The Court of Appeals in Manila. | BG PHOTO: COURT OF APPEALS WEBSITE
BAGUIO CITY鈥擳he Baguio-based Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) has filed several pleadings with the Court of Appeals (CA) to urge the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to explain their move to freeze the progressive group鈥檚 assets, according to documents obtained by the Inquirer.
CPA鈥檚 鈥淧etition to Determine the Basis of the Freeze Order鈥� would help the group proceed with other legal options for relief, said lawyer Francisca Macliing Claver, whose law firm is handling the CPA case.
The group asked the appellate court to compel the AMLC and the ATC to divulge all the information relating to the June 7 designation of four of its members as terrorists, including the group鈥檚 beleaguered chair, Windel Bolinget, according to its July 19 petition, a copy of which was obtained by the Inquirer on Aug. 5.
Bolinget has been implicated in numerous cases since 2018, from murder in Tagum City to rebellion in Abra, of which he was acquitted.
On July 10, CPA learned that Bolinget and three of its members鈥擩ennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, Sarah Abellon-Alikes and Stephen Tauli鈥攚ere declared 鈥渢errorists鈥� through ATC Resolution No. 41, which was released on June 7 but posted in a Manila newspaper 30 days later.
鈥榃hite area鈥� operatives
The resolution described them as 鈥渨hite area鈥� operatives of the communist New People鈥檚 Army, which means they handle noncombat duties like recruitment and propaganda in urban areas.
In an attached affidavit, CPA secretary general Sarah Dekdeken informed the CA that she could no longer access the group鈥檚 account at a commercial bank here on July 12.
鈥淚 was informed by a bank employee that CPA鈥檚 property or funds were blocked or restrained,鈥� Dekdeken said, adding that they were given a copy of AMLC Resolution No. TF-67, series of 2023, which was a June 30 鈥渟anction freeze order鈥� covering Bolinget, Awingan-Taggaoa, Abellon-Alikes and Tauli.
On July 18, Dekdeken was again informed that CPA鈥檚 account in another branch of the same bank had also been frozen until further notice. The bank again cited AMLC Resolution TF-67.
CPA said it had followed the government鈥檚 grievance procedures with its CA petition, which it must undertake within 20 days after the issuance of a freeze order.
鈥淩ule 11.a of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 10168, otherwise known as the Terror Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, and Rule 8.10 of the [IRR] of Republic Act No. 11479, otherwise known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, are the plain, speedy, and adequate remedies in the ordinary course of law,鈥� the petition stated.
Not a terrorist
Dekdeken said Bolinget and the rest of CPA would argue the absence of due process in the issuance of ATC Resolution 41.
She said CPA and the four activists were not called by ATC to any hearings or preliminary investigations prior to the terror tag they learned about in a newspaper.
At a July 20 news conference, Bolinget鈥檚 wife, Elvie, a teacher, decried the ATC and AMLC resolutions, stressing that while her husband has long been an activist, 鈥渉e is not a terrorist.鈥�
Bolinget was one of the indigenous leaders who had challenged RA 11479 before the Supreme Court, which struck down only two provisions of the law as unconstitutional in a 2021 ruling. The high court upheld its decision last year during the court鈥檚 summer session in Baguio City. INQ
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