The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) vehemently condemns the recent harassment of a retired labor organizer in the Davao region by military agents. The harassment of Eduardo Capuyan, together with the threat and intimidation of other labor organizers in Davao, cry out for investigation from the national government.

On February 10, two men claiming to be part of the Philippine military surveilled the house of Capuyan, a retired labor organizer of national labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) in the Southern Mindanao Region. At around 5:30 am that day, the two men interrogated Capuyan about the whereabouts of certain people. After Capuyan denied knowing the persons’ whereabouts, the two men left a piece of paper containing their contact numbers.

What happened to Capuyan has happened to labor activists many times before. By surveilling Capuyan’s residence and asking him questions about the whereabouts of certain people, the military is basically claiming that he is connected with the underground Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army. It is basically threatening him in order to force him to “cooperate” with them – that is, claim knowledge of information about these radical organizations.

These actions create and pose dangers for KMU-SMR and for labor organizing in Davao. They infringe on Capuyan’s fundamental right to life, liberty and security of person and ultimately infringe on the right to freedom of association of workers and the poor, whom Capuyan and KMU-SMR seek to empower.

We demand an investigation into the harassment of Capuyan and other cases of harassment in the Davao region that happened in 2025:

July – Marvin Dacanay, KMU organizer
August – Jeffrey Uypala, KMU and PISTON organizer: https://ctuhr.org/releases/davao-labor-organizers-harassment-attack-on-union-rights/
October – KMU-Southern Mindanao Region’s office was surveilled, following a similar incident in September: https://ctuhr.org/releases/davao-labor-groups-harassment-should-be-stopped-probed/
December – Larry Argilles, leader of Transmission, PISTON’s Davao chapter
https://ctuhr.org/releases/despite-marcos-jr-rights-order-harassment-vs-labor-activists-continue/

For the harassment of Capuyan and other labor organizers in the Davao region, we condemn the Ferdinand Marcos Jr government for maintaining the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which continues to be responsible for the harassment of labor activists and the conflation of labor activism with support for the insurgency and even terorism. We demand that the national government investigate the harassment cases in the Davao region and hold those responsible accountable.

At the same time, the harassment of labor activists in Davao is sticking out like a sore thumb at the national level. We cannot help but think that the foremost local warlords – the Dutertes – are also responsible for this series of harassment. The Dutertes are not only deeply associated with the harassment of labor activists, but are already working overtime in trying to secure a solid Davao and solid Mindanao vote in the 2028 elections by silencing legitimate dissent.