A/HRC/43/51/Add.3 a gold and copper mine by OceanaGold Corporation, an Australia-based mining company. 457. JAL 25/04/2019 Case no: PHL 3/2019 State reply: none to date Allegations concerning new accusations of bias in favour of communist “terrorist” groups formulated against the current United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, which appeared in the national press covering the submission of a report to the Permanent Mission of the Philippines in Geneva regarding abuses of indigenous peoples’ rights by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. These accusations were reiterated in a press briefing in Malacanang on 13 March 2019. 458. JAL 02/10/2019 Case no: PHL 5/2019 State reply: none to date Allegations concerning the harassment and intimidation, including death threats, against human rights defenders Ms. Brenda De Guzman, Ms. Christine Grace Ongos and Mr. Ramiel Aballe for providing legal assistance to the defence of nine farmers accused of murdering a local government Councillor in the Philippines province of Negros Occidental, Western Visayas region, on 31 March 2019. 459. JAL 25/11/2019 Case no: PHL 6/2019 State reply: none to date Allegations concerning hatred, verbal harassment and threats against Mr. Rhadem Camlian Morados, including death threats and threats of kidnapping, disseminated on social media on account of his work on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics and his advocacy as a gay Muslim claiming that his religion is inclusive and affirmative of his sexuality. 460. PR 01/05/2019 The Philippines: Renewed allegations against UN expert are "clearly retaliation" 461. The Special Rapporteur regrets that no substantive responses were received from the Government of the Philippines to any of the six communications sent in this year’s reporting period. The Special Rapporteur emphasises that cooperation with Special Procedures mandates is an effective and useful means to promote and protect human rights in the Philippines and he urges the Government to respond to the questions and allegations raised in his letters. 462. The Special Rapporteur notes with particular concern that land and indigenous rights defenders were at high risk of retaliation for carrying out their work. Benjamin Ramos Jr., a human rights lawyer defending the right of impoverished farming and fishing families, was the thirty-fourth lawyer killed in two years in the Philippines. Mr. Ramos had received threats in response to his human rights work for many years. Six other human rights defenders in the province of Negros Occidental, in the Visayas region received death threats for providing legal assistance to local farmers and sugar workers. In addition, the Visayas regional office of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) had to be closed to protect the safety of other human rights lawyers working on land issues in the area. 463. The Rapporteur also sent a letter to the Government of the Philippines on 13 December 2018 detailing the extra-judicial killing of thirty-two individuals connected with farming and indigenous associations. The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned that there is a fatal lack of a safe and enabling environment for land and indigenous rights defenders to carry out their work in the Philippines. He encourages the Government to provide information regarding investigations launched in relation to death threats and killings in the Philippines, and measures adopted to protect the right to life, personal integrity and security of farmers, indigenous peoples and human rights defenders in the Philippines. 464. The Special Rapporteur expresses continued concern about a worrying broader trend of “red tagging” in the Philippines. This appears to involve the labelling of human rights defenders and civil society organisations as “communist” in order to discredit their work. The Special Rapporteur is troubled to note that in five out of the six communications sent to the Philippines during the reporting period, human rights defenders appear to have been victims of “red tagging”. “Red tagging” severely hinders the activities of human rights defenders by 64