In its latest swing against activists, the Anti-Terror Council (ATC) designated six Cordillera indigenous peoples’ (IP) rights defenders as “terrorists” in a resolution published in The Manila Times yesterday.
The six implicated individuals are Kankanaey-Igorot activists Sarah Abellon Alikes, Jennifer Awingan, Windel Bolinget, Stephen Tauli, Jovencio Tangbawan, and May Vargas-Casilao. The ATC said they are members of the armed group New People's Army (NPA).
Under the Anti-Terror Law (ATL), the listed activists can be detained without warrant and surveilled through wiretaps and physical surveillance—the exact fear expressed by advocates when they filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the law in 2020.
ATC said that the designation aims to freeze the six activists’ bank accounts that are allegedly used to fund the NPA.
“[B]ased on verified and validated information, sworn statements, and other pieces of evidence gathered by Philippine law enforcement agencies, the ATC found probable cause, warranting the designation,” the council wrote, without expounding on the supposed information, statements, and pieces of evidence.
Under the ATL, tagged individuals can contest their designation in a trial court. But because of undisclosed grounds for tagging, it becomes a burden for implicated individuals to argue their case.
ATC has vast powers over designation. For one, the council may tag anyone by citing “verified and validated” reports. But these reports are done by state forces such as the police and military whose activities in rural areas came with bloodshed and red-tagging.
Alikes, for one, has been a victim of red-tagging since 2017 while working for disaster-relief organization Regional Development Center-Kattinulong dagiti Umili ti Amianan, resulting in her detention without definite charge. She, along with Bolinget, Awingan, Tauli, and Tangbawan, was also arrested earlier in January for rebellion and insurrection. The charges were later dismissed.
The Cordillera Peoples Alliance, whose chairperson Bolinget is included in the listing, said in a statement that the designation shows that the ATC is just a weapon of the state to sow fear among IP rights activists.
“While we at CPA continue to seek legal remedies to ensure our safety, security, and human rights in this shrinking democratic space, the state also weaponizes everything at its disposal to silence us. We enjoin everyone to condemn this designation and call for the immediate retraction of the resolution and designation,” the group wrote.
This practice is the main concern of several rights groups who contested the constitutionality of ATL before the Supreme Court, saying that it violates the person’s right to just process and liberty. The ATC, through the designation, also presumes guilt of an implicated individual based only on suspicion. The high tribunal, however, upheld the constitutionality of all but one clause of the ATL.
The designation of these individuals tallies the ATC’s terrorist individual tagging to 32, all of whom are allegedly linked to NPA. The council is yet to disclose any evidence for these.
“We condemn in the highest terms these relentless attacks against indigenous peoples activists. Clearly, the ATA is used as an instrument to stifle dissent and target activists,” CPA said. ●
