Butch Rosales
Butch Rosales was a human rights defender working for the issues of the urban poor as a labour organiser. He was also a volunteer of Rise Up for Life and for Rights, supporting and organising families of victims of the Philippine government’s so called ‘war on drugs’. Rise Up is a network of human rights defenders and volunteers working for protecting life and human rights in the face of the ‘war on drugs’ and related extra-judicial killings and violations under the Rodrigo Duterte government. Butch Rosales was an active organiser of pickets and demonstrations in support of people affected by demolitions of property or labour disputes.
Since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016, HRDs are facing a spate of killings and violence. Judicial harassment and criminalisation of HRDs remain common, with politicians and private actors, such as mining companies, using the criminal justice system to silence those who oppose their interests.
