Bagong Alyansang Makabayan deplores the arrest of Cebu-based activist John Ruiz over a trumped up case, which reflects the continuing weaponization of laws and judicial processes to silence dissent.
Ruiz is a national council member of Bayan and vice president for the Visayas of Makabayan coalition. As Bayan leader, he is at the forefront of various community and sectoral struggles in Cebu and Central Visayas, and an organizer of anti-corruption protests over the past year. He was arrested by a CIDG unit of the police after joining a protest against expanded US militarism in the country.
We question the warrant of arrest issued against Ruiz based on a 2024 murder case in Negros. Ruiz also faced a homicide case in Negros in 2023. We condemn the filing of these trumped up cases based on fabricated evidence to detain activists like Ruiz and undermine the people’s resistance against foreign plunder, military intervention, fascism, and abuse of power.
Ruiz and other anti-corruption activists were also charged for protesting in front of the DPWH office in September 2025. Those who speak out against corruption are harassed, charged with baseless cases, and detained for demanding accountability, while those who steal with impunity continue to access pork barrel projects.
The arrest of Ruiz follows an alarming pattern of criminalizing dissent. It highlights not just the deteriorating state of human rights under the government of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, but also the desperate attempt of those in power to quell public outrage against unresolved corruption scandals. It is Marcos and his ilk who should be held accountable for the flood control scam and the continuing flooding disaster, and not Ruiz and other activist leaders who led the anti-corruption protests over the past year.
Bayan calls for the immediate release of Ruiz, the dropping of trumped up cases against him, and the investigation into the suspicious circumstances regarding his arrest and the operation conducted by the police. Bayan calls on the people to protest the wanton disregard of civil liberties under the Marcos presidency. On September 21, let us flood the streets with protests to denounce the continuing rampant corruption, and the use of Martial Law tactics to attack the people’s democratic rights.
Palayain si John Ruiz!
Ikulong ang mga korap, hindi ang mamamayang lumalaban!
Hindi krimen ang aktibismo, makatwiran ang lumaban!