The Department of Justice (DOJ) has approved the filing of grave oral defamation charges against two female environmental activists who declared during a press conference last year that they were abducted by the military and were not rebel returnees.

In a 15-page resolution, Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Arnold L. Magpantay said that Jonila Fababer Castro and Jhed Reiyana Cruz “be separately charged for Grave Oral Defamation under Article 358 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended….”

Magpantay's  resolution, which was approved by Prosecutor General Benedicto A. Malcontento and Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony A. Fadullon, stated that “based on the facts and evidence on record, we find probable cause to indict respondents for grave oral defamation.”

The DOJ issued the resolution following the conduct of the preliminary investigation of the complaint filed by Lt. Col. Ronnel B. Dela Cruz, commander of the 70th Infantry Battalion (70IB) of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army (PA) stationed in Dona Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan, who accused the two young women of having committed perjury under Article 183 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC).

The case stemmed from the Sept. 19, 2023 press conference of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) where the two activists were presented as the latest communist rebels to have surrendered to the government.

Instead of affirming that they surrendered, Castro and Cruz said during the press conference that they were abducted on Sept. 2, 2023.

“We consider the statements of respondents to be serious slander because the circumstances of the case show that they consciously, intentionally and on purpose waited and chose the press conference which would be held in public to air their grievances and plight. They have every opportunity from the time they were taken in the custody by the 70th IB to disclose the abduction incident, assuming it is true, to persons who are apolitical but decided to keep quiet purportedly for security reason which was appearently baseless and unfounded,” DOJ's resolution.

“Seemingly, respondents employed machinations and took advantage of the benevolence of the 70th IB and the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to embarass and put them in bad light. There was a deep-rooted motive on the part of the respondents to select a public forum that would express their sentiment. Conspicuously, respondents ventilated the alleged abduction in the press conference, betraying their purpose to expose complainant and the AFP as well to greater latitude of public mockery, demonstrating their ill motive to prejudice them. The slanderous words were obviously uttered with evident intent to strike deep into the character, honor and reputation of complainant and the AFP,” it added.

On the other, the resolution denied the complaint of perjury against the two women.