On December 8, 2025, the Branch 43 of the Regional Trial Court in Oriental Mindoro dismissed the attempted murder charge filed by the military against United Methodist Church (UMC) Reverend Glofie Baluntong. The military based the case on an armed encounter in March 2021.

The court had earlier junked the “terrorism” charge also filed against her in October 2025.

The court said the complainant failed to prove that he was hit by a bullet in the armed clash where he alleged Baluntong was present. Baluntong was merely named a suspect because her name appeared on the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) “order of battle.”

At the time of the alleged encounter, Baluntong was officiating a funeral Mass for a deceased UMC member in another area.

The UMC condemned the soldier for falsely accusing Baluntong of being part of the revolutionary movement.

Baluntong previously served as the UMC District Superintendent for the Oriental Mindoro-Romblon-Marinduque district. She was forced to leave Mindoro Island because of AFP harassment and persecution. The military’s hostility toward her intensified after she provided sanctuary to Mangyan indigenous people defending their ancestral land rights and to members of Karapatan conducting a fact-finding mission. She was repeatedly accused of aiding the revolutionary movement.

The UMC called on the Philippine government to stop filing fabricated charges against church people who merely advocate peace, human rights, and environmental justice. The church also demanded the repeal of the Anti-Terror Law and the abolition of the National Task Force-Elcac, which it said are weaponized to persecute critics of the state.