ILOILO City – The tagging of her father as a terrorist has compromised the safety of their family, according to May Wan Dominado.
“It fills me with overwhelming fear,” said the daughter of long-time Ilonggo activist Tomas Dominado Jr. who has been included in the Anti-Terrorism Council’s (ATC) list of 19 individuals it suspected of conspiring and carrying out acts of terrorism.
According to May Wan, the tagging was unfounded and deeply concerning, considering also her mother Luisa’s abduction years back.
Luisa Posa Dominado, also an activist, was a victim of enforced disappearance. She was abducted on April 12, 2007 in Oton, Iloilo during the administration of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Up to now, her whereabouts were unknown.
Tomas and Luisa had been activists since their youth, fighting against and surviving Martial Law of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
They enduring “all kinds of torture and numerous detention,” said May Wan.
“My father specifically has been arrested twice before during the Marcos and Aquino presidencies,” she revealed.
In 2018, Tomas and Luisa were included in the list of more than 600 individuals listed as terrorists in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) proscription petition filed under the Human Security Act in the Manila Regional Trial Court. Their names were later removed in the amended petition.
“I had hoped that it was because the DOJ, upon further ‘investigation’, found that including my mother, who has been missing for 11 years at that time, was ridiculous and exposed the government’s motive in her enforced disappearance, and that they could not find any evidence to support their accusations against my father,” according to May Wan.
The ATC claimed Tomas was affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) which the government has classified a terrorist organization.
“I have been deeply concerned with the passing of the Anti-Terrorism Law last year, certain that it will bring about further violations of human rights and compromise my father and our family’s safety, which will always be my utmost priority,” according to May Wan.
Pointing out the “extrajudicial killings and barbaric attempts on the lives of activists since then, it seems that imprisonment is the best outcome one can hope for,” she added.
When her mother was abducted, according to May Wan, her father agonized over his limited participation in the campaign for her surfacing because he had to ensure his safety, too.
“His recourse against this current designation will be likewise limited, but I am talking to our family, friends and support groups to study all possible productive remedies that we can explore, against an arbitrary and non-transparent designation until once again these suspicions, accusations will be proven to be unfounded,” stated May Wan.
Aside from Tomas, there’s one other Ilonggo that ATC tagged a terrorist – Ma. Concepcion Araneta-Bocala, the Panay-based peace negotiations consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.
On other hand, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Panay decried the ATC’s “terror list.” Deputy spokesperson Bryan Bosque said it was arbitrary and criminalized individuals without due process of law.
The ATC “terror list” resolution did not even cite specific terror acts allegedly committed by the individuals it listed, lacked clear standards and factual basis, Bosque added.
In Resolution No. 17 (2021) released on May 13, the ATC lumped Dominado and Bocala alongside CPP founder Jose Maria “Joma” Sison and wife Julieta Sison and 15 others alleged officials and members of the CPP.
Bosque said the designation completely turned the tables around on judicial proceedings in the Philippines wherein everyone should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
“If they can do this to 19 individuals without presenting concrete bases, then they can almost do it to everyone else,” Bosque said./PN