Philippines: false charges filed against human rights defenders
Event- Country
- Philippines
- Initial Date
- Jul 11, 2014
- Event Description
On the 25th April 2014 at 9:30am in San Rafael Street, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City, worker's rights organization NAGKAISA led a peaceful rally outside the building where AsiaPro central office is located. Around 200 participants coming from various labor groups including the Partido ng Manggagawa, Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP), SENTRO, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), and the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA), attended the activity. Equipped with sound system, flags, streamers, banners, and position papers, the demonstrators criticized AsiaPro for its anti-labour union activities. On the 11th July 2014, officials of the AsiaPro Cooperative charged both Edcil Bacalso of NAGKAISA, a coalition of labour groups and Wilson Fortaleza of Partido ng Manggagawa (Workers Party), with libel, illegal assembly, and alarm and scandal. The charges were filed at the Office of the Prosecutor in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines. Based on his complaint affidavit, Mr. Edeward C. Milano, Head of the Business Unit for Luzon of AsiaPro Multipurpose Cooperative accused Bacalso and Fortaleza of distributing libelous materials to the public allegedly containing malicious and defamatory statements. Milano blamed the group of obstructing traffic flow and blocking pedestrians due to NAGKAISA's activity. Further, Milano stated that the public were disturbed due to the loudspeaker system used in the protest. The right to freedom of assembly and association and the right to freedom of expression are guaranteed rights under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Bacalso and Fortaleza's work in promoting and protecting worker's rights against unfair labor practices are the motive behind false charges of libel, illegal assembly, and alarm and scandal filed against them. AsiaPro is resorting to filing trumped up charges to weaken the campaign against its exploitation of workers.
- Impact of Event
- 2
- Violation
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Freedom of assembly
- Freedom of association
- Labour rights
- Right to Protest
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 14.576376800000013
Longitude: 121.0851097
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 11th July 2014, human rights defenders Edcil Bacalso and Wilson Fortazela were charged by AsiaPro Co-operative with libel, illegal assembly, and alarm and scandal. Bacalso and Fortaleza's work in promoting and protecting worker's rights against unfair labor practices are the motive behind the false charges filed against them.