CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, urges President
Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to stop his assault on civic freedoms
and to implement the government’s human rights obligations
and commitments. More than four years since he came to
power, the environment for civil society and activists
continues to deteriorate as highlighted in a CIVICUS
brief published today.
The civic space in the
Philippines is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS
Monitor due to government’s continued failure to fulfil
its human rights obligations under the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which it
ratified in 2007. The ICCPR imposes obligations to respect
and protect civic freedoms, including freedoms of
association, expression and peaceful assembly. These rights
are also enshrined in the Philippines
constitution.
“Since coming to power, the government
has sustained a systematic pattern of repression against
activists, harassing those who defend human rights with the
use of trumped-up charges or anti-terror laws. This
crackdown on freedoms must stop. The government must reverse
course to protect the rights of activists and allow them to
work without fear, interference or retaliation,” said
Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Asia Researcher.
Over the last
two years, CIVICUS has documented the arrest, intimidation,
harassment, persecution and attacks on human rights
defenders. Many have been targeted on baseless and
fabricated charges such as including murder, possession of
firearms, rebellion and terrorism including human rights
defenders, Indigenous activists, trade union organisers and
students. Terrorism financing charges have also been
deployed against activists and civil society
groups.
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There have been reports of law enforcement
officials harassing activists and their families to obtain
information or get them to admit to being part of or
affiliated with an insurgent group. The government has also
continued to engage in red-tagging against activists and
CSOs by labelling them as ‘terrorists’ or ‘communist
fronts’. This often puts activists at grave risk of being
targeted by the state and pro-government
militias.
CIVICUS is alarmed that the current
administration has been increasing its disruption of
protests. It has used the draconian Public Assembly Act of
1985 to restrict the right to peaceful assembly by requiring
applications for permits before conducting protests. Police
arrested protesters – including children – and using
excessive force against protesters as witnessed during the
anti-corruption protests in September
2025.
Journalists continue to face challenges,
including the risk of being killed, attacked or arrested.
Civil society has raised concerns about a bill to combat
‘false information’ that has vague and overly broad
language that government officials could readily abuse to
suppress criticism of a wide range of government
actions.
“The authorities must respect the right to
protest and ensure that when arbitrary arrests occur or
excessive force is used, that the perpetrators are held to
account. The government must also stop targeting journalists
and withdraw the Digital Media Anti-False Information Act,
which is inconsistent with international law and
standards,” added Benedict.
About the CIVICUS
Monitor
Over twenty organisations collaborate on the
CIVICUS Monitor to provide an evidence base for action to
improve civic space on all continents. Civic freedoms in 198
countries and territories are categorised as either
‘closed,’
‘repressed,’ ‘obstructed
,’ ‘narrowed ’ or
‘open ,’ based on a methodology that
combines several data sources on the freedoms of
association, peaceful assembly and expression.
Civic
space in Philippines is rated’repressed’
by theCIVICUS Monitor.
- DOWNLOAD
THE REPORT –
https://civicusmonitor.contentfiles.net/media/documents/Philippines-ResearchBrief-September2026.pdf
