APCHRP: RELEASE FELIX CONSAD! STOP THE HARASSMENT OF ACTIVISTS AND UNIONISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES!
The Asia-Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) vehemently condemns the arrest and the filing of fabricated charges against 61-year-old transport leader Felixberto “Felix” Consad on August 14, 2025, at his residence in Sogod, Southern Leyte.
The transport leader was taken into custody while caring for his grandchild, which further underscores the dastardly acts by state forces. This arrest reflects the continuing pattern of state harassment and intimidation against community leaders and activists who courageously defend the people’s rights.
Consad has long been an organizer and member of PISTON (Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide), an organization that fights for the rights of jeepney drivers and operators. PISTON was at the forefront of the fight against the so-called “jeepney modernization” that mainly served the interests of foreign corporations and risked removing the livelihoods of so many Filipino jeepney drivers. Due to Consad’s involvement with this campaign, he suffered relentless red-tagging, surveillance, and harassment from state agents that forced him to relocate to Leyte.
State-sanctioned harassment is not new to the Consad family. His wife, Rosanilla or “Teacher Lai” – a special education teacher – is a unionist and activist herself. She was also previously slapped with fabricated charges but were dismissed in 2021 for lack of evidence.
Consad is among those continuously persecuted and subjected to fabricated cases under the Marcos Jr. regime. In fact, as of June 2025, KARAPATAN reports that there are already 737 political prisoners, 164 of whom were arrested under Marcos Jr. Fifteen are consultants and staff of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), 96 are sick, 146 are women, and 104 are elderly.
The APCHRP calls for the dismissal of the fabricated and baseless charges against Felix Consad, which only follows a long-running pattern of slapping unfounded charges against unionists and activists in the Philippines.. This is part of the Marcos regime’s scheme to persecute human rights defenders to weaken and silence their opposition and expose the regime’s corruption and its desperate push to privatize transportation for the benefit of foreign investors.
Furthermore, the APCHRP urgently calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners, who are only behind bars for their struggles in championing the rights and welfare of the Filipino people. We demand an end to the harassment, surveillance, and intimidation of human rights defenders – activism is a human right and is part and parcel of a democratic society. The Coalition also calls on the international community to stand in solidarity with the struggle to free all political prisoners and to expose and oppose their continued persecution.
#FreeFelixConsad
#HandsOffTransportWorkers
#FreeAllPoliticalPrisoner
