We, the undersigned, urgently call for public support for the immediate release of two development workers and the cancellation of trumped-up charges against them and three more development workers. Four of the falsely accused are affiliated with the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG Inc.) in Negros Occidental, Philippines.
On January 2, 2025, two dedicated PDG staff members—Federico Salvilla, and Perla Pavillar—were unjustly arrested on baseless charges of terrorism financing.
On December 3, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed six counts of terrorism financing charges against four staff members of the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG), including Salvilla, Pavillar; and Dharyl Albañez.
Dharyl Albañez has been wrongly accused and identified by state authorities as a staff of PDG – which underlines the falsity of the charges against him. Albañez was the Executive Director of Kristiyanong Katilingban Lubos Itib Ong Sang Grupo, Inc. (KMALIG) which was part of the September 21 Movement – an alliance of advocates promoting human rights protection. Albañez voluntarily turned himself in to the police, on the same day Salvilla and Pavillar were arrested, upon learning that a warrant of arrest would be served against him. He has posted bail amounting to Php400,000.00 for two counts of alleged violations of Section 8, RA 10168.
PDG Inc. is among the organizations in Negros at the forefront in resisting the harmful expansion of palm oil plantations in Candoni, Negros Occidental. This 2-billion-peso palm oil plantation, owned by the Consunji family, spans more than 6 thousand hectares. This project threatens to displace residents from Barangays Gatuslao, Agboy, and Payauan, and jeopardizes the land and livelihood of Indigenous Peoples who have lived there for generations.
As part of the broader campaign against land conversion and environmental destruction, PDG Inc. has been instrumental in exposing the illegalities surrounding the palm oil project, including non-compliance with necessary environmental permits. The project is bulldozing not just forest land, but the very lives of local residents. Despite promises of job creation, these assurances ring hollow as thousands of people are forcibly evicted, their homes and communities razed to make way for corporate greed.
The arrests of Salvilla, and Paviliar are part of a deliberate and escalating crackdown against progressive development workers, activists, and communities fighting for social justice. The Marcos administration, through the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), continues to weaponize the legal system to silence those who dare to challenge the status quo.
PDG Inc., with its decades-long history of fighting for agrarian reform and sustainable agriculture, including organizing sugar cane workers, has been a consistent target of red-tagging and repression. This includes the brutal extra-judicial killing of its executive director, Atty. Benjamin Ramos Jr., in 2018.
Stop the persecution of development workers! Release all political prisoners!!
Signed by:
- Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)
- National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW)
- IBON Foundation, Inc.
- Cordillera People’s Alliance
- Peace for Life
- National Union of People’s Lawyers
- Council for People’s Development and Governance
- National Council of Churches in the Philippines
- Amihan National Federation of Peasant Women
- Artista ng Rebolusyong Pangkultura (ARPAK)
- Food Sovereignty Alliance , India
- Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)
- National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates Youth (NNARA Youth)
- Sama-samang Artista para sa Kilusang Agraryo (SAKA).
- Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE)
- Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Development Group Incorporated (PDG)
- Aguisan Fisherfolks Association (AFA)
- Barangay Inayawan Small Farmers Association (BISFA)
- Hacienda Paco Farmers and Farm Workers Association (HAPFAFAWA)
- Asosasyon sg Magagmay nga Mangunguma kag Mamumugon sa Barangay Orong (AMMBO)
- Aguisan Purok Sea Side Association (APSA)
- Paghili-usa sg Farm Workers kg Small Fishers nga may Inisyatiba sa Barangay San Juan (PAWIS)
- Kauswagan sang Bino Para sa Buhi kg Hilway nga Palangabuhian (KABUHI-AN)
- Association sang Magagmay nga Mangunguma sang Caningay (AMMSCA)
- Association sang Magagmay nga Mangingisda sa Zone 2 (AIMAZONE 2)
- Hacienda AC Yulo Farmer and Farm Workers Association (HAYFFWA)
- Association sg mga Mangunguma sa No Camingawan (AMMCAO)
- Asosasyon sang Mangunguma kg Mamumugon sa Cantaghap (AMMACAN)
- Katilingban sang Mangunguma kg Mamumugon sa Malasbalas Labamba kg Mindangon (KAMMALIG)
- Paghili-usa sang Magagmay nga mga Mangunguma sa Barangay Salong kg Camansi (PAMANGAS-CA)
- Asosasyon sang Mangunguma kg Mamumugon sa Lupni nga Naga-Updanay (AMMLU)
- San Antoniok Corn Farmers Association (SCOFA)
- Pangabuhian Amligan Teknolohiya Agricultura Gamiton (PATAG)
- Cajel Malipayon Nasuli Integrated Farmers and Workers Association (CAMANAIFAWA)
- Sitio Tuburan Farmers and Farm Workers Community Association (STFFWCA)
- Tataptap Cambugsa Farmers and Farm Workers Association (TACAFFWA)
- Talaptap Small Farmers Association (TASFA)
- Asosasyon sg Mangunguma kg Mangingisda sa Batang (AMMB)
- Buhi nga Aksyon para sa Kauswagan kg Pag-amlig sa Seguridad sg Mangunguma kg Mamumugon (BAKAS)
- Mangingisda sa Labugon Asosasyon (MALA)
- Dancalan Ilog Small Farmers Association (DISFA)
- Paghili-usa sang mga Mangingisda Asosasyon sa Bocana (PAMABO)
- Katilingban sg mga Mangunguma sa Proper Linag-asan (KAMPILAN)
- Caliling Small Agricultural Workers Association (CASAWA)
- Tuyom Small Farmers Association (TUSFA)
- Trankahan Small Farmers Association (TRANSFA)
- Hili-usa sang Magagmay nga Mamumugon sa Geta (HIMAG)
- Transnational Palm Oil Labour Solidarity (TPOLS)
- Gabungan Serikat Buruh Indonesia (GSBI)
- Koalisi Buruh Sawit (KBS – Indonesia)
- Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (AGRA) Indonesia
- Rasamala Hijau Indonesia (RHI)
- SYNAPARCAM (Cameroun)
- Lingkaran Advokasi dan Riset (Link-AR Borneo) Indonesia
- Forum Petani Plasma Buol / FPPB (Sulawesi – Indonesia)
- Jaringan JAGA DECA (Indonesia)
- Lingkar Belajar Perempuan Desa (Sulawesi – Indonesia)
Asia Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (APCHRP) - Quinoa ASBL
- Foundation for Filipino Children (the Netherlands)
- International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Europe
- Charlotte Limborg (Belgium)
- Archbishop emeritus Joris Vercammen (Utrecht – the Netherlands)
- Micheline Bruyninckx (Belgium)
- Ermelinde malcotte (Arlac, Belgium)
- Gabriela Germany (Germany)
- Migrante Germany (Germany)
- International Coalition for Human Rights in The Philippines (ICHRP) – Germany
- ALPAS Pilipinas (Germany)
- Lara Mendoza (Philippine)
- Anakbayan UK
- Food SovereigHaciendanty Alliance , India
- Food Sovereignty Alliance , India
- Food Svereignty Alliance , India
- Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes, Inc.
- Society for Peace and Sustainable Development (SPSD)-Pakistan
- Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders
- Environmental Defenders Congress
- Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines
- Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment
- POSSIBLE FUTURES Decolonial Collective (Global)
- Poros Muda untuk Aksi Bersama (POMANARA) – Indonesia
- PUSAKA Bentala Rakyat – Indonesia
- Sukaar Welfare Organization Pakistan
- Inisiasi Masyarakat Adat (IMA)
- Renuka Kad – India
- Forum Petani Plasma Buol / FPPB (Sulawesi – Indonesia)
- Jaringan JAGA DECA (Indonesia)
- Lingkar Belajar Perempuan Desa (Sulawesi – Indonesia)
- Sabah Plantation Industry Employees Union (SPIEU)
- Herman Veerbeek, Atty at Law, Amsterdam, on behalf of Human Behaviour and the Law (HB&L)
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
- Campaign for Human Rights in the Philippines- UK
- The Labor Union Coalition in Palestine – Agricultural Union
- Coni Ledesma
- Louie Jalandon
- Palangkaraya Ecological and Human Rights Studies (PROGRESS)
- Serikat Buruh Kerakyatan (SERBUK) Komite Wilayah Kalimantan Barat
- Netherlands Philippines Solidarity Movement (NFS)
- Pinay sa Holland – Gabriella
- Tatiana Lukman – The Netherlands
- Bigkis at Lakas ng mga Katutubo sa Timog Katagalugan (BALATIK)
- Annie en Wim van Wijk – The Netherlands
- Migrante Netherlands
- Jacques P In der Maur – The Netherlands
- International Migrants Alliance (IMA) Canada Chapter
- Pieter Bijl – The netherlands
- Dirk van Campenhout – The Netherlands
- Philippine Network of Food Security Programmes, Inc. (PNFSP,Inc.)
- International Community Services vzw, Belgium
- Sr Pat Fox – ACHRP
- Klima Center of Manila Observatory
- Magsasaka at Siyentipiko para sa Pag-unlad ng Agrikultura (MASIPAG)
- PANALIPDAN Mindanao
- Philippines Australia Solidarity Association
- Philippine Caucus for Peace – Australia