ANTI-TERRORISM LAW

Over the years, the long-standing problem of terrorism has its bloody evolution which is
manifested with the increase crime rates, instability and underdeveloped economic and social dimension.
It had reached its high points in 1970s, mid-1980s and early 1990s and is now again on an upturn. 1

Terrorist groups in the Philippines are mostly concentrated in the southern part of the country.
These groups involve Abu Sayyaf Group and the Communist Party of the Philippines. 2 The Abu Sayyaf
Group (ASG) made its major attacks in including the grenade attack in Zamboanga City, attack in the
Christian town of Ipil which happened in the year 1991 and 1995 respectively. In the year 2001, this group
kidnapped tourists in Palawan. Further, a bombing happened in the main terminal building of the Davao
International Airport in the year 2003.The deadliest terrorist attack at sea was also initiated by this group
in the year 2004. On the later year, there are several attacks in the City of General Santos and Marawi and
even outside the Philippine House of Representatives. These terrorist attacks left human casualties. 3

However, the insurgencies heightened up to date which is manifested in the recent notable
incidents which includes the dual explosions, suicide attack on a military base and bomb attacks at a
Roman Catholic in Jolo Island in Sulu Province. 4

With these notable insurgencies, Philippines is labeled as “terrorism haven”. If terrorism is the
resorted solution of some citizens, what problems may trigger their insurgency to transgress or go against
the advocate of the existing government? What message are they trying to convey to the government?

As defined, terrorism is any kind of act done by one or more persons belonging to an organization
with the aim of changing the characteristics of the Republic as specified in the Constitution, its political,
legal, social, secular and economic system. 5 This does not occur in a vacuum. Insurgency has been in
existence for a long time. But what are the factors that gave an impulse to the emergence of terrorism?

The Arellano Law and Policy Review presented some of the factors affecting radical groups which
in effect urges them to resort to terrorism. These include ethnicity, poverty and economic factors. In the
context of ethnic nationalism, the nation or the community exists prior to the creation of a state. 6This
kind of nationalism develop a sense of identity which in effect will start to define its geographical region
as encompassed to their identity. Conceptually, ethnic nationalism seeks to achieve independence and
self-determination. These aims encompass the desire in the engagement of political, economic or cultural
system of the state, the impulse to practice and promote their respective culture, language and religion
and the guarantee on the right to a claimed territory. 7On the poverty and economic factors, these are
considered persistent challenge of the country. As provided by Philippine Statistics Authority, Philippines
poverty rate for 2006 was 63.70%, a 0.6% increase from 2003.8Fifty-four percent of Filipino families
considered themselves poor during the last quarter of 2019, the highest self-rated poverty recorded by the
Social Weather Stations in five years. 9In addition, the 2018 poverty incidence among population is now
estimated at 16.7 percent from 16.6 percent which indicates that 17.7 million Filipinos are living in
poverty in 2018.10Among the Southeast Asian countries, Philippines has the highest poverty incidence. 8.
These statistical data is a manifestation that poverty remains a difficult challenge to be addressed. Leftists
in the Middle East interprets the militant Islamic resurgence as "a sign of pessimism because people are
desperate, they are resorting to the supernatural. Moreover, Hooshang Amirahmadi, an academic of
Iranian origins, argues that "the roots of Islamic radicalism must be looked for outside the religion, in the
real world of cultural despair, economic decline, political oppression, and spiritual turmoil in which most

1
David Tucker, 2010. Responding to Terrorism. The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 21.
2
  Bhattacharji , 2009. Terrorism Havens: Philippines. Council on Foreign Relations.
3
2018. Abu Sayyaf Group, Major Attacks. Center for International Security and Cooperation.
4
Philippine Terrorism. Government of United Kingdom.
5
Law to Fight Terrorism. Anti-terror Law
6
Christopher Muscato. Tenets of Ethnic Nationalism.
7
Buendia. Looking into the Future of Moro Self-Determination in the Philippines.
8
Philippines Poverty Rate. Philippines Poverty Rate 2000-2020.
9
Philippines Statistics Press Release. Updated 2015 and 2018 Full Year Official Poverty Statistics.
10
Id.
Muslims find themselves today.11The driving factors attributing to the persistent poverty includes
inequality among regions. As noted by the World Bank, the insufficiency of the delivery of basic services
to the Muslim areas is one of the root causes of the emergence of Mindanao conflict. Another aggravating
stimuli is the minimal share of Mindanao in the national budget. The development efforts have been
largely concentrated and confined in Luzon at the expense of some regions in Visayas and Mindanao. This
proposition is evident with the records based on the data generated by the Philippine Statistics Authority
which shows that on the aspect of services, NCR registered the biggest share followed by CALABARZON,
as to the industry, CALABARZON constituted the largest share followed by NCR and Central Luzon. With
regard to the agriculture, Central Luzon topped the share. 12This condition presupposes that Mindanao
areas of the country receives lower portion of benefits as to sustain the needs of its respective population.
These drive terrorist groups to raise their respective banners and cry their struggles and grievances.

The government of the Philippines has taken its milestone and adapted its military and law
enforcement efforts to combat the persistent threats of terrorism in the country. These efforts include the
killing of alleged members of Abu Sayyaf in 2007, sentenced fourteen members of ASG to life
imprisonment. Moreover, the country decreed its counter-terrorism legislation which is the Human
Security Act (2007), an act to secure the state and protect our people from terrorism . These law allows
wiretapping of members of the terrorist organizations that are judicially recognized and also encompasses
the financial investigation on individuals proved to be connected to the recognized terrorist
organizations.13Further, the government raised its continuous investments in the Philippine National
Police Special Action force and other law enforcement entities of the government. All of the
aforementioned efforts aim for the same end which is to prosecute terrorists and to uphold peace and
order throughout the country. However, these efforts seem to be inefficient as the terrorist activities still
endure in the country. This failure can still be trace back on the factors affecting the emergence of
terrorism which includes the inadequate access of financial resources, graft and corruption and problems
in law enforcement purview.
Terrorism, as considered the controversial issue and its effect towards the undeveloped economy,
disrupted peace and order and deprived civilian cannot be overlooked, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
marked the urgency of the approval of the Anti-terrorism Act, which aims to prevent, prohibit and
penalize terrorism. This law is also known as “The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020”.

The Anti-Terrorism Law was signed by the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 3 July 2020. This
law repealed the old anti-terrorism law which is the Human Security Act of 2007. 14 This law is anchored
on the enshrined State policy in the 1987 Philippine Constitution to maintain peace and order, protection
of life, liberty and property, and the promotion of the general welfare. 15 This aims to protect the people
from the insurgents of terrorists groups as this is a threat to the national security of the country. The law
further provides that the State shall uphold the basic rights and fundamental liberties of the people in the
implementation of the aforementioned state policy.16

This law provides for the punishable acts. These includes terrorism, conspiracy to commit
terrorism, recruitment to a terrorist organization, membership in a terrorist organization, planning,
training, preparing, and facilitating the commission of terrorism, threat to commit terrorism and
proposal or inciting to commit terrorism. The term terrorism encompasses the engagement in acts
intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person or endangers a person’s life; engagement in
acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place, or
private property; engagement in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage, or
destruction to critical infrastructure; those who develops, manufactures, possesses, acquires, transports,
supplies, or uses weapons explosive or of biological nuclear, radiological or chemical weapons; and the
release of dangerous substances, or causing fire, floods or explosions. All of these acts are punishable
under this law when the purpose of such act, by its nature and context, is to intimidate the general public
or a segment thereof, create an atmosphere of fear, to provoke or influence by intimidation the

11
Daniel Pipes. Does Poverty Cause Militant Islam? Middle East Forum.
12
CNN Philippines, 2020. Highest in 5 years: 13.1 million families considered themselves poor in Q4.
13
Bhattacharji , 2009. Terrorism Havens: Philippines. Council on Foreign Relations.
14
Felix Sy. Philppine Anti-terrosim law enacted.
15
Declaration of Principles and State Policies. The Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines
16
R.A No. 11479. The Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
government or any international organization, or seriously destroy the fundamental, political, social or
economic structures of the country or seriously impair public safety.17

However, prior to the enactment of the law, protests had simulated amidst strict community
quarantine protocols due to the outbreak of coronavirus. This law was being opposed by various sectors
including the human rights defender, some of the Senators, Faculty members of the University of the
Philippines and business associations. The viewpoint of the Commission on Human Rights is the
broadness of the definition of terrorism which may pave the road for possible abuse. According to the
International Service for Human Rights, the Anti-Terrorism law threatens the safety of human rights
defender. Further argues that under the law, people may be apprehended without a warrant and can be
detained for weeks before the appearance before the Judge. 18 The Programme Manager of ISHR said that
advocacy on the passage of laws for the protection of human rights defenders are now vulnerable due to
the passage of said law . Legal Counsel Tess McEvoy, further contends that the law severely restricts due
process and the rule of law in the country. The human rights defender contends that criminalizing those
who incite in the commission of treason through speeches, proclamations, writings, emblems or banners,
restricts freedom of expression and the media. 19

Moreover, prior to the enactment of this Act, some senators express their propositions including
Senator Hontiveros. She asserted that the bill is fundamentally flawed and is something that should not
be passed across administrations and was hoping for a Presidential veto. She added that the bill is prone
to abuse by law enforcers. 20 Aside from the aforementioned individual and sector who are both in
opposition, the faculty members of University of the Philippines of Political Science, during the passage of
the bill, also published their vehement objection to the contents and the nature of the bill. They presented
some issues that they have evaluated from its contents which includes: (1) Ambiguity and abuse of
Authority; (2) Rights of the Accused to be informed; (3) Surveillance and Detention; and (4) Role of the
Commission on Human Rights. According to them, the term “terrorism” can be subject to a variety of
interpretations. The expansion of the composition of the Anti-Terrorism Council and the reduction of
penalties for abusive interpretation of the law, the right of an individual to due process can be violated.
Moreover, the law imposed restrictions and limitations in the access of records and logs, which may be
used by the accused to file cases against those who conducted malicious investigations. They also
contends that the law violates the constitutionally-guaranteed rights of an accused to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation against him. In effect of the limited information to be utilized by the
accused, the accused will suffer difficulties in responding properly to the accusation against him. 21

Several business associations jointly raised their strong opposition to this Act. This is manifested
in the Joint Statement on Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 signed by the 16 members of Makati Business
Club. Emphasized in their Joint Statement is the need of national unity in the midst of the COVID-19
outbreak to overcome the challenges faced and be a stronger and more resilient nation. 22

All these sectors and individuals are immensely concern with the timing of the passage
of the bill. Every entity of the country shall extensively focus on matters that may develop
policies to address various socio-economic breakdown resulting from the crisis brought by the
emergence of virus and shall uphold and strengthen the country’s health mechanisms.

17
Felix Sy. Philippine Anti-Terrorism law enacted.
18
CLIFF VENZON. The Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020: Five things to know
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/The-Philippines-Anti-Terrorism-Act-of-2020-Five-things-to-know
19
Tess McEvoy, 2020. Philippines Anti-Terrorism Law further threatens the safety of human rights
defenders.
20
Anti-Terrorism Bill Problematic even under the best gov’t leaders.
21
Position Paper on the Anti-Terror Bill by Faculty Members of the UP Department of Political Science.
22
The Philippines: Several business associations jointly voice strong opposition to anti-terrorism Act