1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: We've spent more than a year on Drill's Real Free 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:10,160 Speaker 1: Speech Threat Season looking at all the ways environmental protests 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: is being criminalized around the world. We've looked at who's 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: driving that trend, too, from corporate operatives to right wing 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: think tanks. There's another network that's been particularly influential where 6 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,360 Speaker 1: it comes to repressing environmental fights around the globe, the 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: US military and its national security agencies. For a coverage 8 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: of the Copcity protests, I examined how the post nine 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 1: to eleven War on Terror incentivized a crackdown on environmental 10 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: activists who have been labeled eco terrorists and environmental violent extremists. 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: This is not just true in the US. America's approach 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: to terrorism, and the way it's been used to crack 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: down on peaceful protests has spread across the globe. There's 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: one place that really stands out as a clear example, 15 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: the Philippines. The country sits toward the top of lists 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: of dangerous countries for land defenders. People are killed there 17 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: every year for trying to protect the environment. That's because 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: the Filipino government routinely labels political opponents as communist terrorists, 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: which can lead to assassinations, disappearances, and abductions. Indigenous organizers 20 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 1: and environmental activists are often the targets. As I started 21 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: looking into it, a detail caught my eye. In the 22 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: wake of nine to eleven, the UN Security Council essentially 23 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: required that countries pass counter terror laws, and the Philippines 24 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:41,440 Speaker 1: did just that. At the same time, the US offered 25 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: the Philippines military aid to crack down on terror. I 26 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: began to realize that a version of what I documented 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: in the US had also happened in the Philippines. Those 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: policies I had been investigating from thousands of miles away 29 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,559 Speaker 1: were actually rooted right here at home in the US. 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: To understand what was really going on, I decided to 31 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: get to know one of these so called terrorists that's 32 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:10,440 Speaker 1: coming after the break. I'm Alan Brown, and this is Drilled. 33 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 2: I am a Windo la boulnot the chairperson of the 34 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 2: Cordelliera People's Alliance. I am an indigenous Igoru, the collective 35 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:37,239 Speaker 2: word referring to the indigenous peoples here in the Cordillera, 36 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 2: part of Northern Philippines. 37 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: The Cordeliera People's Alliance is one of the most important 38 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:48,080 Speaker 1: indigenous and environmental organizations in the Philippines. They're based in 39 00:02:48,120 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: a part of the archipelago that is defined by lush, 40 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: green mountains that have long been a target for extractive industries. 41 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: It's also a region where indigenous people have long struggled 42 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: for their rights. That makes his homeland a military hotspot too. 43 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: In twenty twenty three, Windel was labeled a terrorists under 44 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: a new terrorism law. But his story began much earlier. 45 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 2: Even during my younger days in my home Bayle Age, 46 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 2: I was witnessed to the ongoing civil war and the 47 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 2: armed conflict. 48 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: At times, the military would take over his school's classrooms. 49 00:03:30,800 --> 00:03:33,200 Speaker 2: We were just kids that time, and we don't know 50 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 2: the serious implications of this, but what we saw the 51 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 2: times that the classrooms that we are supposed to use 52 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 2: are occupied by the Philippine military. So sometimes we heard 53 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 2: that near the rights films or just outside the community, 54 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 2: there are firefights and we really hear the shooting and 55 00:03:58,840 --> 00:03:59,280 Speaker 2: the guns. 56 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: It was a stark contrast to what Wendell was learning 57 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: outside the classroom. 58 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 3: I grew up in an indigenous village. 59 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 2: It was a difficult life, a difficult life, but meaningful. 60 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 2: I attended the activities that boys in our villages do 61 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 2: help with my parents in our economic and home activities, 62 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 2: join my parents in plowing the fields, planting and harvesting 63 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:34,960 Speaker 2: rice vegetables. 64 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 3: Gathering firewood from the forest. 65 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 2: During Saturdays and Sundays, when there's no classes, I attend. 66 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 3: To the what do you call this? You know, we 67 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 3: have this author or. 68 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 2: Which is the political and socio cultural center of the village, 69 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 2: and this is led and governed by the Council of elders. 70 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 2: And as indigenous boys, we are there to listen to 71 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 2: stories with the elders, slip there and there we learn 72 00:05:07,839 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 2: the affairs of the communities. I really realized from those 73 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:21,120 Speaker 2: childhood the teachings that land is life for indigenous peoples. 74 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 2: In our ancestral land, in our ancestral domain, that's where 75 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: we stay, that's where we're born, that's where we live 76 00:05:28,440 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 2: and die. And this has been defended and nurtured by 77 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 2: our ancestors. Those teachings are very valuable and meaningful, and 78 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 2: it has to be passed on also for future generations. 79 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:49,000 Speaker 1: Window's earliest involvement in protest was less about protecting the 80 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: environment and more about fighting the militarization of his community. 81 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,760 Speaker 1: So he would soon find that the two went hand 82 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: in hand. 83 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:00,400 Speaker 3: Inside and to us. 84 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 2: One kid was killed when a soldiers fired and killed 85 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 2: due civilian a child. When there was a protest, Lali 86 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 2: organized I joined. 87 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: Many people outside the Philippines are unaware that the country 88 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: has been embroiled in a civil conflict for more than 89 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: fifty years. It began during the Cold War under the 90 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: brutal dictatorship of Ferdinand Marco's senior. To understand what happened, 91 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: it's useful to look at how the Philippines came to 92 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: have a special relationship with the USA. Jason Lambcheck, a 93 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: Filipino research fellow at Deacon University in Melbourne who has 94 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: researched human rights and counter terrorism in the Philippines, walked 95 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: me through it. 96 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 4: After becoming free from Spain and the Americans game through 97 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 4: the Philippines and colonized the Philippines until World War Two, 98 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 4: and after that we became him officially an independent country, 99 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 4: but we maintained so called special relationship with the United States. 100 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 4: For example, we hosted American basis in the Philippines for 101 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 4: a long time. We were like Cold War allies in 102 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 4: that region. All of our governments were like rabbid anti 103 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 4: communist governments supporting the United States in the region. 104 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: The most infamous of these rabbid anti communist governments was 105 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: led by Marcos. 106 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 4: As you know, you may know, we had like a 107 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,559 Speaker 4: twenty plus year period in which we only had one 108 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 4: president who sort of was the law of the land. 109 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,679 Speaker 4: He was a dictator, so there was not much room 110 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 4: for resisting the regime through open, you know, political contestations 111 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 4: such as true elections, and so a lot of people, 112 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 4: you know, I thought it was illogical to resist the 113 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 4: Marcus regime true armed resistance, and that's why you have 114 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 4: the NBA and the CPP. The CPP stands for Communist 115 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:17,160 Speaker 4: Party of the Philippines, and it has an armed wing 116 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 4: called the New People's Army, and they arose in the 117 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 4: nineteen sixties in resistance to the Marcus dictatorship. 118 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,239 Speaker 1: Years of martial law and human rights violations didn't stop 119 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:34,079 Speaker 1: the US government from providing hundreds of millions of dollars 120 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 1: in aid to the Marcos government. The dictator was seen 121 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,600 Speaker 1: as a strategic ally and fighting communism in the region. 122 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: It was during these same years that the Filipino environmental 123 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: movement was born. So right from the beginning the easiest 124 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: way to undermine it was to paint it communist red. 125 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: One of the biggest environmental battles in the Philippines during 126 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: those years was the fight the Cordeliera people put up 127 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: again the Chico River dam project. 128 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:06,960 Speaker 2: The Cordelliera peoples were threatened with the building of big 129 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 2: hydropower dams under the dictator Marcos, whose son now the 130 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:17,080 Speaker 2: junior is now the president. Unfortunately, that was to be 131 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 2: funded by the World Bank. If the project was not 132 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 2: a successfully stopped, then it would have displaced around the 133 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,080 Speaker 2: one hundred thousand people along the Chico River. 134 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:36,199 Speaker 1: The indigenous people of the Cordelier region organized the obstructed construction, 135 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: participated in acts of sabotage, and were at times joined 136 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: by armed members of the New People's Army. The dam 137 00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: project was never completed, however. One of the leaders of 138 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: the resistance to the dams, machli In Dulag, was shot 139 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: and killed in his home in nineteen eighty and remains 140 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,839 Speaker 1: a symbol of the indigenous and environmental movement in the Philippines. 141 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:05,200 Speaker 2: Historic and brave resistance of these communities in the face 142 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:10,959 Speaker 2: of Martialllow was really inspiring. I learned that it's really 143 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 2: their right to defend and it was a just cause 144 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 2: to resist. 145 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: The Chico River Dam wouldn't be the last project the 146 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: Cordeliera people would fight on their land. 147 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:31,440 Speaker 2: The Cordillera is targeted again of several big mining projects 148 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 2: by local and foreign corporations, big hydro power dump projectstermal 149 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 2: geothermal power projects with milk or with farm projects again 150 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 2: to provide energy, when in fact the ordeal is already 151 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,440 Speaker 2: host to several big dumb projects. So we are not 152 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,680 Speaker 2: taking this sitting down. It is our collective obligation to 153 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 2: defend and nurtured the environment for the future nations. It 154 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 2: is in indigenous communities where you can find biodiversity, the 155 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 2: remaining rich forests and the environment, because we have always 156 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:11,600 Speaker 2: believed that land is life and the land should not 157 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 2: be endangered for the sake of profit, because that's not 158 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:21,000 Speaker 2: how indigenous peoples look at land in resources. 159 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: When he left college in nineteen ninety six, Windows started 160 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: working for the Cordelier People's Alliance, which grew out of 161 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: the fight against the Chico River Dam. 162 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 2: We do barricades to prevent the equipments of these companies 163 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 2: to come inside. We bardicade to prevent them from operations. 164 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 2: We organize mass mobilizations and protest actions. We engage international 165 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 2: governmental bodies as the United Nations. But most important is 166 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:59,000 Speaker 2: community organizing, and not just the organizing of affected communities, 167 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 2: but also so the different sectors of youth, women, farmers, 168 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 2: and even the elders. 169 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:10,880 Speaker 1: Unlike some of the Chico River Dam activists, the land 170 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: defenders with the Cordelier People's Alliance are not armed, but 171 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: those opposing their work are. Wendell couldn't have known when 172 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: he began this work what he would face in the 173 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: years ahead. The Filipino government branded Windel an armed communist. 174 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:29,719 Speaker 1: They charged him with murder, They put him on a 175 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:35,360 Speaker 1: hit list. Most recently, they officially labeled him a terrorist. 176 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 2: Several of my colleagues in CPA have been killed by 177 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 2: state forces, abducted, and several of them are not yet 178 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 2: surfaced until now illegally detained because of what we do. 179 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:55,679 Speaker 1: About two hundred and ten landed environmental defenders were killed 180 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:00,960 Speaker 1: in the Philippines between twenty fourteen and twenty twenty four alone. 181 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: There's evidence of state involvement in one hundred and nine 182 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: of those cases. According to a recent investigation by in 183 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 1: These Times magazine. Wendell joined the CPA at a turning 184 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: point for Filipino environmental defenders. A few years after he 185 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: was hired, Global events would provide the Filipino government with 186 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: a cover to pursue him as a terrorist. 187 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 5: Every nation in every region now has a decision to 188 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:37,000 Speaker 5: make either you are with us or you are with 189 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 5: the terrorists. 190 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,840 Speaker 1: A little over a week after nine to eleven, US 191 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,080 Speaker 1: President George Bush gave a speech to Congress launching what 192 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 1: would become known as the Global War on Terror. 193 00:13:50,920 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 5: From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor 194 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 5: or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States 195 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 5: is a hostile regime. Our nation has been put on notice. 196 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 5: We're not immune from attack. We will take defensive measures 197 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 5: against terrorism to protect Americans today, dozens of federal departments 198 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 5: and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have 199 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:24,400 Speaker 5: responsibilities affecting home land security. These efforts must be coordinated 200 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 5: at the highest level, So tonight I announced the creation 201 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 5: of a cabinet level position reporting directly to me the 202 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 5: Office of Homeland Security, and tonight I also announced that 203 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 5: distinguished American to lead this effort. 204 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 1: It's difficult to overstate the role of the US led 205 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:47,000 Speaker 1: a global war on terror in the global criminalization of 206 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:51,280 Speaker 1: land defenders. In the US, corporations had spent the nineteen 207 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: nineties trying to get police to pursue eco saboteurs as terrorists. 208 00:14:56,560 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: After nine to eleven, their wishes were granted. Across the US. 209 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: Facilities called fusion centers popped up in state after state, 210 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: Operating under the newly created Department of Homeland Security. They 211 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: brought together national security officials and local and federal law 212 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:19,160 Speaker 1: enforcement to surveil environmental activists. The agency developed a whole 213 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: language for classifying activists that damaged property as domestic terrorists 214 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: or environmental violent extremists. At the same time, new law 215 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,320 Speaker 1: enforcement resources and incentives encouraged policing of those activities, and 216 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:37,400 Speaker 1: new penalties like the Terrorism Sentencing Enhancement meant they faced 217 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:42,720 Speaker 1: even more severe punishments then. Soldiers trained in counterinsurgency during 218 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: the US anti terror wars in Afghanistan and Iraq brought 219 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: wartime tactics into private security companies hired by corporations to 220 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: protect everything from factory farms to pipelines. Nearly twenty five 221 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: year years after nine to eleven, the US government's aggressive 222 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: push for a crackdown on terrorism continues to play an 223 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: indelible role in US struggles for land and water. In 224 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: the rest of the world. A similar pattern played out, 225 00:16:14,720 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: driven by US foreign policy as. 226 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,000 Speaker 6: The ash was smoldering, as the Twin Towers had fallen. 227 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 6: Security Council meets and in that first month they create 228 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:32,400 Speaker 6: a new resolution UN Security Council Resolution thirteen seventy three. 229 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 7: We have adopted a very ambitious, comprehensive strategy to find 230 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 7: theorism in all its form throughout the world. 231 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 6: The meeting is a job, but there's no agreed definition 232 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 6: of terrorism. So each state essentially has got to define 233 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 6: what terrorism is on its own terms. And the absence 234 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 6: of a common definition has meant that there's been this 235 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 6: real ripeness for abuse. 236 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: That was Finula Nieline, the recently departed UN Special Rapperture 237 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights, speaking in a short 238 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:11,639 Speaker 1: UN documentary. 239 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 6: States get to define whomever they like as a terrorist 240 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 6: with almost no consequence at the domestic level. And so 241 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 6: what we're seeing around the globe is the imprisonment of 242 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 6: civil society. Actor we're seeing direct targeting. In some cases, 243 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 6: they're killing by the permissive framework of counter terrorism. 244 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: The documentary was made to go with a damning report 245 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: that was released in twenty twenty three on the impact 246 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,560 Speaker 1: for human rights defenders of over twenty years of counter 247 00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: terror efforts. The report underlined that in every region of 248 00:17:45,160 --> 00:17:49,040 Speaker 1: the world, defenders are targeted with legislation and other measures 249 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: purportedly designed to counter terrorism. The United States drafted that 250 00:17:53,760 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: United Nations resolution that she mentioned. The US also pushed 251 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:04,720 Speaker 1: another international body, called the Financial Action Task Force, to 252 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,720 Speaker 1: create new standards meant to prevent terrorism funding. The Task 253 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:13,600 Speaker 1: Force explicitly called on governments to ensure that nonprofit organizations 254 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:18,399 Speaker 1: cannot be misused to finance terrorism. It encouraged countries to 255 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:24,240 Speaker 1: pass laws freezing accounts linked to terrorism. A complex architecture 256 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: of international anti terrorism institutions and policies was being constructed, 257 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:35,880 Speaker 1: and it continues to justify repressive measures today. Here's Jason 258 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: from Deacon University again. 259 00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:41,639 Speaker 4: The legacy of the warrant there in the Philippines, you know, 260 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 4: is really profound. When the war error started at the 261 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,160 Speaker 4: Philippine government was one of the first to sign up 262 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,200 Speaker 4: to the so called Coalition of the Willing President Arroya. 263 00:18:54,320 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 4: Then I saw that as an opportunity to reignite military 264 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 4: relations with the United States. The Communists were in peacetocks 265 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,880 Speaker 4: with the Philippine government, but that broke down because eventually 266 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 4: the nits the States tagged the cpp NPA as therorists. 267 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 4: The Philippine government recast not the way it saw these 268 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 4: centers first armed the centers armed groups who were you know, 269 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:28,959 Speaker 4: locked in arms struggled with the Philippine government as terrorists. 270 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 4: So at first it was just the Abusa group which 271 00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:37,480 Speaker 4: was which was sort of like this kidnapper ransom group, 272 00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:41,840 Speaker 4: which was also engaged in bombings, and then eventually the 273 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 4: leftist the communists, so the National Democratic Front, the new 274 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 4: People's arm in the Communist Party if the Philippines were 275 00:19:50,760 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 4: branded as therorists. And then besides these groups who are 276 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,680 Speaker 4: engaged in armed conflict with the government, people who were 277 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:08,440 Speaker 4: engaged in peacepool dissent, such as the above ground leftist 278 00:20:08,560 --> 00:20:13,120 Speaker 4: organizations who were ideologically aligned in the Communist Party but 279 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:19,840 Speaker 4: not organizationally aligned, were also considered part of this so 280 00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 4: called communist terrorist movement, just. 281 00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: As it had in the US, in the Philippines, this 282 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:32,200 Speaker 1: new approach to terrorism meant a massive expansion of who 283 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: was considered a terrorist. 284 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,440 Speaker 4: Above ground activists have always been sort of like fair game, 285 00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:42,959 Speaker 4: but with the War on Terror, you also had an 286 00:20:43,040 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 4: added dimension that this was all sort of like legitimate 287 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:52,400 Speaker 4: from an international point of view, because, as you know, 288 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 4: the United States also engaged in a diplomatic slash legal campaign. 289 00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 4: The notion of countering terrorism became sort of like an 290 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:07,760 Speaker 4: international obligation on everyone. 291 00:21:08,119 --> 00:21:12,720 Speaker 1: Right in the midst of the Filipino government newly revamped 292 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: counterinsurgency crackdown, Windle got his first serious taste of repression. 293 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:22,119 Speaker 2: In two thousand and six, my name appeared in a 294 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 2: military hit list. This military hit list was a list 295 00:21:26,640 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 2: of some leaders of CPA and the Cordella People's Movement 296 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 2: targeted for assassination, and some of my colleagues who were 297 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:42,960 Speaker 2: in that list were killed. For example, Marcus Bangitt, one 298 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:47,480 Speaker 2: of my colleagues in CIPA, was killed in June two 299 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,880 Speaker 2: thousand and six in front of his son when they 300 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:57,160 Speaker 2: were bound from Tabuk to Baggio and accompany his son 301 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 2: supposedly to enroll in tali Age, but. 302 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,280 Speaker 3: When the bus stopped for the passengers. 303 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 2: To rest and eat, a military assasin fired several shots 304 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 2: against Marcus Bangit. 305 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 3: I was afraid. 306 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 2: The normal and expected reaction was we fear for our security, 307 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 2: and not just us individually, but also our family and 308 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 2: colleagues in the organization as a whole. 309 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: We knows of the killings and threats. Made him seriously 310 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,400 Speaker 1: consider stepping away from his activism. 311 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 3: Of course, to. 312 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 2: Be honest about it, because I have four children, I 313 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 2: have a wife, I have siblings and parents, and my 314 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:53,399 Speaker 2: parents advised me, why don't you just stop before being 315 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:59,479 Speaker 2: killed like your colleagues, because the killings and abjuccess are 316 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 2: really high opining. It's not just a public statement of 317 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:10,480 Speaker 2: the state. The reign of peror is really there. Yeah, 318 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:17,440 Speaker 2: but I resolved to myself that this is precisely why 319 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 2: they are doing this, to stop us from what we 320 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:28,400 Speaker 2: are doing, to silence us from the cause we are advancing, 321 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 2: and we should not allow what they want. 322 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:33,920 Speaker 1: It is. 323 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 2: A difficult process that I really have to process within myself, 324 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:44,320 Speaker 2: my family and convince my siblings and of course my parents. 325 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: Amid growing anxiety among environmental and human rights defenders, and 326 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,960 Speaker 1: with encouragement from the US government, the Philippines passed a 327 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: new anti terrorism law, the Human Security Act of two 328 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: thousand and seven. It would soon be followed by a 329 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,360 Speaker 1: terrorism financing law in twenty twelve. The legal foundations were 330 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:12,360 Speaker 1: being laid to formalize repression against government dissenters like Windel. 331 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 2: The role of the US in this so called counter 332 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,760 Speaker 2: terror legislations is clear. 333 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 3: So the US is also to. 334 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:28,080 Speaker 2: Be blamed about the impacts of this so called terror 335 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 2: laws in committing serious and widespread violations of human rights 336 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 2: and international humanitarian law in the Philippines. And that is 337 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 2: happening now, and that is even happening to me. 338 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 1: You'd think being put on a military hit list would 339 00:24:50,440 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: be about as bad as government repression gets. But more 340 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: than a decade later, under the authoritarian leadership of President 341 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: Rodrigo Duterte, things not even worse for Filipino land defenders. 342 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: In twenty eighteen, du Tert's Department of Justice filed a 343 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 1: petition declaring over six hundred people terrorists under the Human 344 00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: Security Act. The list included not only Wendel, but also 345 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: the UN Special Rappertoire on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 346 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,360 Speaker 1: Victoria Taui Corpus, as well as several former Catholic priests 347 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:32,520 Speaker 1: and a former lawmaker. The court was unconvinced, and several names, 348 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:37,080 Speaker 1: including Windells, were dropped, But the Duterte administration didn't give up. 349 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:41,400 Speaker 1: They started passing more severe laws and policies. First, there 350 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,199 Speaker 1: was Executive Order seventy in twenty eighteen, which introduced a 351 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:49,160 Speaker 1: so called whole of nation approach to crushing the perceived 352 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:53,359 Speaker 1: communist resistance movement in the country. The order established the 353 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a 354 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: body that now routinely labels Induvadi jewels and groups as communists. 355 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: This is the practice I mentioned before. It's called red tagging, 356 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 1: and the country's environmental movement is often the target. Then 357 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,120 Speaker 1: the pandemic hit. The new crisis provided to Terairt's government 358 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 1: an opportunity to hit land defenders harder than Windell had 359 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:20,400 Speaker 1: seen in his lifetime. 360 00:26:23,040 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 2: We mobilized distributing medicines, medical equipment against COVID, distributing rice 361 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 2: supplies and groceries because during that time, the economic impact 362 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 2: of pandemic was really hard, especially to the poor people 363 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:43,120 Speaker 2: and indigenous peoples. 364 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,359 Speaker 1: At the same time, Wendell and his family began experiencing 365 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 1: escalating attacks. In April twenty twenty, photos of his children 366 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,400 Speaker 1: in indigenous attire began circulating on Facebook. 367 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 2: Then made a layout like a collad then posted it 368 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,719 Speaker 2: stating that these are the children of an in pay 369 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:09,920 Speaker 2: of a terrorist like that, and that time my youngest 370 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,119 Speaker 2: was still a minor sixteen years. All that time, he 371 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 2: received some bad messages in his messenger, of course, being 372 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 2: tagged or branded a son of an m pay, son 373 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:25,960 Speaker 2: of a terrorist, and being. 374 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 3: Just a kid. 375 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,960 Speaker 2: He does not know how to respond to that, or 376 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 2: he does not know anything about that, but he knows 377 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:38,679 Speaker 2: that he's being bullied or being persecuted, and sometimes he 378 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 2: will just cry, and it was really traumatic for him. 379 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 2: This all happened at a time that our movements are restricted. 380 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 2: The state forces are are the ones free rooming around, 381 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 2: and they are more in control because they have weaponized 382 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 2: the pandemic for state prosecution against activists like us. 383 00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,119 Speaker 1: Then, in December twenty twenty, someone who worked with the 384 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: government leaked some disturbing news to Windle. 385 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 2: I was surprised and shocked to learn that I was 386 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:19,720 Speaker 2: charged with murder along with several people in a regional 387 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 2: trial court in Tagum City in Dabou del Norti, which 388 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,399 Speaker 2: I have never been to in my entire life, so 389 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:33,680 Speaker 2: I have to go for a sanctuary away from my family. 390 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:39,000 Speaker 2: So during the Christmas break and the new year of 391 00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 2: twenty twenty one, I was away from my colleagues's family. 392 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: With Window and hiding. The chief of the Philippines National 393 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: Police publicly issued a shoot kill order against Windle. They 394 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: hung a wanted poster near Window's home featuring his photo 395 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:58,600 Speaker 1: and a bounty, so it. 396 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 2: Was really deleted to bareify me and even to terrorize 397 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 2: my neighbors. 398 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 3: That I am a terrorist. I am a one ped 399 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:08,520 Speaker 3: you know that. 400 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: July, the charges were simply dismissed, but de Terte's onslaught continued. 401 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: His administration pushed through yet another terrorism law, the Anti 402 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,560 Speaker 1: Terrorism Act, which would allow yet another panel of government officials, 403 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: known as the Anti Terrorism Council, to designate people as terrorists. 404 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: This time, Australia provided technical assistance in drafting the revamped 405 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: anti terrorism law. They knew full well that it would 406 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:46,040 Speaker 1: be administered by a government that was internationally infamous for 407 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:50,920 Speaker 1: its human rights violations. The international pressure to crack down 408 00:29:50,960 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: on so called terrorism continued to In twenty twenty one, 409 00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: the Financial Action Task Force put the Philippines on its 410 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,520 Speaker 1: so called gray list and encourage the country to prosecute 411 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 1: more terrorism financing cases. Here's Jason from taking university again. 412 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:11,719 Speaker 4: So these legal developments in the Philippines attest to the 413 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:18,480 Speaker 4: fact that the pressure from outside from the US, the 414 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 4: UN Security Council, and all the other countries have been 415 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 4: supporting this conti terrorism agenda has been persistent, and so 416 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 4: I characterize this pressure as like ritualistic. The international actors 417 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 4: who are pushing the conter terrorism agenda in the Philippines, 418 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:46,000 Speaker 4: they're so obsessed with trying to update our counter terrorism 419 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:50,280 Speaker 4: laws to tend to be consistent with the latest US 420 00:30:50,320 --> 00:30:56,040 Speaker 4: security standards, without considering now the politics of terrorism in 421 00:30:56,080 --> 00:31:02,160 Speaker 4: the Philippines. So people sometimes think that the Anti Terrorism 422 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 4: Law is a good thing because you have a legal 423 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:11,680 Speaker 4: framework which limits how government exercises its power when conducting 424 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 4: county terrorism. Right, But that's not how it works in 425 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 4: the Philippines. 426 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,360 Speaker 1: Windows organizations fought the Anti Terrorism Law all the way 427 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: up to the Supreme Court, but the court upheld most 428 00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: of the laws provisions. The Chairite left office in twenty 429 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:31,040 Speaker 1: twenty two, so it was up to a new president 430 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: to roll out the Anti Terrorism Act. The new president 431 00:31:34,800 --> 00:31:39,600 Speaker 1: had a familiar name, Ferdinand Marcos Junior, the son of 432 00:31:39,640 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 1: the former dictator. 433 00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 2: We campaigned against him, but unfortunately he became the president 434 00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:52,000 Speaker 2: and the policies of the previous thirty administration, especially the 435 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 2: bladish human rights record, remains to be the same. Under 436 00:31:57,200 --> 00:32:05,520 Speaker 2: Marcus Junior administration, the militarization and red bagging against activists 437 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,880 Speaker 2: continued the same, and it's a non stuck, which is 438 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:14,920 Speaker 2: why we see that Marcos Juniors administration is practically the 439 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,200 Speaker 2: same as his father's administration. 440 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:22,920 Speaker 1: In the summer of twenty twenty three, as Windell was 441 00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: getting ready to go into the office, he got a 442 00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:29,000 Speaker 1: message from one of his colleagues. They had just read 443 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:32,160 Speaker 1: in the newspaper that a month earlier, the Anti Terrorism 444 00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: Council had officially labeled Windele and four of his colleagues terrorists. 445 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: Just as he had predicted, the new terror law was 446 00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:45,800 Speaker 1: now being aimed directly at land defenders. It was deja vu, 447 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,480 Speaker 1: the same old tactics being used by a new administration 448 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:50,920 Speaker 1: using the new law. 449 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 2: I am a civilian, I am an activist, not armed, 450 00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 2: and I am not a fist. 451 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: When a member of the Cordeliera People's a Line went 452 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:02,640 Speaker 1: to the bank. They were handed a letter from the 453 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: Anti Money Laundering Council. It noted Wendell's terrorism designation. His 454 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:10,920 Speaker 1: organization's bank account was now frozen. 455 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,960 Speaker 2: It was me who was designated. Say it was not 456 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 2: SPA or the organization who was designated. But why is 457 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:22,600 Speaker 2: it that the account of the organization of cp was frozen. 458 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:24,240 Speaker 3: It was not CPA. 459 00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:28,200 Speaker 2: Just because I am the chair person does not mean 460 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:31,000 Speaker 2: that I control and own CPAY and own these accounts. 461 00:33:31,960 --> 00:33:35,120 Speaker 1: The appeal to the Anti Terrorism Council to delist Windell 462 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:39,080 Speaker 1: and his colleagues, but they were denied and since then 463 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:42,640 Speaker 1: Wendell has been forced to live with this latest attempt 464 00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: to silence him. The Philippines Department of Justice did not 465 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: respond to questions from Drilled about the designation. 466 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:56,600 Speaker 2: Me as an individual needs to survive on a daily basis, 467 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 2: the modest the allowance I from CPA has been stopped 468 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:08,160 Speaker 2: when the CPE account was frozen. That other three colleagues, 469 00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 2: they also have their own family, They have needs of 470 00:34:11,719 --> 00:34:19,800 Speaker 2: their children. These are greatly affected. So practically killing me softly? 471 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:25,160 Speaker 2: You know, how should our family survive? How an organization survive? 472 00:34:25,640 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 2: And the communities who are dependent on the services being 473 00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:31,080 Speaker 2: supported by these projects. 474 00:34:32,520 --> 00:34:35,279 Speaker 1: In addition to the freezing of the bank accounts, the 475 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:39,040 Speaker 1: designation also means Windle could be arrested at any time 476 00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: and detained for up to twenty four days with no warrant. 477 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:49,759 Speaker 1: Another effect of the designation legal surveillance. 478 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,600 Speaker 3: Of course we knew that even before we were designated, 479 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:55,279 Speaker 3: we have been under surveillance. 480 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, but this time it is legal, and so perhaps 481 00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 2: when we are doing this interview they can be listening legally. 482 00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: Of even greater concern is the looming threat to windles 483 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:12,800 Speaker 1: family safety. 484 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:19,160 Speaker 2: To be declared or designated as a therorist. It's already 485 00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 2: practically towards a dead sentence. Oh your children are Oh 486 00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:29,439 Speaker 2: that's a children of a terrorist. Or your wife, Oh 487 00:35:29,480 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 2: that's a husband of a terrorist. Or your communities, those 488 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 2: are terrorists. 489 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 1: His experience isn't isolated. Around the world, anti terrorism laws 490 00:35:40,719 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: and counter terrorism efforts have had serious consequences for land defenders. 491 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:49,680 Speaker 1: For example, the Financial Action Task Force pressured India to 492 00:35:49,760 --> 00:35:53,600 Speaker 1: comply with its Post nine to eleven standard on monitoring nonprofits. 493 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:57,759 Speaker 1: So India introduced or updated multiple laws, such as the 494 00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:02,120 Speaker 1: Foreign Contribution Regulation Act or VICRA that it now routinely 495 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:07,239 Speaker 1: uses to attack nonprofits and freeze their accounts. In Algeria, 496 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,719 Speaker 1: an anti fracking protester was sentenced to prison time for 497 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: glorification of terrorism over a Facebook post. Chile has repeatedly 498 00:36:16,680 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: used its anti terrorism law to go after indigenous Mapuch people. 499 00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:24,520 Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, France was home to the climate conference 500 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: that generated the foundational, if flawed, Paris Agreement. In the 501 00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:31,720 Speaker 1: middle of it all, the French government declared an anti 502 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:36,879 Speaker 1: terrorism state of emergency, curtailing climate protests and placing two 503 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:43,600 Speaker 1: dozen activists under house arrest. Outside the legal system, environmental 504 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: defenders are routinely slandered as terrorists by industry groups, right 505 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:52,360 Speaker 1: wing news outlets, and government officials too. It would be 506 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:55,560 Speaker 1: an oversimplification to claim that all of this was because 507 00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:59,040 Speaker 1: of US War on Terror pressure, but Bush's addressed to 508 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,080 Speaker 1: Congress and everything that came after it sent a clear 509 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 1: message anything called terrorism must be crushed. 510 00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:09,680 Speaker 4: Warrant there in the Philippines may have had a life 511 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,560 Speaker 4: of its own, may have merged with the phenomena, but 512 00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 4: the United States and other countries have ignored how the 513 00:37:18,120 --> 00:37:21,200 Speaker 4: counter terrorism agenda has played out in the Philippines, and 514 00:37:21,239 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 4: they have been pushing, pushing, and pushing the Philippines to 515 00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:31,279 Speaker 4: enact this and that revision to the counter terrorism law, 516 00:37:31,360 --> 00:37:36,800 Speaker 4: as if counterterrorism is something that you can do without 517 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 4: any nasty political consequences. 518 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 1: There are mechanisms the US government could use to prevent 519 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,440 Speaker 1: abuses of environmental activists in the Philippines. According to the 520 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: Lakey Law, it's illegal for the US to provide funds 521 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: to a foreign security force if there's evidence that they've 522 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: been involved in gross violations of human rights. However, the 523 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:01,120 Speaker 1: law hasn't slowed the flow of you arms and training 524 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 1: into the Philippines. Marcos happens to be a major national 525 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,000 Speaker 1: security ally of the United States. With the Philippines increasingly 526 00:38:09,080 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: viewed as a bulwark against China, the US has poured 527 00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:16,399 Speaker 1: military aid into the country. In July twenty twenty four, 528 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 1: for example, US officials announced half a billion dollars in 529 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,799 Speaker 1: new military funding for the Philippines. For its part, the 530 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,520 Speaker 1: Philippines is allowing the US new access to military bases. 531 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 2: The role of the US is very clear, not just 532 00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 2: its support to the Israeli genocide in Palestine, but also 533 00:38:36,680 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 2: supporting the Philippine government and the armed forces of the 534 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:45,799 Speaker 2: Philippines and the so called anti terrorism encounter insurgency, but 535 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:52,240 Speaker 2: it is resulting in bloody human rights violations against the people. 536 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:00,719 Speaker 1: Marcos and the US have made it to give all 537 00:39:00,719 --> 00:39:04,440 Speaker 1: this a green veneer. The Filipino president has claimed that 538 00:39:04,520 --> 00:39:07,400 Speaker 1: his decision to give the US access to more military 539 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,120 Speaker 1: bases was not actually because of China. 540 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:16,520 Speaker 8: It was really because of the effects of climate change 541 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:22,200 Speaker 8: and the increasing instances of disasters in the Philippines. 542 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:25,400 Speaker 1: Marcos claimed that the bases would make it easier for 543 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:27,920 Speaker 1: the US to provide disaster relief in the wake of 544 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:32,600 Speaker 1: increasingly severe typhoons. The US, on the other hand, has 545 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:36,120 Speaker 1: promised to support the Filipino government in its exploitation of 546 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:40,120 Speaker 1: so called critical minerals like nickel that are needed to 547 00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:46,240 Speaker 1: build renewable energy infrastructure and manufacture batteries. Filipino environmental defenders 548 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,480 Speaker 1: are concerned that the transition away from the fossil fuel 549 00:39:49,480 --> 00:39:55,840 Speaker 1: industry will be made at their expense. Wendel and the 550 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,759 Speaker 1: CPA are fighting back against his terrorism charges. They file 551 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:04,080 Speaker 1: the lo lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the anti terrorism law, 552 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:07,400 Speaker 1: but the relentless cycle of attacks has continued. 553 00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,760 Speaker 2: Just three days ago or four days ago, my name 554 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:18,360 Speaker 2: again and my photo, my picture with some of my 555 00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:23,560 Speaker 2: colleagues in CPA was again included in a big tarpaulin 556 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:31,240 Speaker 2: which contaigns alleged leaders and members of the cppn PA 557 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 2: in the Locals Cordellera region. 558 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,440 Speaker 1: The poster, which was also presented at a local village assembly, 559 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 1: included windows home address and instructed community members to contact 560 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,920 Speaker 1: the military with any information about his whereabouts. 561 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:53,080 Speaker 2: I'm not hiding otherwise I otherwise I will not behaving 562 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,920 Speaker 2: this online interview with you. They know my address, they 563 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:59,319 Speaker 2: know my home address, they know our office address, then 564 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:04,080 Speaker 2: they can just cut right. Their aim is really to 565 00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:11,880 Speaker 2: demonize us and set the political terrain for our neutralization. 566 00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:19,200 Speaker 2: This is not really about terrorism. It is about killing democracy, 567 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:21,279 Speaker 2: killing civilians. 568 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,480 Speaker 3: It's really to protect. 569 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:34,080 Speaker 2: The power and the businesses by criminalizing, and the terror 570 00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:39,800 Speaker 2: is stagging indigenous people's struggles like what we do here 571 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:45,319 Speaker 2: in the cordell Era. The impact is so devastating, but 572 00:41:45,640 --> 00:41:46,840 Speaker 2: that's part of the struggle. 573 00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:49,920 Speaker 3: I continue to convince myself about that. 574 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:59,080 Speaker 1: Drilled is an original Critical Frequency production. This episode was 575 00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:02,439 Speaker 1: reported and written by me Allen Brown. I was also 576 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:05,560 Speaker 1: the senior editor for Our Real free Speech threat series. 577 00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:08,080 Speaker 3: Our senior producer is montez Altz. 578 00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:11,319 Speaker 2: Last week, Martin also did the sound design, scoring and 579 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:12,560 Speaker 2: composed much of our music. 580 00:42:13,160 --> 00:42:16,200 Speaker 1: Editing is Sarah Ventry, Mixing and mastering by Peter. 581 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:18,680 Speaker 3: Duff, fact checking by Wooden Jan. 582 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:23,240 Speaker 1: Our artwork was created by Matt Fleming. Our First Amendment 583 00:42:23,280 --> 00:42:27,560 Speaker 1: attorney is James Sweeton. Our theme song is Bird in 584 00:42:27,600 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 1: the Hand by a Forenown. The show was created and 585 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:34,680 Speaker 1: executive produced by Amy Westervelt. You can find more episodes 586 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,080 Speaker 1: from this season, as well as several print stories on 587 00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,479 Speaker 1: our website at Drill dot media. To support our work 588 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: or sign up for our weekly newsletter, visit patreon dot 589 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 1: com slash drilled. Thanks for listening. Make sure you're subscribed 590 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,600 Speaker 1: so you don't miss our next season. About yet another 591 00:42:50,719 --> 00:42:54,479 Speaker 1: chapter in the repression of environmental protest, the year's long 592 00:42:54,560 --> 00:43:02,040 Speaker 1: reaction to the Standing Rock protests, chan 593 00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:10,280 Speaker 6: And change