As part of my two part series on the situation for human rights defenders in the Philippines, here is my full interview with Cristina Palabay. Based on her impressive resume, and the frankly impressive nature of the interview I have chosen to publish it separately. This mostly because due to the time constraints I apply for producing podcasts, too much would have remained unheard and I would like to give you, my audience, the chance to experience this interview in full.
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An activist for many years, and working mainly with left-wing organization Karapatan she has endured a lot of repression at the hands of the former and current government of the Philippines.
Cristina Palabay, 42, is the Secretary General of Karapatan Alliance Philippines, a national alliance of human rights organizations, desks and individual advocates working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. Palabay has been with KARAPATAN since 2010 and as Secretary General, she oversees the implementation of the General Program of Action of the alliance and serves as the main spokesperson/ representative of the organization. Through her years as an activist, she has faced death and rape threats, surveillance, and judicial harassment, presumably because of her staunch defense of women’s rights and people’s rights, but she continues to do her work as a human rights defender. Palabay has been a social activist since her student days and is also known for her advocacy for women’s rights as among the founders and later on the Secretary General of the Gabriela Women’s Party, during which she had campaigned for the full implementation of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act and for the enactment of the Magna Carta of Women. She has been likewise involved in campaigns for the enactment of legislation against torture and enforced disappearances, and for justice and reparations campaign for victims of martial law during the Marcos government.
—-from the website of Civicus
More information on Karapatan: https://www.karapatan.org/
