BAGUIO City councilors are jubilant over a court decision clearing two Cordillerans of terrorist tag.
Councilors Art Allad iw and Faustino Olowan in a joint statement said they welcome the court decision to remove the names of Vicky Tauli Corpuz and Jose Molintas from the Department of Justice terror list.
Last week, Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 19 Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar cleared both highlanders of the terrorist tag that the Department of Justice sought to declare months ago.
Previously, the government through the Department of Justice filed a petition to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP and NPA) as terrorist organizations under the Human Security Act and listed over 600 names alleged to be officers and members of the CPP/NPA.
“The dropping of names of Molintas and Tauli- Corpuz is a vindication,” said the joint statement, adding the previous resolution asking the government to drop the tag insists the tagged individuals are residents of the city and have never joined the revolutionary groups but are passionate and active with their advocacy on human rights and indigenous peoples rights both locally and internationally.
Others from the region who were likewise tagged were Joan Carling, a Kankanaey from Sagada, former CPA Chairperson, and former Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) Secretary-General; Beverly Longid, a Bontok-Kankanaey activist from Cordillera, and the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) Global Coordinator, and Katribu International Solidarity Officer; Joanna Cariño, an Ibaloi elder and activist, SANDUGO co-chairperson; Windel Bolinget, a Bontok-Kankanaey, Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) chairperson, and Katribu National Convener; and Jeanette Ribaya Cawiding, a Kankaney from Besao Mountain Province and former chairman of Tontongan Ti Umili.
The aldermen also urged the courts to drop the names of the other Cordillerans.