08/02/2026
BAYAN USA condemns the Arrest of CHRISTINA PASION and Enforced Disappearance of BINAY SERRANO
Two civilian organizers serving poor communities of the Southern Tagalog region were taken by state forces in the early hours July 30th in Brgy. San Isidro, Cabuyao Laguna, while seeking medical attention.
BAYAN USA vehemently condemns the series of state-sponsored attacks on Filipino and Filipino-American organizers who have dedicated themselves to serving the poor and oppressed in the Philippines! We call for the immediate release of Christina Pasion, a community organizer from Baltimore, Maryland; and demand to surface Mindoreño and Mangyan organizer, Binay Serrano. Both Pasion and Serrano were were arrested in the same operation but Serrano's whereabouts are unknown as of writing. We are well aware of the violence, psychological warfare and torture that the Philippine military and police state is capable of and we demand that Pasion and Serrano’s human rights are upheld.
Pasion is a daughter of migrant health workers, who first saw the need for social change during the BLM protests against police brutality and worked as a paralegal assisting worker's compensation applicants. Prior to her immersion in rural communities, she was a staunch advocate in the different campaigns for Filipino migrant communities here in the US, such as J-1 Visa Teachers and cruise ship workers targeted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Within this year alone, BAYAN USA has launched campaigns to defend the rights of peasant activists, journalists, students, and land defenders through the Defend Mindoro and Defend Negros campaigns. These areas in the Philippines are of extreme importance to US and other foreign monopoly capitalist interests because they are resource-rich. Laguna in particular is the home to different Special Economic Zones which are notorious for depressing wages and union-busting. The farmers and communities that live off the land are further displaced from these infrastructure projects and sites designed for foreign profit, such as the looming threat of the Pax Silica Initiative.
The main facilitator of the exploitation of Philippine land and labor is Marcos Jr. himself, who has been shameless in ushering in deals with foreign corporations and states that seek to extract the wealth of the country. Ambassador Romualdez and his consuls-general follow suit in helping promote and broker these destructive deals.
The arrest of Pasion and enforced disappearance of Serrano are among the tactics used by the reactionary Philippine government to malign activists and instill fear among freedom-loving Filipinos who have committed their time to serving the most marginalized communities, especially in the countryside. Nevertheless, our people's movement is not fazed by the state's fear-mongering.
We demand Pasion’s immediate release, Serrano’s immediate surfacing and release, and freedom from any form of torture, harassment, and any violation of their human rights. We call on Filipinos and all people of conscience across the US to echo the call for safe release, and to expose and fight back against the state-terrorism of the US-Marcos regime.
Pasion's arrest comes days after Marcos Jr.‘s State of the Nation Address, where he claimed to have the country's development in mind. But this is far from the truth. The US-backed Marcos J.r regime will employ state repression through the continuance of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 70, which ushered in the "Whole of the Nation Approach.” This has militarized the entire civilian bureaucracy, and further strengthened the state’s partnership with the US to conduct more joint military exercises, and train the fascist military in surveillance and counterinsurgency.
These attacks on activists are part and parcel to the US escalation of military presence to maintain aggressive domination in the Indo-Pacific. They are urgently pushing for the passing of Pax Silica so that they are secure their supply chain of AI and tech materials to dominate the industry as part of their strategic rivalry with China.
In reality, they are fearful of the fact that the masses are rising up, and will do all in their power criminalize the individuals and organizations that stand in their way. It is the people’s resistance and the National Democratic movement that serves as the biggest obstacle for US imperialism and their wars of aggression in the Philippines. We will continue to advance the righteous struggle for genuine liberation through our wholehearted service to the people.
Palayain si Christina Pasion! Ilitaw at Palayain si Binay Serrano!
Free Christina Pasion! Surface and free Binay Serrano!
Igalang ang kanilang karapatang pantao!
Uphold their human rights!
Militar sa kanayunan, palayasin!
AFP, out of the countryside!
Umuwi at paglingkuran ang sambayanan!
Let us go home and serve the People!
Labanan at wakasan ang pahirap, korap, at pasistang rehimeng US-Marcos!
Fight and end the oppressive, corrupt and fascist US-Marcos Regime!
