Today, NUPL, acting as counsel in the habeas corpus case filed by his daughter Analyn Calubid, received the decision of the Sixteenth Division of the Court of Appeals granting the privilege of the writ and ordering his immediate release.

The NUPL stands in solidarity with the peoples of Iran and all those committed to genuine peace grounded in sovereignty, human rights, and international law. The world cannot afford yet another war invoked in the name of security, but in truth serving imperial interests.

“For years, the FATF has spoken of ‘unintended consequences’ when its standards are abused. But in the Philippines, these consequences are not unintended — they are deliberate. The global counterterrorism framework is being systematically exploited to silence dissent,”

The Philippine UPR Watch urged the Special Rapporteur to initiate an urgent inquiry into the systemic abuse of counterterrorism measures in the Philippines, and called on the international community to demand immediate safeguards to protect the fundamental rights of the Filipino people.

The Special Rapporteur’s report compels urgent legal and institutional measures to dismantle the structures of impunity that continue to subvert the rule of law. The Philippine government now faces a decisive choice: to maintain a legal order that instrumentalizes law as a tool of repression, or to finally fulfill its obligation to uphold democratic accountability and human rights.

Humanitarian considerations must also not eclipse the demands of justice, especially in cases involving crimes against humanity. Age and health, while relevant, cannot outweigh the rights of victims to see the process of justice carried to its end.

Issues of judicial independence also loom over the Senate, There, the Dutertes are benefiting from a wide berth in their political influence, wrongly and unlawfully, to delay or even to kill the trial. They should not emboldened to do the same hullaballoo at the ICC.

Initial victims’ applications, and consequently the appointment of common legal representative/s, are expected to occur within one to two months before the target of August 3, 2025. In the meantime, victims’ views and concerns will be carried by the Office of the Public Counsel for Victims.

When trust in the system breaks down, transparency must take its place. The people have the right to know their votes were counted truthfully. Without credibility, there is no legitimacy.