Balay participated in the investigative hearing on the discovery of an  alleged secret detention room which concealed some twelve suspects in a police station in Manila Police District.   The hearing was  convened by the Committee on Human Rights of the House of Representatives on May 29, 2017 in response to  a resolution filed by legislators that have been approached by Balay.

Around 40 members of the Human Rights Council have  spoken against the controversial extra judicial killings of  persons as a result of the   war-on-drugs policy of the Duterte Administratio, while at least fourteen  other state-parties expressed concern over reports of torture in the Philippines despite the enactment of the Anti Torture Act almost a decade ago.  

The  establishment of a   mechanism to  implement an integrated  rehabilitation program for torture victims and families of victims of enforced disappearance made progress in the Davao Region in Mindanao  with the convening of an inter-agency forum  in Davao City on May 17, 2017.

Government social workers and an investigator from the Commission on Human Rights from Davao City joined Balay in documenting cases of torture in Mati, Davao Oriental on May 18, 2017.  The documentation team was able to gather the narrative accounts of  10 civilians who claimed to still suffer from the effects of torture and ill treatment from members of security forces who swooped down their village during the ‘all out war’ campaign of then President Estrada against Moro rebellion.