This September 2024, we commemorate events that defined the impact of international and national laws on human rights and democratic freedoms in our country and the world. First, the commemoration of Martial Law declared on September 21, 1972 that officially cracked down on political dissent with at least 70,000 detained, 35,000 tortured and 3,200 killed representing the victims of President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ era of martial law, from 1972 to 1986.
Second, the 9/11 attacks on the United States of America that gave rise to the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 that required all States to criminalize the financing of terrorism at the domestic level and to prevent acts of terrorism through financial and administrative measures, as well as through international judicial cooperation. Until the present, the definition, scope and features of terrorism remain vague and are being used by authoritarian regimes to crack down on political dissent and national liberation movements.
These commemorations become even more significant as court hearings are set to question the use of the terrorist designation regime under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 against the leaders of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and to challenge the financing terrorism cases under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 filed against 28 Board and staff members of the Community Empowerment and Resource Network (CERNET).
Outside of the United Nations, an inter-governmental body called Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established in 1989 that sets standards on how countries must address anti-money laundering and terrorism financing. Based on the compliance with the standards, countries are “blacklisted” or “grey listed” which purportedly may result to restrictions on foreign credits, aids, and investments. The Philippines remains in a “grey list.” To remove the country from being “grey list,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued Executive Order No. 33 on July 4, 2023 adopting the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing and Counter-Proliferation Strategy 2023-2027 (NACS). Among others, the NACS includes a section calling for the identification, investigation and prosecution of terrorism financing of Non Profit Organizations (NPOs), with initial target on twenty one (21) NPOs. Additionally, dedicated resources for the NACS were increased with 15 Regional Trial Courts dedicated to deal with terrorism and financing terrorism.
Earlier, on March 31, 2023, the Department of Justice issued Department Circular No. 20 ordering the mandatory build-up of cases related to, among others, the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020” and the “Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.”[1]
After the issuance of the Executive Orders, judicial charges against Non Profit Organizations increased, considerably, albeit, hastily and wrongly. Four leaders of the CPA were designated terrorists last June 7, 2023. Subsequently, CPA bank accounts, bank accounts and online cash applications of the designated individuals and even those of their family members were frozen.
In May this year, 28 Board and staff members of the Community Empowerment and Resource Network (CERNET), a Cebu-based development NGO were slapped with warrants of arrest on charges of financing terrorism. In the same month, the organizational and personal bank accounts of the Leyte Center for Development, Inc. (LCDe) and its executive director were frozen, similarly on charges of financing terrorism.
These recent cases follow earlier terrorism financing charges against the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines – Northern Mindanao and its national formation; the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) HARAN ministry and Brokenshire Integrated Health Ministries, Inc. (BIHMI) both based in Davao City and the local church UCCP Fatima in Ubay, Bohol and the Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women.
We strongly decry the weaponization of anti-terrorism and financing terrorism laws and the subsequent implementing executive orders that seriously infringe on human rights and lay siege on much-needed development work for historically neglected communities.
The Philippine government’s efforts to address its inclusion in the FATF’s grey list through these actions are misguided. Fabricating cases against NPOs will not remove the country from the grey list, nor will it solve the problem of financial crimes. We call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to instead direct the focus on dismantling money-laundering operations like those tied to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGO) rather than targeting development work and activism.
We vehemently condemn the weaponization of anti-terrorism laws to quell dissent and development work for historically marginalized communities. The ghost of martial rule continues to haunt us as human rights are brazenly violated under the guise of curbing terrorism and financing terrorism.
In these trying times, we stand in solidarity with the victims of the global and national anti-terrorism laws, policies and programs. #
[1] Department of Justice Circular No. 20, March 31, 2023
Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC)
Cordillera Disaster Response and Development Services (CorDis-RDS)
Cordillera Women’s Education Action Research Center (CWEARC)
Katinnulong Dagiti Umili ti Amianan (KADUAMI)
