THE ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers welcomed the move of the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office denying the motion for reconsideration filed by the National Bureau of Investigation on the ruling on the inciting to sedition case it filed against teacher Ronnel Mas.

“This win does not only favor Teacher Ronnel’s fight against state forces’ bid to persecute him, but it also serves our overall fight against the state’s desperate attempts to weaponize the law to go after critics. This is indeed another welcome development for our sector and for democracy,” Raymond Basilio, the group’s secretary general, said.

The resolution noted the NBI’s failure to satisfy evidentiary requirements for its charges against Mas and its attempt to “shortcut the proceedings” by submitting new but incomplete information in its motion for reconsideration instead of filing a new case.

On Monday, ACT reported the junking of the homicide complaint filed against its Caraga union secretary, teacher Rosanilla ‘Lai’  Consad.

“These decisions should serve as warnings to law enforcement agents who use and abuse judicial processes in its quest to quell the people’s justified unrest with the Duterte administration. We commend the prosecutor’s effort to uphold judicial independence on this particular ruling, especially amid the alarming rampancy of warrant factories and dubious charges against ordinary Filipinos who are merely exercising their fundamental rights and liberties,” Basilio said.

ACT warned that attacks on democratic rights will intensify as the term of President Duterte nears its end.

“We must likewise strengthen our unity and intensify our fight for justice and true democracy,” Basilio said.