APCHRP: Stop harassing youth activists! Activism is a human right!

The Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) vehemently condemns the recent harassment of youth activists in Leyte by the Marcos Jr. regime. These acts are blatant violations of the right to free expression and to dissent against the government, and must be admonished by anyone who believes in these fundamental human rights.

On the afternoon of August 16, state agents visited the residence of Jon Ivan, the Vice President for Visayas of the National Union of Students of the Philippines and currently Student Regent of Leyte Normal University (LNU), while he was attending classes at LNU. These agents accused Ivan of “using terminology typically used by communist rebels” in his writings. This clear act of intimidation understandably caused great distress to Ivan and his family. It also follows a long-standing pattern of conflating legal activism with the armed rebellion, a practice known as “red tagging” which is designed to sow fear among activists to silence their criticisms of the state.

According to Ivan, this is not the first time that this happened to him either. On both 4 & 5 August, two soldiers – one of whom introduced himself as “Private Poblete” – together with the barangay captain and another individual alleged to be a “former rebel,” also went to his residence and accused him of being a combatant with the New People’s Army (NPA) to his parents. These agents bared that Ivan was constantly being monitored, both at home and his university, and that he needed to stop posting critical remarks against the government if he wanted to be removed from the surveillance list.

Similar acts of harassment were also experienced by a member of Kabataan Partylist (KPL) in Tacloban, Leyte. Individuals who introduced themselves as police officers visited this member’s residence to warn them against their alleged personal connection to the so-called “Tacloban 5” – a group of five activists currently being detained on trumped-up charges and also accused of being rebel fighters by state forces. These purported cops alleged the KPL member visited the Tacloban 5 in jail three times, which was a blatant lie as this member only visited the said detainees once, as part of their training to be a paralegal. 

This incident clearly constitutes harassment against youth activists and an attempt to intimidate those who defend human rights and speak out against government abuses. There is nothing wrong with visiting political prisoners, especially since they are experiencing state persecution, and such visits form part of legitimate humanitarian missions.

Paul Lachica, a student at the University of the Philippines – Tacloban and coordinator for Eastern Visayas of the progressive group, Bayan, was also recently subjected to warrantless searches by the military. Kyle Domequil, another youth activist who is acting as spokesperson for the “Free Tacloban 5 Network”, also found himself visited and subjected to red-tagging and harassment by individuals who claimed to be soldiers.

The APCHRP is deeply alarmed by this series of harassment and intimidation tactics against youth activists in Leyte. The claims made by the state agents are false and malicious, and are clearly done to sow fear among these youth activists who are merely exercising their right to free expression and to criticize the government which are both hallmarks of a democratic society. We strongly condemn these acts of intimidation – including the surveillance and red-tagging – of these youth activists and call on the Marcos Jr. regime to respect their human rights. 

Alongside this call, the APCHRP also demands the release of the Tacloban 5, who have been jailed since 2020 on fabricated cases meant to silence activists. We further urge human rights organizations and peace-loving citizens in the international community to join us in condemning these acts and the Marcos Jr. regime’s brazen attempts to suppress dissent in the Philippines.

#HandsOffOurStudentLeaders
#ActivismIsNotTerrorism
#StopTheAttacks

Reference: Sr. Patricia Fox
APCHRP Spokesperson