The establishment of the Hands Off Mindanao Youth Activists Network is a declaration that the youth will continue to stand together in defense of our rights, our communities, and our future.
CAGAYAN DE ORO — Members of various organizations have officially launched on Wednesday, July 8, a network that aims to protect young activists in Mindanao and defend their democratic rights.
The Hands Off Mindanao Youth Activists Network, a coalition of youth organizations, campus publications, human rights defenders, legal advocates, faith-based groups, and concerned individuals and family members, was formed following the “wanted tagging” made by the Philippine National Police in Cateel, Davao Oriental.
Fourteen members of youth and progressive groups were tagged as wanted by the police on May 27 through now-deleted social media posts, exposing their names, photographs, organizations they are affiliated with, and their designations to these groups.
Human rights group Karapatan Southern Mindanao demanded an answer as to where the Cateel Municipal Police Station got such information.
Major Michael Celecio, Cateel police chief, made an apology, but this was criticized by progressive groups, seeing it as an attempt to reduce the false accusations as a mere “inconvenience.” For the victims, Celecio’s apology was insufficient given the danger the incident could cause.
Read: Groups slam PNP official’s apology after tagging Mindanao activists as ‘wanted persons’
The network described its foundation as a masuklanong pagtubag (collective resistance), asserting that activism is not a crime and the rights to organize, speak out, and participate in public affairs are fundamental to a democratic society.
“The establishment of the Hands Off Mindanao Youth Activists Network is a declaration that the youth will continue to stand together in defense of our rights, our communities, and our future,” Allyssa Ancheta, the network’s lead convenor, said in a statement.
The network maintained that Cateel police’s wanted tagging is not an isolated mistake. It said it reflects a broader systematic attack in which advocates and human rights defenders face intimidation, red-tagging, and other forms of political persecution. (RVO)
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