The New People's Army, abbreviated NPA or BHB, is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), based primarily in the Philippine countryside. It acts as the CPP's principal organization, aiming to consolidate political power from what it sees as the present "bourgeois reactionary puppet government" and to aid in the "people's democratic revolution". Founded on March 29, 1969, by the collaboration of Jose Maria Sison and former members of the Hukbalahap led by Bernabe Buscayno, the NPA has since waged a guerrilla war based on the Maoist strategy of protracted people's war. The NPA is one of the key figures in the ongoing Communist rebellion in the Philippines, the longest ongoing conflict in the country.
Maria Angelita Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist and author, the co-founder and CEO of Rappler, and the first Filipino recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. She previously spent nearly two decades working as a lead investigative reporter in Southeast Asia for CNN.
Human rights in the Philippines are protected by the Constitution of the Philippines, to make sure that persons in the Philippines are able to live peacefully and with dignity, safe from the abuse of any individuals or institutions, including the state.
Rodrigo Roa Duterte, also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson of PDP–Laban, the ruling political party in the Philippines during his presidency. Duterte is the first president of the Philippines to be from Mindanao and is the oldest person to assume office, beginning his term at age 71.
The Davao Death Squad (DDS) is a vigilante group in Davao City. The group is alleged to have conducted summary executions of street children and individuals suspected of petty crimes and drug dealing. It has been estimated that the group is responsible for the killing or disappearance of between 1,020 and 1,040 people between 1998 and 2008. As early as 2005, the US State Department had received reports of the Human Rights Commission's (HRC) investigation regarding the alleged connection of the Duterte political dynasty of Davao to the killings. Investigations by Human Rights Watch and the Philippine Commission of Human Rights (CHR) followed. The 2009 report by the CHR noted stonewalling by local police under Duterte while a leaked cable observed a lack of public outrage among Davao residents.
Extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines are illegal executions – unlawful or felonious killings – and forced disappearances in the Philippines. These are forms of extrajudicial punishment, and include extrajudicial executions, summary executions, arbitrary arrest and detentions, and failed prosecutions due to political activities of leading political, trade union members, dissident and/or social figures, left-wing political parties, non-governmental organizations, political journalists, outspoken clergy, anti-mining activists, agricultural reform activists, members of organizations that are alleged as allied or legal fronts of the communist movement or claimed supporters of the NPA and its political wing, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
The ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines is a conflict between the government of the Philippines and the New People's Army (NPA), which is the armed wing of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The conflict is also associated with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), which serves as the political wing of the CPP.
The political killings in the Philippines are a series of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of left-wing politicians and activists, journalists, human rights advocates, the political opposition, and outspoken clergy that have increased dramatically since 2001.
Loretta Ann P. Rosales is a Filipina activist, teacher and politician who has served three terms as the party-list representative of the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party to the Philippines' House of Representatives from the 11th-14th Congress (1998-2007). She was the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights of the Republic of the Philippines from 2010 to 2015.
The Philippine drug war is the anti-drug policy and actions of the Philippine government under Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, 2016. According to former Philippine National Police Chief and Senator Ronald dela Rosa, the policy is aimed at "the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide".
Protests against President Rodrigo Duterte escalated on November 18, 2016, following Duterte's support of the burial of the late president Ferdinand Marcos. These series of protests are mostly conducted by progressive groups and other opposing figures mainly due to the ongoing war on drugs, the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, and employment issues such as contractual terms being applied by companies and inflation which occurred due to the passage of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law. Other causes of the protests include the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, and the shutdown and franchise denial of ABS-CBN.
The following is a timeline of protests against Rodrigo Duterte, the 16th President of the Philippines, and his policies. Issues were addressed in the protests including the war on drugs, employment issues, anti-terror law, and the government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Negros killings were a series of targeted assassinations carried out by unidentified gunmen in the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental in the Philippines. Some of the victims involved were suspected Communists or sympathizers. Following the killings, Memorandum Order No. 32 was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on November 23, 2018, upon the orders of President Rodrigo Duterte deploying additional troops to the provinces of Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Samar, and the Bicol Region to "suppress sporadic acts of violence" allegedly committed by lawless groups and to "prevent such violence from spreading and escalating elsewhere in the country." Even after the memorandum was signed, the incidence of killings continued. According to the Defend Negros Movement, the first recorded extrajudicial killing on Negros Island was Alexander Ceballos on January 20, 2017. The group also alleged that at least 84 persons have been killed since 2017.
Red-tagging in the Philippines refers to the malicious blacklisting of individuals or organizations critical or not fully supportive of the actions of a sitting government administration in the country. These individuals and organizations are "tagged" as either communist or terrorist or both, regardless of their actual political beliefs or affiliations. It is a type of incitement and has pernicious effects on its targets. Red-tagging may be performed by either security forces, public servants or shills.
The Movement Against Tyranny, or MAT, is a Philippine movement that seeks to protest alleged acts of tyranny by the administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. It was launched on August 28, 2017, at the Maryhill School of Theology in Quezon City in the wake of the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos. The group also protests killings associated with the Philippines' war on drugs and harassment of media organizations.
Zara Alvarez was a Filipina human rights advocate, educator, paralegal, and prominent social activist who predominantly campaigned against human rights violations during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte. She was well known for her active campaign to protect human rights in the Philippines, which became a matter of concern during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte. During her career as a human rights activist, she was often a prime target of political mafia and reported to have received numerous death threats due to her active campaigns against human rights violations. On 17 August 2020, she was assassinated by unknown gunmen. According to human rights groups, her murder suggested a serious major crackdown against human rights activists and civilians in the Philippines.
The Student Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP) is a youth ecumenical national democratic mass organization in the Philippines. It aims to uphold students rights and participates in numerous local and worldwide peoples' advocacies. As with other SCMs around the world, SCMP is a member of the World Student Christian Federation. In the Philippines, it is an associate member of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP). It is also a member and a founding organization of Kabataan Partylist.
The 2021 Calabarzon raids, also referred to as Bloody Sunday and COPLAN ASVAL, were a series of operations conducted by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army in Calabarzon, Philippines, on March 7, 2021, that resulted in the killing of nine activists and the arrest of six individuals. The victims were left-wing activists and environmentalists, including six who were killed in Rizal, two in Batangas, and one in Cavite.
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines to respond and raise awareness to the ongoing communist rebellion in the Philippines.
The first 100 days of Rodrigo Duterte's presidency began on June 30, 2016, the day Rodrigo Duterte was inaugurated as the 16th president of the Philippines. The concept of the first 100 days of a presidential term was first adopted in the Philippines by President Corazon Aquino from the United States and has since been used as a gauge of presidential success and activism, and is a considered the "honeymoon period" where traditional critics are urged to refrain from detracting the new president. The 100th day of his presidency ended at noon on October 8, 2016.
