Amnesty flags Visayas rights crisis under Marcos

By Juliane Judilla

Amnesty International Philippines said it sees “no meaningful progress” in the government’s efforts to address the worsening human rights situation in the Visayas, despite growing protest actions across the region.

During the Visayas leg of the launch of its “State of the World Human Rights Report 2025/26” in Iloilo City on May 19, Amnesty International Philippines presented findings on armed conflict, political repression, attacks on press freedom, displacement, and corruption under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“What we are witnessing is the normalization of violence and impunity. Communities are displaced, human rights defenders are threatened, and ordinary Filipinos lose their homes and livelihoods, but accountability remains absent,” said Ritz Lee Santos III, section director of Amnesty International Philippines.

The organization highlighted continuing militarization in the Visayas, stressing that armed encounters “rarely occur in a vacuum.”

Amnesty reiterated concerns over the initial investigations into the Toboso massacre and emphasized that vulnerable communities continue to suffer the consequences of military operations in marginalized areas.

On April 19, an alleged encounter between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the New People’s Army reportedly took place in Barangay Salamanca, Toboso, Negros Occidental, leaving 19 people dead, including nine civilians and two minors.

Residents disputed the military’s account, claiming the clash occurred elsewhere and alleging that civilians were killed during operations conducted by soldiers in nearby communities.

“For decades, communities in Negros have lived under intense counter-insurgency operations. Various areas have been treated as hot spots for rebel encampments, making the lives of farmers and sugarcane laborers particularly difficult as they endure constant surveillance and harassment both by state and non-state actors,” Santos said.

“The consequences of armed conflicts remain devastating, where civilian deaths, displacement, and violations of international humanitarian law relentlessly occur,” he added.

Amnesty International Philippines stressed that poor and marginalized rural communities continue to bear the heaviest burden during armed conflicts.

The organization also warned that stalled peace negotiations could worsen red-tagging, enforced disappearances, political killings, and attacks on civilians.

“Militarization has become the government’s go-to response to dissent, instead of addressing the root causes of protests,” Santos said.

“The government ignores the fact that people’s resistance comes from their suffering while enduring poverty and inequality. Amnesty International Philippines calls on DND Secretary Gilbert Teodoro to revisit the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), which established protections and principles for peace talks nearly three decades ago between the government and National Democratic Front of the Philippines. All parties must recommit to respecting international humanitarian law and protecting civilians. Peace can never be achieved through violence and fear,” he added.

Santos also raised concern over AFP statements commending civilian cooperation during a recent military operation in Negros Occidental that was followed by another armed encounter over the weekend.

“When civilians are publicly framed as military assets, they are placed at greater risks. It blurs the distinction between combatants and civilians and perpetuates a cycle of violence instead of creating conditions for peacebuilding,” Santos stressed.

Beyond armed conflict, Amnesty documented what it described as a pattern of intimidation and attacks against human rights defenders, development workers, lawyers, environmental activists, and community organizers across Negros and Panay.

“Red-tagging creates a condition where threats, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and killings of activists are normalized,” Santos said. “It places lives in danger long before any trumped-up charges or armed encounter happens. Human rights defenders are being punished simply for helping communities assert their rights.”

Amnesty International also cited the conviction of Tacloban-based journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio as an example of how impunity is allegedly being weaponized against the press.

The group said the misuse of counterterrorism laws and red-tagging has continued under the Marcos administration despite mounting national and international pressure to end the practice.

The organization likewise launched an urgent action campaign for the “Tacloban 5,” calling for an end to their persecution and demanding their immediate and unconditional release.

“When journalism and human rights work become grounds for retaliation, it reveals how far the culture of impunity has spread,” Santos said.

“By institutionalizing repression into laws, the government creates the illusion that it legitimately protects public interests, when in truth, the roots of people’s suffering remain unaddressed,” he added.

Amnesty also condemned the travel ban imposed by the Bureau of Immigration against its secretary-general, Agnès Callamard, stemming from her previous work as United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings.

Despite appeals and changes in administration since former President Rodrigo Duterte publicly attacked Callamard, the ban remains in effect.

The organization argued that the continued targeting of human rights defenders, development workers, and activists reflects broader state neglect toward communities already struggling with displacement, poverty, and economic insecurity.

“We find it deplorable that President Marcos Jr. continues to turn a blind eye on the worsening situation of human rights defenders,” Santos said.

He cited several ongoing issues across the Visayas, including around 700 families facing demolition and some 16,000 vendors and workers at Cebu’s Carbon Market reportedly at risk of losing their livelihoods.

Santos also pointed to Iloilo fisherfolk who marched 40 kilometers to protest a court ruling affecting municipal fishing waters, as well as the Ati people of Boracay seeking to reclaim ancestral lands with assistance from development workers and nongovernmental organizations.

“The proliferation of these issues comes from the systematic abandonment of the rights of the poorest and most vulnerable,” Santos reiterated.

Representatives from various sectors also presented regional human rights concerns during the press conference.

Aljo Benedicto of the University of the Philippines Visayas University Student Council highlighted issues affecting students and youth, including clearing operations against ambulant vendors at Iloilo Terminal Market, alleged state surveillance of activists and human rights defenders, red-tagging of progressive groups, and the arrest of development workers on what he described as trumped-up charges.

Meanwhile, Atty. Raffy Pajares of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center Inc. criticized destructive environmental projects that he said continue to worsen socioeconomic and ecological crises.

Pajares also welcomed the dismissal by Regional Trial Court Branch 74 of the terrorism financing case filed against 27 former and active members of the Community Empowerment Resource Network.

Atty. Jonnie Dabuco, regional director of the Commission on Human Rights Region 6, said the agency is actively investigating cases involving the Ati Indigenous Tribe in Boracay Island, Aklan.

Dabuco added that many of the cases documented by the regional office involve red-tagging and violence against women and children.

Amnesty International further noted that state neglect becomes more pronounced during disasters and climate crises, citing controversies surrounding alleged anomalous flood-control projects in typhoon-affected areas and the failure of national and local governments to shield poor households from economic shocks.

“Impunity and corruption are not abstract issues. They determine whether families can eat, children can go to school, or communities survive disasters,” Santos said.

“Corruption is a product of lack of accountability, and so are crimes against humanity. Both are products of the same culture of impunity that perpetuates at the national and local levels. Human rights cannot survive where fear, corruption, and impunity are allowed to flourish. This government must decide now whether it will continue to protect power and privilege or finally uphold the rights of every Filipino,” he concluded.