Human Rights Watch statement on the murder of Alex Dolorosa

Human Rights Watch statement on the murder of Alex Dolorosa, a labor and LGBT rights activist whose body was found in Bacolod City on April 24, bearing multiple stab wounds. Dolorosa, 38, was a paralegal in the Bacolod office of the BPO Industry Employee’s Network (BIEN) Pilipinas, a group that advocates for labor rights of workers in the outsourcing industry:

Philippine authorities should thoroughly investigate the murder of trade unionist Alex Dolorosa and bring the perpetrators to justice. While it is too early at this stage to determine the motive for the killing, it must be pointed out that Dolorosa was a labor rights activist with BIEN Pilipinas who has done paralegal work to support labor cases filed by workers in the outsourcing industry. At the time of his death, Dolorosa was handling many such cases. In fact, just days before he was killed, Dolorosa helped his colleagues win four labor cases in Bacolod City. He also was directly involved in advocacy for labor rights, and improvement of wages and working conditions for outsourcing employees. Dolorosa’s work with BIEN, and the fact that government authorities have targeted the organization for surveillance and red-tagging, must be factored into the investigation of Dolorosa’s murder.

Carlos Conde
Senior researcher
Human Rights Watch