The Commander of the Army’s 302nd Brigade says the case he filed with the Department of Justice against 27 respondents belonging to non-government organizations who are suspected of funneling funds for the Communist Terrorist Groups is nearing resolution.
In a forum organized by the Philippine Information Agency, Brig. Gen. Joey Escanillas said the case against the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), was for violation of Republic Act 10168, or the Terrorist Financing Suppression and Prevention Act of 2012.
He said that the executive directors and their assistants, who are automatic members of the Board, are included in this case.
He named the five NGOs in Negros Oriental who belong to the CERNET Board as the Tuburan for Women Development, Panaghugpong sa mga Gagmay nga Bayanihang Grupo (PAG BAG-O), the Negros Oriental Network of NGOS (NEGORNET), the Silliman University Center for Extension and Development (SUCED) and the Farmers Development Center (FARDEC).
Some of the organizations mentioned, such as Tuburan Foundation, Negornet, and SUCED have issued statements denying their involvement with CTGs, which the MetroPost has already published in previous issues. The Cernet, based in Cebu, has also denied the CTG-supporter tag in news stories published nationwide.
Escanillas, however, clarified that it does not mean that the leaders of all the NGOS named in this case can be automatically considered party members, but membership in the Board automatically makes them a party to this case. “This is part of the scheme of the CERNET to have members or NGOs that will protect them from their hidden agenda or modus,” he said.
He said the SU Center for Extension and Development is not affiliated with CTGs, while Tuburan was “just recruited”.
“We have a strong case buildup of this case. We have witnesses who was a regular employee of this NGO before he was kicked out,” Escanillas said, as he further said the CERNET is a CTG-created NGO. “It was created to support the operations of the CTGs in Negros and Region 8.
The scheme is that there is a Small Project Operations Officer who goes around to People’s Organizations to recruit the president and treasurer and he will make project proposals, for example, carabao raising or goat raising worth 250,000.
“They will submit that to the foreign NGO partners…Once the proposal is approved, the money goes to CERNET and CERNET centralizes the funds of the finance officer. Normally, the usual sharing is 60-40. 60 percent will go to the CTG to support their urban operations and 40 will go to the project.”
Cernet, in a statement issued last October, had debunked the allegations mentioned in the complaint, “especially when it is grounded on the lies and baseless accusations of their primary witness, Bernabe Nieves, who was a former staff of CERNET terminated for grave misconduct and violation of the CERNET Code of Ethics.” (AP)
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Photo Caption: Brig. Gen Joey Escanillas stresses a point during the Kapihan sa PIa where he explained about the role of some NGOs in raising funds for Communist Terrorist Groups. (Photo by Alex Pal)
