Activists launch #ML50 campaign. The ML50 Campaign (Martial Law 50) was launched at the Quezon City Sports Club last July 21 to commemorate the 50th year of martial law and its dark days under the US-Marcos I dictatorship. Martial law victims, veterans and new activists led the activity together with democratic organizations. The campaign aims to defend the truth and history and continue with the demand for justice for the victims under the reign of the dictator’s son.

Free Elmer Forro! Relatives, friends and colleagues of Elmer Forro staged a “silent protest” in front of the Iloilo Hall of Justice last July 29 calling fot his immediate release. Forro, who is Bayan-Panay’s secretary general, was arrested last March 29 based on trumped up charges of frustrated murder.

Isabela farmers mount anti-mining barricade. Farmers, indigenous peoples and settlers in Cordon, Isabela collectively set up a barricade to stop Golden Summit Mining Corporation (GSMC) from fencing their farms and residential areas. GSMC intends to mine more than 150 hectares of former pasturelands. According to the residents, the company has yet to acquire a new permit but is already encroaching on their lands. In the past, complaints were filed against GSMC’s open-pit mining which destroyed rice and corn fields, and the Diadi River. It also does not pay just wages to its miners.