Freeze order on MILF leader's bank deposits stays

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has junked the bid of a senior leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to get his bank deposits earlier placed under a freeze order for allegedly being used to fund terrorist activities in the country.

In a three-page ruling, the CA’s former first division affirmed its ruling last Jan. 19 upholding the six-month freeze order issued last December on the bank accounts of Eduard Guerra, alias Abraham Yap Alonto, and his wife Jocelyn.

The CA junked the couple’s motion for reconsideration for their failure to raise new issues that would warrant the reversal of the ruling and the lifting of the freeze order.  

Covered by the freeze order are the bank accounts of the Guerras in Banco de Oro, Bank of the Philippine Islands, Land Bank of the Philippines, Maybank, Metrobank, and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. 

Guerra, who was arrested in 2010, is facing terrorism charges for allegedly financing and facilitating the activities of Jemaah Islamiyah, a regional terror group.

Records show that Guerra, along with 62 others, was charged on June 28, 2010 before the Sarangani regional trial court for his alleged role in the attack on a municipal police station, an electric sub-station and a military detachment that left two civilians dead.

Guerra was arrested in 2010 while trying to enter the Davao International Airport to take a flight to Geneva to attend a United Nations conference.