Philippines
Meet Our Members:
Medical Action Group
Medical Action Group (MAG) was founded in the Philippines in 1982 by health care professionals in response to systematic violations of human rights and poverty and marginalisation caused by the Marcos dictatorship.
MAG is a pioneer in rehabilitation and forensic documentation for torture survivors in the Philippines and has contributed evidence to the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the government’s so-called War on Drugs, which is ICC prosecutors believe killed 12,000 to 30,000 people. Tens of thousands more have been tortured.
“There’s an abuse of power. The State comes up with fabricated charges. Persons arrested undergo torture,” says MAG Programme Officer, Darwin Mendiola. “But despite a very traumatic, hostile environment we are working in, we know that we are gaining some ground. We’re improving a lot, and we’re saving a lot of people, saving lives for that matter.”
watch The video about Medical Action Group (Mag) here
“Torture has become part of the police operation in the War on Drugs. If they want to arrest more people and get more suspects, torture is the tool.”
Meet Our Members:
Balay
Balay Rehabilitation Centre was founded in the Philippines in 1985, at the height of martial law and the dictatorship of former President Ferdinand Marcos.
Today it continues to work to support survivors of #torture and other ill-treatment among the Philippines’ most marginalised communities in an ongoing context of threats against human rights defenders.
“Over the next five years we will continue to strengthen our organisation internally in order to be a better service provider to the victims of torture and other human rights violations,” says Josephine Lascano, Balay’s Executive Director. “And we intend to anchor other human rights organisations doing mental health and psychosocial support and rehabilitation so that the community of practice will be developed within the country.”
watch The video about balay here
Balay Receives UATC Grant
Due to the USAID funding crisis, the EU approved EUR 60,000 from the United Against Torture Consortium’s contingency budget to provide short‑term bridging support to seven IRCT members whose rehabilitation services were at risk, including Balay where the cuts have also reduced capacity for rehabilitation at their centre in Mindanao.
The bridging grant allows Balay to retain minimum operational capacity (core staff) and maintain an integrated package for 50 beneficiaries consisting of survivors and family members, combining trauma-informed counselling, medical support (including referrals and diagnostics), case management and outreach (including jail and home visits), and legal case documentation/assistance. Balay also plans to develop a sustainability and resource mobilisation plan during the grant period to reduce dependence on single donors.
“Most of the victims of human rights violations or torture come from the poor families.”
In Focus:
Justice in the Philippines
Beaten, suffocated, drowned, sexually assaulted and set on fire by the Philippine Army’s Special Operation Task Force-Basilan, Abdul-Khan Ajid, a baker, was saved from despair by the support of Balay, while evidence of his torture was documented by MAG.
On 23 July 2011, Abdul-Khan Ajid, a baker from Basilan in the southern Philippines, was arrested by the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion on kidnapping charges and handed over to the Special Operation Task Force-Basilan, led by Captain Sherwin Guidangen.
For four days, Ajid was subjected to severe torture—including beatings, suffocation, drowning, sexual assault, and being set on fire—in an attempt to force a confession to crimes he did not commit.
Watch Dr Benito Molino from the medical Action Group (MAG) explain forensics in Philippines in Insights: Frontline Forensics in the Philippines
After receiving medical treatment for his injuries, Ajid was transferred to high-security detention in Taguig City, near Manila. During six years of wrongful imprisonment, the Balay Rehabilitation Centre provided psycho-social support to Ajid and his family, while Dr Benito Molino of the Medical Action Group (MAG) documented Ajid’s injuries according to the Istanbul Protocol.
Released in 2017, Ajid continued rehabilitation and, in August 2020, identified Guidangen as his torturer in court, supported by Dr Molino’s expert report.
On 7 August 2023, Guidangen was found guilty of violating the Philippines’ Anti-Torture Act 2009 and sentenced to over four years in prison. The case, currently under appeal, marks only the second conviction under the Act.
“Ajid stood as a witness and he pointed out the perpetrator. We were ecstatic because for him, it’s the epoch.”
– Josephine Lascano, Executive Director of Balay, Philippines –
Torture Documentation:
The Case of the Manalo Brothers
In a ground breaking case against the Philippines’ military, Major General Jovito Palparan was in 2018 convicted of the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of two university students, Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno in 2006.
The Court relied on evidence given by the Manolo brothers, who were also captives and witnessed the gruesome torture of the two university students.
The evidence given by the Manolo brothers was documented by professionals trained to international standards in the use of the Istanbul Protocol by the Medical Action Group.
Raymond Manolo giving evidence with help of MAG and the Istanbul protocol
“The Supreme Court declared that what happened based on the medical documentation provided to them through the use of the Istanbul Protocol, provides a very clear physical evidence, to conclude that torture happened and the military was responsible,” said Darwin Mendiola, Programme Officer, MAG.
Read more about the Istanbul Protocol
Major General Jovito Palparan was in 2018 convicted of the kidnapping
In Focus:
Torture, Deaths and Red-Tagging
Red-tagging refers to the false branding of activists, human rights defenders, and political opponents as communists, terrorists, or subversives—usually without credible evidence. The practice creates a dangerous bridge between online accusations and real-world harm, often leading to harassment, threats, violence, and in some cases extrajudicial killings.
Red-tagging became especially prevalent during Rodrigo Duterte’s campaigns against activists and continued under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. However, the phenomenon has deeper historical roots and can be traced back to the McCarthy era in the United States, where people suspected of sympathizing with communism were labeled “red-tagged.”
Watch the film about Torture, Red-Tagging, and the Fight for Truth and Justice
Survivors Speak Out:
“I was more scared when I got released”
Prado and Saucelo were detained on suspicion of drugs when they were both 17. Now in their 20s they recall not only the brutal treatment by police, including beatings and mock execution. Since then they have participated in Balay Rehabilitation Centre’s project in Bagong Silang, which supports young people at risk of, or who had been in, conflict with the law.
Jennifer was arrested on suspicion of drug possession, and electrocuted by police to force a confession. After two and a half years in prison, Jennifer joined the education programme run by Balay Rehabilitation Centre. “I felt scared whenever I saw police. But after I joined the programme my fears were relieved,” says Jennifer. “I have learned that we can fight for our rights.”
During President Ferdinand Marcos’ Martial Law 1972 – 1986:
The number of people killed in the War on Drugs:
Red-tagging
“There are deaths every day and the targets are dissenters, those who are vocal.”
The Universal Periodic Review:
Prioritising Torture in the Philippines
» The IRCT supported its members in the Philippines, Medical Action Group (MAG) and Balay Rehabilitation Centre (Balay), by promoting strong recommendations focused on torture and related priorities.
» This provides crucial political pressure and momentum for political change in the fight against torture at the national level.
» Started in 2008, the UPR is a unique process in International Human Rights Law: A review of all 193 UN Member States on their human rights records – regardless of which human rights treaties the State in question has ratified or not – convened by the elected State-members of the Human Rights Council and involving diplomats from any and all other UN Member States.
» The UPR allows IRCT members to advocate for stronger anti-torture laws and policy through their written input and direct advocacy with diplomats conducting the review.
Read more about the UPR
Research:
Torture Journal
