By ILOILO, Philippines – Branch 31 of the Regional Trial Court in Iloilo dismissed the charges filed against three development workers from a Negros-based non-government organization (NGO) on March 14.
Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavillar, staff members of Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc. (PDG), along with Dharyl Albañez of Kristyanong Mangunguma Lubos nga Itib-ong sang Grupo (KMALIG) Inc., were cleared of charges after the court granted their Joint Motion to Quash the Informations. The court cited a “lack of an essential element of the crime charged”.
Salvilla, Pavillar, and Albañez were among five development workers accused of terrorism financing based on complaints filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) on December 3, 2024, and a case filed by the Philippine National Police Region VI, which was based on an affidavit from a so-called “rebel returnee.” They were arrested by state forces on January 3, 2025.
Before their arrests, they reported heightened harassment and surveillance by state forces after receiving subpoenas. Initially, they were taken to Cauayan and Pulupandan in Negros Occidental but were later transferred to Pototan, Iloilo, until their release.
Furthermore, the ruling also pointed out that Section 3(e)(1) of Republic Act No. 10168, or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, which states that “any person or entity designated and/or identified as a terrorist… by another jurisdiction or supranational jurisdiction,” is unconstitutional.
This provision defines “designated persons” as individuals or groups identified as terrorists, terrorism financiers, or terrorist organizations under a United Nations Security Council Resolution or by another jurisdiction or supranational body.
The rights group Human Rights Advocates Negros (HRAN) welcomed the decision, calling on the public to remain vigilant against political repression perpetuated by the current Marcos Jr. administration.
The group also noted that laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Law and the Financing Terrorism Act have long been used by the state, particularly through the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), to orchestrate attacks against activists, human rights defenders, and even NGOs and civil society organizations.
“The Marcos Jr administration through the NTF ELCAC has weaponized the Financing Terrorism Prevention and Suppression Act and Anti Terrorism Act against activists and development workers now numbering almost 100 and with the penchant of using spurious affidavits of ‘rebel returnees,’” HRAN said in a statement.
“Human Rights Advocates Negros reiterates it’s call to dismiss these trumped up charges against the two remaining co accused of the case as well as those accused in elsewhere in the country and abolish the NTF ELCAC,” the group added.
This ruling sets a judicial precedent at the RTC level by extending the Supreme Court’s Calleja ruling to invalidate the use of foreign terrorist designations in domestic cases. While the TFPSA was not directly challenged before the Supreme Court, the RTC’s decision could influence future challenges to anti-terror laws and their implementation in the Philippines.
PDG continues to call for the dismissal of all charges against two others facing the same case, including PDG’s former executive director Clarissa Ramos, widow of slain human rights lawyer Ben Ramos, and Felipe Gelle Jr., also a PDG staff member and the head of the Human Rights Alliance of Negros./PT
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Photo Caption: A copy of the court ruling issued by Iloilo RTC Branch 31. (Photo from Facebook/Pido File Pido)
