Seven congresses strong: peoples' lawyers convene in Cebu

Today, October 18, 2025, the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) returns to its birthplace, Cebu, where it was founded in 2007.

- Atty. Ian Vincent Manticajon

NUPL is a "nationwide voluntary association of human rights lawyers as well as lawyers from mainstream bar groups or traditional legal practice who have expressed interest in human rights lawyering and advocacy in various degrees and capacities."

I was still a Law student back then when around 89 lawyers from across the country, together with paralegals and fellow Law students, first assembled in Cebu in September 15-16, 2007 amid the increasingly repressive atmosphere under the then-unpopular Arroyo administration.

NUPL thus says in reference to its founding congress in Cebu: "The genesis of the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL) emerged from the urgent need for a structured response to the grave human rights violations during Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's administration." These abuses, including extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and political harassment, along with the then impending passage of the Human Security Act of 2007, showed the urgent need for organized legal action and advocacy.