The Council for People’s Development and Governance (CPDG) marks the hard-won dismissal of the terrorism financing charges against Jazmin “Minet” Jerusalem by a Regional Trial Court in Tacloban. This was not a matter of routine judicial housekeeping; it was a victory of determined legal resistance against a prosecution that, from the outset, lacked an essential legal foundation.
As argued by her counsel from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), and affirmed by the Court, Jerusalem cannot be prosecuted for an alleged foreign designation that was never duly published as required by Philippine law. Without publication, an indispensable element of the offense is missing.
The Court upheld the Supreme Court’s ruling in Calleja vs. Executive Secretary, affirming that foreign terrorist designations cannot be automatically adopted domestically. Criminal liability cannot rest on secret or imported determinations; this is a constitutional safeguard, not a mere technicality.
The history of this case exposes a disturbing persistence. Initially dismissed by the investigating prosecutor in December 2024, the complaint was revived in January 2025 on reconsideration despite absence of new evidence. That sequence reveals how terror financing charges are often pushed forward for political convenience rather than legal merit.
The legal consequences of this dismissal are decisive. Because the facts charged do not constitute an offense, the prosecution is barred from seeking review or refiling charges based on the same set of facts. Without publication, a conviction would be legally impossible.
This outcome lays bare the broader problem: the weaponization of counter-terrorism frameworks, particularly through the expansive powers exercised by the Anti-Money Laundering Council under the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.
When prosecutions hinge on unpublished foreign listings and speculative associations, the law ceases to protect against genuine acts of terror and becomes an instrument to intimidate development workers and civil society.
But even a dismissal cannot fully erase the chilling effect on organizations and development workers serving marginalized communities. Over the last two years, Jerusalem, her staff and family, including the small businesses her organization bought supplies from – endured frozen resources and reputational damage.
CPDG stands in solidarity with Jerusalem and commends the NUPL National Legal Team for their principled defense. Their work reasserts that development work, humanitarian service, and people-centered advocacy is not terrorism.
This moment must lead to structural change. We call for a comprehensive review of anti-terrorism and terrorism financing laws, strict adherence to due process, and heightened judicial scrutiny over asset freezes and financial surveillance. Beyond winning cases, safeguarding civic spaces demands that no one is again dragged into years of litigation, mental and psychosocial torment, and vilification for an offense that does not, in law or in fact, exist.#