By Shan Kenshin Ecaldre
Bulatlat.com
CABUYAO, Laguna — Eight years ago, Maoj Maga was playing basketball in San Mateo, Rizal, after bringing his son to school. He did not expect the police to come after him, claiming he had a .45 caliber pistol. Today, he remains behind bars.
Last Thursday, February 19, 2026, labor groups gathered in front of the Department of Justice (DOJ) office along Padre Faura to mark Maga’s eighth year in detention and to demand his release, along with 17 other imprisoned labor activists.
Holding placards and chanting calls for freedom, members of the Free Our Unionists network said Maga’s prolonged detention symbolizes what they described as the continuing criminalization of union work in the country.
Maga is a labor organizer affiliated with Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and the progressive transport group Pagkakaisa ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide (PISTON).
Arrested after sending his son to school
Maga was arrested on February 20, 2018, during the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte. Police claimed they found a firearm in his possession while serving a warrant for murder charges.
A local court convicted him of the illegal possession of firearms and explosives case but the Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision. But Maga continues to languish in jail over murder charges that allegedly took place in Agusan del Sur in 2017.
Read: CA reverses guilty verdict against labor leader
“Maoj has been organizing workers in Metro Manila and nearby areas. How can he be responsible for incidents in faraway Mindanao?” said Kamz Deligente, executive director of the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR). “The charges against him were meant to silence his union work. Eight years is too long. He should be free.”
For Maga’s family, supporters said, the cost of his imprisonment goes beyond the courtroom. It has meant years of separation, missed milestones, and the strain of sustaining legal battles while trying to make ends meet.
Pattern of criminalization
CTUHR said Maga’s case reflects a broader pattern of filing criminal charges against activists, often linking them to alleged attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA).
While red-tagging campaigns have attempted to portray labor groups as fronts of the NPA, Deligente said authorities have repeatedly failed to present concrete evidence tying individual activists to armed operations. The group maintained that Maga and the others like him are being imprisoned for their labor organizing work.
“At the start of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., there were more than 40 political prisoners from the labor movement. That number has gone down to 18 after courts junked several trumped-up charges,” Deligente said. “But Maoj, one of the first arrested, remains in jail.”
The group urged the DOJ to expedite the dismissal of what it called baseless cases against Maga and other detained unionists.
Call for release of all unionists
Aside from Maga, CTUHR and allied organizations are calling for the freedom of 17 other labor-related political prisoners: Romina Astudillo, Pauline Banjawan, Felixberto Consad, Mark Ryan Cruz, Maritess David, Joel Demate, Tess Dioquino, Jayme Gregorio, Benny Hilamon, Nedo Lagunias, Steve Mendoza, Jose Puansing, Nolan Ramos, Bob Reyes, Oliver Rosales, Adelberto Silva, and Marlon Torres.
Deligente challenged Marcos Jr. to match his human rights pronouncements with concrete actions.
“President Marcos Jr. likes to present himself as being pro-human rights unlike his predecessor. Yet political prisoners continue to languish in prison under his watch,” she said.
As the picket ended, protesters vowed to continue campaigning until Maga and the rest of the detained unionists walk free, not just as names on a list, they said, but as workers, parents, and organizers whose lives have been put on hold for nearly a decade. (AMU, RVO)
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