Philippine legislation
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, officially designated as Republic Act No. 11479, is a counter-terrorism law intended to prevent, prohibit, and penalize terrorism in the Philippines. The law was passed by the 18th Congress and signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3, 2020, effectively replacing the Human Security Act of 2007 on July 18, 2020.
A total of 37 petitions were filed before the Supreme Court of the Philippines challenging the law's constitutionality, making it the most assailed piece of legislation in Philippine history. On December 9, 2021, the Court announced that apart from two unconstitutional portions of the law, all other challenged provisions thereof are declared not unconstitutional.
Overview.
Definition of terrorism.
The Act defines terrorism as:
The definition states that "advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, industrial or mass action, and other similar exercises of civil and political rights" shall not be considered as terrorist acts only if they "are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety."
Creation of Anti-Terrorism Council.
The law also creates a presidentially-appointed body, the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), which would designate the persons who could be arrested as "terrorists."
Because of other provisions of the law. these persons could be detained for up to 24 days (14 days with a possible 10-day extension), and would not be automatically compensated for wrongful imprisonment as they originally were under the Human Security Act of 2007.
Warrantless arrest.
The law allows suspects to be detained without a judicial warrant of arrest for 14 days and can be extended by 10 more days, and placed under surveillance for 60 days, that can also be extended by up to 30 days, by the police or military. But an analyst argues that this provision is essential for counterterrorism to "allow more time for investigators to get valuable information from the terror suspect. A longer detention period can also provide ample time to facilitate interrogation. It can also incapacitate the suspected terrorist from wreaking havoc. Most importantly, longer preventive detention can lawfully hold suspect when usual criminal charges cannot be filed for some technical considerations."
Removal of safeguard against wrongful detention.
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 also removes a section under the Human Security Act of 2007 which is meant to safeguard against the wrongful accusation and detention of suspects. Previously, if a person imprisoned under the HSA were found to actually not be guilty, that person would be compensated for wrongful detention, with the cost "automatically charged against the appropriations of the police agency or the Anti-Terrorism Council that brought or sanctioned the filing of the charges against the accused."
Under the new law, a wrongfully detained person would have to file a suit against the government in order to get any remuneration for having been wrongfully accused.
Background.
Branding of "rebel groups" in Philippine history.
Conflicts with ideologically motivated groups, both armed and unarmed have frequently been labeled "terrorists," "rebels," and "bandits" throughout the Philippines' history.
Groups branded "insurrectos" during the colonial era and World War II.
During the colonial era, forces fighting for Filipino independence, such as those under Diego Silang, Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Aguinaldo, and Macario Sakay were intentionally labeled "insurrectos" and "bandits" in order to de-legitimize and downplay their cause. In the 1930s, the Hukbalahap of the Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas (PKP-1930) was one of the most active guerrilla forces fighting for Filipino freedom during World War II, but it found itself in conflict with the newly independent Philippine government after the war, until it was effectively defeated in the 1950s.
Opposition groups during the Marcos administration.
A new communist organization, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), was formed in 1969, and although it was still small, the Philippine government used its formation to take advantage of the cold war red scare in the United States to increase the influx of defense support funds from the US."43" A 1968 Philippine senate investigation into the Jabidah massacre, in which Muslim recruits were supposedly massacred in Corregidor to prevent them from blowing the cover on a botched Military operation resulted in the rise of multiple secessionist movements in the Muslim-majority areas in western Mindanao Island, including the Muslim Independence Movement, the Bangsamoro Liberation Organization. President Ferdinand Marcos cited the new communist and moro separatist movements among his reasons for declaring martial law in 1972, but also used his powers to "emasculate all the leaders" of the political opposition, allowing him to hold authoritarian power over the Philippines for more than two decades.
While martial law decimated the leadership of the political opposition, it radicalized otherwise "moderate" young people of the time, leading to the rapid growth of the Communist Party of the Philippines' New People's Army. In western Mindanao, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) became the dominant voice of Muslim separatism after the burning of Jolo in 1974. In northern Luzon, the murder of Macli-ing Dulag for his opposition to the Marcos administration's Chico River Dam project became a rallying cry which inspired the formation of militant groups such as the Cordillera People's Liberation Army (CPLA).
On the other hand, the martial law saw the creation of human rights advocacy groups across the whole political spectrum, with civil society groups such as the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties and the Free Legal Assistance Group were joined even by church groups such as the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, and Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, and by business groups such as the Makati Business Club, in actively fighting the proliferation of human rights abuses during the period.
Conflicts after 1986.
After Marcos was removed from power through the mostly-peaceful People Power revolution of 1986, the Reform the Armed Forces Movement launched numerous coups to overthrow the government, while conflicts continued with the MNLF, MILF, CCP, and smaller groups like the CPLA. Ideological differences in the CCP resulted in various groups who rejected its adherence to Maoist orthodoxy splitting into more than a dozen smaller groups, including the Revolutionary Workers' Party of the Philippines.
Red-tagging.
In recent years, international organizations including the United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have called attention to the continued practice of red-tagging as a political tactic to stifle dissent in the Philippines. The practice, under which individuals or groups are labeled "communist" or "terrorist" regardless of their actual beliefs or affiliations, has been noted for frequently targeting human rights organizations, church or religious groups, health worker unions, the academe, and the mainstream media.
Religious extremist terrorism.
Brothers Abdurajik Abubakar Janjalani and Khadaffy Janjalani split from the MNLF in 1991 and established their own group, the Abu Sayyaf, which eventually became infamous for bombings, kidnappings, assassinations, extortion, rape, child sexual assault, forced marriage, drive-by shootings, extortion and drug trafficking. On July 23, 2014, Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon swore an oath of loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In September 2014, the group began kidnapping people for ransom, in the name of ISIL.
However, in the leadup to the passage and signing of the Anti-Terror Act of 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte said that his administration would focus on "communists." He called the Abu Sayyaf "terrorists of no value," saying "Actually the number one threat to the country, hindi Abu Sayyaf, hindi mga terorista of no value. Itong high-value targets itong mga komunista" ("Actually the number one threat to the country is not the Abu Sayyaf Group, not terrorists of no value. The high-value targets are the communists").
Legislative history.
Human Security Act of 2007.
The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 repeals the Human Security Act of 2007, making changes to some of the provisions as well as the definitions under terrorism. Senator Panfilo Lacson, one of the principal authors of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, said that the Human Security Act of 2007 was a "dead letter law" because it has been "severely underutilized" as it only resulted in a single convicted felon and had only one proscribed organization: the Abu Sayyaf.
Senate Bill No. 1083.
The bill was prepared by the Committees on National Defense and Security; Peace, Unification and Reconciliation; and Finance with the following as authors:
It was approved by the Senate on February 26, 2020 with the following 19 voting in the affirmative:
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Two senators dissented:
House Bill No. 6875.
The bill was introduced by the following representatives and filed on May 30, 2020. Out of the 71 original authors, 15 members had their names stricken out as the authors of the controversial bill. The bill was approved on final reading on June 3, 2020, as an adoption of the earlier version approved by Senate. An additional 5 withdrew their authorship afterwards.
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The House of Representatives voted 173–31 in favor of the bill, with 29 abstentions, but was corrected to 168–36 a day after to reflect corrections and retractions from members. The members voted in the plenary and via Zoom and recorded in their "All Members" Viber community
Republic Act No. 11479: Signing of the law.
The law was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on July 3, 2020, in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and comes as part of the Philippines continued fight against terrorism in its borders. Proponents of the law have cited the siege of Marawi in 2017 as well as criminal activities from the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group, New People's Army Communist Rebels, and other supposed emerging threats to peace and public safety. According to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the law took effect on July 18, 2020, 15 days after it was published in the website of the "Official Gazette". The Department of Justice released the law's implementing rules and regulations on October 16, 2020.
Proposal for repeal.
In 2022, Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, and Gabriela women’s party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas filed a bill in Congress that sought to repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which supposedly violates the Philippines' international commitment to uphold human rights.
Legal challenges in the Supreme Court.
The law is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court by multiple groups. Oral arguments began on February 2, 2021, after it was initially delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
37 petitions were filed before the Supreme Court.
On December 9, 2021, the Supreme Court announced that except for the qualifier to the proviso in Section 4 of R.A. No. 11479, "i.e.", "… which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person's life, or to create a serious risk to public safety" and the second method for designation in Section 25 paragraph 2 of the same law, "i.e.", "Request for designation by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions," the rest of the challenged provisions of the law are declared not unconstitutional. It further advised the parties and the public to await the publication of the decision and the separate opinions for the explanation of the votes.
Challenges to allegations of violating the anti-terror law.
In 2021, the Olongapo Regional Trial Court acquitted Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos, Indigenous Aeta residents of Zamboanga, in the first known anti-terror law case, ruling that the accusations were the result of mistaken identities.
In November 2023, the prosecutor's office in Santa Rosa City in Laguna rejected a complaint against human rights worker Hailey Pecayo and other activists over the alleged violation of the anti-terror law. In the same month, a prosecutor in Antipolo, Rizal, dismissed anti-terror law charges against human rights activists Kenneth Rementilla and Jasmine Rubia.
In November 2023, Windel Bolinget and three other Indigenous rights workers of the Cordillera People's Alliance filed a case before the Baguio Regional Trial Court challenging their designation as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council.
Responses and reactions.
International.
United States.
On July 15, 2020, 50 members of the United States Congress urged Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez to request the Government of the Philippines to consider repealing the "oppressive and unnecessary legislation". The 50 representatives are:
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United Nations.
On June 30, 2020, at the 44th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has criticized the then proposed bill saying it could have a "chilling effect" on human rights work in the country and called for restraint on signing the bill from President