An Iloilo City court dismissed on March 14 the case of “terrorism financing” or violation of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) of 2012 against three development workers from Negros filed by state forces. The court upheld the “motion to quash” the case filed by Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavillar from Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development, Inc. (PDG) and Dharyl Albañez.

According to Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan)-Negros, the dismissal of the case proved its long-standing position that the cases filed against development workers are baseless. It said that these cases are filed to “dismantle movements fighting for genuine agrarian reform and the democratic rights of the people.”

PDG Inc is an organization in the central and southern part of Negros Island and advocates for the rights of farmers and fisherfolk for sustainable agriculture and social reform. The organization was established in the 1980s.

In January, the three accused were arrested in Negros Occidental. Police arrested Salavilla in the town of Pulupandan; Pavillar in the town of Cauayan; and Albañez “voluntarily surrendered” while processing bail for temporary freedom.

Besides the three, Clarissa Ramos, widow of slain lawyer Atty. Benjamin Ramos, and Felipe Levy Gelle were also accused. The allegation first surfaced on April 29, 2024 when representatives of the Department of Justice (DoJ), along with police, visited the office of PDG Inc and its five accused.

The complaint was filed by PMSG Francisco John Dumdumaya, deputized Anti-Money Laundering Council Financial Investigator and member of the Regional Intelligence Division of PNP Regional Police Office 6. It was based on sworn statements of those claiming to be finance and logistics officer and commander of the “Tahod Ilahas Command of the CPP-NPA” allegedly operating in Negros and claiming to be members of the local association of fisherfolk in Cauyan, Negros Occidental.

On December 3, 2024, after several months, the DOJ filed six cases of “terrorism financing” against the five development workers.

‘Not constitutional’

In the court’s decision, it also declared Section 3(e)(1) of the TFPSA as “unconstitutional.” The said paragraph states that “any person or entity designated and/or identified as a terrorist, or one who finances terrorism, or a terrorist organization or group under the applicable United Nations Security Council resolution or by another jurisdiction or supranational jurisdiction” shall be considered a terrorist in the Philippines.

National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) president Atty. Ephraim B. Cortez said the court based this on the December 2021 declaration of the Supreme Court in the Calleja vs. Executive Secretary case, a petition against the Anti-Terrorism Law. It stated that the “automatic adoption” of terrorist designation from foreign jurisdiction is unconstitutional.

“These charges [against the five] were based on alleged incidents that occurred prior to the effectivity of the Anti-Terror Law, and before the CPP-NPA was designated by the [Anti-Terrorism Council] [as terrorists],” Atty. Cortez said. He explained, the National Task Force-Elcac (who conducted the case build up) and DOJ prosecutors relied on the Executive Order issued by former President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 designating the CPP-NPA as “terrorist” based on the declaration of foreign jurisdictions.

Following the decision of the Iloilo City court, Attorney Cortez expressed hope that other courts nationwide will follow its example regarding similar cases of “terrorism financing”. “We hope that other courts would issue similar rulings so that the government will be deprived of the use of a tool to stifle dissent and to curtail individual freedoms,” he said.