In 2017, although significant number of milestones have been achieved by the member organizations of the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (hereinafter referred to as AFAD or the Federation), impunity by State authorities and the crackdown against the human rights community continued. In the Philippines, where the Secretariat of the Federation is based, for instance, the political context allows further violations by State authorities. The present administration of Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte reflects a leadership that disregards due process and derogates the rule of law. Assault on human rights defenders persists and it comes in the form of extrajudicial killings, EDs, unlawful arrests, arbitrary detentions, and criminalization through trumped up charges. Nine ED cases have also been added last year to the documented growing number of unresolved cases. Political persecution and attacks against independent democratic institutions like the Commission on Human Rights, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the Supreme Court intensified as the government attempts to shut down the check and balance and ultimately, to silence its critics. Several cases in the context of the war on drugs occurred but could not be documented due to the atmosphere of fear.