“Karapatan condemns the worsening spate of attacks against activists and rights defenders, perpetrated by the Duterte regime and its security forces. Just this week, nine activists were illegally arrested in separate incidents in Laguna and Nueva Ecija, while two others were also declared missing. The spike in attacks are a compounded result of the government’s relentless red-tagging in line with its fictitious destabilization plot, the military and police’s collaboration through the Inter-Agency Committee on Legal Action (IACLA), and the regime’s counterinsurgency program,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.