The Defend NGOs Alliance strongly denounces another state-sponsored legal persecution this time against 11 activists in Cagayan Valley. Six regional leaders—Renato Gameng, Nelson Escalante, Anne Pascual, Jhames Paredes, Marifel Macalanda, and Walter Villegas—recently faced trumped-up terrorism financing charges under Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. They join Isabelo Adviento, Agnes Mesina, Cita Managuelod, Jackie Valen

The Defend NGOs Alliance stands in firm solidarity with journalist and media advocate Marchel Espina, along with all truth-tellers facing relentless legal harassment. The recent issuance of an arrest warrant for “unjust vexation” against Espina, stemming from an opinion piece published during her tenure as editor-in-chief of SunStar Cebu is a textbook example of how light criminal offenses are being weaponized to bypass constitutional rights and suppress public scrutiny. Wh

As the Marcos Jr. administration attempts to deceive the public by delivering a polished 5th State of the Nation Address (SONA), civil society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), people’s organizations (POs), and human rights defenders, present the reality on the ground: the systematic chokehold on civic space continues to tighten, directly undermining the basic rights and livelihoods of the Filipino people. Behind the glossy rhetoric of “Bagong Pilip

03 July 2026—Today is the 6th year implementation of the Duterte regime’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). This marks six years of systematic weaponization of the law—facilitating the criminalization of human rights and development work. Alongside the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA), the ATA has been used to freeze assets (intended for community-oriented needs/services), block humanitarian missions, and place grassroots organizers and ordinary citizens und