Justice for Gloria Capitan and all victims of extrajudicial killings!

The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday, March 11, 2025, is a significant step towards attainment of justice for the victims of Extra Judicial Killings (EJK) in the country. Duterte’s infamous ‘war against drugs’ has claimed thousands–men, women and even children. And these deaths have largely unsolved.

Duterte’s attacks against human lives likewise targeted activists, land defenders, and environmental advocates like Ka Gloria Capitan, a 57-year-old woman and a staunch anti-coal activist, who was killed on July 1, 2016.

Capitan’s brutal attack is the first recorded case of extrajudicial killing (EJK) under the Duterte administration. Nearly nine years later, justice for Ka Gloria—and for countless other EJK victims—remains elusive.

Gloria Capitan was a dedicated environmental defender and community leader of the Coal-Free Bataan Movement in Lucanin, Mariveles, Bataan. Particularly, Gloria vigorously campaigned against the operation of the open coal storage facilities and the coal power plant operating in her community. There were clear public health and environmental issues that the local government has failed to address. Gloria Capitan fearlessly fought against corporate and government-backed coal operations, despite repeated threats to her safety. Her killing was not an isolated case—rather, it was part of a larger pattern of violence targeting environmental and human rights defenders in the country to create an atmosphere of fear and acquiescence, against big ticket projects benefiting big business like SMC.

Now, the arrest of former Duterte signals to the world that impunity cannot last forever, and those responsible for crimes against humanity must be held accountable.

Likewise, even as we continue the fight for justice, we honor the memory of Ka Gloria Capitan and all those who have fallen in the fight for human rights and environmental justice. Their voices were silenced, but their struggle lives on among us.

Justice for Gloria Capitan! Justice for all victims of extrajudicial killings!

For Reference:

Derek Cabe
Coordinator, 09237298769
Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement -Philippines