6 more Anti-Terror Law petitions filed at SC

MANILA, Philippines — There are now 16 petitions filed before the Supreme Court (SC) against the constitutionality of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terror Act (ATA) of 2020.

As of early yesterday afternoon, there were six physically filed petitions before the SC.

The first group of 44 petitioners was represented by the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL); the second was led by former SC senior associate justice Antonio Carpio and former ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales; the third group made up of Sens. Francis Pangilinan and Leila de Lima with framers of the Constitution Edmundo Garcia and Florangel Rosario-Braid, journalists and the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG); the fourth group of National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP); fifth, the youth groups represented by counsel Dino de Leon; and the sixth group composed of Muslim lawyers.

SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said that according to their records, there was a 16th petitioner, Jose Ferrer Jr.

Of the six known petitions, three were earlier electronically filed either during the weekend or while the SC was closed because it was undergoing disinfection. These are the petitions of the 44 petitioners and NUPL; Carpio and Morales, and by the Charter framers with journalists and FLAG officials.

They filed petitions centering on certiorari with prohibition, while others included in their petition a prayer for status quo ante order or for a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction.

The petitioners either asked the SC to declare the entire RA 11479 unconstitutional, or merely questioned certain provisions of the law.

In the six filed petitions, it was only in the petition filed by the 44 petitioners and NUPL that President Duterte was named as one of the respondents.

The other respondents in either all or some of the six petitions include the Anti Terrorism Council or its officials and members, the Senate represented by Sen. Vicente Sotto III, House of Representatives represented by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation.

The group of Pangilinan and De Lima with members of the media raised before the SC the protection of the freedom of speech because it “is the one true constant in Philippine constitutional jurisprudence because it constitutes the cornerstone of our democracy. Without the freedom to speak truth to power, all our other freedoms mean nothing.”

They also said that while exercising the fundamental right of free speech is protected by the Constitution, under the ATA it would fall under the acts that would be inciting to terrorism.

They compared it with the Human Security Act (HSA) that only created two new crimes – terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism. The ATA created additional new crimes namely terrorism; threat to commit terrorism; planning, training, preparing and facilitating the commission of terrorism; conspiracy to commit terrorism; proposal to commit terrorism; inciting to commit terrorism; recruitment and membership in a terrorist organization; foreign terrorist; and providing material support to terrorists.

The petitioners also noted that Section 62 of the HSA provides that it could not be used for one month before and two months after the elections, but there is no such safeguard in the ATA that could prevent it from being used for political purposes. – Ghio Ong, Christina Mendez