CSOs Call to Investigate Attacks on Development Workers, Repeal of TFPSA

Today, the Defend NGOs Alliance (DNA), alongside the Council for People’s Governance (CPDG) and Representatives of the Makabayan Coalition at the House of Representatives - Kabataan Partylist, Gabriela Women’s Party, and ACT Teachers Partylist - filed a House Bill seeking the repeal of Republic Act No. 10168, otherwise known as the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (TFPSA), and a House Resolution urging an immediate congressional investigation into the escalating attacks against humanitarian and developmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other human rights defenders.

House Bill No. 7843 seeks to repeal RA 10168, “An Act Defining the Crime of Financing of Terrorism, Providing Penalties Therefor and for Other Purposes.” The bill’s explanatory note highlights how the implementation of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) has come at the cost of human rights and civic space in the Philippines. Citing the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) and CPDG’s study, Playbook of Repression: Civil Society Report on the Misuse and Abuse of Combating the Financing of Terrorism Measures in the Philippines, the bill argues that targeted financial sanctions and terrorism financing charges have been weaponized against development workers, human rights defenders, and civil society organizations in retaliation for their advocacy and criticism of anti-people policies.

It supports the calls previously published in the Playbook: 

• The repeal of the TFPSA alongside its companion law, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA), and the enactment of legislation that upholds due process, fundamental freedoms, and the constitutional rights of Filipinos;

• The dismantling of repressive mechanisms such as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which has been instrumental in red-tagging, harassment, and the prosecution of activists and development workers under the guise of counterterrorism;

• An end to trumped-up charges and political persecution against civil society actors, human rights defenders, and people’s organizations.

Meanwhile, House Resolution No. 792 urges the Committee on Human Rights to immediately conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, into the escalating attacks on humanitarian and developmental NGOs and other human rights defenders. It shows how these attacks restrict civic space and erode the economic, social, and cultural rights of the communities these organizations serve.

At least 59 development workers from 21 NGOs nationwide are currently facing harassment through spurious charges related to terrorism. Fifty-five individuals from 19 organizations have been accused of financing terrorism, while four NGO workers have been claimed to have engaged government soldiers in alleged firefights.

Both measures cited numerous cases demonstrating the pattern of repression:

• Three staff members of Katinulong Daguiti Umili Ti Amianan (KADUAMI) were charged with terrorism financing in 2024.

• Activists Yulesita Ibanez, Leizel Merchales, and farmer Leshiel Mendoza were charged with terrorism financing after conducting relief operations in 2020.

• Quezon-based activists and paralegals Fritz Jay Labiano and Adrian Paul Tagle were charged with terrorism financing after providing financial assistance to detained environmental and Indigenous Peoples’ rights advocates; the charges were dismissed in 2024.

• Community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio along with lay and development worker Mariel Domequil were  convicted on a terrorism financing charge based on recycled witness testimonies. Their motion for bail was recently denied.

• Jazmin “Minet” Aguisanda-Jerusalem of the Leyte Center for Development (LCDe) faces three counts of terrorism financing based on testimonies of alleged rebel returnees. A civil forfeiture case was also filed against her.

• Estrella “Tata” Catarata, Executive Director of the Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya (SIBAT, Inc), the Farmers Development Center (FARDEC), and Community Empowerment and Resource Network (CERNET) were charged terrorism financing charges in 2023.

• The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and RMP Northern Mindanao had their bank accounts frozen beginning in 2019 after the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) alleged they have links to the CPP-NPA.

  
  

The Defend NGOs Alliance welcomes and supports the passing of the bill and the realization of the resolution. They maintained that beyond the NGOs themselves, it is the communities they serve who suffer most from these attacks. When bank accounts are frozen and programs are halted due to baseless accusations and trumped-up charges, marginalized communities in far-flung areas where basic social services are scarce lose access to essential humanitarian aid, development assistance, and rights-based support.

The continued enforcement of the TFPSA and its twin terror law ATA has contributed to the shrinking of civic space in the Philippines, undermining democratic participation and weakening institutions meant to protect the people.###