Philippines added to CIVICUS rights watchlist

The Philippines has been added to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist as the global civic freedoms tracker warned of a continuing deterioration in the country’s human rights climate nearly four years into the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

CIVICUS Monitor said the watchlist highlights countries where respect for fundamental freedoms protected under international law has recently declined.

The group cited arrests, alleged excessive force, the criminalization of protesters and activists, continuing red-tagging, fabricated terrorism-financing charges against civil society groups and activists, and the prosecution and long-term detention of a journalist.

The March 25, 2026, listing was based on CIVICUS Monitor research findings, input from research partners, and consultations with activists on the ground, according to the media release sent to Daily Guardian.

The latest watchlist also includes Benin, Ecuador, Iran, and Georgia, countries where CIVICUS Monitor said there has been a recent and rapid decline in civic freedoms.

CIVICUS Monitor currently rates the Philippines as “Repressed,” the second-worst rating a country can receive.

The rating indicates severe restrictions on the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association.

The Philippines has a current CIVICUS Monitor score of 38 out of 100 and is rated “Repressed,” the same category recorded from 2020 through 2024 after previously being rated “Obstructed” in 2018 and 2019.

“There is a deeply troubling pattern of state actions against protests that is restricting the democratic space and stifling fundamental freedoms,” said Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Monitor Asia researcher. “It is creating a chilling effect for many in the Philippines who seek to speak out and organise.”

CIVICUS Monitor said police responded to anti-corruption demonstrations in September 2025 with widespread repression, including excessive force and arbitrary arrests.

More than 200 people, including 91 children, were detained and denied access to lawyers and their families, according to the group.

Numerous protesters reported being punched, kicked, and beaten with batons, treatment CIVICUS Monitor said may amount to torture or ill-treatment.

The group also accused authorities of weaponizing the legal system against protesters and activists.

In November 2025, the Department of Justice initiated criminal proceedings against 97 protesters, including charges of sedition and inciting to sedition under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Subpoenas were issued to prominent movement leaders, including Renato Reyes Jr., president of BAYAN, and several student activists, in what civil society groups described as a growing campaign of judicial harassment.

On Feb. 25, 2026, police arrested human rights defenders Edel Parducho and Three Odeña during a march commemorating the 40th anniversary of the People Power Revolution.

Earlier in 2026, anti-mining protesters in Nueva Vizcaya and farmers involved in long-standing land disputes in Laguna were also arrested.

CIVICUS Monitor said the arrests underscored the increasing use of law enforcement to stifle community organizing and environmental activism.

Human rights defenders, land rights advocates, and labor organizers remain particularly at risk, the group said.

In November 2025, defenders in Negros Occidental and Cagayan Valley, both affected by typhoons Tino and Uwan, were arrested or attacked.

Authorities have also escalated the use of fabricated terrorism-financing charges, according to CIVICUS Monitor.

Among those detained in December 2025 were activist Carmilo Tabada, formerly with FARDEC, and Michael Cabangon, a Cordillera-based labor leader and cultural worker.

Reports of red-tagging continue to proliferate, the group said.

CIVICUS Monitor cited the case of environmental lawyer Antonio La Viña, who was targeted by a retired military officer in December 2025.

It also cited the public vilification of seven organizers and labor leaders in Bicol in February 2026.

Journalists face similar persecution, according to the group.

In January 2026, independent journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defender Marielle Domequil were convicted of terrorism-financing charges after nearly six years of pretrial detention.

A regional trial court denied their petition for bail the following month, raising further concerns about the alleged misuse of counterterrorism laws to silence dissent.

“During a period when public accountability is urgently needed, authorities are choosing to use restrictive laws to criminalise activists and journalists rather than address legitimate public concerns,” said Benedict. “The international community must not remain silent but call on the Philippines government to adhere to their international human rights obligations to ensure the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and to drop all charges against activists.”

CIVICUS Monitor tracks civic freedoms, including the freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly, across 198 countries and territories.

The group’s rating system classifies countries as open, narrowed, obstructed, repressed, or closed based on continuing analysis of multiple streams of civic space data.

In countries rated “Repressed,” civic space is significantly constrained, and civil society members who criticize power holders risk surveillance, harassment, intimidation, imprisonment, injury, and death, according to CIVICUS Monitor.

CIVICUS Monitor said there are 50 countries in the world with a “Repressed” rating.

The organization’s global data page lists 33 countries as open, 50 as narrowed, 39 as obstructed, 37 as repressed, and 39 as closed, while 72.4% of the world’s population lives in countries rated either closed, repressed, or obstructed.

The Philippines was downgraded from “Obstructed” to “Repressed” in December 2020, when CIVICUS Monitor cited attacks on journalists and human rights defenders, as well as the Anti-Terrorism Act, as among the concerns contributing to the rating change.

The Marcos administration has repeatedly said it respects human rights and due process, while rights groups have continued to press for accountability over alleged abuses, red-tagging, and the use of security laws against activists, journalists, and community organizers.

The CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist adds international scrutiny to those concerns as the Philippines faces renewed calls to protect dissent, peaceful assembly, and press freedom.

Sources: CIVICUS Monitor media release provided to Daily Guardian; CIVICUS Monitor Philippines country page; CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist March 2026; CIVICUS Monitor ratings page.