Marking eight years since the murder of people’s lawyer Ben Ramos, the webinar will address continuing attacks on lawyers and human rights defenders in the Philippines, including extrajudicial killings, red-tagging and political persecution, as well as the ongoing struggle for justice and accountability ahead of Rodrigo Duterte’s ICC trial on 30 November 2026.
Speakers:
Clarissa Ramos – Human rights defender in exile and wife of Ben Ramos
Maria Kristina Conti – Lawyer, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)
Edre Olalia – President, International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
Moderator: Şerife Ceren Uysal, International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
Please watch the full event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AihTVb2Uz-0
Statement of Clarissa Ramos
Thank you for being here today, not only to remember my husband, Atty. Benjamin Ramos Jr., but to remember why he lived the way he did, why he died, and why his struggle continues through so many of us.
When people hear Ben’s name, they often think of the lawyer who was assassinated in 2018, the human rights defender, the people’s lawyer. But for me, Ben was first my husband. The man I loved. The father of our children. My companion in struggle.
When Ben was murdered, I lost the person with whom I shared my dreams, my work, my fears, and my hopes. My children lost the chance to grow up with their father beside them. Even after eight years, there is no way to explain the emptiness that followed. Birthdays, graduations, family milestones. He was not there. And that absence never stops hurting.
Ben dedicated his life to farmers, workers, political prisoners, victims of human rights violations, and the poor who had nowhere else to turn. Many of his clients could not pay him. Sometimes they thanked him with fish, vegetables, bananas, or a simple Christmas lantern. We did not own a house, and he did not drive luxury cars. What he possessed was something far more valuable: the trust of the people.
He understood the risks. There had already been an attempt on his life in 2007. The red-tagging, threats, and harassment intensified over the years. Yet Ben refused to stop. He kept serving because he believed that silence in the face of injustice was never an option.
On November 6, 2018, two masked men on a motorcycle shot and killed him. He was 56 years old. Just like that, the man who had dedicated his life to defending others was taken from us.
Sometimes people ask me if all these years have made me tired. Yes, there are moments when I am exhausted. There are moments when I wish our family had been allowed to live a quiet life. There are days when the grief feels heavy.
But I am not defeated. Because when I remember Ben, I remember a man who never gave up. I remember a man who chose dignity over comfort. Truth over silence. And justice over fear. And I realize that the greatest tribute we can give him is not simply to remember him. It is to continue what he started.
Today, Ben’s killers have still not been brought to justice. But Ben’s story did not end on November 6, 2018. His story lives in me, in our children, in the people who loved him, and in everyone who continues the struggle for justice and human rights.
If there is one thing Ben taught all of us, it is this: Do not allow fear to decide what is right.
And so we continue.
We continue demanding accountability.
We continue defending human rights.
We continue fighting impunity.
We continue serving the people.
As long as we continue the struggle he devoted his life to, Ben will never truly be gone.
Justice for Atty. Benjamin Ramos Jr..
Justice for all victims of political killings.
Defend the defenders.
Continue the struggle. 
