Anti-terror law’s purpose not achieved five years on – lawyers

MANILA, Philippines — Five years after it was signed into law, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA) has failed to fulfill its purpose of combating terrorism, according to National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) chair Edre Olalia.

“By and large … it will appear that the purported purpose of the Anti-Terror Law has not been achieved in running after the real terrorists, even as vaguely defined in the law itself,” Olalia told the Inquirer. "It has become more of a main tool in political repression."

Case monitoring by rights group Karapatan shows that 227 individuals have been charged with violating the ATA, while 34 individuals have been designated “terrorists” by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC). Karapatan was among the rights groups present at a protest marking five years of the ATA at the Department of Justice earlier Thursday.

"Apart from those more than 200 [charged] and this singular exception of Teves, we do not know of any individual or organization that has been credibly charged (with violating) the terrorism law," he said.

Olalia was referring to former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. Teves, suspected mastermind of the assassination of former Gov. Roel Degamo, is among 13 individuals designated by the ATC as terrorists.

"The pattern is that these activists ... especially in the provinces, they will charge them with the terrorism law using false and perjured witnesses, claiming that these individuals were part of armed encounters by the New People's Army," said Olalia, who is also transitional president of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers.

READ: Olongapo court acquits 2 Aetas in first Anti-Terror Law case

The ATA was signed into law on July 3, 2020, under then-President Rodrigo Duterte, amid opposition from rights groups, indigenous organizations, and civil society coalitions who fear vague definitions and sweeping powers. NUPL represented Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and other activist groups in a 2020 petition to the Supreme Court against the anti-terror law.

READ: Labor, Catholic groups slam signing of anti-terror law

“We view this really as a very dangerous law, as proven,” Olalia said. “People may not have seen it five years ago, but people should see it abundantly now, five years after.”  /das

(2025/07/03-15:11)