Environmental activists Castro, Tamano post bail

Environment activists Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro on Wednesday posted bail for the charge of grave oral defamation filed against them by the government.

According to their release order, the two posted a cash bond amounting to P18,000.

This came a day after they received the arrest warrant issued against them by the Doña Remedios Trinidad municipal trial court.

“Accordingly, let the accused enjoy her provisional liberty under the said cash bond. The warrant of arrest dated February 02, 2024 issued against the accused is hereby lifted and set aside,” the court said.

It set their arraignment on March 15, Friday.

Tamano and Castro were charged with grave oral defamation over their remarks that they were abducted by soldiers. The initial complaint filed against them was for perjury.

In September 2023, the NTF-ELCAC claimed that Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro surrendered to the 70IB in Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan in the same month.

It presented the two at a press conference, ostensibly for them to debunk reports of their abduction. However, the activists affirmed that they had been abducted by the military.

The Supreme Court recently granted the two a temporary protection order and a writ of amparo and habeas data, saying that they proved “by substantial evidence the allegations in their petition meriting the protection of their freedoms.”

For its part, the Office of the Solicitor General has asked the SC to recall the temporary protection order. — BM, GMA Integrated News