Six Years of Resistance: Truth Prevails Over Criminalization of Development Work
- Defend NGOs Alliance
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
03 July 2026—Today is the 6th year implementation of the Duterte regime’s Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). This marks six years of systematic weaponization of the law—facilitating the criminalization of human rights and development work. Alongside the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA), the ATA has been used to freeze assets (intended for community-oriented needs/services), block humanitarian missions, and place grassroots organizers and ordinary citizens under constant threat. And the constriction of our democratic rights, due to the cited twin-terror laws, is being intentionally-carried out by the government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). The NTF-ELCAC is not ending armed conflict, it is (by its state-funded operations) systematically-eroding democratic rights enshrined in our 1987 constitution.
The state is further eroding democratic rights with emerging terrorism bills being fast-tracked in Congress. These are the Anti-Disinformation Bill (HB 9465), the Foreign Influence and Interference Bill (HB 1068), and the Terror Grooming and Radicalization Prevention Bill (SB 1366). If passed into law, censorship will be institutionalized, international solidarity will be criminalized, and policing youth organizing under the guise of national security will be legitimized.
However, the state’s strategy of legal intimidation is fracturing against the wall of people’s collective resistance. The Defend NGOs Alliance celebrates major legal breakthroughs, proving as always, the state’s desperation in silencing civil society even in the absence of undeniable evidence.
In March, the courts dismissed terrorism financing charges against the staff of the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group, Inc. (PDG) in Negros. On May 15, 2026, the Cebu City Regional Trial Court also dismissed terrorism financing charges against the CERNET 27 (Community Empowerment Resource Network), after exposing fabricated evidence and due process violations. Furthermore, on February 27, 2026, the Tacloban Regional Trial Court dismissed the same trumped-up charges against Jazmin Jerusalem of the Leyte Center for Development, Inc. (LCDe) and denied the freezing of its funds. The Department of Justice similarly cleared KADUAMI (Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc.) board member and community volunteer of malicious complaints based on perjured testimonies.
Meanwhile of the 266 cases individuals arbitrarily designated as terrorists as documented by KARAPATAN, more than half or 138 have been dismissed.
These victories can also be viewed as the relative successes of the marginalized communities, as they are active partners of these organizations along advocacies and initiatives on food security, disaster response, and rural development. They prove that the state cannot manufacture guilt where there is dedicated service and partnership with development workers.
The National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) warns freezing funds intentionally undermines public interest by cutting off vital aid to underserved regions. Internationally, the March 2026 CIVICUS Watchlist placed the Philippines among the top countries experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms, rating the nation’s civic space as “repressed.”
We are not a threat. We are the lifeblood of a democratic society. We will continue to defeat these malicious lawsuits in the courts and expose state impunity in the streets and communities.
We reiterate our urgent demands:
1. Repeal the ATA and TFPSA;
2. Abolish the NTF-ELCAC; and
3. Reject these new repressive bills aimed at criminalizing democratic actions.
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