The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) have filed a demand letter with the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) following reports that persons deprived of liberty (PDLS) were pressured or compelled to sign documents connected with alleged irregularities involving their Trust Fund accounts.
“The Trust Fund and cashless system are institutional arrangements under the supervision and control of CIW and the Bureau of Corrections. Any serious investigation must therefore examine not only individual conduct, but also the systems that were supposed to safeguard these funds—the controls, audits, record-keeping mechanisms, and accountability structures that were in place.”
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) condemns the brazen double standard of a justice system that affords maximum leniency to the political elite while operating with merciless rigidity against human rights defenders. This glaring hypocrisy is freshly exposed by the provisional liberty granted to former Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., contrasted against the protracted detention of community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights worker Marielle Domequil.
We, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Public Interest Law Center (PILC), Sentro Para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo (SENTRA), Pro-Labor Legal Assistance Center (PLACE), and NUPL–National Capital Region, condemn the unlawful, deceptive, and intimidating interrogation of youth activists arrested during the People’s SONA.
The NUPL is hosting two major international events this year. Mark your calendars!
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.
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 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