Stop crackdown vs NGOs, cops urged

MANILA, Philippines — House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas is urging authorities to stop the crackdown on non-government organizations (NGOs) suspected of having links to communists.

Brosas made the call following the dismissal of a complaint of terrorism financing filed by the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group against the Leyte Center for Development Inc. (LCDE), a non-government organization serving victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

She described the dismissal of the complaint as a victory against malicious red-tagging of humanitarian organizations and its members.

“The dismissal of this baseless case proves what we have been saying all along, that these terrorism financing charges are nothing but desperate attempts to harass and intimidate humanitarian organizations and development workers who serve our most vulnerable communities,” Brosas said in a statement issued yesterday.

Brosas said the dismissal showed how the anti-terror law is being weaponized against legitimate organizations.

Last year, the Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution 1985 seeking to investigate what it described as the systematic judicial harassment against NGOs and human rights defenders, which included the case of the LCDE and other development organizations.

Brosas said the state must stop accusing and persecuting development workers and humanitarian organizations that provide assistance to communities that have no access to government services.