NUPL slams Celiz’s bid for asylum in Canada
The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) has condemned the reported asylum bid of self-proclaimed former rebel and television host Jeffrey Celiz in Canada, saying there should be “no refuge from accountability” for a “paid propagandist.”
“Celiz is not a dissident seeking refuge from political persecution. By his own record, he is a military asset and paid propagandist attempting to evade accountability for years of systematic Red-tagging, disinformation, and public vilification of activists and rights defenders,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday, following reports that the Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI) commentator intends to seek asylum abroad.
According to NUPL, Celiz is attempting to portray himself as a victim of persecution—a claim that it says dishonors the memory of those who were disappeared or killed for real acts of dissent, and insults individuals who have genuinely suffered harassment or imprisonment.
“Asylum, in international law, is a shield for the persecuted, not a hiding place for the persecutors. If Celiz now fears reprisal, it is not for having spoken truth to power, but for years of trying to silence those who did. There must be no sanctuary for lies and no refuge from accountability,” the NUPL said.
Now in US
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives cited Celiz in contempt and ordered him to be detained along with social media personality Sass Rogando Sasot and former anti-insurgency task force spokesperson Lorraine Badoy-Partosa for evading the congressional inquiry into the proliferation of disinformation on social media.
Celiz is the second known supporter of former President Rodrigo Duterte to seek asylum abroad by claiming political persecution in the Philippines.
Last month, former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque, who has been evading arrest for a contempt citation issued by the House of Representatives, appeared in The Hague supposedly to represent the former president who is detained in a facility of the International Criminal Court, where he is facing charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his administration’s bloody drug war. Roque announced that time that he had applied for asylum in the Netherlands.
In a recent interview with GMA News, Celiz said he left the Philippines due to alleged harassment targeting him and his family.
He also said he was trying to avoid the serving of arrest warrants, which he claimed was part of a broader campaign of political persecution against supporters of Duterte.
“[Asylum] is an option available to me under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Persecuted individuals have the right to seek protection from other countries,” Celiz said, claiming there is a high threat level against him and that he does not see any safe place left for him in the Philippines.
On Monday, Celiz posted on Facebook that he was in Las Vegas for a solidarity event attended by Filipino community groups affiliated with the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC), PDP-Laban political party and SMNI.
But NUPL denounced Celiz for being overseas while facing two civil suits filed by Carol Araullo, chair emeritus of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), and Teddy Casiño, Bayan chair and former Bayan Muna party list representative.
“These cases, pending before the Regional Trial Courts (RTC) of Quezon City and Makati, respectively, seek to hold him to account for deliberate, baseless, and malicious Red-tagging—an act that, in this country, carries consequences far beyond reputational harm,” the group said.
NUPL also cited a separate ruling by the Quezon City RTC Branch 306 in December 2024, which ordered Celiz and Badoy-Partosa, former spokesperson for the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, to pay journalist Atom Araullo a total of P2 million in civil damages for “abusing” their right to free speech when they accused him of supporting the communist insurgency without evidence.
“The exercise of free speech must be based on facts and should not cross defamation. By engaging in Red-tagging, the defendants deliberately sought to discredit and inflict harm on (Araullo),” the court said in its decision.
According to the NUPL, freedom of expression is not a license for impunity.
While the Constitution protects this right, the Civil Code imposes limits, especially when speech is used to defame, harm, or intimidate others, the group said.
“What Celiz practiced was not public discourse in a democracy; it was vilification as state policy. His speech did not inform and debate—it incited and endangered,” it added.
Beyond the civil suits, Celiz is also facing a complaint for sedition and inciting to sedition before the Department of Justice, alongside KOJC lawyer Israelito Torreon and Badoy-Partosa.
The complaint, filed by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, stems from their alleged attempts to prevent the arrest of KOJC founder Apollo Quiboloy in 2024 for trafficking charges.
