The enduring significance of EDSA rests on a simple truth: public spaces belong to the people. They must remain open as platforms for public discourse—robust, uninhibited, and free from the chilling effect of threats of dispersal or prosecution under a statute born of martial rule. EDSA stands as the people’s forum when they demand accountability and seek the fulfillment of the promise of People Power.
NUPL | Feb 25, 2026
The hearings this week and the eventual trial are important for all Filipinos, as a way of composing a true and correct collective memory, and preserving a historical record of what should not be repeated again. The confirmation hearing is so important that victims and their lawyers, supporters, and advocates have travelled all the way to The Hague to be present during the hearings. We remain committed to seeking truth and justice for victims and for all people.
We reiterate that the weaponization of terror laws and financial sanctions as tools of repression, even under the pretext of complying with Financial Action Task Force recommendations, has no place in a democratic society.
The temporary suspension of Woggle’s permit should prompt a reckoning within the MGB through a transparent resolution of the petition and a serious examination of how a permit so plainly at odds with community opposition and ecological realities was issued at all.
These attacks against Atty. Gorgonio and his clients, whom the military has labeled as “high value individuals,” are part of the continuing weaponization of counterterrorism measures against development workers and human rights defenders. They create a chilling climate meant to intimidate and hinder human rights lawyers from independently performing their duties and providing legal services without fear.
NUPL reaffirms its solidarity with endangered lawyers everywhere and its commitment to speaking out against illegitimate interference with the legal profession and judicial independence, wherever it occurs.
For human rights defenders, humanitarian and religious workers, development NGO personnel, journalists, and community organizers, the unmistakable message is that legitimate social engagement and protected civic activity may be recast by the State as terrorism financing through broad and elastic standards untethered from real acts of terrorism. This shows how terror laws in the Philippines, by their nature and design, chill speech, deter association, and shrink civic space.
We offer our condolences to Ms. Muñoz’s family and loved ones, and our solidarity to her colleagues. May you find comfort in the respect she earned, the lives she touched, and the work she helped sustain.
I therefore join the urgent calls to immediately surface Chantal Anicoche, lift the military blockade in Abra de Ilog, and allow independent investigations and humanitarian access. withdraw military forces from civilian and indigenous communities in Mindoro, and end foreign military support that enables human rights violations in the Philippines.
We likewise call on lawyers’ organizations, human rights institutions, and all freedom-loving peoples to stand with the people of Venezuela and mobilize public pressure against this unlawful assault. The task before us is to resist imperial violence and the rule of force—firmly, collectively, and with an unambiguous commitment to the rule of law and the right of all peoples to determine their own future.