Jersey City—On the evening of Wednesday, December 15, Jersey City's Municipal Council unanimously passed the Resolution Protecting Jersey City Human Rights Defenders for the Philippines and Endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act (Resolution 21-866). Jersey City is now the first city on the East Coast to have endorsed the Philippine Human Rights Act and the first in the country to extend protections for human rights defenders who may be targeted by the Philippine government.

Surface peasant and Indigenous peoples’ organizer Steve Abua! Stop the attacks on human rights defenders!

The Malaya Movement USA, demands the immediate surfacing and safe return of recently abducted Steve Abua. He was last seen in Barangay Sta. Cruz, Lubao, Pampanga on November 6.

The Malaya Movement USA condemns the murder of Atty. Juan Macababbad, the 65th lawyer killed under the Duterte administration by unidentified gunmen outside his home in Surallah, South Cotabato on September 15th.

The Malaya Movement USA congratulates Maria Ressa on winning the Nobel peace prize making her the first Filipino to be granted such an honor. This is a slap in the face of the Duterte regime who continue to persecute Maria Ressa, Rappler and other independent media and journalists in the Philippines.

On September 14, 2021 the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) held a press conference with a Lumad student where they explicitly accused Malaya Movement USA and several other US-based organizations as terrorists. While this claim is unfounded, the consequences could be extremely harmful.

The Malaya Movement joins the Filipino people both in the homeland and around the world in their just demand: Wakasan na! End the Duterte regime! More than five years of incompetence, treachery and brutality. The people have had enough of Duterte.