Police arrest Negros Occidental activist accused of terror financing

The arrest came days after United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan criticized the government’s limited progress on free speech in a report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines – Authorities have arrested an activist and community organizer in Bacolod City, nearly two years after he was red-tagged and accused of terrorism financing and sedition, police confirmed on Wednesday, June 25.

Felipe Levy Gelle, a development worker affiliated with the group Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental, was arrested on Tuesday, June 24, by operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) at a house in Barangay Villamonte.

He is facing three counts of violating the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act and the Revised Penal Code provision on sedition. His arrest was based on a warrant issued by the Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 31 in June 2024.

The arrest came just days after United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of expression Irene Khan presented a report in time for the UN Human Rights Council’s 59th session in Geneva, criticizing the Philippine government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for its limited progress in protecting free speech.

Khan cited continued red-tagging, the killing of journalists, and recommended the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), the decriminalization of libel, and the appointment of a special prosecutor for journalist killings.

On Tuesday, June 24, Khan again criticized the prolonged detention of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who has been jailed for over five years, and pointed to the killing of human rights activist and former journalist Ali Macalintal in General Santos City on Monday, June 23.

Colonel Arwin Tadeo, CIDG-Negros Island Region chief, told Rappler Gelle did not resist arrest and cooperated with authorities.

Gelle is being held at the CIDG-Negros Island Region office in Camingawan, Bacolod City. He will be transferred to Iloilo once a commitment order is issued by Judge Cyril Regalado within the 36-hour reglamentary period, Tadeo added.

In 2023, the Department of Justice filed cases against Gelle and three other community organizers – Dharyl Albañez, Federico Salvilla, and Perla Pavillar – based on an affidavit by Sergeant Francisco John Dumdumaya, a financial investigator with the Police Regional Office VI.

Dumdumaya alleged the four extorted money from targets and used the funds to buy firearms and ammunition for communist rebels in the region.

On January 2, CIDG operatives arrested Salvilla in Cauayan and Pavillar in Pulupandan, while Albañez surrendered to the Isabela police. All three were released after posting P600,000 bail each.

Two months later, on March 24, Judge Regalado dismissed the charges against them, granting a motion to quash filed by their legal counsel Rey Gorgonio and other lawyers. 

The court ruled that since the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) have not been officially designated as terrorist groups under law, the charges under the Terrorism Financing Act were inappropriate.

The decision also cited the 2021 Supreme Court ruling that declared two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act unconstitutional, including one allowing the Anti-Terrorism Council to label individuals and groups as terrorists based on foreign requests.

Gelle, in an interview, denied the accusations. “We are just doing our jobs – helping the farmers and fishermen in Negros Occidental to have decent livelihoods to improve their lives and nothing else,” he said. He dismissed the charges as “trumped up.” – Rappler.com