
The September 9 report of international watchdog Global Witness puts the Philippines as still the “most dangerous country” in Asia for environmental activists, as it has the highest number of advocates killed in the region between 2012 and 2023.
The report, titled “Missing Voices,” recorded the death of 17 land and environmental rights defenders in the country for 2023 alone, putting the Philippines 5th worldwide in a list that is topped by Colombia with 79 deaths, followed by Brazil’s 25, and Honduras and Mexico with 18 each.
Global Witness said a total of 468 environmental defenders were killed across Asia between 2012 and 2023, and that a whopping 64 percent, or 248, were in the Philippines.
Additionally, nonlethal attacks are also increasingly used to suppress activism across the region, along with judicial harassment. In Asia, a total of 1,033 such violations were reported in 2021 and 2022.
Seven enforced disappearances were also reported in the Philippines, including activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro, who were reported missing in September 2023 as they were working with fisherfolk communities when they were “violently abducted” by armed men. They reappeared after 17 days at a press conference arranged by the government’s anti communist task force, where they were expected to deny being abducted by the military, only to confirm that they were indeed abducted by soldiers. The government continues to deny their accusations and even doubled up by charging them with oral defamation for “embarrassing and putting the Armed Forces of the Philippines in a bad light.”
Worryingly, Global Witness also said several activists had been abducted since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office in mid-2022, which means our government still has a lot of undoing to do if it is going to be safer for all Filipinos, including activists of all shapes and sizes.
The Marcos Jr. government has been making noticeable strides of late, particularly when it comes to reversing certain unspoken policies that target “anti-government” groups, which in the recent past, included almost everyone who didn’t agree with how things were being done, especially when it came to the protection of human rights.
However, the Philippines being the most dangerous country in Asia for environmental activists means that our government officials have to be protective of more than just the VIPs and the powerful, but must also include the regular folk, including those that disagree with and make life difficult for them. That is going to be tough, especially after being given carte blanche power, but that is what it means to be a true public servant.*