Antonio Nercua Ablon
Antonio Nercua Ablon is a human rights defender and chairperson of human rights group Karapatan in Western Mindanao. Karapatan is an alliance of individuals, groups and organisations, formed in 1995 for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. It is committed to defending people’s rights and civil liberties through education, training, advocacy, research and network building. Furthermore, Ablon advocates for environmental rights, in particular criticising regional large-scale mining projects due to environmental concerns regarding their impact.
The situation of human rights defenders has improved, to an extent, since the end of the Arroyo administration in 2010, but the current government has failed to address continuing violations against HRDs. HRDs still face extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, fabricated charges, arrest, denial of bail, threats and intimidation, and restrictions on their rights of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Heavy militarisation in some areas, Mindanao in particular, significantly affects the work of HRDs.
