By ALBERT JOSEF LIRIO & DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ
For its defenders, the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) could finally be the government’s potent tool to fight extremism in the country. But a year after its passage, the law is being used exactly as its critics warned: to stifle dissent.
3 JULY 2020
President Rodrigo Duterte signed the ATL or Republic Act 11479 into law. It was posted in the online version of the Official Gazette. Fifteen days later, the draconian law formally took effect.
4 JULY 2020
The first petition questioning the constitutionality of the ATL was filed at the Supreme Court by the Lasallian brothers and other advocates. By August, the high court received 37 petitions, possibly making the ATL the most challenged law to date.
26 JULY 2020
Copies of community magazine Pinoy Weekly were confiscated by policemen in Bulacan. The police said that the magazines were “illegal” and “teaches people to fight the government.”
27 JULY 2020
Police confiscated materials protesting the ATL from some members of Akbayan while attending mass at the Quiapo Church. The officers did not provide any information as to why they confiscated the placards and the other protest materials.
21 AUGUST 2020
Two Aetas in Zambales were arrested and eventually charged for violation of Section 4a of the ATL for allegedly shooting at members of the military and killing one of its members, Sgt. Rudil Dilao. They are the first publicly-known individuals to be charged with the law.
16 OCTOBER 2020
The Department of Justice and the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) published the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the ATL. Under the IRR, individuals designated as terrorists will be published. The IRR says they may be “delisted,” but such procedure is not found in the law itself, possibly invalidating the IRR as it exceeds what the law said.
10 DECEMBER 2020
On International Human Rights Day, police arrested in separate raids six labor organizers and journalist Lady Ann Salem for illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Activist groups slammed the arrests, saying that the evidence was planted by the state forces, who used search warrants issued by Quezon City Executive Judge Cecilyn Burgos-Villavert. She has been notorious for the alleged “warrant factories” of the court.
23 DECEMBER 2020
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) issued a resolution that imposes a freeze order on the assets of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA). This follows their designation as terrorist organizations by the ATC on December 9.
15 JANUARY 2021
The Department of National Defense unilaterally terminated the UP-DND Accord. The abrogation of the agreement, which generally prohibited the presence of state forces on campus without prior notification, came at the height of protests in UP campuses condemning the administration’s anti-people policies.
16 JANUARY 2021
In a Facebook post, National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade red-tagged petitioners against the ATL, particularly members of the Makabayan bloc in Congress, along with the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL). He says that the agenda of these groups are “not dissent, but sedition.”
2 FEBRUARY 2021
The oral arguments for the law began just as two Aetas charged for violation of the ATL filed a petition for intervention before the Supreme Court. They sought to be included in the list of petitioners against the law in the oral arguments. But a week later, on February 9, the high court junked their petition, pending their case at the lower court.
6 FEBRUARY 2021
An NTF-ELCAC-backed Facebook page accused Himati, the official student publication of UP Mindanao, UP Mindanao alumnus Jayvie Cabajes, and the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP)-Haran of being “allies” of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF). The group later deleted the post.
15 FEBRUARY 2021
UP alumnus Chad Booc, along with five other individuals, was arrested in a police raid at the Bakwit school in the University of San Carlos in Cebu. Booc was a volunteer teacher at the school, and is also a petitioner in one of the petitions filed against the ATL at the SC.
3 MARCH 2021
Lawyer Angelo Karlo “AK” Guillen was stabbed by masked assailants in Iloilo City. Guillen is a counsel for one of the petitioners against the ATL.
5 MARCH 2021
Duterte told state forces to “forget human rights” and issued a shoot-to-kill order against communist rebels. The president said he is “willing to go to jail” for the actions of his men.
7 MARCH 2021
Police conducted the deadly “Bloody Sunday” operations that resulted in the death of nine and arrest of six activists in Southern Tagalog. In a statement following the attacks, Karapatan said the killings were a “direct order” from Duterte after his remarks two days prior.
12 MARCH 2021
The father of activist Mark Lee Bacasno blamed the ATL for his son’s untimely death. Bacasno was killed during the Bloody Sunday operations. In a press conference, Bacasno’s father said that his son was not a member of the NPA.
The AMLC issued a freeze order on the assets of religious group UCCP Haran for allegedly financing and recruiting for the NPA. The center has been providing a sanctuary for Lumad refugees in Southern Mindanao who have fled from their communities due to intensifying military operations.
12 MAY 2021
During the oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon called CPP founder Jose Maria Sison the “master redtagger” after playing two videos that showed Sison identifying 18 “allied organizations” that have mobilized supporters of the national democratic revolution.
13 MAY 2021
The AMLC issued another freeze order on the assets of 19 alleged members of the CPP Central Committee, pursuant to a resolution by the ATC designating them as terrorists. Among those affected was National Democratic Front (NDF) peace consultant Vicente Ladlad. The money in Ladlad’s bank account was mostly compensation from the Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board that was used to fund his medicine and food support in jail.
17 MAY 2021
The Supreme Court held the ninth and last day of oral argument for the ATL petitions. After over three months of arguments, the court failed to issue a temporary restraining order on the law, further exposing dissenters to state-backed assaults.
15 JUNE 2021
Members of the 3rd Special Forces Battalion of the Philippine Army opened fire at a group of farmers in Lianga, Surigao del Sur. They killed three Lumad-Manobo, including 12-year-old Angel Rivas. The military then brought their remains to their headquarters in the same town, presenting the slained as members of the NPA.
25 JUNE 2021
Progressives Carlo Tabada and Pastor Nathaniel Vallente were arrested by the police and military over trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms. Tabada is a barangay councilor and program coordinator of the Farmers Development Center (FARDEC) in Bohol, while Pastor Vallente leads the Promotion of Church People’s Response and member of the UCCP. ●
