"Philippines Court of Appeals ruling raises concerns over safety of environmental defenders", 13 August 2024

Global Witness strongly condemns the decision by the Court of Appeals in the Philippines to deny the petition for protective writs to two youth land and environmental defenders ....

According to eyewitnesses, the two women activists – Jhed Tomano (22) and Jonila Castro (23) - were violently abducted on 2 September, 2023, after visiting communities affected by ongoing reclamation activities and coastal flooding in Manila Bay. After 17 days missing, they were resurfaced at a military-organised public press conference, where they claimed state involvement in their abduction.

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The decision by the Court of Appeals cites a lack of ongoing threats and insufficient evidence of state involvement in the disappearance of the defenders last year.

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The Court of Appeals ruled to deny the petition for a protection order that would have prevented members of the Philippine Army the two women believe abducted them from going within 1km of them, their place of work, school, or their homes. It would also prevent members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) from ‘red-tagging’ them. This overrides a previous ruling by the Supreme Court in October 2023, which granted both women temporary protection.

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