Gutoc, indigenous group file petition vs ATA

MANILA, Philippines — Opposition senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc led a group of indigenous peoples that filed yesterday the 26th petition against the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, asking the Supreme Court (SC) to nullify and void the law.

In a 72-page petition, Gutoc and the Sandugo Moro Katutubo asked the SC to declare the anti-terror law as unconstitutional “for being patently repugnant to the 1987 Constitution” and prohibit the government from enforcing the law.

“The petition is filed as there is no remedy of appeal, and neither is there available to petitioners any other plain, speedy and adequate remedy, administrative or otherwise, in the ordinary course of law,” the petitioners said.

“The indigenous peoples’ assertion of their rights and their consequent opposition to development aggression should never serve as a justification for red-baiting or red-tagging since it is but an exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to self-determination,” they added.

“This Anti-Terror Law is recognized even by experts of jurisprudence as blatantly unconstitutional. Cloaked in legalese, it is none other than terrorism in disguise,” said the Sandugo Moro Katutubo.

“This administration is certainly not the first to malign us as enemies of the state, or attempt to snuff out our cries for justice. We are no stranger to dispossession, to the suppression of our rights, to the repression of our voices. Yet, we have always fought back. And we are still here,” the group said in a statement.

“We file this petition to signify our faith in the rule of law, no matter how cruel it has been to us national minorities throughout the centuries. We believe it is never too late for the law to be reclaimed and used for good,” said the group.

SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka told reporters that they have officially received the petitions against the anti-terror law filed by 24 other groups as of yesterday.

The list provided by Hosaka showed the earlier petitioners against the anti-terror law included the groups of lawyer Howard Calleja, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, lawyers Mel Sta. Maria, Isagani Zarate, Rudolf Jurado, CTUHR, Christian Monsod, Sanlakas and Federation of Free Workers.

The groups of Jose Ferrer Jr.; Bagong Alyansang Makabayan; retired Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio-Morales, Ma. Ceres Doyo and the National Union of Journalists have also filed their petitions against the anti-terror law.

Other groups such as the Kabataang Tagapagtanggol ng Karapatan, Algamar Latiph, Alternative Law Groups, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Gabriela, Lawrence Yerbo and Henry Abendan have also sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the measure.

The concerned Online Citizens, Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties and the group Katribu led by Beverly Longid also filed their separate petitions against the anti-terror law, according to Hosaka. – Rhodina Villanueva