To honor Bonifacio is to take up the courage he lived and continue the unfinished struggle he began: the fight for justice, dignity, and genuine democracy.
DEFEND AND PROTECT
THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE!
THE LATEST
Court Voids NTC Blocking Memo: Prior Restraint of Protected Speech Has No Place in a Democracy
We therefore call on the people to treat this ruling as a mandate to insist on a press that can report and publish without fear of being taken down, and on a citizenry free to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas across all frontiers. A democracy worthy of the name rests on people who are able to think, speak, debate, and dissent—with journalists and communities prepared to resist censorship and repression whenever they appear, online or offline.
STATEMENT: UPLM vows to continue the fight against warlordism and state-sanctioned impunity – MindaNews
The massacre and the massive corruption are fruits from the same poisonous tree. The tree is a system where power is treated as a personal inheritance, state resources as a private treasury, and the law as a weapon against the people rather than a shield for them. The warlord who orders a massacre to secure an election and the official who diverts billions from the public coffers operate on the same core belief: that they are above the law.
Do Not Rehabilitate Martial Law: Enrile Does Not Belong at the Libingan ng mga Bayani — NUPL
We call on the government and on all Filipinos to resist this renewed attempt to sanitize the legacy of tyranny. Honor is not conferred by burial rites; it is earned by service grounded in truth, justice, and respect for human dignity. Enrile’s record speaks for itself, and no decree, ceremony, or grave at the Libingan can rewrite it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The NUPL is hosting two major international events this year. Mark your calendars!
22 - 28 April 2024
Strategies to Enhance Advocacy Relating to the Independence of the Legal Profession and the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Philippines
The NUPL is partnering with the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute in organizing a series of activities to support human rights defenders, including lawyers at risk, strategize, coordinate and undertake advocacy at national and international levels in relation to the independence of the legal profession and for the promotion and protection of human rights.
14 June 2024
International Fair Trial Day Conference and the Ebru Timtik Award Ceremony
The Philippines — where fair trial rights are being systemically violated– was chosen as the focus country for this year’s International Fair Trial Day (IFTD) Conference. A series of advocacy initiatives will be held to draw attention to the human rights situation in the country. The decision to establish an IFTD in 2021 by more than 100 legal associations all over the world was accompanied by the establishment of the Ebru Timtik Award. Ebru Timtik was a lawyer from Turkey who lost her life as a result of a 238-day hunger strike she undertook to protest against the systemic violations of fair trial rights which people in Turkey are facing. Every year, on the occasion of the IFTD, the Ebru Timtik Award is made by an independent jury to an individual or individuals and/or an organisation who have or which has made a significant contribution to the defense and promotion of the right to a fair trial in the focus country.
THE PHILIPPINES IS A
DANGEROUS
PLACE FOR LAWYERS.
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) has been documenting and monitoring prima facie profession or work-related attacks and threats against lawyers and judges since its establishment in September of 2007.
The attacks and threats against lawyers continued in the first two years of the administration of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The NUPL recorded a total of three (3) incidents of killings and 39 other forms of attacks beginning July 1, 2022 until December 31, 2023. The highest number of documented incidents involves the vilification and red-tagging of human rights lawyers by current and former state officials.
Atty. Ma. Saniata Liwliwa Alzate
Killed in September 2023
Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao
Vice-Chairperson
Atty. Juan Macababbad
killed in September 2021
NUPL-Negros Secretary General
Atty. Benjamin Ramos
killed in November 2018