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NSC exec: 2 environmental defenders may face perjury charges

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The two environmental defenders who said they were kidnapped by the country&#x27;s anti-communist task force might face perjury charges, the National Security Council (NSC) said on Wednesday, and accused them of lying. NSC Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya said the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the local government unit were &quot;hoodwinked&quot; by Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano, who were to be presented to discuss their alleged surrender to the government. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/19/23/surrendered-activists-say-they-were-abducted">&#x27;Surrendered&#x27; activists say they were abducted, reject coerced affidavits</a></li></ul>Castro and Tamano told a government-organized press conference in Plaridel, Bulacan on Tuesday that they had been abducted and coerced into signing affidavits. But Malaya insisted on ANC that &quot;they came to surrender [and] we accepted them in good faith.&quot; He noted that they executed affidavits before the mayor of Angat and the Public Attorneys Office (PAO), saying they were ready to join the press conference. <figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IbhZMPWw9K8?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>&quot;Unfortunately we were hoodwinked, we were betrayed. Noong nandoon na sa tapat ng camera, nag-iba na ang sinabi. Kami, our position is the same. They executed affidavits which were [signed] before the mayor, and [a] PAO lawyer,&quot; Malaya added.&quot;If it is proven that they executed this falsely that what they were saying is correct, they can be open to perjury charges,&quot; he said. The Revised Penal Code defines perjury as &quot;making untruthful statements...testify under oath, or make an affidavit, upon any material matter&quot; and imposes a penalty of imprisonment for six years and a day and a fine of up to P1 million.Castro said they had been threatened into signing the affidavits.Rights groups, including Karapatan, said over the weekend that the two did not have access to counsel of their choice and that the affidavits may have been done under duress.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/16/23/groups-doubt-claim-2-missing-environmental-activists-surrendered">Groups doubt claim 2 missing environmental activists &#x27;surrendered&#x27;</a></li></ul>Malaya said they would &quot;slowly expose all the information&quot; they have on Castro and Tamano, saying the task force was &quot;transparent.&quot; &quot;In the first place, why would the military abduct them and present them to the media? It does not make any sense,&quot; said Malaya. &quot;We are unfazed, we will continue to fight for the truth.&quot; PAO Chief Persida Acosta, for her part, said the two environmental defenders executed the written statement themselves until they met the public attorney assigned in Norzagaray, Bulacan. &quot;Itong dalawa ay nangangailangan ng tulong para ma-comply nila ang requirement ng Task Force Balik-Loob... Papunta pa lang PAO ay may written [statement] na sila,&quot; said Acosta. Acosta said it was not possible for the PAO lawyer to threaten the two. &quot;Tiniyak ng PAO na yung laman nitong sulay kamay ay yung nasa puso nila. Nag-interview siya, ipinaulit-ulit niya yung mga sinasabi ng dalawa. Ang pakiramdam namin, itong dalawang ito ay may kinakatakutan kaya nag-recant,&quot; she said over Radyo 630. <div>INDEPENDENT PROBE SOUGHT </div>The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) criticized the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the &quot;brazen abduction and illegal detention&quot; of Castro and Tamano. &quot;At the time of their abduction and detention, neither Jonila nor Jhed were facing any charges, nor was there any basis to deprive them of their liberty,&quot; said Chel Diokno, FLAG chairperson. &quot;If not for the courageous stand taken by Jonila and Jhed to expose to the public what really happened, they would probably still be held against their will up to now,&quot; Diokno added. Diokno urged the government to conduct a thorough and impartial probe on the matter to &quot;determine the complicity, accountability, and liability of those who took Jonila and Jhed against their will and violated their rights with impunity.&quot;&quot;Power without responsibility is oppression. Power without accountability is impunity. Those who abuse the power given to them by the people must pay for their wrongdoing,&quot; he said. FLAG lawyer Dino De Leon was in Plaridel on Tuesday with Jonila&#x27;s parents to help secure the two activists&#x27; release. In a statement, rights group Karapatan called for accountability for the perpetrators behind the &quot;enforced disappearance and fake surrender.&quot; Karapatan Secretary General Tinay Palabay said there should be an independent probe on the &quot;surrenders&quot; of supposed former rebels and for them to have their own legal counsel &quot;free from any form of custody or coercion by State forces.&quot;&quot;Following what Jonila and Jhed have very bravely disclosed right in the middle of the NTF-ELCAC’s press conference, it is high time that the truth about the forced/fake surrender shenanigans of the NTF-ELCAC are scrutinized,&quot; Palabay said. &quot;These form part of a sinister pattern of State-sponsored abductions and coercion to force activists to renounce their pro-people advocacies, disaffiliate from, and misrepresent, their organizations,&quot; she added. The NTF-ELCAC and police in a press conference last week said that Castro and Tamano had surrendered to the Army&#x27;s 70th Infantry Battalion in Bulacan province.They also said that the two had signed affidavits and that they had voluntarily left &quot;the communist movement&quot;.

The official said they would 'slowly expose all the information' they have on Castro and Tamano, saying the task force was 'transparent.'

NSC exec: 2 environmental defenders may face perjury charges

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NSC exec: 2 environmental defenders may face perjury charges

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 20, 2023 01:07 PM PHT

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Updated Sep 20, 2023 05:51 PM PHT

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National Security Council

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