UP student leader accused of being a terrorist
A rights group on Monday condemned the “vicious weaponization of the Anti-Terrorism Act” against young activists after a student leader in Laguna province was implicated by the military to be a terrorist.
Student leader John Peter Angelo “Jpeg” Garcia was accused of being a communist rebel in the affidavit of Sgt. Jean Claude Bajaro of the 59th Infantry Battalion, who filed a case against Southern Tagalog human rights worker Hailey Pecayo.
Pecayo is facing charges of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act and the domestic legislation on International Humanitarian Law.
According to the witnesses, Garcia—a student from the University of the Philippines Los Baños and a nominee for Student Regent—was an operative with an alias, “Tango.”
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said the false imputation of Garcia’s identity was “feared to have dangerous implications on his life and security.”
“The trumped-up charges and false allegations these young activists are facing [are intended] to suppress efforts to expose the brutality of the Marcos Jr. regime’s counterinsurgency war,” Palabay said. INQ
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