The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) disclosed to the Supreme Court on November 17 the first case in which the Anti-Terror Law (ATL) was used against innocent civilians. Two Aetas, Jasper Gurung and Junior Ramos, were baselessly accused by the 7th ID of violating Section 4 (participating in activities intended to cause death or serious physical harm) of the said law earlier in September. The victims have been detained since August, along with two other Aetas, after being charged with trump up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. They were arrested while fleeing military bombing and abuses in their village

According to NUPL, the 7th ID filed the case against the civilians in retaliation for an ambush by the New People’s Army against its unit last August 21 wherein one soldier was killed. The case proves how the ATL can be used to twist evidences and tag government critics and oppositionists as “terrorists.

Meanwhile, under the guise of combating “terrorism,” the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) froze the assets of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) deposited in 22 bank accounts. The AMLC illegally froze the said bank accounts from December 2019 to October this year in compliance with a petition submitted by the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.