NUPL Condemns New Sedition and Rebellion Charges as Part of the State’s Escalating Criminalization of Dissent
We call on the Department of Justice to immediately dismiss these fabricated and baseless complaints, and on the public, especially members of the legal profession, to resist the normalization of repression and defend the right to dissent.
November 5, 2025
NUPL
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers is a nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers in the Philippines, committed to the defense, protection, and promotion of human rights, especially of the poor and the oppressed.

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) condemns m the filing of sedition, rebellion, and related charges by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against nearly one hundred individuals who joined the September 21 anti-corruption mobilizations in Manila.

From the violent dispersal and arbitrary arrests of protesters to the filing of grave criminal charges, the state’s entire response has been a continuing act of repression and the criminalization of dissent. The September 21 protests were legitimate exercises of democratic participation and the people’s collective will, yet the government has answered these demands for accountability with intimidation, harassment, and the brazen use of the justice system as an instrument of fear.

The NUPL also takes note of the earlier CIDG subpoenas issued to youth activists and student leaders, including UP Diliman University Student Council Chairperson Joaquin Buenaflor and PUP Sentral na Konseho ng Mag-aaral President Tiffany Brillante. While it remains unclear if they are among those charged, their targeting and surveillance reveal a systematic effort to intimidate and isolate a new generation of critics. These young leaders have rightfully invoked their constitutional protections by refusing to submit to interrogations masquerading as “invitations,” asserting their right to counsel and due process.

We recall that many of the cases filed against protesters in earlier incidents have already been dismissed at the preliminary investigation stage. Their dismissal exposes the flimsiness of police allegations and the political motives driving these latest attempts at prosecution. However, looking at who has been charged—the critics and not the corrupt—it is clear that the state is deliberately chilling the people into silence and submission.

This weaponization of the legal system revives the same patterns of abuse that the nation supposedly swore to reject after the dark years of dictatorship.

We call on the Department of Justice to immediately dismiss these fabricated and baseless complaints, and on the public, especially members of the legal profession, to resist the normalization of repression and defend the right to dissent.

Reference:

Atty. Josalee S. Deinla
NUPL Secretary General
+639174316396

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