By REYNARD MAGTOTO
Bulatlat.com
DARAGA, Albay – Former political prisoner and Sorsogon human rights defender Jean Estiller deals with depression, affecting her day-to-day activities.
After she was clinically diagnosed, Estiller was advised to undergo medical treatment. “I refused the medical treatment at the time because I was still detained. I could not accept the trauma I was experiencing,” she said.
With support from her fellow human rights defenders in the Bicol region, Estiller was encouraged to participate in a psychosocial support session and consider a follow up clinical consultation.
Estiller is among the human rights workers who gathered in Guinobatan, Albay for a psychosocial debriefing early this month. Organized by children’s group Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns (Salinlahi), the sessions aimed at providing a safe space for human rights defenders in the region.
This is part of Salinlahi’s efforts to determine how human rights defenders and child rights advocates are faring on their mental health and to train them on how they can collectively process their psychological trauma as they remain in the forefront of human rights campaigns in their communities.
“How can we maximize the potential of human rights defenders and child rights advocates if they themselves are tired because of the severe attacks on them,” said Miguel Gonzales, national spokesperson of Salinlahi.
According to Gonzales, human rights and child rights advocates experience direct trauma from different forms of attacks like red-tagging, trumped-up charges, military presence in their communities, and surveillance.
“We provide a safe space that allows them to release their emotions, which otherwise they cannot release daily because they continue to respond to cases of human rights violations,” he said.
Arrested and imprisoned
During the psychosocial session, Estiller shared the trauma she experienced when she was arrested in 2022.
Estiller, a member of peasant women’s group Amihan and organizer of the Samahan ng mga Magsasaka sa Sorsogon, was arrested while on her way to attend her father’s wake. She was detained at the Sorsogon District Jail where she was later charged with trumped-up attempted homicide and murder. The cases were all dismissed for lack of evidence and she was released on November 22, 2023.
According to her, there were times when the sharing of experiences was heavy but facilitators and fellow participants helped each other to create a safe space for everyone. She shared that it helped that she was familiar with most of the participants in the debriefing, making her comfortable to engage in the conversations.
Journalists too
Meanwhile, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) organized a separate peer support activity on July 28 to 30 in Antipolo City.
A dozen journalists attended the session, which is part of the NUJP’s continuing advocacy to seek ways to keep their members safe and to provide awareness on mental health and well-being.
DART Center for Journalism and Trauma said journalists frequently bear witness to human suffering, whether covering mass disasters or individual atrocities, and are sometimes the direct targets of violence.
“This type of work can affect their health and well-being,” DART Center stated.
Even student journalists are not spared from attacks, affecting their mental health.
“Many journalists have experienced trauma due to the inherent dangers of their profession, both inside and outside the newsroom. Some were red-tagged, many were exposed to triggering materials, and almost everyone had to be the first responders during disasters and unfortunate events,” said Reinnard Balonzo, a student journalist and chairperson of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)-Bicol.
NUJP has documented eight cases of harassment among student journalists from “clear and identifiable perpetrators from the government”.
In addition, the group has documented 151 incidents of red-tagging of journalists since 2016. Of these, about 90 cases, or 57 percent involved journalists from the alternative media.
Balonzo himself received “an invitation” in November 2023 from the 93rd Civil-Military Operations Company and 9th Civil-Military Operations Battalion of the Philippine Army. In this letter, he and CEGP Bicol were red-tagged.
In September 2023, another campus journalist from the University of Nueva Caceres in Naga City received a similar “invitation” and was visited by soldiers twice a week both in her home and in school for several months. Summons are issued by the court, but the Philippine Army made it appear to be so to add pressure on the student journalists. She did not resign from the publication despite her parent’s advice.
Balonzo said significant changes may be introduced by holding collective care with their community of campus journalists, such as casual talks over coffee to promote mental health awareness.
“I was so fortunate to be with these journalists, who have carried so much trauma in their remarkable stories of defending the truth but have chosen to carry on. It is high time that we also campaign for mental health care for them and for the countless journalists who experience similar situations,” Balonzo said.
Mental health awareness for rights defenders
Jen Nagrampa, former political prisoner and chairperson of BAYAN Bicol, said, “It is important to have these interventions and training, especially for victims of harassment. It is the right venue to release the weight felt because of the severe attacks.”
A common observation among human rights defenders who fall victim to human rights violations themselves is that they tend to isolate and detach themselves, said Karapatan Bicol.
Gonzales, for his part, said mental health remains a taboo, saying that those who deal with mental health issues still suffer from stigma.
“We also need to check our human rights defenders and child rights advocates because as the attack intensifies, human rights defenders and child rights advocates are also affected,” Gonzales added.
He believes that human rights and child rights defenders should be included in the Mental Health Act (RA 11036).
“Whenever I encounter triggers, I would experience panic attacks but it is manageable now,” said Estiller.
Moving forward
For Estiller, the psychosocial session allowed her to listen to the experiences of others and draw lessons from them. “You are not the only one who was abused, no matter what happened to you in the hands of the state.”
“The bruises can disappear and the wounds can heal but the mental health problem if not treated would get worse,” Estiller said as she encouraged fellow human rights defenders to also find a safe space to breathe and share their struggles to trusted people. (JJE, RTS, RVO) 
