KARAPATAN strongly condemned the spate of attacks on human rights defenders in Mindanao and called on the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct a thoroughgoing probe.
Warren Cahayag, one of the founding paralegals of the Union of Peoples Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) in 2005, was shot five times by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Barangay Calumpang, General Santos City on July 29, 2025 and is now in critical condition at an undisclosed hospital.
Rudolph Espe and Rico Malubay—both environmental defenders and paralegals affiliated with the Ateneo Legal Aid Services (ALAS)—were killed two days prior, on July 27, 2025 in Barangay Puntalinao, Banaybanay, Davao Oriental. They both vehemently opposed destructive mining projects and policies that threatened biodiversity and the rights of peasants and indigenous people in their community. Espe and Malubay also exposed and fought against collusion between corrupt public officials and anti-people corporate interests.
Cahayag is the second UPLM paralegal to be killed in recent months, the first being Ali Macalinsal, also a former human rights worker of KARAPATAN, who was shot to death on June 23, 2025.
Said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay, “These latest killings form part of a larger pattern of violence designed to silence human rights defenders, including lawyers and paralegals.” She cited the case of Atty. Juan Macababbad, who was killed outside of his home in Surallah, South Cotabato in September 2021. He was the vice chair of UPLM and a human rights attorney who defended several political prisoners in court.
“We demand justice for these escalating attacks against human rights defenders in Mindanao and elsewhere,” added Palabay. “The perpetrators and masterminds must not succeed in their attempt to create a chilling effect on human rights advocacy work. They must be held to account and brought to justice,” she stressed. “Impunity must stop.”