The Defend NGOs Alliance strongly denounces the conviction of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and lay worker Marielle Domequil, a ruling that lays bare how the Philippine justice system has been weaponized to criminalize dissent, silence truth tellers, and terrorize civil society into submission. This conviction is not justice. It is repression dressed up as due process. Frenchie Mae and Marielle have been deprived of their freedom for nearly six years through fabric

The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG), together with the Defend NGOs Alliance, stands in unwavering solidarity with Atty. Antonio Gabriel “Dean Tony” La Viña and all human rights defenders (HRDs) who continue to face grave threats to their lives, security, and freedom as a result of red-tagging. Last December 2025, retired Lt. General Antonio Parlade, former spokesperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), publicl

The Defend NGOs Alliance denounces the recent legal harassment of development worker and community leader Carmilo Tabada—currently facing revived charges long dismissed by the courts.  Tabada is currently Barangay Councilor of Brgy Poblacion, Trinidad, Bohol.   The Alliance sees Tabada's arrest as part of the Philippine government’s escalating use of anti-terrorism and financial suppression mechanisms to intimidate and constrain independent civic action. The continuing harras

DefendNGOs Alliance asks development actors to support urgent actions to reclaim civic space. This includes reviewing and moving towards amending or repealing the ATA, related terrorism financing laws, EO 70, and ultimately abolishing the NTF-ELCAC.