MANILA, Philippines — On the birth anniversary of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., torture survivors and families of involuntary disappearances asked the Supreme Court to nullify the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, a law that is “reminiscent” of the "dictatorship of Marcos," they said.
Led by the United Against Torture Coalition-Philippines, the petitioners argued that provisions of Republic Act 11479 or the ATA run contrary against the Constitution and the anti-torture law, “particularly those that value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human person and guarantee full respect for human rights of all persons, including suspects, detainees and prisoners.”
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Dr. Benito Molino, a forensic expert and petitioner in the case, stressed: “What makes torture abhorrent is not only what it does to the victims but how the system condones and hide it.”
“The ATA brings back memories of gross human rights violations of the Marcos regime,” he added.
Retired SC Justice Antonio Carpio earlier said that with the anti-terrorism law in our statute books, "it is as if the Philippines is permanently under a situation worse than martial law."
READ: Carpio warns: Situation 'worse than martial law' under anti-terrorism law
The ATA also runs contrary to the Republic Act 10353 or the Anti-Enforced Disappearances Act of 2012—the law that took decades after the martial law rule and thousands of enforced disappearances to be enacted.
The Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearances (FIND) said they recorded nearly 2,000 documented cases of enforced disappearances during the martial law. “Most of the victims are still missing and their families left to heal by themselves from damages and economic displacement,” the statement read.
FIND Secretary General Joey Faustino said: “Torture and enforced disappearance are usually paired by unbridled authority... we need laws like this (RA 10353) to protect our rights, not to stifle them.”
Prolonged detention conducive to torture
The group assailed Section 29 of the law that allows the authorities to detain a suspected terrorist for 14 days before they are required to bring the person to judicial authority. The period of detention is extendible by another ten days.
In a statement, they said that this condition is “conducive to the person detained for being tortured or coerced into involuntary confession, forcibly made to disappear or even summarily executed, which the anti-torture law aims to prevent.”
They also noted that this period is far longer than what the Constitution allows when the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus is suspended. “Warrantless arrests of designated suspects and prolonged pre-trial detention heighten the risk as shown by years of documented cases,” lawyer Cristina Sevilla, counsel of the petitioners, said.
Coupled with the “dismal human rights record” and “misogynistic acts” of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, “the implementation of the ATA will have a chilling effect to every woman, especially the most vulnerable among us such as the prostituted woman who have experienced torture in the hands of authorities,” Jean Enrique of the Coalition Against Trafficking Women-Asia Pacific, and co-petitioner, said.
They also said that the law’s provision on designation of individuals or groups as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council “will only institutionalize the government’s repressive and discriminatory measures.”
Even humanitarian workers and health care workers treating wounded persons who are suspected terrorists may be accused of providing “material support for terrorism,” Edeliza Hernandez of the Medical Action Group said.
This is the 33rd petition challenging the constitutionality of the anti-terrorism law. The case has been set for oral arguments, although date has yet to be determined.