The Iloilo Regional Trial Court denied on April 22, 2025, a motion for reconsideration in a terrorism financing case against Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group’s (PDG) staff and individuals affiliated with PDG, reaffirming a previous dismissal from March 14 due to lack of evidence. The court reaffirmed its previous ruling and declared that the automatic adoption of foreign terrorist designations under Republic Act No. 10168 is unconstitutional for violating fundamental rights.
Defend NGOs Alliance praised the decision, saying the charges were part of a broader crackdown on civil society groups and human rights defenders. “We see these attacks as attempts to silence critical CSO voices,” said Jazmin Jerusalem, Defend NGOs Alliance Spokesperson. Several prominent NGOs, development workers, and human rights defenders, including the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), the Leyte Center for Development (LCDe), Farmers Development Center (FARDEC), and Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI) are still under judicial review in ongoing legal cases, as stated by the Defend NGOs Alliance.
The Defend NGOs Alliance called on the Philippine government to drop the charges, pointing out that these “are harmful actions impacting the economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) of the people.”
Meanwhile, Estrella Catarata, a psychologist and former executive director of FARDEC, filed a 2 million Pesos civil defamation lawsuit against Brig. Gen. Joey Escanillas for allegedly “red-tagging” her. “Red-tagging” means the labeling of individuals or organizations as “terrorist.” Catarata said in her complaint that Escanillas, commander of the Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade, falsely labelled her as an alleged leader of a communist terrorist group during a virtual press briefing held on April 30, 2024. Escanillas’ statements targeting her and labeling both her and her organization as funders of “communist terrorists” violated Articles 19, 20, 21, 26, and 33 of the Civil Code, said Catarata.
Escanillas had earlier filed a case against CERNET and 27 individuals, including Catarata, alleging violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012. Catarata was included in the case because her former organization FARDEC used to be affiliated with CERNET.
The Action Network Human Rights Philippines (AMP) condemned the fabricated charges in statements that were published in June 2024 and May 2025.
Photo © Raffy Lerma