MANILA (Agencies): Two young environmental activists, Jonila Castro, 21, and Jhed Tamano, 22, who were allegedly abducted by the Philippine military on September 2 were freed on September 19, sparking jubilation among supporters who had campaigned for their release.
The two had been working with coastal communities opposed to reclamation activities in Manila Bay when they disappeared in the town of Orion, Bataan province.
The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for land and environmental defenders, with 11 killed in 2022, according to watchdog Global Witness.
The women were released hours after appearing at a government press conference where they went off script and accused the military of abduction—charges the authorities have repeatedly denied.
Rights groups previously alleged the two women had been violently abducted, possibly by “state actors”, apparently because of their activism.
“We proved, because of what happened, that what we are fighting for is correct,” a defiant Castro told reporters and activists after being freed.
Tamano, who was standing next to Castro, called for “the resurfacing of other victims of forced disappearances.”
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, president of Caritas Philippines, expressed concern over alleged state-sanctioned attacks on environmental activists “who are simply working to protect our planet,” CBCP News reported on September 21.
We had no choice during that time. We want to show today the state’s blatant fascism towards activists, who only want to fight for Manila Bay
Jonila Castro
Referencing the abductions, Bishop Bagaforo said, “[It] is a clear attempt to silence environmental defenders and intimidate those who speak out against destructive development projects.”
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Caritas called on the government to hold those responsible for the abduction and enforced disappearance of the two activists accountable, CBCP News reported.
However, the National Security Council [NSC] and police, at a news conference on September 15, denied that the two women were environmental activists, claiming that Castro and Tamano had been held in a safe house after they sought help from authorities.
“They were portrayed as environmentalists. They are not environmentalists but leftist organisers. They left the movement of their own free will,” NSC spokesperson Jonathan Malaya insisted to reporters at the time.
On September 19, however, Castro and Tamano offered a different version of events at a news conference hosted by the government’s National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which was set up by former president, Rodrigo Duterte.
“The truth is we were abducted by the military via a van,” Castro told the news conference at the Plaridel Municipal Hall in Bulacan province.
“We were obliged to surrender because they threatened to kill us. That’s the truth. We did not want to be in the custody of the military,” she continued.
Castro said the statement they signed was “not true”.
“We had no choice during that time. We want to show today the state’s blatant fascism towards activists, who only want to fight for Manila Bay,” she said.
Recordings of the news conference were widely shared on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The task force said it “felt betrayed” by the allegations and accused the women of parroting “the propaganda lines of leftist groups on their supposed abduction by security forces.”
Karapatan, an alliance of local rights groups, said the women’s statements showed official claims they had surrendered to authorities were “all lies and hogwash”.
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of San Carlos claimed that the “systematic abductions” of activists across the country “point to state forces as the culprits,” CBCP News reported on September 24.
“Perpetrators, including military and police officers, as well as officials of state institutions such as NTF-ELCAC [National Task Force to End Local Communist] and DND [Department of National Defense], involved in abductions and kidnappings, must be held accountable,” Bishop Alminaza said in a statement.
