The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Region X has dispatched a Quick Response Operation concerning the alleged abduction of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) consultant Ariel Badiang. Karapatan group alleged that Badiang, 64, was taken by soldiers in the municipality of Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon on 6 February 2023. The military has denied the allegation.

As we conduct a parallel independent probe, CHR calls for urgent action from the local police and other concerned agencies to uncover the full truth on this latest report of the alleged abduction of another NDFP consultant. Enforced disappearance is a grave violation of human rights that necessitates exhaustive and expeditious investigation by the State in line with the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012. Regardless of an individual’s socio-political affiliations and ideological beliefs, the right to liberty and life must be protected and defended at all times as set forth in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.