Environmental Activists in the Philippines

Environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano were recently discovered after disappearing on September 2.
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Castro and Tamano were working with communities who oppose a reclamation operation for an airport project in Manila Bay. According to Global Witness, over 700 families were displaced by the airport project (https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/holding-corporates-account/r…).

The detaining of Castro and Tamano highlights the dangers of environmental activists in the Philippines. The Philippines is one of the most dangerous places in the world for environmental activists. In 2022, 11 environmental activists were killed in the Philippines according to Global Witness (https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/stan…).

I was inspired to do this cartoon by a series of cartoons that Nicaraguan political cartoonist Pedro Molina did in 2018. Molina used his cartoons to depict the victims of a massacre that took place when Nicaraguan military forces open fired on a protest. I thought I'd occasionally do a series of cartoons on the Filipino activists who have disappeared during the Duterte and Marcos administrations.