For the second time since 2026 began, a Filipino-American Baltimore resident is being detained by the Philippine state. Family and friends of 27-year-old Christina Pasion are calling for an immediate end to the Philippine government’s detainment of her and fellow organizer Binay Serrano, an Indigenous woman from Mindoro, Philippines.
On the morning of July 30th, a joint force of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) arrested Pasion and Serrano in Cabuyao City, Laguna, while the two were seeking medical treatment. State forces allege that Pasion and Serrano have ties to the New People’s Army (NPA), which is engaged in a civil war with the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP).
Serrano was arrested on an alleged murder charge, while Pasion had no warrant for her arrest. Pasion’s family maintain that these accusations towards both Pasion and Serrano are baseless and instead were politically-motivated arrests, targeting Serrano and Pasion for their human rights work living amongst indigenous and farming communities in the Philippines.
Similarities between this situation and that of Filipino-American UMBC alumna Chantal Anicoche are striking. On January 1st, Anicoche, who had spent her holidays amongst the poor communities in Mindoro, was caught in a bombing by AFP forces that killed 5 people and displaced 188 families. Anicoche herself was missing for a week after the bombing until she was eventually surfaced in military custody, where she was detained for a month before her return to the U.S. after an all-out campaign in both the U.S. and the Philippines.
As of the time of writing this on August 24th, Pasion has been transferred to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BOI) custody and has an impending deportation order, but has still not yet been released and returned home. The family has reported in subsequent community events that Pasion has been repeatedly interrogated by the BOI without a lawyer and Pasion’s legal team has been “made to jump through hoops” to acquire the legal documents necessary for the case.
In an open letter, her family wrote, “These baseless accusations and ongoing detainment serve only to threaten Christina’s life, as is the case for activists across the Philippines. This wanton disregard for the due process of law and such accusations actively endanger her.
As the family of Christina Pasion, we demand her immediate release to continue her medical treatment in the safety of her home.”
Family and human rights advocates assert that this harassment did not start at the arrest, but is just a continuation of conditions beginning since April, when elements of the GRP, like the state-run Philippine News Agency, began to accuse Pasion of involvement in the NPA, an accusation which in the Philippines labels a person as a terrorist.
This practice, known as “red-tagging”, has been flagged by human rights organizations such as Karapatan and the Commission on Human Rights in the Philippines as dangerous, taking away a person’s right to due process and putting them under higher risk of illegal arrests, enforced disappearances, and politically-motivated assassinations. United Nations Special Rapporteur Irene Khan even condemned the practice, saying, “Many human rights defenders, humanitarian workers, factions, youth, health workers, indigenous leaders may have or have been threatened. Many of the victims of vilification are young articulate women.”
According to the Baltimore Banner, Senator Chris Van Hollen (D) of Maryland said in a statement that his office was in contact with the family. Earlier this year, Van Hollen signed onto a Congressional letter supporting an independent and credible investigation into the April 19 massacre in Toboso, Negros, which killed 19 individuals including Filipino-Americans Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem. He was joined by Maryland Reps. Johny Olszewski (D) and Kweise Mfume (D) as well as 6 other U.S. congresspeople.
Support from U.S. lawmakers is especially prominent when considering that the Philippines is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in Southeast Asia, with the U.S. having just authorized $2.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing just in March.
Baltimore community members have raised the issue, rallying 75-strong in McKeldin Park and hosting letter-writing to lawmakers at Peabody Heights Brewery. Even here at UMBC, organizations flyered at (seb)’s First Night vendor’s market and are hosting educational discussions throughout the first week of school.
Once again, Baltimore is in the crosshairs of an international political campaign. The family finds, though, that the connection from Baltimore to the Philippines is not as distinct as one might initially believe. Pasion’s wife, Vivian, stated in a speech, “I will not sit by idly as my tax dollars are funding mass killings of civilians on the other side of the globe. It is our duty to care.” And as these issues continue to hit closer and closer to home, for many that duty seems to grow incredibly clear.
Diane Esteban is a senior Media and Communication Studies major and Writing, Rhetoric, and Technology minor, and a news writer for The Retriever.
Contact Diane at mesteba1@umbc.edu