Negros-based NGO calls for CHR probe into the arrest of their workers

By DOMINIC GUTOMAN
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG), a Negros-based development organization working for land rights, urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct an investigation on the arrest of three of development workers in a letter submitted on January 17.

PDG workers, Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavillar, and Dharyll Albañez of Kristianong Katilingban Lubos Itib Ong Sang Grupo (KMALIG) Inc. were arrested on January 2, 2025, on allegations of violating Section 8 of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act (TFPSA). 

“These arrests appear to be part of a pattern of red-tagging and state repression against development workers and grassroots organizations advocating for farmers’ rights and environmental protection,” said PDG development workers Ma. Annabelle Illustrisimo, Argene Seron, and Isidro Genol Jr in the letter sent to CHR.

PDG is a long-standing development organization established in 1987 to respond to the collapse of the sugar industry and the Negros famine under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

“For nearly four decades, PDG has worked tirelessly for the welfare of farmers, hacienda workers, and marginalized communities through sustainable agricultural programs, disaster relief efforts, and advocacy for genuine land reform and social justice,” they added.

Read: Negros-based NGO helping farmers exposes lies, inaccuracies in terror financing complaint

Exhausting human rights mechanism

Before the incident, Pavillar reached out to human rights institutions to expose the series of red-tagging, threats, and harassment she had been subjected to, together with peoples’ organizations that partner with PDG. 

Last year, she testified in CHR’s public inquiry on red-tagging in the Visayas region and in the dialogue with the United Nations Special Rapporteur of Freedom of Expression and Information Irene Khan.

Pavillar has been with PDG since 1990. She stopped working in 2012, but returned to PDG in 2020. 

In an interview with Bulatlat, Illustrisimo said that Pavillar was assigned to cases involving agrarian reform and sustainable agriculture. She assisted projects related to communal farms, food processing facilities for women, legal assistance to Hacienda workers, and establishment of fisherfolk villages in response to the ejection of their livelihood.

“Perla [Pavillar] is really visible in the community, and even to the government. She helped peoples’ organizations in lobbying with local government units (LGUs), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and in the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in the region,” Illustrisimo said in Filipino.

However, this made her a consistent subject of attacks from state elements, particularly by the 15th Infantry Battalion. Illustrisimo listed some instances when Pavillar experienced harassment:

    • 2021: 15th Infantry Battalion went to a community consultation spearheaded by PDG, uninvited and unannounced. The military was reportedly disturbing the consultation by asking the peoples’ organizations to disaffiliate fron PDG. Pavillar confronted them, backed by community members.

    • September 19, 2023: A regional intelligence officer reached out to Pavillar, asking her to “surrender.” She was also allegedly included in a “shoot to kill order.” In response, Pavillar filed a blotter report at the Cauayan Philippine National Police (PNP).

    • October 4, 2023: Printed paraphernalia vilifying and threatening Pavillar were obtained. It stated in vernacular, “Perla, a verdict will be imposed on you soon.”

    • October 5, 2023: A regional intelligence officer reached out again to Pavillar, asking her to talk to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) National Office.

    • October 6, 2023: The same regional intelligence officer threatened Pavillar, asking her to pull out the blotter report she filed with Cauayan PNP.

The incidents prompted Pavillar to file a complaint with the national office of CHR, together with the PDG, on October 18, 2023.

Pavillar also has an impending surgery due to her myoma. 

Subjected to same amount of harassment

Salvilla, or “Pedring” to his colleagues, also suffered the same intensity of harassment. He was assigned to cases on land conversion, quarrying, and mining that harm farming communities. 

Seron said in an interview with Bulatlat that soldiers from the 94th Infantry Battalion usually visit their houses to ask them about Salvilla’s whereabouts and urge them to disaffiliate from PDG.

“What Pedring [Salvilla] does is to help farmers defend their rights in times of development aggression,” said Seron in Filipino.

Salvilla’s experiences were included in the complaint filed by PDG on October 18, 2023. 

“Red-tagging and harassment of development workers started to worsen since the death of our former Executive Director, Atty. Ben [Ramos],” said Illustrisimo.

Both Illustrisimo and Seron said that Salvilla was threatened with a P300,000 ($5,124.26) bounty for his head. He was active in documenting human rights violations and participated in fact-finding missions.

Ongoing pattern

PDG said that the red-tagging has always resulted in escalated violence, ranging from harassment to death. The most recent case is the arrest of their development workers.

“The arrest and harassment of development workers not only undermine their ability to serve vulnerable communities but also erode the democratic freedoms enshrined in our Constitution,” said PDG in the letter.

PDG also urged the CHR to investigate the broader context of red-tagging and harassment faced by PDG, particularly in light of the extrajudicial killing of its former executive director, Benjamin Ramos in 2018.

“It is imperative for the Commission to take a firm stance against these actions and uphold the principles of justice and accountability,” they added.

Pavillar and Salvilla are currently detained in Iloilo Provicial Jail, while Albañez posted bail amounting to P400,000 ($6,832.35) for two counts of alleged violations of Section 8 of TFPSA.

In 2024, the Defend NGO Alliance documented similar charges of terrorism financing against prominent development workers and organizations, namely Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), Leyte Center for Development (LCDE), Farmers Development Center (FARDEC), and Katinnulong Daguiti Umili iti Amianan, Inc. (KADUAMI). (RTS, RVO)

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