By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – The Office of the City Prosecutor in Tacloban City dismissed the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 case against a non-government organization due to insufficient evidence.

In a resolution dated Dec. 19, 2024, Prosecutor Lemuel C. Modesto said that testimonies of alleged former rebels against the staff of the Leyte Center for Development Inc. (LCDE) cannot be used as evidence unless there is actual proof that would back their claims.

Modesto cited Section 30, Rule 130 of the rules of court which states: “The act of declaration of a conspirator relating to the conspiracy and during its existence, may be given in evidence against the co-conspirator after the conspiracy is shown by evidence other than such act or declaration.”

The complaint filed by PSSg Divine Grace B. Songalia of the Criminal Investigation and Detection group Regional Field 8, alleged that four supposed former rebels who executed affidavits detailed their involvement in the activities of the LCDE.

The former rebels alleged that Jazmin Jerusalem, LCDE’s executive director, instructed them to manipulate documents to obscure the diversion of significant portions of funds to members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

The resolution added that the complainant relied on the statements of former rebels who were co-conspirators, claiming they helped prepare and channel funds to the CPP-NPA. However, the resolution said that their statements cannot be used as evidence against the respondent unless there is independent proof of the conspiracy. Upon review, the Office of the Prosecutor found no evidence of conspiracy apart from the unproven allegations of the co-conspirators.

In a statement, Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Partylist Rep. Arlene Brosas welcomed the decision of the office of the prosecutor.

“The dismissal of this baseless case proves what we have been saying all along – that these terrorism financing charges are nothing but desperate attempts to harass and intimidate humanitarian organizations and development workers who serve our most vulnerable communities,” Brosas said.

“These baseless charges and judicial harassment must stop. We have documented through HR 1985 how these attacks are systematically being used to silence NGOs and development workers who are merely doing humanitarian work in underserved communities,” Brosas stressed.

She called on the government to stop baseless accusations and persecution of development workers and humanitarian organizations.

“Their work is crucial in providing much-needed assistance to communities neglected by government services,” she said.

Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay also welcomed the decision of the Office of the City Prosecutor. She said that the decision is significant, “since the Marcos Jr. government, through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), has been using alleged rebel returnees to execute affidavits based on lies and made-up stories in exchange for money and livelihood projects.”

“The perjured testimonies of these so-called rebel returnees, the bases of several trumped up charges, should not be given an ounce of credibility by the prosecutors and the courts,” Palabay added.

She also added that the dismissal of the charges against Jerusalem only shows that the evidence is weak or false. These charges, she added, were purposely filed to harass organizations like LCDe and derail their work for the people.

She warned, however, of the possibility of continued harassment against Jerusalem and her organization by refiling the case using more manufactured evidence.

“This nefarious practice must stop and organizations like LCDE must be free to serve the most marginalized communities without fear of reprisal,” Palabay added. “We firmly reiterate our call to junk all terror laws and abolish the NTF-ELCAC,” she said.

On April 5, 2024, the Anti-Money Laundering Council ordered the freezing of LCDE’s bank accounts as well as its volunteer workers, private persons and business establishments with whom the LCDE made official business transactions. They challenged this at the Court of Appeals in Cebu City.

The LCDE has been implementing disaster risk reduction programs and emergency response in Eastern Visayas for 36 years. Their humanitarian work has been widely recognized through various awards such as the Salamat Po Award (2003) and the National Gawad Kalasag Award (2006) of the Philippine government, and the Most Outstanding NGO in Voluntary Work (2015) from the Philippine National Volunteers Association.

Read: Rising from the rubble| Disaster survivors helping fellow survivors

The LCDE is just one among other NGOs who were slapped with terrorism financing cases in the country. A study conducted by the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and the Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) revealed that Financial Action Task Force-inspired measures have disproportionately harmed civil society organizations.

Over 60 percent of surveyed organizations reported red-tagging, harassment, and surveillance, with many facing physical surveillance (57%) and accusations of terrorism financing (33%). (RTS, RVO)