I SERVE as chairman of the board of trustees of the Community Legal Help and Public Interest Center (C-Help), a small but determined nonprofit that takes on legal battles in defense of the environment and the communities that depend on it. On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, C-Help, together with fellow longtime advocates from the Nuclear Free Bataan Movement (NFBM), 350 Pilipinas and Global Climate Legal Defense, launched the Environmental Human Rights Defenders’ Guide against abusive lawsuits in the Philippines.
The guide was born not out of theory, but of urgency, solidarity and a hard truth: Defending the environment in this country has become increasingly dangerous.
For quite some time now, environmental challenges in the Philippines have been living realities for Filipinos. Manila Bay’s massive reclamation projects, for example, have begun swallowing fishing grounds and dismantling the coast’s natural defenses. Nearby communities now face the difficult question: Will “progress” erase the very ecosystems that sustain them? Meanwhile, in Bataan, families living near coal-fired power plants endure relentless air and noise pollution, rising illness and landscapes scarred beyond recognition, yet they are told, repeatedly, that these are the price paid for the sake of “development.”
The World Bank, in its “Country Climate and Development Report,” warns that climate change in the Philippines will continue to accelerate and impose severe economic and human costs. The Climate Change Commission echoes this alarm, noting how plastic waste intensifies flooding and destroys coastal ecosystems. These crises, unfortunately, intersect and compound. With every flood, reclamation project, pipeline, or coal expansion, more communities are pushed to speak out, not because they want to protest, but because survival leaves them no other choice.
This growing resistance has given rise to environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). The United Nations defines EHRDs as individuals and groups who peacefully protect and promote human rights related to the environment. They are not radicals or professional agitators; they are simply people doing what citizenship, at its most basic, demands: defending what remains of their homes and futures. They can be anyone in the community: fisherfolk, farmers, Indigenous leaders, mothers, lawyers, journalists and activists.
They can be you and me.
Yet instead of protection, the actions of EHRDs are often met with retaliation. In the Philippines, one of the most insidious tools used against them is the Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP), which is designed to exhaust, intimidate and ultimately silence defenders. According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Center, at least 355 cases worldwide since 2015 bear the hallmarks of SLAPPs. Locally, Kalikasan reports that since 2022, at least 117 defenders have faced 156 fabricated charges, with more than 60 percent linked to the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Despite this, there is no centralized system or government body in the country that monitors SLAPPs. Thus, many cases are disguised as ordinary legal complaints, such as libel, grave coercion and injunctions, making it difficult to distinguish legitimate claims from abusive ones. The damage of SLAPPs can be visible in the chilling effect they leave behind: a chilling effect that leaves communities silenced, advocacy delayed and fear replacing civic engagement.
Fortunately, our country is not without its safeguards. The Supreme Court’s 2010 Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases allow defendants to raise SLAPP as a defense, triggering an expedited process. Plaintiffs must prove within five days that their case is legitimate, while courts must resolve the matter within 30 days. Defendants need only show substantial evidence that their actions were lawful environmental advocacy. These rules reinforce the constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology, inseparable from the freedoms of speech, assembly and petition.
Yet for many grassroots defenders, these protections remain inaccessible, buried as they are in legal language and unfamiliar procedures.
This is the gap the Environmental Human Rights Defenders’ Guide seeks to fill.
The 80-page guide translates complex legal remedies into practical, step-by-step tools. It explains how to raise a SLAPP defense, when to invoke remedies like the Writ of Kalikasan, and how to challenge abusive cases early. It also discusses the possibility of “SLAPP-backs,” where defendants counter-sue abusive plaintiffs to recover damages or legal costs, while candidly acknowledging the legal risks and gray areas involved.
Beyond litigation, the Guide offers preventive strategies: legal risk assessments, do’s and don’ts for rallies, the limits of police authority, how to recognize unlawful arrests and searches, and compliance guidelines for organizations. As C-Help founder and Guide lead author lawyer Zelda Soriano put it, “Courageous advocacy should never be met with legal intimidation. This guide informs defenders of their rights and equips them to stand firm.”
Protecting environmental defenders is not just about individual safety; it is about safeguarding communities’ collective right to a livable future. When defenders are silenced, ecosystems collapse faster. When they are protected, democracy and sustainability stand a fighting chance. The Environmental Human Rights Defenders’ Guide is not the end of the struggle. It is a powerful tool to ensure that those who defend the environment are no longer forced to do so alone.
The renowned primatologist and conservationist Jane Goodall once said, “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Let’s help save and conserve nature, while we still can.
You can get a copy of the guide from C-Help’s official website: https://communitylegalhelp.org/.