In the spring, gunmen killed two journalists in separate incidents in the city of Zamboanga and in the town of Sultan Kudarat, both in Mindanao. Both journalists had denounced official corruption and abuses of power. The government sometimes restricts meetings and demonstrations on issues that might antagonize fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries. Nongovernmental human rights organizations are highly active. Security forces often falsely link human rights activists to Communist groups, which encourage abuses against activists by private armies and other non-state groups.
Freedom of religion is respected.
Trafficking of Filipino women abroad is a serious problem, and domestic prostitution, including child prostitution, is rampant. These and other abuses flourish with the complicity of corrupt local officials. Cities have large numbers of street children. To clear land for development projects, the government has forcibly resettled thousands of tenant farmers and urban squatters, often to areas with few services and job opportunities. Unions are independent and active.