The Departmernt of Justice (DOJ) has dismissed terrorism financing complaints filed against church worker and farmers’ rights advocate Myrna Zapanta due to lack of credible evidence, a decision hailed by rights groups as a victory against the misuse of counter-terrorism laws.
In a resolution dated May 29, 2025, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said the case filed by the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP–CIDG) failed to establish probable cause. The complaint accused Zapanta and fellow human rights advocates Lenville Salvador and Petronila Guzman of violating the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA) of 2012. Salvador and Guzman are also board members of the organization Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI).
The case, filed in October 2024, was based mainly on the testimony of Avelino Dacanay, who claimed to be a former member of the communist insurgency group New People’s Army (NPA) and accused Zapanta of being a Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) finance officer in Ilocos. However, the claim that Dacanay was a rebel returnee lacked supporting evidence, prosecutors noted, making his statement unreliable.
Zapanta, 67, a volunteer for the Solidarity of Peasants Against Exploitation (STOP Exploitation), said she was relieved by the decision after enduring months of emotional distress. “What they did had emotional and mental effects, and they should be held accountable under the law,” she said.
STOP Exploitation said the ruling exposes how counter-terrorism laws are weaponized against activists. “The use of the TFPSA only aims to portray service to vulnerable communities as terrorism,” the group said, urging accountability for those who fabricated the case.
The dismissal comes amid growing concern over the government’s aggressive use of anti-terror laws, which human rights groups link to its efforts to be delisted from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list. The Philippines was removed from the list in February 2025 after an on-site review.
Meanwhile, the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 in Dumaguete City acquitted six activists known as the “Mabinay 6” on September 22, 2025, after more than seven years in detention for alleged illegal possession of firearms and explosives.
The six – journalist Myles Albasin, and peasant youth advocates Jomar Garlet, Carlo Ybañez, Randel Hermino Balasabas, Joey Vailoces, and Bernard Embalsado – had been detained since March 3, 2018, after soldiers claimed to have arrested them following a supposed firefight in Mabinay, Negros Oriental.
Witnesses and forensic reports debunked the military’s version of events. All six tested negative for gunpowder residue, and no residents corroborated the alleged clash. Judge Marie Rose G. Inocando-Paras ruled that there was no evidence of an armed encounter and that the handling of evidence was riddled with irregularities.
Lawyer Jayvy Gamboa hailed the verdict as a reminder that the criminalization of activism continues to threaten justice and human rights in the Philippines.
Photo © Karapatan