IN what has been described as a landmark case, the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) on Thursday said it had secured a court decision ordering the forfeiture of more than half-a-million pesos seized from two known CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army) personalities arrested in Tacloban City on February 7, 2020.

CIDG Director Brigadier General Ronald O. Lee said that a financial investigation conducted by his men on the two accused rebels has resulted in a court victory for the government.

This after Executive Judge Carolina C. Icasiano-Sison of the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 18 last December 7 issued a decision ordering the forfeiture of the P557,360 worth of assets seized from the suspects following a CIDG Region 8 operation triggered by a search warrant issued by Judge Eligio Petilla of the Tacloban City RTC Branch 22.

“We would like to announce that we have scored a landmark case with the civil forfeiture decision issued by Judge Icasiano-Sison, which granted the petition filed by the PNP-CIDG thru the Anti-Money Laundering Council. The decision made the Asset Preservation Order on the amount of P557,360 seized from the respondents permanent. In short, their properties were forfeited in favor of the government,” said Lee.

The CIDG director reported to the PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr. that consistent and accurate testimonies given to the court by members of the CIDG Tacloban City office prompted the court to issue the favorable ruling.

During the conduct of the February 2020 search, CIDG Tacloban City officers recovered two caliber .45 pistols with 14 live ammunition, two hand grenades, and a black box which was found containing money in P1,000 and P500 denominations. The search was done in the presence of two local barangay officials.

The money was placed under the authority and disposal of the AMLC on orders of the Manila City executive judge, who ruled that the “subject funds of respondents… have been found to be related to an unlawful activity and the said respondents failed to adduce evidence to prove otherwise.”

The two were identified as both University of the Philippines-Tacloban products before their arrest. One of the suspects was said to be a “media anchor,” while the other one is a member of the Layco Worker of Rural Missionaries Philippines.

Court records showed that on December 22, 2022, a petition for civil forfeiture was filed by the CIDG thru the AMLC before the Manila RTC Br. 18.

The PNP-CIDG maintained that the P557,360 seized from the two accused “are proceeds of unlawful activity of money-laundering offense,” particularly violations of Sections 4 and 8 of the Republic Act (RA) 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

The AMLC said that on December 5, 2017, then-President Rodrigo R. Duterte issued Proclamation No. 374 declaring the CPP-NPA as a “Designated Identified Terrorist Organization” under RA 10168.

However, the AMLC said that even before such designation, the CPP-NPA had been previously designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United States government and the European Union (EU).

The US government also designated the CPP-NPA as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” on August 2, 2002.

Following the arrest of the two accused during a PNP-CIDG operation, the CIDG requested the AMLC to conduct a financial investigation on various CPP-NPA personalities targeted by the operation.

The CIDG banked on a joint affidavit executed by two NPA surrenderees who tagged the duo as the “finance officers” of human rights group and a progressive party-list who usually met with them during meetings of four other progressive and left-leaning groups.

The two witnesses claimed that in March 2019, they were accompanied by the two suspects in a mountain area in San Andres, Catbalogan City in Samar, where they met with armed NPA members and stayed with the group for a week.

During their meeting, the two testified that they saw the two accused “facilitating the distribution of funds and other logistical supplies such as ammunition to the members of NPA.”

“They also saw the two receiving money from other cadres and recording in a notebook,” the court said.

The CIDG said it has discovered that a group named “People’ Surge” is an alliance of survivors of super typhoon Yolanda organized to seek government support and accountability for Yolanda victims.

It also noted that then-Senator Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson had even accused People Surge of being led by communists.

The CIDG, thru the AMLC, asserted in its petition that “there is no doubt that the respondents are custodians or repositories of funds for the CPP-NPA and there is a high probability that the funds seized from them during their arrest are owned by the CPP-NPA or are intended to be used by the said terrorist organization,” thus the need for them to be forfeited in favor of the State.