Release Cristina Pasion and Binay Serrano! Uphold International Humanitarian Law

APCHRP Condemns the Illegal Arrest of Filipino-American Organizer Christina Pasion and Mangyan Buhid Community Organizer Binay Serrano

The Asia-Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) vehemently condemns the illegal arrest of Filipino-American organizer Christina Pasion and Mangyan Buhid community organizer Binay Serrano. They were reportedly arrested on July 30, 2026, in Cabuyao, Laguna, in a joint operation involving the 68th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the Philippine Army and the Philippine National Police (PNP) while receiving medical treatment – an act that demonstrates the inhumane and abusive character of the arrest.

Prior to his arrest, Pasion had already been subjected to months of attacks and harassment by the Philippine Army. Since her arrest, she has remained in the custody of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Meanwhile, Serrano’s whereabouts were initially unknown. It was only three days after her arrest that she is being detained in a prison facility in Occidental Mindoro.

The arrests of Pasion and Serrano are part of the counterinsurgency campaign of the Marcos Jr. regime in Southern Tagalog and across the country, which seeks to vilify and falsely link community organizers, human rights defenders, and activists to the New People’s Army (NPA) without any factual or legal basis.

Human rights violations have intensified across Southern Tagalog as the Philippine Army continues to conduct focused military operations in the region. Just days before the arrest of Pasion and Serrano, an encounter reportedly took place between soldiers of the 76th Infantry Battalion and alleged NPA members in Barangay Del Pilar, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Three alleged NPA fighters were killed, while residents were subjected to forced evacuation amid heightened military presence. According to Karapatan, the military deployed four tanks, conducted surveillance operations, intimidated residents, and caused the suspension of classes in the area.

The arrests and intensifying militarization in Southern Tagalog are part of the National Action Plan for Unity, Peace, and Development (NAP-UPD), a US-backed counterinsurgency framework that places civilian communities and government institutions under increasing military direction. Such policies are used to suppress people’s movements, manufacture so-called “surrenders,” and intensify ruthless military campaigns and development aggression that serve the interests of foreign corporations.

The Marcos Jr. regime fears a people who continue to resist injustice. This is why state repression and fascism continue to intensify across the country.

APCHRP calls for the immediate release of Christina Pasion and Binay Serrano and demands accountability from the US-Marcos regime for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. We further call on the international community to expose and oppose the Marcos administration’s wasteful use of public funds for militarization and its bloody counterinsurgency campaign against the Filipino people.