DND Sec. Gilberto Teodoro Jr. during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay, October 18, 2023. | PHOTO: 黑料社 / Arnel Tacson
Environmental and human rights groups on Tuesday denounced the Department of National Defense鈥檚 (DND) filing of perjury charges against anti-reclamation activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro.
During the Kapihan sa Manila Bay news forum on Oct. 18, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called the two activists 鈥渓iars鈥� after they revealed to the press they were abducted by the military and then forced into signing affidavits of surrender after supposedly leaving the communist movement.
鈥淚 reviewed the case personally and I am convinced that they were liable,鈥� Teodoro said. Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the charges filed against Tamano and Castro were a 鈥渇orm of judicial harassment against victims of human rights violations.鈥�
鈥淭he claims in the perjury complaint against the two young women are fraught with lies, absurdities and inanities that are so incredible and inconsistent that any independent body can see through them,鈥� she added.
Palabay said the harassment of the two activists was 鈥渄esperate moves鈥� by their accusers 鈥渨ho cannot bear the thought of their own scheme blowing up in their faces.鈥�
Meanwhile, militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya criticized the DND for 鈥減icking鈥� on Castro and Tamano amid the more pressing threats to national security and territorial waters.
Pamalakaya along with Kalikasan People鈥檚 Network for the Environment and the Promotion of Church People鈥檚 Response trooped the Department of Justice on Tuesday to accompany Tamano and Castro for a hearing on their perjury case. INQ