UNSR Khan’s visit in Baguio reveals ‘narrowing space’ for free expression in Northern PH 
January 27, 2024

Photo by National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL)

The Baguio City Council called on the UN Special Rapporteur (UNSR) for the freedom of expression and opinion Irene Khan to demand “state accountability on red-tagging and political vilification of people’s organizations and human rights defenders.”

Baguio City Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan and nine city councilors stated this in their letter submitted to UNSR Khan during her visit in the Cordillera region on Friday, January 26, a copy of which has been provided to the media.

The city council reported that they have passed several local legislation concerning the protection of human rights, including City Resolution No. 659, which called on the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) to drop the terrorist designation against leaders of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) Sarah Abellon-Alikes, Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, Windel Bolinget, and Stephen Tauli.

They decried that Baguio City officials “have not been spared from red-tagging and disinformation.”

The Baguio City council reported to Ms Khan several incidents of red-tagging, including an incident in 2023 where former National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) official Lorraine Badoy used her program in SMNI to “accuse [Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong] of betraying the government” by supposedly colluding with communist groups.

The incident sprung from Magalong’s order to remove and prohibit posters red-tagging student leaders, organizations, and local personalities in the city.

The Baguio City Council cited several other incidents of red-tagging against several Baguio City councilors, some dating as far back as 2018.

“The impact of these [incidents] on our roles as duty-bearers are not as daunting as those of our constituents directly targeted with red-tagging and disinformation. However, this brings to light the need for policy review from the local to the national level regarding the respect for the freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the people’s right to dissent,” the Baguio City Council’s letter to Khan stated.

Suspended court hearing


On the same day as UNSR Khan’s visit to Baguio City, a hearing was initially set – but eventually suspended – on the petition questioning the ATC’s terrorist designation of the CPA leaders Bolinget, Abellon-Alikes, Awingan-Taggaoa, and Tauli.

In an order, Baguio Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7 Judge Cecilia Dulay-Archog suspended the hearing, explaining that the court has asked the Supreme Court whether it has jurisdiction over the case or should it be transferred to the Court of Appeals or the RTC Branch 73 in Urdaneta City, Pangasinan.


The Baguio RTC Branch 7 explained that the inquiry was done to ensure that the court will be abiding by the SC’s rules on the Anti-Terrorism Act, which only took effect earlier this month.

“While we view the Baguio RTC’s initial move to conduct a hearing on our petition challenging the ATC’s move to designate us as terrorists, and the Anti-Money Laundering Council’s freeze order on our bank accounts, we lament the fact that the belated suspension of the hearing will subject us petitioners to the dangers posed by the designation for longer,” said Bolinget, one of the petitioners in the case.

In a related development, lawyers and families of the four activists who attended the hearing at the Baguio RTC confronted a certain Zyrus Tarnate, who approached Alikes as she entered the Baguio City Hall of Justice.

In a statement, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), which is handling the case of the four Cordillera activists, narrated that Tarnate was “observed surreptitiously taking videos and photographs of the proceedings using a phone that he concealed with a brown envelope. When approached by a paralegal, he introduced himself as a relative of Ms. Alikes and claimed that he intended to give her the envelope he was holding.”

The man eventually approached Alikes in the Baguio Hall of Justice and handed her the envelope he was holding, which turned out to be empty. 

NUPL also reported that a group of men in civilian attire “was also seen brazenly capturing photos and videos of the petitioners upon their arrival at the Baguio City Hall of Justice. Subsequently, one of them was seen proceeding towards Camp Henry T. Allen.”

The lawyers’ group noted that this is not the first instance that the Cordillera activists who are questioning the terrorist designation encountered harassment within court premises, with a similar incident reported during a court hearing last December 2023.

“These recent incidents further underscore the very reasons why the petitioners are seeking relief from the trial court. It appears that these threats stem from the implementation of the petitioners’ terrorist designation, orchestrated by forces that, under the law, form part of the operational structure of the ATC,” the NUPL said in a statement.


‘Narrowing space for dissent’


Khan was in Baguio City this Friday as part of her official visit to the Philippines to probe the state of the freedom of expression and opinion in the country.

After meeting with Baguio City officials, she then held a closed-door dialogue with civil society organizations, media groups, and human rights advocates in the city council’s session hall.

Highlights of the dialogue with the UNSR include reports of rampant red-tagging attacks all over Northern Luzon. These incidents often serve as a “prelude” to worse attacks, which include aerial bombings of rural communities.

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) Baguio Benguet chapter also submitted a report to the UNSR detailing attacks against media practitioners in Northern Philippines, particularly in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

“The CAR witnessed firsthand the weaponization of laws against the free press, more especially for those who raised questions on governance, policy, and action,” NUJP-Baguio Benguet said.

Some of the cases of media attacks reported by the group include the cyber libel conviction of Baguio City journalist Frank Cimatu, the “systematic red-tagging campaign by state security forces” and the “weaponization of the law” against community media outfit Northern Dispatch.

In the past years, several charges were filed against Nordis editor Kimberlie Quitasol and reporter Khim Abalos, including cyberlibel complaints related to a report involving former Cordillera Police Regional Office chief Brigadier General R’win Pagkalinawan. Said cases have all been dismissed by the courts.


NUJP-Baguio Benguet explained the dire ramifications of these media attacks, especially to community journalists.

“The chilling effect lies in the method community journalists do their work, often impacting small newsrooms which have already limited resources which contend with the obstacle of a member of the editorial team facing legal battles and harassment, the community paper face a diminished productivity to the detriment of the reading public,” the group said.

Meanwhile, several Cordillera peoples’ organizations also highlighted the undermining of indigenous peoples’ rights in recent years, especially concerning the free prior and informed consent (FPIC) process connected to big-ticket infrastructure projects such as dams, of which several are being constructed throughout Northern Philippines.

As the dialogue concluded, talks on the importance of the continuation of the stalled peace negotiations between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines in the practice of free expression were tackled.  

With the narrowing space for free expression and opinion in Northern Philippines, civic leaders, journalists, and human rights advocates who met with the UNSR all called for the urgent repealing of the Anti-Terrorism Law, stopping red-tagging attacks, decriminalization of libel, and introducing more effective mechanisms for the protection of human rights defenders.

After visiting Baguio City, Khan is expected to travel to other parts of the country to conduct similar dialogues and discussions. #

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