A Life for the People, A Quest for Justice: Honoring Teresa Claire “Teray” Alicaba

The passing of Teresa Claire “Teray” Alicaba in March 2026 is a profound loss for the Philippine development community and a stark indictment of the ongoing judicial harassment against human rights defenders (HRDs). As a dedicated officer of the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), Teray’s life and work represented a commitment to structural change and the empowerment of marginalized sectors across the Visayas. On behalf of the Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) and the Defend NGOs Alliance, we honor her legacy while demanding an end to the systemic persecution that overshadowed her final years.

For nearly a decade, from 2006 to 2015, Teray served as CERNET’s Small Projects Funds Officer, a role that demanded both technical rigor and deep social empathy. Her work was not merely administrative; it was a structural intervention designed to bridge the gap between resource-deprived people’s organizations (POs) and the support they needed to achieve self-reliance. By reviewing and vetting project proposals from farmers, fisherfolk, urban poor families, and women in distress, Teray ensured that development aid reached the front lines of the struggle for social justice. Her colleagues remember her as a professional who did not just process paperwork but actively listened to the narratives of injustice and discrimination that shaped the lives of those she served.

Teray’s later years were marked by a courageous battle against both physical illness and a fabricated legal onslaught. Named as one of the “CERNET 27,” she was caught in the crosshairs of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (RA 10168), a policy framework that has been increasingly weaponized to shrink civic space and criminalize legitimate NGO operations. This case, which alleged a ₱135,000 contribution to the New People's Army from over a decade ago, is widely viewed by domestic and international observers as a tool for “red-tagging” and repression to paralyze NGOs and discourage communities in asserting their rights.

Despite being diagnosed with kidney failure and requiring dialysis three times a week, Teray remained a resolute figure within the CERNET 27. Her struggle highlights the “trial by exhaustion” often imposed on defenders: the dual burden of maintaining health while defending dignity against the state’s punitive machinery.

Teray is the second member of the CERNET 27 to pass away in early 2026, following the death of Cristina Muñoz in January. Her passing before the resolution of this case is a tragedy of justice delayed. The Defend NGOs Alliance and CPDG maintain that the most fitting tribute to Teray is not through celebratory rhetoric, but through the immediate dismissal of the CERNET 27 case and a cessation of the policy of red-tagging that targets HRDs, development workers, and humanitarian workers alike.

Teray’s life was defined by her conviction that the poor deserve a voice and the resources to demand their rights. We carry her resolve forward in the continuing struggle for a truly democratic and rights-based development framework in the Philippines.#