The Center for Women’s Resources (CWR) expresses its solidarity with veteran child rights advocate and woman labor organizer Jacqueline “Jacq” Ruiz of the Kilusan ng Manggagawang Kababaihan (KMK or Women Workers’ Movement) and Jerome Adonis, Chairperson of Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU or May First Movement), following the issuance of warrants of arrest against them in connection with a workers’ rights protest on May 1, 2026.
We reaffirm that the rights to peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of association are fundamental democratic rights. The right of workers to organize, collectively bargain and engage in peaceful collective action are protected under Philippine law and international human rights standards.
The filing of charges under Article 153 of the Philippine Revised Penal Code in relation to alleged public disturbances, is deeply concerning. The use of criminal charges against workers and their advocates for exercising their legitimate democratic rights constitutes judicial harassment and contributes to the broader criminalization of labor organizing, protest, and dissent.
Workers’ demands for decent wages, secure employment, safe workplaces and dignified working conditions are not threats to public order. They are legitimate demands rooted in the basic rights and aspirations of working people. Peaceful protest is not a crime, and raising one’s voice against unjust conditions should never be grounds for persecution.
What truly threatens the welfare and security of working people is a system that continues to leave millions struggling with low wages, precarious employment, rising costs of living and declining living conditions– while those who challenge these conditions are harassed, intimidated and criminalized. The criminalization of labor leaders and advocates does not address the conditions that drive the workers to protest. Instead, it suppresses the voices that call attention to these injustices.
We are particularly concerned by the targeting of Jacq as a woman labor organizer. Women workers experience exploitation and violations of their labor rights while continuing to shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities. Women’s organizations and women workers’ groups play a vital role in organizing communities, asserting labor rights, and challenging the conditions that perpetuate inequality in workplaces, communities , and society.
The criminalization of women organizers carries a distinct and gendered impact. It threatens not only their safety, security, and freedom, but also creates a chilling effect on women’s participation in collective action. Jacq’s decades of advocacy for children’s and women’s rights, as well as her organizing for workers and vulnerable communities, should never be weaponized against her. Her long-standing commitment to defending the rights of others is not a crime.
It is deeply unbecoming of a government that presents itself as a champion of women’s rights and labor rights to respond to women workers and labor organizers with harassment, criminalization, and judicial persecution. The treatment of Jacq, Jerome, and other labor organizers exposes the widening gap between the government’s rhetoric and its actions.
More seriously, these actions expose the government’s increasingly repressive and authoritarian approach to dissent. A government that claims to uphold women’s and workers’ rights must protect those who exercise these rights—not punish them.
CWR stands firmly with Jacq, Jerome, and all workers and organizers facing harassment and persecution for exercising their fundamental rights. We demand the immediate withdrawal of the charges against them and an end to the judicial harassment of labor leaders, activists, and human rights defenders in the Philippines.
We call on our networks, allies, and human rights organizations to stand in solidarity with Jacq, Jerome, and all workers and organizers facing criminalization for defending their rights. #
