MANILA – A development worker in  Negros decried harassment after two coastal guards went to his residence.

Joselito Macapobre, chairperson of fisherfolk association PAMAGI and a volunteer community organizer of the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG), said that it was around 9:00 a.m. last March 30 when two coastal guards went to his home asking his whereabouts and the names of his organization’s members.

“I told them on the phone that they do not have jurisdiction over our association,” Macapobre told Bulatlat in Filipino. The coastal guards, identified as Jennery A. Pancho and Arquisa John Mark Delos Reyes, entered Macapobre’s residence without the permission of his wife, who was the only person present during the incident.

Collage of two reported members of the Philippine Coast Guard, taken when they went to the residence of Joselito Macapobre. Contributed photo

Macapobre filed a report of the incident at their barangay and the local police office. He was gathering the relevant documents in support of his petition for writs of amparo and habeas data filed last March 5, 2026 before the Supreme Court (SC).

Writs of amparo and habeas data are immediate legal reliefs in the Philippines available to any person whose right to life, liberty, and security is violated. If the writ of amparo is granted, the court may issue protection orders or tailored reliefs to protect the petitioner’s life. The writ of habeas data, meanwhile, orders the respondents to disclose, update, rectify, or destroy unlawfully collected personal data that violate a person’s life, liberty, and security.

Read: Negros lawyer, human rights worker seek Supreme Court protection

Macapobre survived an abduction attempt on January 18, 2026, after delivering seed relief assistance to farmers. He was seized by three armed men and was forced into a waiting van. He managed to break free and escape with the help of nearby farmer leaders.

“It is not a crime to help the poor, fisherfolk, farmers, and indigenous peoples here in Negros. We are doing nothing wrong,” Macapobre said in an interview with Bulatlat. “It is not the first time that this has happened. They will try to present us as rebel surrenderers of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.”

Since 2022, Macapobre said that their members have experienced harassment from military intelligence officers. The names of their members were reportedly presented as members of the revolutionary group. His wife, meanwhile, was interrogated several times by soldiers.

“My wife fears for our lives. It was her who had encountered the harassment firsthand when the soldiers looked for me,” Macapobre said.

PAMAGI is an association of fisherfolk in their barangay in Negros, established to fight for their right to land. Since most homes in their community are situated in the shorelines, they are vulnerable to the high tide and rising sea level.

Human rights group Karapatan raises alert on the latest incident of harassment and intimidation against Macapobre and his wife, causing fear and alarm among families of fisherfolk members.

“The harassment against Joselito Macapobre, his family and community, along with the threats against Atty. Rey Gorgonio and other PDG workers should stop. It places Macapobre, his family and community in danger, and we can only hold the state accountable for any harm that might be inflicted on them, Atty. Gorgonio, and the other persons under threat,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said.

She called on the SC to immediately grant the protective writs and for the Commission on Human Rights to conduct an independent and thorough investigation.

“These acts, from surveillance and red-tagging to attempted abduction and now the profiling of fisherfolk communities, are very clear violations of people’s rights,” Palabay added. (AMU, RVO)

The post After surviving abduction attempt, Negros dev’t worker decries ‘visits’ by state agents appeared first on Bulatlat.

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