Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano are youth environmental activists who disappeared on September 2, 2023, in Orion, Bataan while being volunteers for communities along Manila Bay that have been affected by development[1] and reclamation[2] activities. They surfaced on a press conference organized by government and military agencies. Yet despite the intended outcome of the press conference to present them as rebel surrenderees, the two told the media that they were abducted by state forces.[3]
Jonila Castro, then 21, community organizer of Alliance for the Defense of Livelihood, Housing, and Environment in Manila Bay (Akap Ka Manila Bay) and Jhed Tamano, then 22, program coordinator of Community and Church Program for Manila Bay of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum were volunteering along towns in Bataan where communities have been affected by reclamation and development projects. Bataan is one of the provinces along Manila Bay, where reclamation projects have had effects on communities and ecosystems.[4] According to environmental advocates, Bataan has been a 'gray area' regarding information on land reclamation.
Because of their advocacy, they have experiences human rights violations such as red-tagging, intimidation, and harassment.[5]
According to Karapatan, at least 16 activists were abducted from June 2022 to November 2023 under the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr.[6]
While doing investigative work and preparing for relief operations, the two were abducted in Brgy. Lati, Orion, Bataan by armed men wearing facemasks and forced them into a gray sports utility vehicle.[2] [7] Only a shoe and a slipper were left behind. The police then said that they were in a safe house and that they approached authorities.On September 19, 2023, they were surfaced in a press conference by National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the local government of Plaridel, Bulacan. Instead of saying that they were rebel returnees, members of the New People's Army, they said that, instead, they were abducted by government forces and were forced to present themselves as surenderees. Pressure from human rights groups, protesters, and Makabayan Representatives led to their immediate release.
On February 15, 2024, the Supreme Court of the Philippines granted the two writs of amparo and habeas data, as well as protection from the 70th Infantry Battalion of the AFP, members of the Philippine National Police Bataan, and NTF-ELCAC in response to a charge of slander and grave oral defamation. Despite these legal safeguards, the two have continued to cry out continued surveillance.