KARAPATAN strongly condemns the filing of trumped-up cases of financing terrorism against six prominent Cagayan Valley activists.
Slapped with bogus charges of violating Republic Act No. 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 are Jackie Valencia, former Karapatan national council member; Isabelo Adviento, regional coordinator and former 4th nominee of Anakpawis Partylist; Cita Managuelod, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas national council member; Agnes Mesina, Makabayan-Cagayan Valley regional coordinator; Walter Villegas, Kabataan Partylist Regional Coordinator; and Deo Montesclaros, environmental activist and journalist.
In 2024, Mesina and Villegas were also slapped with trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives, with no bail recommended. Warrants for their arrest have reportedly been issued. In addition, Mesina has also been charged with violating Republic Act No. 114791 or the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020. Meanwhile, Adviento, a former political prisoner released in April 2024 after being acquitted of trumped-up illegal possession of firearms and explosives charges, now finds himself facing another manufactured case, that of financing terrorism. They have all filed their counter-affidavits and are awaiting the resolution of their cases.
The slew of trumped-up cases against these Cagayan Valley activists forms part of a vicious campaign spearheaded by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that includes extrajudicial killings, the bombing of rural communities, the red-tagging, harassment and surveillance of activist leaders and progressive organizations in the region, and the forced surrender as armed rebels of members of peasant and youth organizations.
The Cagayan Valley activists are but the latest victims of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA). To date, at least 166 individuals have been charged or designated as “terrorists” via the ATA and TFPSA and 17 NGOs, most of them engaged in development work, have had their bank accounts frozen via the ATA.
With three of the six targeted activists also playing leading roles in Makabayan and progressive partylist groups, the NTF-ELCAC has stepped up its fascist campaign in the run-up towards the 2025 mid-term elections.
We call on the broad electorate to see through the NTF-ELCAC’s lies and schemes against progressive candidates. We call on all freedom-loving Filipinos to forge ranks and resist these intensifying attacks against people’s organizations, activists and other dissenters. We call on the courts to penetrate the NTF-ELCAC’s thick veil of deception and junk the bogus cases against these six Cagayan Valley activists targeted for persecution.