• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Human rights group leader Felipe Levy Gelle has been locked up in jail after he was arrested by the police for alleged violation of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 on June 24.
The warrant was served by operatives of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to Gelle in Barangay Villamonte, Bacolod City.
Iloilo Regional Trial Court Judge Cyril Regalado has recommended a bail of P200,000 for the provisional liberty of Gelle, a volunteer of the Human Rights Advocates of Negros.
Gelle is detained at the CIDG-Negros Island Region office in Bacolod City.
The other respondents, Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavilla, were arrested separately in Cauayan and Pulupandan while Dharyl Albaño surrendered to the police on Jan. 2. All of them were released after posting bail of P600,000 each.
Gelle and the three others are also affiliated with the Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group, a non-government organization working with farmers and indigenous communities in southern Negros.
In media interviews, Gelle dismissed the charges against him as “trumped up”. | GB
