Defend NGOs Alliance hails judicial victories for HRDs

The Defend NGOs alliance welcomes recent judicial victories that saw the acquittal of human rights defenders (HRD) Rev. Nathaniel Vallente, a pastor of the United Church of Christ Philippines, and local government employee Eugene Eugenio. The group likewise hails the dismissal of grave oral defamation charges against anti-Manila Bay Reclamation activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano. 

Castro and Tamano were victims of enforced disappearances. They were abducted by state forces on September 2, 2023, and later surfaced and shown in social media by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) signing documents confessing they were members of the New People’s Army. They were later on presented during a press conference on September 19, 2023 organized by the military, the NTF-ELCAC, and the local government of Plaridel, Bulacan where they were being coerced into confessing membership in the New People’s Army. The two instead bravely asserted that they were abducted by the military and were under duress. 

Presiding Judge Shiela Marie Geronimo-Orquillas of the Municipal Trial Court of Plaridel, Bulacan affirmed that Castro and Tamano were indeed abducted by the military and hence did not commit grave oral defamation against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Meanwhile, Rev. Vallente and Eugenio were both acquitted of trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Eugenio, president of the Advancement of Rights and Responsibilities of Organized Workers (ARROW), was arrested with four others during the “Bloody Sunday Massacre” on March 7, 2021 – coordinated operations of the police and military in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown. The Antipolo City Regional Trial Court Branch 139 dismissed the case against Eugenio.

The Carmen (Bohol) Regional Trial Court Branch 51 acquitted Rev. Vallente, who was arrested on June 25, 2021 along with then-barangay Councilor Carmilo Tabada on similar charges. Tabada was acquitted earlier, on June 21, 2023, but has since been charged with terrorism financing in violation of R.A. 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA).  

Tabada was a former staff member of Cebu’s Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) which is part of the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET) that is also facing terrorism financing charges. Other longstanding and celebrated NGOs like the Leyte Center for Development, (LCDe), Paghidaet sa Kauswagan, (PDG Inc.,), Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI), Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) and many more are facing the same trumped-up charges of terrorism financing. 

“These judicial victories are a result of a long and arduous battle against the state’s vilification and harassment of development workers, activists and human rights defenders,” said Jazmin Jerusalem-Aguisanda, Defend NGOs Spokesperson. “We call on the government to stop its baseless attacks against HRDs, NGOs and development workers. The government’s judicial attacks hinder development work and deprive the Filipino people of their right to access to humanitarian aid and to genuine development.” #eof#