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Environmental defenders are not terrorists!

Environmental defenders working to protect the globally important corridors of nature and climate in the archipelagic nation of the Philippines have recently been among the targets of the deadly practice of ‘red-tagging.’

Red-tagging, defined by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights as, “an act of State actors, particularly law enforcement agencies, to publicly brand individuals, groups, or institutions as affiliated to communist or leftist terrorists,” has been known to lead to life-threatening human rights abuses against citizens challenging injustices and abuses perpetrated by the State.

The work of environmental defenders are crucial, now more than ever, as we have witnessed in the recent consecutive typhoon and flood disasters leading to Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vamco). Extreme rainfall met massive deforestation, land conversion, earth disturbance in watersheds across the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, causing more than US$ 862 million in damages affecting almost eight million Filipino people.

We, the undersigned environmental and climate activists from the Philippines and the international community, thus urge Filipino public authorities to undertake preventive interventions against the continued red-tagging and the possible escalation of reprisals against environmental defenders.

We urge legislators to declare red-tagging as a crime punishable by law for curtailing constitutionally-guaranteed free speech and other civil liberties.

Finally, we urge the Supreme Court to take action on the 37 pending legal actions filed by various groups and sectors to junk the authoritarian Anti-Terrorism Law.

Add your voice: #NoToRedTagging


Environmental defenders working to protect the globally important corridors of nature and climate in the archipelagic nation of the Philippines have recently been among the targets of the deadly practice of ‘red-tagging.’ Red-tagging, defined by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights as, “an act of State actors, particularly law enforcement agencies, to publicly brand individuals, groups, or institutions as affiliated to communist or leftist terrorists,” has been known to lead to life-threatening human rights abuses against citizens challenging injustices and abuses perpetrated by the State. In April 2018, land rights lawyer Benjamin Ramos found his name along with other activist leaders on a ‘hit list’ poster put up by the Philippine National Police accusing them of being personalities of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army. Months later, he was shot dead by riding-in-tandem assassins. The pattern of Attorney Ben’s murder reflects the dangers that thousands of Filipino environmental defenders constantly face. Documentation by the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE) revealed that every victim of extrajudicial killing under President Rodrigo Duterte is just the bloody tip of some 124 defenders who suffer red-tagging and criminalization, threats and intimidation, illegal arrests, harassment lawsuits, and forced displacement. Last December 1, 2020, Kalikasan PNE, a vocal watchdog on environmental defender killings, was itself red-tagged in a baseless presentation made by government intelligence officials during a Philippine Senate hearing. Worse, the Anti-Terrorism Act recently railroaded by President Duterte allows government to designate or proscribe anyone as terrorists with reckless abandon. In turn, they are enabled to undertake warrantless arrests, ‘witch hunt’ inspections, and freeze orders of assets of anyone they labelled as ‘terrorist.’ The work of environmental defenders are crucial, now more than ever, as we have witnessed in the recent consecutive typhoon and flood disasters leading to Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vamco). Extreme rainfall met massive deforestation, land conversion, earth disturbance in watersheds across the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, causing more than US$ 862 million in damages affecting almost eight million Filipino people. We, the undersigned environmental and climate activists from the Philippines and the international community, thus urge Filipino public authorities to undertake preventive interventions against the continued red-tagging and the possible escalation of reprisals against environmental defenders. We urge legislators to declare red-tagging as a crime punishable by law for curtailing constitutionally-guaranteed free speech and other civil liberties. Finally, we urge the Supreme Court to take action on the 37 pending legal actions filed by various groups and sectors to junk the authoritarian Anti-Terrorism Law.

Add your voice: #NoToRedTagging

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