The Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), an NGO working in the labor sector, condemns the arrest of three development workers in Negros Occidental in the first days of 2025 and claims that the arrests show continuing government repression of development work in the country using counter-terrorism charges.

On January 2, Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavillar, staff members of development NGO Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) Inc., and Dharyl Albañez, staff member of development NGO Kamalig, were arrested on the basis of terrorism financing charges that were filed against them, and two other staff members, by the Department of Justice on December 3, 2024.

PDG is a development NGO based in the southern part of Negros island that advocates for agrarian reform, sustainable agriculture, and the rights of small farmers and fisherfolk. It is prominent in opposing the expansion of palm oil plantations in Negros Occidental financed by the elite Consunji family. It has been red-tagged and harassed before by the military and its executive director, Atty. Benjamin Ramos Jr., is a victim of extrajudicial killing in 2018.

PDG and its staff members have observed heightened surveillance and harassment after the charges were filed. They have filed reports of being surveilled while carrying out a typhoon relief mission, of their neighbors being questioned about their activities, and of their farmer beneficiaries being threatened to cease working with them.

The frequency that counter-terrorism charges are filed in the country would create the impression that numerous Filipinos are living in fear of terrorism. This is not true, it’s just that the Philippine government has been actively weaponizing counter-terrorism laws to repress NGOs and especially people’s organizations in the country.

Just a few months ago, five UN mandate holders – appointed by the Human Rights Council and are supported by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) – issued a communication protesting the filing of terrorism-related charges against Cebu-based NGO alliance Community Empowerment Resource Network, Inc. (CERNET).

According to the UN mandate holders, “The targeting of these human rights defenders and humanitarian workers through intimidation, reputational harm and criminalisation is of particular concern, as it appears to be in direct retaliation for their legitimate and peaceful activities promoting economic, social and cultural rights in the Philippines. We are concerned that such measures risk obstructing the delivery of vital and well-protected humanitarian, human rights and development services.”

https://ctuhr.org/releases/un-mandate-holders-statement-vs-terror-financing-cases-welcome/

Commentators have often said that the US’ “war on terror” has undermined democracy in that country. In the Philippines, US-inspired and US-backed anti-terrorism laws are still being used to undermine democracy. The continuous filing of anti-terrorism charges against development workers and activists exposes as farce President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s attempt to rebrand his family as pro-democracy and pro-human rights.