The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started its own probe and has dispatched a quick response team to look into the reported disappearance last Sept. 2 of two environment advocates in Bataan. It acted on report by the anti-reclamation network AKAP Ka Manila Bay that Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed...
GENEVA, Switzerland -- The United Nations' rights chief voiced alarm Saturday at the grisly murder of LGBTQ rights campaigner Edwin Chiloba in Kenya, calling for more protection of such activists worldwide. "Shaken by the murder of human rights advocate #EdwinChiloba," Volker Turk, the High...
ILOILO CITY – A veteran activist in Panay Island has been released after more than eight months in jail in Iloilo province. Militant organization Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Panay said Elmer Forro, secretary general, was released on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from the Iloilo District Jail in Pototan town....
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz Poet, artist and activist Ericson Acosta died on Bonifacio Day, Nov. 30, at around 2 a.m., in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental. He was 50. The tributes continue to pour in from contemporaries, fellow poets and artists, classmates and friends. According to the 62nd Infantry Battalion...
A cop approaches activists outside Camp Delgado, the regional headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Iloilo City. The April 30 protest calling for justice in the April 2020 killing of activist Jory Porquia was dispersed by cops. (Justice for Jory Porquia Facebook) ILOILO CITY --...
State security forces figured in an armed encounter with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Davao de Oro on Thursday, Feb. 24, killing an alleged volunteer teacher for indigenous people (IP) and four others who were tagged as communist rebels. Chad Booc (Courtesy of Chad Booc's Twitter...
HOTSPOT Tonyo Cruz For a few minutes last Jan. 7, I was able to speak with a good friend on her sickbed. Although very ill, she was lucid and quick to remember me. But gone were the days that conversations were hard to end. Before, there would be endless topics to talk about. This time, I felt she...
MINSK, Belarus (AFP) – Belarus forced a Ryanair flight carrying a wanted opposition activist to land in the capital Minsk on Sunday, provoking a furious outcry from world leaders who described it as a "hijacking" and an "act of state terrorism.” Belarusian state television reported that Roman...
Sean Penn, Actor, Activist Los Angeles Wearing a gray t-shirt that reads “Actually, I am in Havana,” Sean Penn, with his wild bed hair, talked to us recently while self-isolating at his home in Los Angeles. Turning 60 on Aug. 17, the talented and outspoken actor-activist revealed, “6-0,...
