By QUEZON CITY – The attack on two environmental activists, Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro, continues after the Supreme Court denied, on February 15, 2024, their request for a writ of amparo and writ of habeas data to protect them and their families from any form of intimidation from the NTF-ELCAC and the 70th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army.
On February 20, 2024, the Office of the Solicitor General then appealed to the decision of the Supreme Court, and the Municipal Trial Court of Bulacan issued an arrest warrant against the two activists on the grounds of ‘oral defamation’, which was then nullified after Tamano and Castro posted bail of P18,000. The arraignment will be on March 15, 2024.
The warrant of arrest was recommended by the Justice Department after Tamano and Castro revealed in a press conference on September 19, 2023, that they were abducted and tortured by the NTF-ELCAC and the members of the Philippine Army as opposed to the latter’s claim that the two were “NPA rebels” who surrendered.
According to the Hands off Jhed and Jonila Network, it is clear that the state is using its power to repress activists who oppose them. The group added that the case of Tamano and Castro is only one of the many cases experienced by other political prisoners who are also victims of the state attacks.
Tamano and Castro were arrested in Orion, Bataan while helping the residents affected by the reclamation project in Manila Bay./PT
