Courtesy of Karapatan
MANILA — The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) has designated community physician Dr. Maria Natividad Marian Silva Castro as a terrorist.
In a resolution dated Dec. 7, 2022, the ATC said it had probable cause to designate Castro or alias Doc Naty as a "terrorist individual" for allegedly violating the Anti-Terrorism Act.
According to the ATC, Castro was allegedly involved in the planning, training, preparing, and facilitating the commission of terrorism and recruitment and for supposedly providing material support to terrorist organizations.
In an ANC interview on Tuesday, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency chief Ricardo De Leon said Castro held various key positions in the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front.
He said Castro was a member of the Regional White Area Committee, finance officer of the North-Eastern Mindanao Regional Committee and executive director and trustee of the Community Based Health Program, a CPP-NPA-NDF-linked organization.
"As an executive director, she was active in all aspects of supporting, including training and preparation, because of the funds generated," De Leon said.
An Anti-Money Laundering Council report also showed alleged suspicious transactions on Castro's bank account from January to November last year, he added.
De Castro was arrested in San Juan in February 2022 for alleged kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges. She was released a month later after a regional trial court dismissed the case.
The lawyer of Castro told ABS-CBN News the family would not issue a statement for now until the Free Legal Assistance Group is able to meet and discuss the issue.
The ATC has also designated the Al Khobar Group as a terrorist group.
The council said the group allegedly violated Section 4 of the ATA for extortion, bomb threats, arson, and bombings of public transport in Central Mindanao from January 2021 to November 2022.