They visited friends in prison, the state called them terrorists

In February of this year, 23-year-old Fritz Labiano and 21-year-old Adrian Paul Tagle received an order that turned their lives upside down. The Department of Justice (DOJ) charged the two young activists with financing terrorism.

The indictment came as a shock because they never received a subpoena. The process is important because it notifies them of the complaint against them, allowing them to defend themselves and explain themselves through statements they will file with the Justice Department before prosecutors can file an indictment.

It turned out they were being charged not only with financing terrorism but also with providing material support to terrorists under Section 12 of the feared anti-terrorism law enacted four years ago by the Duterte government at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Prosecutors were handling the terrorism financing case alone.

The complaints were filed in October 2023 by the 85th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. The reason? Because Labiano and Tagle visited fellow activists in prison, gave them food and P500.

For the army, this was tantamount to a terrorist crime.

“This is a sign that the human rights situation under (President Ferdinand) Marcos Jr. remains as bleak as ever,” said Cristina Palabay, secretary general of human rights group Karapatan.

Sued for human rights activities

Labiano and Tagle were embroiled in the case while responding to other activists in July 2023. Anakbayan Southern Tagalog and environmentalist Rowena Dasig and public health worker Miguela Piniero were arrested on July 12, 2023 by members of the Army’s 85th IB in Atimonan, Quezon. Dasig and Piniero were conducting social research to investigate the possible effects of building a power plant in Atimonan.

Labiano and Tagle, upon learning of their friends’ arrests, went to the Atimonan municipal police station to provide support, including legal aid. Legal aid is standard practice among progressive groups to ensure that those in need of legal aid have access to it in the absence of a lawyer.

In addition to attending to the needs of their detained colleagues, the pair also took care of their psychological well-being. Labiano and Tagle said law enforcement officers subjected Dasig and Piniero to psychological torture while they were in custody.

A few months later, Labiano and Tagle learned that they had been charged with financing terrorism in connection with their activities.

“Both individuals were present at the Atimonan Municipal Police Station where they jointly provided Piniero and Dasig with the sum of PHP 500, chocolates, fruits, rice, cookies and water, thus indicating their mutual understanding and cooperation in carrying out their illegal activities,” the prosecutors’ order reads.

Human rights activists have long feared, and argued before the Supreme Court, that the vagueness of such laws could lead to arbitrary prosecution for performing simple acts, such as supporting other activists. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the anti-terrorism law in its entirety.

“It is truly alarming that the state considers providing assistance to detained political prisoners as an act of terrorism,” Labiano said in Filipino.

When justice is on the side of the oppressed

The anti-terrorism law has been in force for four years now, and many young activists have been charged under it.

Labiano and Tagle were arraigned before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 7, in Batangas City. However, in a June 5 order, Presiding Judge Aida Carrera Santos dismissed the case because the prosecution failed to present additional evidence in time.

Judge Santos explained that the court ordered the prosecution to submit additional evidence in the case through an order dated April 1. The prosecution received the order on May 9 but did not submit the additional evidence until May 20, which was after the five-day period had elapsed. As such, the Batangas City RTC Branch 7 dismissed the case altogether.

“This only proved that I was right to oppose the law. It confirmed that I was right to call for the scrapping of the anti-terrorism law… To this day, our call to scrap the draconian law remains relevant,” Labiano told Rappler.

“I got angry because they are criminalizing providing paralegal services to victims of human rights violations. What if they do the same to other human rights? Working for human rights is not terrorism,” Tagle said in Filipino.

Two young activists who hail from Calabarzon, where progressive people are imprisoned and killed, were the last to win against the law under Duterte. In recent years, progressive people and even ordinary civilians have been able to triumph over draconian policies.

In late 2023, Hailey Pecayo, also a Calabarzon-based human rights activist, was cleared of a terrorism complaint filed against her. The prosecutor dismissed the complaints against Pecayo and other activists based on alleged violations of Sections 4(a) and 4(d) of Republic Act (RA) No. 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Law, Section (c)(25)(IV) of RA No. 9851 or the Philippine Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, and Attempted Murder Act.

Activists Jasmin Rubia, secretary general of Mothers and Children for the Protection of Human Rights, and Kenneth Rementilla, coordinator of Anakbayan Southern Tagalog, were also cleared of violating the anti-terrorism law due to lack of probable cause.

Two years earlier, in 2021, the Aetas won legal victories against the anti-terrorism law. The Olongapo Regional Trial Court dismissed the first known case against Aetas Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos, noting that it was a case of mistaken identity. Like Pecayo, the Aetas were accused of being members of the New People’s Army and accused of allegedly violating Section 4 of the anti-terrorism law. However, the court sided with the Aetas, saying that the witnesses against them had made “glaring inconsistencies.”

“The dismissal of the cases was a slap in the face for the government because it showed that the anti-terrorism law should not be implemented because it is being used against ordinary citizens such as farmers and human rights defenders whose main goal is to serve and live,” Tagle said.

Chilling effect

According to human rights and legal groups, the challenges Labiano and Tagle face are having a crippling effect on the entire ecosystem of human rights activists in the country.

“For paralegals and human rights workers who help those arrested or victims of human rights violations, the case of Fritz Jay Labiano and Adrian Paul Tagle sends a dangerous message that any act of human rights work, even for humanitarian reasons, is now criminalized by terrorism laws. This is unjust, unwise, unacceptable,” Palabay said.

National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL) President Ephraim Cortez said there was nothing unusual about providing legal services to detained activists.

“Financing terrorism as a crime should only be used when the financial and other support is intended to commit a terrorist act. What Fritz did was to provide for the basic needs of two detainees,” Cortez added.

Human Rights Watch senior researcher Carlos Conde said the cases brought against the two young activists were an “obvious attempt” to discourage people from supporting those persecuted and harassed by law enforcement.

“They (foreign nations) should pressure the Philippine military… to stop the practice (of cracking down on human rights activists). They should respect the right of accused individuals, activists or not, to receive help and support from those who are willing to give it to them,” Conde told Rappler.

For Labiano, having their case dismissed is not only a legal victory, but also a way to preserve the value of their human rights work in the Philippines. “The scary thing is that our case could have set a precedent for future cases if it had not been dismissed.” Rappler.com

The quotes have been translated into English for brevity.