13 May 2026, Quezon City. Advocates for environmental and human rights are demanding the immediate dropping of charges against the four Greenpeace Southeast Asia activists from the Philippines, who were arrested for a peaceful protest at the 48th ASEAN Summit in Lapu-Lapu City, where they urged the region’s leaders to stop plastic pollution and transition away from fossil fuels.
Photo by Miguel Louie de Guzman, Greenpeace.
The activists, detained last Friday and released on bail on May 9, are being charged for alleged violation of Batas Pambansa Bilang 880, or the Public Assembly Act of 1985. But this Act incidentally provides “that no person can be punished or held criminally liable for participating in or attending an otherwise peaceful assembly.”
“While their release is a positive development, the filing of charges under BP 880 raises serious concerns about the continuing criminalization of peaceful dissent and civic action. The continued use of BP 880 to restrict and penalize peaceful assemblies has long been used to justify arbitrary arrests and harassment of activists, thereby undermining the people’s fundamental freedoms and violating human rights,” said Egay Cabalitan, Secretary General, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).
“We call on authorities to immediately drop the charges against the activists and uphold the principle of maximum tolerance in handling public assemblies. At a time when communities continue to suffer from the worsening impacts of the climate crisis and environmental degradation, governments must create democratic spaces for people’s participation instead of silencing critical voices,” he said.
“These Greenpeace activists were holding a peaceful, non-violent action to call on leaders at the ASEAN Summit to take action and address the plastic pollution crisis, which should be supported rather than arrested or suppressed,” said Atty. Mark Peñalver, Executive Director, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS). “Let them speak! Let the leaders hear them! Mother Earth needs more people to speak for her and not more people to exploit her.”
In Bayan v. Ermita (2006), the Supreme Court emphasized that the right to peaceful assembly is a constitutionally guaranteed and protected right, and BP 880 is only regulatory and not prohibitory. Thus, the mere act of holding a placard or sign to express frustration or call to action is neither obstruction nor a threat to public order or security that merits arrest, explained Peñalver, who is also the Vice-President of the EcoWaste Coalition.
“The charges and accusations against them have no place in a democracy like the Philippines, where the freedom of speech and expression, and the right to peacefully assemble and to voice our grievances to the government are protected by the Constitution. An archaic law, passed during the twilight months of the Marcos dictatorship, should not be used against citizens legally exercising their rights. Democracy may be messy and noisy, but it is free, fair, and just, and holds our leaders and each one accountable,” said Atty. Gregorio Rafael Bueta, counsel of the EcoWaste Coalition.
Environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said: “It is ironic that while the ASEAN members, including the host country, the Philippines, under the October 26, 2025 ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, committed to ‘promote and foster…access to information, meaningful and public participation and access to justice in the implementation of the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment,’ state forces of our country are rendering meaningless both procedural and substantive rights of our people including the four arrested activists who spoke for all of us in asserting the constitutionally guaranteed rights to health, healthy environment and public participation.”
“It is long overdue for our branches of government to prioritize climate-related reforms and action, and well-studied judicial interpretation on climate, pollution, ecosystem and health impacts instead of harassing and silencing the growing voices of our people who are concerned about the lack of manifest action to address grave climate, biodiversity, and pollution issues posing risks to all of us and the future generations,” she said.
“We condemn the arrest of the four Greenpeace activists who were exercising their right to peaceful protest and assembly. Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of any democratic society. It is through such acts of courage and conviction that vital environmental issues are brought to public attention. We believe that people who peacefully stand up for the environment should be heard – not silenced,” said Prof. Victoria Segovia, President, Green Convergence for Safe Food, Healthy Environment, and Sustainable Economy. “We call on authorities to respect human rights, including the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and to ensure that those who advocate for the environment are treated with fairness, dignity, and justice.”
“There is no place for arrest in a peaceful and meaningful protest, which aims to make ASEAN leaders realize the gravity of the plastic crisis we are currently in. The arrest shows the continued disregard of the Philippine government and the Philippine National Police for activists who are voicing out the legitimate sentiments of the people,” said David D’Angelo, National Chairperson, Green Party of the Philippines.
As emphasized by Mariann Ledesma, Zero Waste Campaigner of Greenpeace Philippines: “The real threat to Southeast Asia is not activism, but the continued failure of leaders to confront the corporations, systems, and injustices driving climate destruction, plastic pollution, and deepening social inequality across the region.”
