A hooded gunman in General Santos City in the southern Philippines carried out an apparent targeted killing on June 23, 2025, of a transgender rights activist who worked as a radio commentator, Human Rights Watch said today.
The media reported that an unidentified man shot Ali Jejhon Macalintal several times at the acupuncture clinic she owned in General Santos City, and fled on a motorcycle. Police said they were investigating whether Macalintal's history of activism, as well as her recent business ventures, were possible motives for the attack.
"Ali Macalintal's murder is a brutal reminder that engaging in any kind of activism in the Philippines carries grave risks," said Carlos Conde, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The authorities should leave no stone unturned in finding out why she was killed and who was responsible."
Macalintal, a 39-year-old trans woman, was an activist for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, where she also advocated for the rights of Muslim Filipinos, known as Moros, and Indigenous peoples. She was the deputy-secretary general of the human rights group Karapatan in General Santos City until 2018. She also worked as media liaison for the leftist activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
The authorities should fully and impartially investigate whether Macalintal's killing was motivated by her political activism or her gender identity, Human Rights Watch said.
In 2002, Macalintal and two other Moros were arrested for allegedly taking part in the bombing of a department store in General Santos City in which 15 people were killed. At the time, she was a member of the activist group Bayan Muna, which Philippine officials often targeted for harassment and "red-tagging" - the practice of alleging that individuals are members or sympathizers of the communist insurgent group New People's Army.
Macalintal and her co-accused spent eight years in police detention before a court acquitted them in 2010, ruling that the evidence submitted by the authorities was inadmissible. She and the others alleged that they were mistreated and tortured in custody.
After her release, Macalintal continued her activism despite the threats she faced. In a statement, Karapatan said that Macalintal, in messages to them in 2024, reported harassment by government security forces. In 2019, in text messages viewed by Human Rights Watch, Macalintal received threats, one of them in the form of a media advisory that she had been shot to death. The threats did not deter her activism. "She was never afraid to speak truth to power and expose uncomfortable truths," Reyna Valmores Salinas, spokesperson for the LGBT rights group Bahaghari, said in a statement.
"Strong government action is needed to put an end to the targeting of Filipino activists," Conde said. "President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. needs to demonstrate his commitment to human rights by ensuring justice for Macalintal and other victims of abuses."
