No ATC ‘terror’ tags arrest
Guevarra says the assets of communist organizations may be frozen
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra yesterday said the designation by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) as a terrorist organization over its links with communist rebels means its finances like those lodged in banks can be frozen.
Guevarra issued the statement in reaction to questions by reporters whether the ATC’s action can be the basis of arresting NDFP members.
“The principal effect of designation by the ATC is the freezing of bank accounts and the financial assets of the designated person or entity, not immediate arrest,” Guevarra explained.
On whether Vice President Leni Robredo is also immune from suit like the President, Guevarra maintained his position that she is not, like when she was included in the sedition charges in relation to the “Alias Bikoy” videos.
Those videos, said to be the handiwork of former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, alleged that some of the President’s family members were involved in the illegal drugs trade.
“My opinion on the matter has not changed,” Guevarra said.
The complaint against Robredo was dismissed by a panel of prosecutors under the Department of Justice headed by Guevarra, but on account of insufficiency of evidence and not because of immunity, he added.
However, Guevarra clarified that he was not commenting on President Duterte’s recent statement on the immunity from suit of the VP. He said he considered Duterte’s position as “a political statement, rather than a legal conclusion.
Mr. Duterte has said he may run for VP so that he’d be out of reach of international tribunals seeking his prosecution for alleged extrajudicial killings undertaken by state forces in the war against drugs.
The ATC said the NDF is “an integral and inseparable part” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), which were designated as terror groups last December.
The ATC said in a resolution dated 23 June, “Article X of the 2016 CPP Constitution shows that the NDF aka NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) is the core and the most consolidated group that provides support to the armed and organizational expansion of the CPP-NPA.”
“Members of the NDF aka NDFP continue to lure and/or recruit people to join the NPA, while the CPP itself admitted and maintained, through public media releases as well as in CPP documents and revelations of former members, the direct and indispensable role of the NDF aka NDFP in its armed operations,” it added.
The designation would trigger the government’s authority to freeze assets of the NDF, which was established in April 1973. Within 15 days, a delisting request may be filed before the ATC from the publication of the designation.
The ATC last April, designated as terrorists exiled CPP founding chair Jose Maria Sison, his wife Julieta, and the rest of the 19-member central committee of the CPP.