Filipino missionary group goes to court two years after being accused of ‘terrorism financing’

Two years after the government accused a religious organization in the Philippines that supports underserved communities of using funds for terrorism financing, the group goes to court.

In a press release, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) said that they are beginning the presentation for its defense on August 30, with their first witness undergoing direct examination and identification of exhibits.

She is due for cross-examination by government lawyers on September 6.

Executive Judge of Manila Carolina C. Icasiano-Sison, who is also the presiding judge of Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 18, is hearing the civil forfeiture case.

In December 2019 and February 2020, the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) froze a total of 15 bank accounts linked to RMP upon the request of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) under the Terrorism Financing Law.

On August 20, 2022, RMP nuns were among the individuals charged with allegedly providing funds to the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CCP).

Without access to their funds, the group is unable to resume its mission activities, mainly supporting marginalized communities, farmers, fishermen, and indigenous people in far-flung areas of the Philippines.

RMP claimed that the government’s counter-insurgency program is only using terrorism legislation to falsely label progressive organizations as terrorism supporters, resulting in violations of human rights and civil liberties.

“These trumped-up charges have been difficult to bear for us rural missionaries,” said the RMP Leadership Team. “Our hearts are committed to service to the poor. These false charges by the National Investigation Coordinating Agency (NICA) have been a significant burden for us.”

“We have been maliciously accused for several years already,” they further said. “Our ministry as Rural Missionaries is simple and straightforward— we are missionaries who help. These fabricated charges deny the poorest of our ministries and deny us our freedom to help the rural poor.”

The RMP National Office, aided by their legal team, will go to court over the next few weeks to prove that their funds were audited closely and that none were used to finance terrorism.

They argued that they are doing the exact opposite of the allegations made against them and are trying to address the roots of armed conflict in rural areas.

The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines was founded on August 15, 1969, and is one of the mission partners of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP).- Luke Godoy