The Leyte prosecutor dismissed the “terrorism financing” case filed by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Region 8 against Jazmin Jerusalem and her colleagues Fena Joyce Moscare and Mary Grace Laureno. Jerusalem is executive director of the Leyte Center for Development Inc (LCDe), a development NGO that has been operating for 36 years. Moscare and Laureno are work as its staff. The prosecution’s resolution was dated December 19, 2014 but was only made public on January 28.

Jerusalem was charged with “terrorism financing” on the fabricated accusation that LCDe is being used as a “front to receive funding” from foreign institutions to fund members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army. CIDG-8 used the bogus testimonies of former “rebels” turned state agents Alma Gabin, Margie de la Cruz and another.

The prosecutor said the case filed against the accused has insufficient and no basis. The testimonies submitted to its office are not supported by concrete evidence that will prove the link of LCDE officials to the alleged recipients of funds. There is also no evidence that the former rebels had direct involvement and contact with Jerusalem and her staff.

Karapatan welcomed the dismissal of the case.

“The decision by the Leyte City Prosecutor is significant, since the Marcos Jr. government, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has been using alleged rebel returnees to execute affidavits based on lies and made-up stories in exchange for money and livelihood projects,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said. The prosecutors and the courts should not give an ounce of credibility to the bogus rebel returnees’ lies, she said.

“The dismissal of the charges against Jerusalem supports our view that such legal actions are based on evidence that is flimsy of patently false,” she said. These charges are being filed to harass organizations like the LCDe and derail their pro-people activities, she said.

In Congress, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas urged the state to stop crackdowns on NGOs it accuses of being linked to the communist movement. She called the dismissal of the case against Jerusalem a victory over the malicious Red-tagging of humanitarian organizations and their members.

“The dismissal of this baseless case proves what we have been saying all along, that these terrorism financing charges are nothing but desperate attempts to harass and intimidate…those who serve our most vulnerable communities,” Brosas said.