Activists, church, and development workers filed their counter affidavits on May 3 after state forces filed violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 against them.
Lawyers from the National Union of Peoples Lawyers (NUPL) and the Pulido and Tiamson Law Offices assisted the filing of counter affidavits of four activists with the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Nueva Ecija.
Charged were Bayan Muna and Makabayan Coalition Secretary General Nathanael Santiago, development worker Rosario Brenda Gonzalez, church lay worker Anasusa San Gabriel, and Servillano Luna, Jr., campaign director and former secretary general of Anakpawis.
The charges were filed by 1LT Michael J. Regalari.
The charges stemmed from an alleged military encounter between the soldiers of the 84th Infantry Battalion and alleged members of the so-called “Kilusang Larangan Gerilya-Sierra Madre” (KLG-SM) on Oct. 8, 2023, in barangay San Fernando, Laur, Nueva Ecija.
According to the lawyers, Santiago and three others were not informed of the charges against them because the subpoenas were sent to different addresses, and not to their known and true addresses. Thus, the accused were not able to participate in the preliminary investigation.
Initially, the charges against the four included murder, attempted murder, violation of International Humanitarian Law, and ATA filed by soldiers from the 84th Infantry Battalion, 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based in Caranglan, Nueva Ecija.
But on January 19, the investigating prosecutor recommended the dismissal of the attempted murder and murder charges on the ground that the complainants failed to ascribe the acts to any of the respondents, and that they also failed to prove conspiracy.
The investigating prosecutor also recommended the dismissal of the international humanitarian law charges for the failure of the complainants to establish the act as a violation of IHL.
However, the investigating prosecutor issued its resolution recommending the indictment of Santiago, Gonzales, San Gabriel, and Luna for violation of Sec. 4 (a) and (d) of the ATA.
State forces’ claim
The soldiers claimed that they saw the faces of Santiago, Gonzales, San Gabriel, and Luna during the said encounter. They were able to identify the four because, according to the complainant, the soldiers were shown photographs of the individuals who were allegedly members of the KLG-SM operating in the area.
The state forces further alleged that the identity of the individuals in the photographs was supposed to have been confirmed by alleged “rebel returnees”.
Included in the complaint were the names of 30 others including Lee Sudario and Norman Ortiz who were reported missing since Sept. 29, 2023.
In her counter-affidavit, Gonzales denied all allegations against her.
“At the outset, I must put on record that I am a development worker. I am not hiding in the mountains of the Sierra Madre and I was not, in any way, involved in the alleged encounter between the alleged members of the NPA and the complainants,” her counter affidavit read.
“As a matter of fact, I have never been to Laur, Nueva Ecija,” she added.
Gonzales is assisted by the NUPL-NCR and the Pulido and Tiamson Law Offices.
Outside the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor were members of the progressive groups expressing indignation over charges against the four.
ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said the filing of trumped-up charges against activists shows a trend that the government is using the ATA to repress the dissenters.
NUPL National President Ephraim Cortez meanwhile said the accusations against Santiago and three others were all lies.
“These are people who are working in institutions for years. For one, Santiago’s profile and background can be easily checked on the internet,” Cortez said.
Ariel Casilao, Anakpawis national president, said that the trumped-up charges of terrorism against Luna Jr. and other activists prove the dangers of the ATA.
“That whoever the government wants to silence can be easily labeled and charged with terrorism. President Marcos Jr. clearly carries the same brand of fascism of his predecessor Duterte by taking up the latter’s repressive measures such as the ATA and the publicly despised National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),” Casilao said.
