Karapatan and other progressive groups denounced the recent filing of trumped-up charges of terrorism financing against five activists from Cagayan Valley. The five are the most recent victims of the Marcos regime’s repressive Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act. They are victims of a series of harassments related to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) visit to the Philippines.

The charged individuals include peasant leader Isabelo Adviento, peasant advocate Cita Managuelod, Makabayan Cagayan Valley coordinator Agnes Mesina, human rights worker Jackie Valencia, and journalist Deo Montesclaros. All five have been active in promoting the rights and well-being of the people of Cagayan Valley and the Filipino people.

“The Marcos Jr regime relentlessly accuses activists of financing terrorism in its efforts to be removed from the FATF’s ‘grey list’,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said. “This has led to the filing of a series of arbitrary cases against activists and their organizations that have long been targeted by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).”

“At the year’s onset, Marcos Jr’s regime has bombarded Cagayan Valley activists with trumped-up charges. After consecutive typhoons and the government’s sluggish disaster response, the Marcos Jr government’s NTF-ELCAC responded by repressing the people,” according to the unified statement of Karapatan-Cagayan Valley (CV), Makabayan-CV and Daggayan CV. Even when the people are inundiated with rain and floods, the military still continues to conduct red tagging and monitoring of communities during relief distribution. Activists, and even representatives of progressive parties, were not spared from military pressure.

Organizations call for immediate dismissal of fabricated cases.

Among these are journalist groups of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), Altermidya, and Pinoyweekly, the newspaper where Montesclaros is a contributor. Monteclaros was first red-tagged in 2020 for his reporting on human rights violations, and peasant and environment-related issues in Cagayan Valley.

“These accusations reflect a broader pattern of state abuse that endangers community journalists, who are highly vulnerable to harassment, threats of legal action, and red-tagging,”, the Altermidya said. “By weaponizing anti-terrorism laws to silence the media, the government creates a climate of fear, prevents critical reporting, and allows the spread of misinformation.”

Montesclaros is the second journalist charged with trumped-up charges of “terrorism financing.” The other is Frenchie Mae Cumpio who has been in jail since 2020.