Please fill this form out if you’d like to learn more or participate in the political prisoners campaign!
Background
Nobody should be imprisoned for their political beliefs and for defending human rights!
The human rights situation in the Philippines under the Marcos, Jr. and Sara Duterte Regime is dire and continues to worsen. Since assuming office, Marcos Jr. has unleashed state sanctioned violence and political repression against the Filipino people, in order to suppress those who are critical of the regime.
The regimes’ arsenal of state repression and counterinsurgency has violated international humanitarian law and utilized tactics of extrajudicial killings, mass red-tagging through agencies like the NTF-ELCAC, illegal arrests and detention, enforced disappearances, torture, fake surrenders, and aerial bombings.
As of November 2024, there are currently 757 political prisoners detained in the Philippines, cramped up in congested prisons, faced with trumped-up charges. Political prisoners span across sectors and include peasants, trade unionists, journalists, urban poor advocates, land defenders, students, human rights advocates, and peace workers who advocate for genuine human rights, democracy, and sovereignty in the Philippines.
Of the 757 political prisoners:
- 103 are elderly
- 156 are women
- 97 are sickly & suffer from illnesses
- 148 were arrested under Marcos Jr. and Sara Duterte
- The Philippines is the world’s 3rd most congested prison systems with a 421% overcrowding rate
Political prisoners are not only wrongfully detained, they are languishing under terrible, inhumane conditions due to overcrowding, mismanagement, and corruption:
- The Philippines is the 3rd most congested prison systems in the world, with a 421% overcrowding rate
- Political prisoners in the Philippines subsist on an allotted ₱70 ($1.26) per day, but many don’t even receive this meager amount due to corruption
- Small servings of low-quality food make up political prisoners’ typical diet, and many people go hungry and suffer malnutrition if they don’t have money to buy more or receive outside support
- Many are forced to endure different forms of torture like being held incommunicado from people, family, lawyers or doctors to living in squalid conditions, and experience the slow progress of their court cases and justice.
Through our Malaya Movement political prisoner support campaign, we aim to build awareness about the conditions of the growing number of political prisoners in the Philippines, highlight the causes they are fighting for, provide tangible support for their well being, and to call for their immediate and unconditional release!
JOIN US! You can participate in the campaign and show your solidarity and support for Political Prisoners in the Philippines by:
1) Letter writing to political prisoners
2) Inviting Malaya Movement to hold an educational workshop or a letter writing workshop on the situation of political prisoners in the PH
3) Donate to support the immediate and long term needs of political prisoners
4) Adopt a political prisoner to advocate and support their specific immediate and long-term needs
5) Participating in advocacy or lobbying efforts
6) Setting up a meeting to learn more about the campaign
7) Writing an Op-Ed on Filipino political prisoners
8) Joining the national working group to support with the implementation of the campaign
For more info contact:
malayamovement@gmail.com