Filipino Freethinkers (also known as FF) is the largest and most active organization for

freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and should instead be reached by other meth ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It aims to promote reason, science, and secularism as a means of improving every Filipino's quality of life. FF is active in the

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

movement, working to promote the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill. They also fight for equal rights for women and the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

community, and have been regular participants in

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...

Pride March A pride parade (also known as pride event, pride festival, pride march, or pride protest) is an event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, legal rights, and pride. The eve ...

events since 2010. They work with other organizations doing mobilization activities and were part of the Occupy for RH movement in 2011. They also advocate

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

and

science education Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process (the scientific method), some ...

. The organization and its different chapters hold informal meet-ups, usually in coffee shops and restaurants. In between general meet-ups every other week, some chapters opt to hold local meet-ups.

History

Filipino Freethinkers was founded by Ryan "Red" Tani. It was officially established on February 1, 2009, when members of the Filipino Freethinkers Yahoo! Group had their first meetup. The organization then began meeting-up regularly in coffee shops to discuss current events, politics, theology, science, and other topics related to secularism and freethought.

Excommunication Party

On November 26, 2010, the organization hosted an "

Excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

Party" (full title “If Supporting the RH Bill Means Excommunication, Excommunicate Me!”), as a protest against the Catholic Church's opposition to the Reproductive Health Bill.

Bantay Bishop

In July 2011, certain

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

bishops admitted to receiving

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

s from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). This allegedly violated certain Philippine laws that prohibit and/or limit transactions between religious and state institutions under the principle of secularism. In reaction, FF founded the "Bantay Bishop Movement" and spearheaded a protest demonstration on July 13, 2011, in front of the

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines () is the upper house of Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the House of Representatives as the lower house. The Senate is composed of 24 senators who are elected at-large (the country f ...

alongside other activist groups that denounced the bishops' behavior.

March against art censorship

On August 21, 2011, FF and other organizations gathered at the

Cultural Center of the Philippines The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) established to preserve, develop and promote Arts in the Philippines, arts and Culture of the Philippines, culture in the Philippines.Presid ...

to protest censorship and show their support for

following the controversy generated by the exhibition there of Mideo Cruz's installation art piece titled '' Poleteismo''. Catholic groups labeled ''Poleteismo'' as blasphemous for juxtaposing religious images and representations of genitalia, among many other objects. FF also emphasized the legal argument against censorship by referring t
General Comment 34
a document released by the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per yea ...

, which affirms blasphemy as a human right.

Globe Tatt Awards

On August 26, 2011, FF was awarded "The One" award in the Globe Tatt Awards, "for leading the pack in terms of online popularity and shaping opinion in the local online community".

Reason, Science, Secularism (R.S.S.) Forum and Awards

On April 1, 2012, FF held their own "Reason, Science, and Secularism Forum" at U.P.–Ayala Land TechnoHub, cosponsored by the University of the Philippines Center for Women's Studies. The forum was held to discuss issues such as the reproductive health bill, freedom of expression, science, freedom of religion, and rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The R.S.S Awards were presented during the forum, with each winner receiving a trophy and 10,000 pesos awarded to their cause. The winners were former law dean

Raul Pangalangan Raul Cano Pangalangan (born September 1, 1958) is a Filipino lawyer, and a retired judge of the International Criminal Court. Early life and education Raul Cano Pangalangan is graduate of political science and law from the University of the Phi ...

for the Reason Award, astrophysicist Reina Reyes for the Science Award, and RH-bill author Senator Pia Cayetano for the Secularism Award. Additionally, a Bigot of the Year award was given to Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III as “a Filipino who best exemplifies irrational prejudice against a group of people, and who has used considerable power and influence to offend and oppress this group.”. The 10,000 pesos prize for the award was donated to an organization that works for the betterment of the offended group or supports a cause opposed by the winner.

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Freethought organizations Skeptic organizations in the Philippines Secularism in the Philippines