Hands off TABI, stop attacks on development workers – DefendNGOs Alliance
- Defend NGOs Alliance
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Defend NGOs Alliance stands in unwavering solidarity with Tarabang Para sa Bicol (TABI) and strongly calls out the brazen red-tagging and harassment of its staff and consultant. These attacks are not just lies—they are acts of cruelty against individuals whose work has protected lives, nurtured communities, and built resilience where the state has failed or withdrawn. To target them is to attack the very essence of humanitarian service.
For years, TABI has strengthened disaster preparedness, advanced community health, promoted climate resilience, and supported agroecology across the Bicol Region. This legacy exists because of real people—human beings who wake up every day to serve.
Aubrey Verzosa embodies this service. With extensive experience in community development and NGO work, she has guided TABI’s programs that have supported countless families facing typhoons, poverty, and displacement.
Dr. Rose Anne Sambo, faculty member and campus veterinarian of Sorsogon State University-Castilla, has devoted her expertise to TABI since 2017. Her leadership has been critical in building and strengthening the Bicol Farmers School (BFS), a regional hub that trains farmer-technicians, advances agroecology, and equips local food producers with science-based, community-driven knowledge.
Sherra Buen, a project officer committed to frontline climate resilience work, has helped coastal communities in Albay build bio-engineered vetiver grass seawalls—a participatory and sustainable defense against storm surges.
The Bicol Farmers School and TABI’s programs thrive because of people who choose compassion over fear. Red-tagging them is not only a smear—it is a violent attempt to silence civil society and terrorize those who serve the marginalized.
Defend NGOs Alliance calls on the government to halt these attacks, exact full accountability for all perpetrators and provide real protection for development and humanitarian workers. We remind the President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr of his promise to give highest respect for human rights and to uphold the government’s commitments to the 4th Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines Human Rights Situation where it supported 215 recommendations to ensure the Filipino people enjoys their economic, social, cultural and civil, political rights. These include the protection of human rights defenders. #
Comments