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September 10, 2026
Urgent Alert
The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) calls for the immediate release of five paralegals arrested during a protest outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Taguig City, Metro Manila on September 10. ICHRP also condemns the unlawful use of force by the police who violently dispersed the protesters, resulting in injuries to 27 individuals.
The paralegals were assisting protesters who conducted a lightning rally to condemn the Luzon Economic Corridor (LEC) Investors Forum being held inside the hotel. The forum gathered more than 600 foreign investors to promote the US-led Luzon Economic Corridor. This economic zone includes the controversial Pax Silica initiative, which plans to build a 1,600-hectare AI data hub in Central Luzon while displacing thousands of Ayta indigenous people and plundering the Philippines’ minerals and natural resources. The rally held on September 10 was a legitimate protest by Filipinos concerned about the selling out of resources, land, and national sovereignty to foreign powers.
Confirmed among those arrested are Kenneth Castro of the University of the Philippines Office of the Student Regent; and Jona Yang, former Secretary General of AGHAM Advocates of Science and Technology for the People. Two more paralegals, Daya Juliano of human rights monitor Karapatan and RC Placido of peasant organization Tanggol Magsasaka, were subsequently arrested at the Taguig City Hall while assisting the three earlier detained.
While President Marcos Jr. delivered his keynote speech inside the hotel, videos captured by local media show the police violently shoving, manhandling, and hitting the protesters with batons and riot shields. Protesters left the scene with visible physical injuries. The stark difference between the safety of those attending the forum versus the brutality against the protestors undoubtedly shows whose interests the Philippine National Police serve. They are the ruling elite’s main instrument in silencing legitimate demands from the Filipino people.
ICHRP raises the alarm on the recent spree of arrests and increasing state harassment during protests in the Philippines. It is indicative of the growing fascist character of Marcos Jr. in his desperate bid to curb the intensifying resistance of the people’s movement.
ICHRP stands in firm solidarity with the protesters and fully supports their demand to shut down Pax Silica and other forms of US-led imperialist plunder.
Release the LEC Forum 5!
No to Pax Silica!
