Alternative Law Groups

Alternative Law Groups The Alternative Law Groups is a coalition of legal-resource NGOs that work on developmental law. The Alternative Law Groups, Inc. ALG MEMBERS:

1. (AHRC)
2.

(ALG) is a coalition of 18 legal resource non-governmental organizations that adhere to the principles and values of alternative or developmental law. These organizations have distinct programs for developmental legal assistance that is primarily concerned with the pursuit of public interest, respect for human rights and promotion of social justice. At the heart of developmental law is the dual wo

rk of empowering the poor and the marginalized, and effecting justice system reforms. The first component entails enhancing the capacity of the poor and marginalized groups to access and use judicial, quasi-judicial and other mechanisms for addressing their issues and concerns, and for protecting and enforcing their rights. The second focuses on the pursuit of a favorable policy environment that promotes the rights and interests of the poor and marginalized

ALG members’ operations cover a wide area of concerns involving justice issues of the poor and marginalized groups in the Philippines. These include issues on women, labor, peasant, fisherfolk, children, urban poor, indigenous peoples, persons living with HIV-AIDS, local governance, and the environment. Collectively, the coalition members’ operations cover the entire country, with some ALG members having nationwide coverage and operating in different areas throughout the Philippines, and others focusing their operations on a particular locality or region. Although the coalition members have their respective program priorities and strategies in their respective areas of operations, their work can be categorized into four major components: Education, Policy Reform Work, Litigation, and Research and Publication. Ateneo Human Rights Center, Inc. Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, Inc. (BALAOD Mindanaw)
3. Children's Legal Bureau
4. Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation, Inc. (ERDA)
5. EnGendeRights, Inc.
6. Environmental Legal Assistance Center, Inc. (ELAC)
7. Humanitarian Legal Assistance Foundation (HLAF)
8. Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education (Tebtebba)
9. Kaisahan Tungo sa Kaunlaran ng Kanayunan at Repormang Pansakahan (KAISAHAN)
10. Kanlungan Center Foundation, Inc.
11. Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center - Kasama sa Kalikasan - Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KSK-FOE Phils.)
12. Participatory Research Organization of Communities and Education towards Struggle for Self-reliance (PROCESS-Panay)
13. Philippine Earth Justice Center
14. Rainbow Rights Philippines
15. Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal (SALIGAN)
16. Tanggapang Panligal ng Katutubong Pilipino (PANLIPI)
17. Tanggol Kalikasan
18. Women's Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB)

Season’s greetings from the ALG Secretariat! ✨As the year comes to a close, we remain in solidarity with communities wor...
23/12/2025

Season’s greetings from the ALG Secretariat! ✨

As the year comes to a close, we remain in solidarity with communities working to advance access to justice, dignity, and rights. Toward a more just and humane future for all! ⚖

For the past three months, we have published 10 legal empowerment stories from across Southeast Asia. Each story feature...
22/12/2025

For the past three months, we have published 10 legal empowerment stories from across Southeast Asia. Each story features the experiences of communities, paralegals, and partner organizations advancing justice from the ground up.​

Read all the stories here: https://bit.ly/SEALEStories

Legal empowerment doesn’t have to begin in a courtroom, amidst intimidating robes and complex procedures. It can start u...
16/12/2025

Legal empowerment doesn’t have to begin in a courtroom, amidst intimidating robes and complex procedures. It can start under a tree in a village, on a dusty road in a disaster-stricken area, or in the very shelters where people seek refuge.

Our last LE story takes root in Myanmar, where a devastating earthquake shook many villages early this year. Read their story of legal empowerment:
ENG: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/breaking-the-silence-healing-the-unseen-wounds-of-disaster-affected-communities/
BUR: https://bit.ly/48EuQYC

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✨ Read other legal empowerment stories in Southeast Asia:
https://bit.ly/SEALEStories

Across the SEA, Bound by Roots: Legal Empowerment Stories in Southeast Asia. When people know their rights, justice takes root.




A couple of weeks ago, members of the Grassroots Justice Network joined human rightsdefenders in Nairobi to share, refle...
16/12/2025

A couple of weeks ago, members of the Grassroots Justice Network joined human rightsdefenders in Nairobi to share, reflect, and build collective strategies for justice.

Together, we learned what the Agreement, the Convention, and emerging African and processes can teach us about advancing justice. We learned from the lived realities of those implementing them. We also learned how to challenge rollbacks, , and navigate political pressures every day.

12/12/2025

"Naniniwala kami na kapag mas maraming tao ang nakakaalam kung gaano kahalaga ang karapatang pantao, mas nagiging matibay ang pagprotekta natin dito."

Relive the Summit here!

The Ateneo Human Rights Center held Rights in Focus: Human Rights for Campus Journalists Summit 2025 on December 6 at the Ateneo Professional Schools, gathering over a hundred campus journalists.

📍🇹🇭 Thailand | Around 110,000 refugees live in nine temporary shelters along the Thailand–Myanmar border. Behind bamboo ...
11/12/2025

📍🇹🇭 Thailand | Around 110,000 refugees live in nine temporary shelters along the Thailand–Myanmar border. Behind bamboo walls and leaves roofs, life in the camps is shaped by uncertainty — limited movement, lack of work opportunities, and barriers to formal justice systems. Yet, amid these challenges, a quiet transformation has taken root: refugees helping refugees understand and access justice.

📘 Learn how Saw Day Day transformed from refugee to rights advocate:
ENG: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/from-refugee-to-rights-advocate-how-a-paralegal-became-the-voice-of-justice-in-the-camp/
TH: https://bit.ly/4rMFioB

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✨ Read other legal empowerment stories in Southeast Asia:
https://bit.ly/SEALEStories

Across the SEA, Bound by Roots: Legal Empowerment Stories in Southeast Asia. When people know their rights, justice takes root.




If you silence the cry of the Earth, how can you hear its last, dying breath? Today on International Human Rights Day, ...
10/12/2025

If you silence the cry of the Earth, how can you hear its last, dying breath?

Today on International Human Rights Day, we put a spotlight on the rise of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or SLAPPs, and its systematic silencing and demobilization of environmental defenders who only speak and act for a better world.
Defenders across the Philippines raising legitimate concerns and exercising active citizenship over mining, plantations, and other extractive and destructive projects are being met with lawsuits designed to exhaust their resources, capacities, and morale.

In LRC’s latest discussion paper, we explore the jurisprudence and policy gaps that allow SLAPPs to persist, and propose necessary reforms to guarantee the people’s freedom of expression and right to public participation in matters of environmental concern.

Read ‘Weaponizing the Law: SLAPPs and the Erosion of Public Discourse and Participation in the Philippines’ -- 👉🏾 link in the comments or 📲scan the QR code

Since 2012, the Philippines has consistently been the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the envir...
10/12/2025

Since 2012, the Philippines has consistently been the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment.

The threats to life and liberty continuously persist, which have been confronted by human rights activists, environmental advocates, and climate justice defenders.

Too often, the law is weaponized against them through multiple SLAPP cases designed to intimidate, silence, and suppress legitimate dissent.

This Human Rights Day, ALG stands with those protecting our planet.

We are launching our Litigation Support to help climate justice defenders fight back, assert their rights, and access the justice they deserve.

More details coming soon!

📍🇵🇭 Philippines | Five courageous trans women students led the fight for their right to education and their right to tak...
09/12/2025

📍🇵🇭 Philippines | Five courageous trans women students led the fight for their right to education and their right to take up space in a state university in the Philippines.

🏳️‍🌈 Find out how they were able to win against the university's discriminatory policy:
ENG: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/capturing-equality-in-capiz-state-university-fighting-for-trans-students-right-to-dream/
FIL: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/fil-pagkakapantay-pantay-sa-capiz-state-university-ang-laban-ng-mga-trans-tungo-sa-kanilang-pangarap/

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✨ Read other legal empowerment stories in Southeast Asia:
https://bit.ly/SEALEStories

Across the SEA, Bound by Roots: Legal Empowerment Stories in Southeast Asia. When people know their rights, justice takes root.




[MEET THE SPEAKERS]From an international perspective to the regional experiences of Thailand, the Philippines, and Indon...
09/12/2025

[MEET THE SPEAKERS]

From an international perspective to the regional experiences of Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, you will learn about anti-SLAPP policies and the strategies that justice defenders use to combat intimidation and the weaponization of laws.

Join us this Friday on a learning session about Shaping an Effective Anti-SLAPP Policy!

Sign up now: bit.ly/AntiSLAPPSession

🗓️ December 12, 2025 | via Zoom
⏰ 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (GMT+8) (Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore)
⏰ 09:00 AM - 11:00 AM (GMT+7: Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam)
⏰ 08:30 AM - 10:30 AM (GMT+6:30: Myanmar)

ALG @ BERLIN: The Global Learning Hub for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation convened practitioners and experts aro...
09/12/2025

ALG @ BERLIN: The Global Learning Hub for Transitional Justice and Reconciliation convened practitioners and experts around the world to advance transformative transitional justice.

Representing Asia, ALG's National Coordinator, Sheila Grace Formento, shared regional experiences in advancing alternative and transformative justice initiatives and emphasized the importance of strengthening solidarity in Southeast Asia.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE: https://asia-ajar.org/2025/10/22/regional-transitional-justice-asia-network-experts-participate-in-practitioners-conference-in-berlin-to-advance-transformative-transitional-justice/

Photo grabbed from the AJAR article.

📍🇲🇲 Myanmar | For the people of Taw Kot, justice was not handed down from the courts; it was claimed by their own hands,...
03/12/2025

📍🇲🇲 Myanmar | For the people of Taw Kot, justice was not handed down from the courts; it was claimed by their own hands, guided by knowledge, unity, and courage.

🌱 Read more about their story:
ENG: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/eng-voices-from-taw-kot-a-communitys-fight-for-land-and-justice/
BUR: https://alternativelawgroups.ph/မြေယာတရားမျှတမှုအတွက်-တ/

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✨ Read other legal empowerment stories in Southeast Asia:
https://bit.ly/SEALEStories

Across the SEA, Bound by Roots: Legal Empowerment Stories in Southeast Asia. When people know their rights, justice takes root.




Address

Quezon City
1108

Telephone

+63284268569

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