This week, a court in the Philippines dismissed terrorism financing charges against the Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET), a nongovernmental organization based in Cebu province that works with marginalized groups to promote economic, social, and cultural rights.
Philippine authorities filed multiple cases under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 against human rights activists and civil society groups in an apparent attempt by the authorities to be taken off the “grey list” of a global terrorism financing and money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force. Being grey-listed means, among other impacts, difficulty in accessing international financial markets and reputational damage for the Philippines.
In a statement following the court ruling, Oliver Gimenez, chair of CERNET’s board, said the “ruling exposes the dangers of weaponizing counterterrorism laws against legitimate humanitarian and development work.”
The charges were dropped after the court granted CERNET’s plea to dismiss what the ruling described as an “insufficiently charged” case. Prosecutors had filed terrorism financing charges against CERNET in 2024, alleging it had transferred PHP135,000 (US$2,200) to the New Peoples’ Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The Anti-Money Laundering Council had frozen CERNET’s bank accounts in 2023 while a preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice was ongoing, hampering their ability to transact in the banking system. According to Ephraim Cortez, CERNET’s counsel, this affected 70 percent of the organization’s work. Despite the court ruling in CERNET’s favor, their bank accounts remain frozen.
Despite the Philippines having been removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list in February 2025, authorities are continuing to file new terrorism financing charges against activists and to prosecute existing cases involving civil society groups and journalists. The task force and its regional member countries—which will review the Philippines’ record on countering terrorism financing and money laundering next year—should urge the Philippine government to ensure that anti-terrorism measures are not being misused to target, harass, or impede civil society.
