Myrasol Dela Cruz

Myrasol has worked on issues relating to the protection of environmental human rights defenders in Cambodia and the Philippines; nickel mining issues in Indonesia; anti-dam campaigns in India; and the global civil society campaign against Japan’s plans to dump treated wastewater in the Pacific. She has been a student activist since 1996 during the Oil Price Hike that affected the livelihoods of people in the Philippines. Her social concern developed when residing in the Indigenous Peoples region (Cordillera) community, learning their way of life and defence of land, life and resources. The extractive and destructive projects entering the Indigenous territories threaten the whole IP communities and their culture. These experiences gave her more reason to deeply understand the relation between the environment and environmental defenders. The issues of climate change, reclamation projects, mining, dams and other environmental damages entail human rights violations. As an environmental human rights defender, Myrasol is committed to this kind of advocacy which APNED upholds across Asia and the Pacific. Myrasol is interested to be part of DTP annual training which she first experienced working with at the first Asia Pacific Human Rights Defenders (online). She wants to learn more about different experiences and successful protection mechanisms for environmental and environmental human rights. She wants to be part strategizing the International Mechanism in advancing human rights and to collaborate and exchange plans and campaigns.