusher na pinaslang. Dapat ding panagutin ang mga berdugong naging sunud-sunuran sa buktot na utos ng kanilang mga amo.

DAPAT PANAGUTIN ang imperyalismong US, na siyang nagdidisenyo at nagpopondo sa mga madugong pakanang ito. Sadyang sinusuhayan ng US ang mga rehimeng sunud-sunuran sa mga patakarang pabor sa mga imperyalista at sumusupil sa karapatan ng mamamayang lumaban at maghimagsik sa mga mapanupil na papet na ito.

HUWAG NATING IASA lamang sa eleksyon ang sagot sa inaasam nating katarungan at pagpapanagot. Mapa-Duterte man o mapa-Marcos ang manaig sa halalan, pareho silang may utang na dugo sa mamamayan. Sila at iba pang mga angkan ng bulok na pulitiko ang magwawagi sa bilangan. Mismong mga retiradong berdugong pulis at militar ay kumakasangkapan sa eleksyon para makapanatili sa poder at umiwas sa pananagutan. Iilan lamang sa mga makabayang kandidato ang nakakalusot sa halalang kontrolado ng mga makapangyarihan, at ang karamihan ay dinadaya, nire-redtag at hinaharas, kundi man pinapatay o sinasampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso.

SA DETERMINADO AT SAMA-SAMANG pagkilos natin mapananagot ang mga pasista at makakamit ang katarungan.

🗓️ Disyembre 10- Pandaigdigang Araw para sa Karapatang Pantao

Marcos, Duterte, walang pinag-iba!
Marcos singilin, Duterte panagutin!

29/11/2024

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: Stand for Justice
on International Women Human Rights Defenders Day

On this day, we commemorate International Women Human Rights Defenders Day to honor the courage and resilience of women who fight for justice and equality.

In Central Luzon, known as the Rice Granary of the Philippines, over 1.4 million Filipinos live in poverty despite the region's rich resources. Neoliberal policies continue to deepen this crisis, leading to joblessness, landlessness, and environmental degradation, exacerbating the struggle for survival.

Amidst these challenges, women are among those rising to defend the rights of their communities. However, their voices are often silenced.

In only two years under the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., there have already been 99 victims of illegal arrest, half of whom are women and members of the LGBTQ++ community.

Seventeen remain current political prisoners detained across various jails in Central Luzon.

Six of them are women human rights defenders:

𝗝𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘇 is a labor rights and land rights defender. Her important work has guided labor leaders and local peasant and fisherfolk organizations in the region until she was arrested on December 8, 2022, in Malolos, Bulacan, on the basis of spurious warrants of arrest from several trumped-up charges in Zambales and Tarlac. Janet suffers from Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH). During her arrest, half of her body was already paralyzed from repetitive strokes.

𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗮 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗮𝘆𝗻𝗼, a senior citizen and dedicated peasant organizer of the progressive Bayan Muna partylist in the region. Theresa’s first arrest was on April 13, 2022, together with peasant organizers Elgene ‘Leleng’ Mungcal and Evelyn Muñoz. Theresa and Leleng were released on bail by May and June of 2022, respectively. Unfortunately, Leleng became a victim of enforced disappearance on July 3, 2022. Theresa feared she might suffer the same fate as Leleng. She asked the court’s kind discretion to allow her absence during her trial dates, but was denied. She was later arrested again on July 29, 2024, in Mexico, Pampanga, together with three other companions—all peasant organizers in the region. This time, fi****ms and explosives were planted in her possession.

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗝𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗻-𝗼𝗴 is the first from UP Visayas Miagao to hold the position of Student Regent of the University of the Philippines. Her exposure to the realities of Philippine society in her capacities as a youth leader in various progressive organizations fueled her desire to offer the best of her years and her mind to defend people’s rights. She was arrested on July 29, 2024, on trumped-up charges from planted fi****ms and explosives.

𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗱 is an active youth volunteer and organizer of Kabataan Partylist turned peasant and indigenous people organizer. She was arrested while conducting a Basic Life Support Training Workshop in Imus, Cavite, on September 27, 2024. She was arrested by virtue of warrants of arrest for various trumped-up charges.

𝗭𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗱 is a member of the Quezon City Public School Teachers Association and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers, before volunteering her skills in research and education to peasant and indigenous people communities in Central Luzon. Her important work, now interrupted, is essential in building up-to-date peasant and indigenous people situations in Central Luzon in aid of legislation and service to the people of ACT Teachers Partylist. She visited the participants of the BLS Training Workshop and was among those arrested on September 27, 2024, together with Jennifer David and three other companions.

𝗠𝗮. 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗢𝗯𝗶𝘀𝗼 is a peasant organizer in the region. She was on leave when she was arrested while tending to her family in Quezon City. She took her leave to attend to her medical needs during the pandemic. She was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest under an alleged alias that she vehemently denies knowledge of.

Human rights defenders in the region face abductions, terror tagging, surveillance, and harassment, including a growing number of women human rights defenders.

On this International Women Human Rights Defenders Day, we must unite in solidarity. Raising awareness, mobilizing support, and demanding the release of all political prisoners is imperative.

Advocates are encouraged to organize forums, discussions, and creative engagements to highlight the plight of these brave women and their communities.

You may also directly contact us for inkind and monetary support for their food, medical, and legal expenses.

Let us honor their sacrifices by standing with them.

Together, we can amplify their voices and fight for a future where human rights are upheld for all. Free our sisters. Stand with the brave women of Central Luzon. #

29/11/2024

Free Frenchie Mae! Free Mariel!
Free our sisters, free all political prisoners!

In 2020, Frenchie and Mariel were arrested during military and police raids on their offices. They were charged with illegal possession of fi****ms and explosives, as well as terrorism financing related to funds raised for typhoon relief efforts

The raids involved aggressive tactics, including forced entries and intimidation. Testimonies during the trial revealed inconsistencies regarding the evidence presented. Following their arrest, Frenchie and Mariel have faced ongoing harassment, including online red-tagging.

Frenchie Mae C. Cumpio is a prominent broadcast journalist and the anchor of a radio program, She also serves as the executive director of Eastern Vista and is a member of various media and women’s organizations.

Mariel A. Domequil is a community organizer with the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines and a women’s rights activist involved with GABRIELA Youth - Metro Tacloban.

27/11/2024

On November 28, we will commemorate the seventh anniversary of the horrible murders of Elisa Badayos, then the coordinator of Karapatan-Negros Oriental, and Eleuterio Moises, a habal-habal driver and peasant leader in Bayawan, Negros Oriental. They lost their lives while conducting a fact-finding mission to investigate the attacks and harassment farmers in the province faced.

On November 29, we will also celebrate the outstanding contributions made by women human rights defenders in defending and advancing human rights as we commemorate International Women Human Rights Defenders Day.

In an effort to stop the attacks on women's human rights advocates and to continue to demand justice for Bayawan Dos, Karapatan Central Visayas invites you to join us for a candlelight protest tomorrow at 4:30PM in Carbon Freedom Park.

27/11/2024

Junk bogus terror charges vs women human rights defenders!

Tanggol Bayi, an association of women human rights defenders, joins other activists and women’s rights advocates in a prayer gathering and protest action at the Department of Justice to call for an end to the use of terror laws against women human rights defenders in the Philippines.

Several women human rights defenders and activists have been charged with violations of anti-terror and terrorist financing laws. As proof of the malicious and arbitrary nature of these charges, a number of the cases have been dismissed. But more bogus terrorism charges loom in the horizon as state repression mounts.

Among the more notable cases are those of:

Dr. Natividad Castro, a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, has, for decades, been serving the most impoverished peasant and indigenous areas in the Caraga region as a community doctor. On December 7, 2022, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) designated her as a “terrorist individual.” Among the reasons cited for her designation was her being the executive director of the Community Based Health Program (CBHP) which the ATC accused of having links to the CPP-NPA-NDF. Castro has been working as a community doctor, public health practitioner and human rights activist in the Agusan provinces since 1996, when she started her medical practice.

Miguela Peniero, an environmental defender, was arrested with youth activist and fellow environmental defender Rowena Dasig on July 12, 2023 in Atimonan, Quezon. Both were slapped with trumped-up charges of illegal possession of fi****ms and explosives. These charges, however, were dismissed in August of this year, leading to Dasig’s release. But Peniero remains in jail due to other trumped-up charges, notably a case alleging violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act. She came to know about the case after she was served an arrest warrant dated July 18, 2023, the sixth day of her detention. Concerns have also been raised over Peniero’s health, since she is a cancer survivor.

Alayza Lemita, a sister of Ana Mariz Lemita-Evangelista, one of the victims of the Bloody Sunday Massacre of March 7, 2021 that saw nine activists killed and six arrested, was subjected to intense harassment along with other members of her family because of their determination to seek justice for Ana Mariz. Alayza was falsely accused of violating Section 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, but the case has been dismissed. State authorities, however, slapped her with another case, this time for alleged financing terrorism, for which she has already submitted her counter-affidavit. She and a woman sari-sari store owner had allegedly fed adobo to the New People’s Army.

Desiree Jaranilla Patuñ-og, a peasant organizer, was arrested with three other Central Luzon-based activists on July 29, 2024 in Mexico, Pampanga. On top of the bogus charge of illegal possession of fi****ms and explosives, she is facing a trumped-up case of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act in relation to an alleged encounter on October 7 and 8, 2023 in Nueva Ecija between the New People’s Army and the military.

Estrella Catarata, a human rights defender, social workers and psychologist, was one of the founders of the Cebu-based Community Empowerment Resource Network, Inc. (CERNET). She was the executive director of the Central Visayas Farmer’s Development Center (FARDEC) Inc., which advocates for land rights and sustainable food production. In 2001, FARDEC was one of nine NGOs to form the CERNET network. Catarata remained a board officer of CERNET until 2013. She is now the executive director of Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT) Inc. She is one of 11 women development workers out of a total of 27 persons with former or current connections to CERNET who have been falsely charged with violating the law on terrorist financing. Their case is currently pending in court.

Women human rights defenders in the Philippines are being red- and terror-tagged in order to turn public opinion against them, and set them up for graver human rights violations such as extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance and arrest and detention on trumped-up charges. Being women, they face the added danger of gender-based violence from state authorities. Thus, they often doubly suffer in the face of state repression.

Political prisoners are living proof of state fascism. Out of the total 755 political prisoners nationwide under the Marcos Jr. regime, 147 are women, unjustly incarcerated for their political activities.

Tanggol Bayi joins other human rights defenders and women’s rights advocates in the call to dismiss all terror law charges against women rights defenders who are imprisoned or have been slapped with charges of violating the Anti-Terror Law and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law. We also call for the release of all women political prisoners who have been falsely portrayed as criminals for their activism.

26/11/2024

Free Amanda Echanis!
Free our sisters, free all political prisoners!

In August 2020, Amanda Echanis’ father was brutally killed, and a few months later, she was arbitrarily arrested while holding her newborn child. Amanda was charged with illegal possession of fi****ms and explosives.

Amanda Echanis, a young poet and playwright, began her activism in high school, inspired by her parents, who were survivors of martial law and political prisoners. She grew up alongside her jailed parents.

After graduating from university, Amanda worked with the Urban Poor Resource Center of the Philippines and later with Amihan, a women’s peasant federation, as an organizer in Cagayan Valley.

Amanda is currently detained at Camp Marcelo Adduro in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, facing arbitrary charges. Despite being imprisoned, she continued her work as a writer, with her poems and essays published by friends and colleagues