The International Coalition for Human Rights in the
Philippines (ICHRP) calls for the immediate release of five
paralegals arrested during a protest outside the Grand Hyatt
Hotel in Taguig City, Metro Manila on September 10. ICHRP
also condemns the unlawful use of force by the police who
violently dispersed the protesters, resulting in injuries to
27 individuals.
The paralegals were assisting
protesters who conducted a lightning rally to condemn the
Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Investors Forum being held
inside the hotel. The forum gathered more than 600 foreign
investors to promote the US-led Luzon Economic Corridor.
This economic zone includes the controversial Pax Silica
initiative, which plans to build a 1,600-hectare AI data hub
in Central Luzon while displacing thousands of Ayta
indigenous people and plundering the Philippines’ minerals
and natural resources. The rally held on September 10 was a
legitimate protest by Filipinos concerned about the selling
out of resources, land, and national sovereignty to foreign
powers.
Confirmed among those arrested are Kenneth
Castro of the University of the Philippines Office of the
Student Regent; and Jona Yang, former Secretary General of
AGHAM Advocates of Science and Technology for the People.
Two more paralegals, Daya Juliano of human rights monitor
Karapatan and RC Placido of peasant organization Tanggol
Magsasaka, were subsequently arrested at the Taguig City
Hall while assisting the three earlier detained.
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While
President Marcos Jr. delivered his keynote speech inside the
hotel, videos captured by local media show the police
violently shoving, manhandling, and hitting the protesters
with batons and riot shields. Protesters left the scene with
visible physical injuries. The stark difference between the
safety of those attending the forum versus the brutality
against the protestors undoubtedly shows whose interests the
Philippine National Police serve. They are the ruling
elite’s main instrument in silencing legitimate demands
from the Filipino people.
ICHRP raises the alarm on
the recent spree of arrests and increasing state harassment
during protests in the Philippines. It is indicative of the
growing fascist character of Marcos Jr. in his desperate bid
to curb the intensifying resistance of the people’s
movement.
ICHRP stands in firm solidarity with the
protesters and fully supports their demand to shut down Pax
Silica and other forms of US-led imperialist
plunder.
