Human rights defenders in the Philippines continued to face harassment, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and killings under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while impunity for past and ongoing abuses remained entrenched, according to a report released Thursday by international rights groups.
The report was published by the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT).
Based on a fact-finding mission conducted in Metro Manila from March 2 to 6, the report found that many of the policies and structures associated with attacks on activists and civil society groups remained in place despite the end of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
“President Marcos Jr.’s failure to dismantle his predecessor’s apparatus of repression and to foster accountability for human rights violations means that human rights defenders are still not safe in the Philippines,” said FIDH Secretary-General Shahindha Ismail.
“President Marcos Jr. should promote without delay the necessary legislative and policy reforms to make the Philippines a safe place for human rights defenders and other members of civil society,” she said.
The report said civil society organizations and human rights defenders continue to operate in “an environment widely characterised as highly restrictive and dangerous,” while “a climate of impunity for past and ongoing human rights violations” persists.
Researchers found that repressive counterterrorism laws and counterinsurgency policies continued to be used against land and environmental defenders, Indigenous Peoples, journalists, human rights lawyers, women activists, and trade unionists.
Threats, surveillance, red-tagging, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings remained among the most common forms of attacks documented in the study.
The report cited the continued operation of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, or NTF-ELCAC, as a major concern among activists, who said the government body has remained central to red-tagging campaigns and attacks against legal organizations and government critics.
Human rights groups also raised alarm over enforced disappearances, which they said have continued under the current administration. The report documented at least 56 new cases during the Marcos presidency, six of which remained unresolved as of March 2026, including two involving environmental defenders.
The study said environmental and land rights defenders remained among the most vulnerable sectors, particularly in Indigenous communities and areas affected by mining and other extractive projects.
Researchers documented cases of arbitrary detention, attempted abductions, enforced disappearances, and killings involving environmental defenders, alongside reports of militarization in communities opposing large-scale development and mining projects.
Journalists also continued to face threats and harassment.
Citing data from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the report said 216 attacks against journalists were documented between June 2022 and December 2025, a 49% increase from the 145 attacks recorded during the equivalent period under Duterte.
Harassment, surveillance, and red-tagging accounted for nearly half of the documented incidents, according to the report.
The study also found that drug-related killings continued under Marcos, albeit on a smaller scale than during Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. Independent monitoring cited in the report recorded 1,267 drug-related killings during the Marcos administration as of June 11, 2026.
“The findings of this report are deeply troubling,” said OMCT Secretary-General Gerald Staberock.
“Human rights defenders in the Philippines face surveillance, harassment, and violence in a climate where accountability remains elusive. Ending impunity, protecting civic space, and holding perpetrators accountable must become urgent priorities for the authorities.”
The report noted that the situation had not fundamentally changed for many activists despite a decline in the overall scale of repression compared with the Duterte years.
At the same time, it pointed to signs of resilience within Philippine civil society, including the emergence of youth-led activism and renewed hopes for accountability stemming from proceedings before the International Criminal Court against former President Duterte.
The report urged Philippine authorities to investigate attacks against human rights defenders, end red-tagging, strengthen legal protections for civil society, and adopt long-pending measures aimed at safeguarding civic space and accountability.
