CPA hits anti-terrorism council for branding four of their leaders ‘terrorists’

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera People’s Alliance, a federation of organizations in the region and abroad, assailed the government’s Anti-Terrorism Council for branding four of its leaders as “terrorists.”
    The CPA leaders were identified by the ATC as Windel Bolinget, Jen Awingan, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, and Steve Tauli.
    In a press statement released July 10, 2023, the ATC said it had approved a resolution designating the said individuals as “terrorists.”
    The resolution was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and National Security Adviser Vice Chairman Eduardo Año.
    “We condemn in the highest terms these relentless attacks against indigenous people’s activists,” the CPA said in a counter press statement Monday.  “Clearly, the ATA is used as an instrument to stifle dissent and target activists.”
    Earlier this year, the four CPA leaders were tagged Northern Luzon 7 after they were charged with what the CPA called “trumped-up case of rebellion.”
    The case was dismissed a few months ago.
    Following the “spate of attacks,” the CPA appealed to the Supreme Court for the Writ of Amparo filed to the Court of Appeals last year.
    CPA chairperson Windel Bolinget also filed a countercharge against those who were behind his trumped-up Tagum murder case.
    “While we at CPA continue to seek legal remedies to ensure our safety, security, and human rights in this shrinking democratic space, the state weaponizes everything at its disposal to silence us. We enjoin everyone to condemn this designation and call for the immediate retraction of the resolution and designation,” the CPA said in their press statement.
    The CPA urged junking of the Anti-Terror Law.  
    The group reposted the ATC's Resolution 41, which was published on an advertisement page in a national daily on Monday.
    In an advertisement and resolution posted in the national daily on Monday, the ATC had branded the four CPA leaders as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).