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Environment activists may be charged for perjury, says NTF-ELCAC
Environment activists may be charged for perjury, says NTF-ELCAC
The two environment activists who revealed that they were allegedly abducted by the military in Orion, Bataan on Sept. 2 may be charged for perjury, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said on Wednesday, Sept. 20.
NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed Tamano, 22, executed sworn affidavits that they surrendered to government troops in Bulacan.
However, in a press conference organized by the NTF-ELCAC in Plaridel, Bulacan on Sept. 19, Castro and Tamano bared that they were forcibly taken by military personnel onboard a van in Orion, Bataan on the night of Sept. 2, the same day that they were reported missing.
“If it is proven that they executed these [affidavits] falsely, knowing that what they were saying is correct, they can be open to perjury charges,” Malaya said in a television interview with ANC.
Malaya tagged Castro and Tamano as New People’s Army (NPA) members and community organizers of the front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
But this was earlier denied by the two activists as they were described as community organizers helping coastal communities that were affected by reclamation activities in Manila Bay.
The NTF-ELCAC had said that Tamano and Castro were temporarily staying at a Methodist Church in Orion when they sought help from a certain “Ate Bea” to plan their departure from their organization.
“They are NPA members. On Sept. 2, they left Orion, Bataan because they said in their affidavits that they wanted to leave the communist movement,” Malaya said.
The activists then went to Guagua, Pampanga and laid low at a warehouse through the help of Ate Bea, who allegedly knew someone from the military that could help them facilitate their surrender.
The activists then surrendered to the 70th Infantry Battalion on Sept. 12 and issued their sworn affidavits through the help of a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Malaya narrated.
The affidavits will be made public by the NTF-ELCAC, he added.
But Castro and Tamano said during the press conference in Plaridel that they were only forced to sign the affidavits that were made by the military.
Malaya said the NTF-ELCAC was “hoodwinked” by the two activists.
“When they came to surrender, we accepted them with all good faith,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were hoodwinked, we were betrayed. When they were already in front of the camera, they changed their narrative.”
Malaya said the NTF-ELCAC stands by their position that Castro and Tamano are communist rebels who surrendered to the government.
“We will slowly expose all of the information we have on the two,” he said.
At present, Castro and Tamano were released from the custody of the military and reunited with their respective families.