Four years since the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law, countless individuals and groups have found themselves on the receiving end of state terror. 

The state has consistently used the draconian law to stifle dissent, targeting individuals and groups advocating for social justice, including clergy members, environmentalists, teachers and doctors. Even journalists have faced relentless intimidation, fabricated charges, and, in the most tragic instances, cold-blooded killings.

As we mark the fourth anniversary of the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Law last July 3, the Union of Journalists of the Philippines looks into the state’s weaponization of the law against rights defenders.

Under a law that arbitrarily tags individuals and groups as terrorists, a chilling political climate pervades.

With the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL), the erosion of democratic spaces and free speech has become more widespread, affecting every sector of society — from indigenous peoples and the youth sector to human rights workers — leading to heightened attacks under its provisions.

Two Aetas in Zambales became the first publicly known individuals charged under the controversial law. Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos were accused of terrorism for allegedly firing at members of the 73rd Division Reconnaissance Company of the 7th Infantry Division.

The National Union of People’s Lawyers said state forces planted firearms and explosives on Gurung and Ramos.

Exposing the brazen use of the ATL even against ordinary individuals, the two Aetas faced non-bailable charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives. However, the Olongapo Regional Trial Court dismissed the accusation, ruling it as a case of mistaken identities.

Like the indigenous peoples (IP), their advocates have found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the ATL.

Mindoro-based clergywoman Rev. Glofie Baluntong is among those ensnared by fabricated charges under the ATL, supposedly for her advocacy on behalf of IP communities.

Accused of attempted murder and ATL violations, Baluntong’s case has sparked widespread condemnation from church groups, who decry the charges as harassment.

In a statement, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines condemned the “malicious and trumped-up charge” against Baluntong. The group added that Baluntong was dedicated to defending the rights of IP communities, particularly the Mangyans, and was actively involved in environmental conservation.

Chad Booc, a volunteer Lumad teacher and environmentalist who filed a petition against the ATL, was tragically killed in Davao de Oro, along with four alleged New People’s Army combatants, in 2022.

State forces said they were killed in an armed encounter. But the Communist Party of the Philippines said no such encounter happened in the area on that day.

Booc was renowned for his community organizing and volunteer teaching with Save Our Schools, an initiative accused of allegedly training Lumad children as “child warriors.” The University of San Carlos Talamban campus in Cebu City, where the “bakwit school” was once hosted, denied any involvement in military training for the children.

The government has furthered its crackdown on rights defenders by designating leaders of the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) Windel Bolinget, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa and Stephen Tauli as terrorists. The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) alleges that the CPA leaders were recruiting for the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) as well as providing material support to these organizations.

The ATC even accused them of committing terrorism, as well as planning, training for, preparing and facilitating acts of terrorism.

The most recent group of individuals to be tagged as terrorists and faced with trumped-up charges under the ATL includes Nathanael Santiago, Rosario Brenda Gonzalez, Anasusa San Gabriel and Servillano Luna Jr – activists, development workers and church lay workers. This came just days after two other human rights defenders based in Southern Tagalog, Fritz Jay Labiano and Adrian Paul Tagle, were charged with violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012.

The crackdown on community organizing persists in impoverished areas struggling with inadequate education and healthcare systems. Maria Natividad Marian Silva “Naty” Castro, a community doctor, was arrested even before being designated by the ATC as a terrorist for her alleged involvement with the CPP-NPA-NDF.

According to KARAPATAN, numerous community organizers and human rights workers have been accused of terrorism, including Southern Tagalog youth activists Hailey Pecayo, Kenneth Rementilla, and Jasmin Rubia, who face trumped-up charges for allegedly supporting the CPP-NPA-NDF after investigating the military’s alleged killing of a 9-year-old in Batangas.

Another activist, John Peter Garcia, was similarly accused by the same military officer, a claim refuted by KARAPATAN as false and dangerous to Garcia’s safety.

Rather than solve the pressing issues in the nation and genuinely pursue the peace process, the state would rather use the ATL to suppress revelations about the precarious situation in the Philippines and the brutality of the administration’s top priority, the counterinsurgency campaign.

So long as oppressive laws like the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) exist, a chilling political climate that perpetuates relentless harassment of rights defenders will persist.

As per the latest data released by human rights group KARAPATAN, no less than 112 human rights defenders face charges under the ATL and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, as of July 3, 2024. These individuals are primarily activists working on the frontlines in the most vulnerable areas of the country, providing services where the government has fallen short, and forming groups to collectively address pressing societal issues.

Among them, 32 have been illegally detained through fabricated, trumped-up charges under these laws. Additionally, 32 have been arbitrarily designated as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), endangering the lives of these defenders.

The weaponization of the ATL is a testament to the culture of political violence ingrained in Philippine society by past administrations which the Marcos administration is currently exacerbating.

Under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., there have already been 13 cases of enforced disappearances, according to KARAPATAN. The group has also documented 89 cases of extrajudicial killings under the current administration, showing a climate of violence similar to that of its predecessor under former President Rodrigo Duterte.

The human rights group has also recorded staggering cases of illegal arrests and instances of threats, harassment and intimidation under Marcos Jr.’s administration.

Clearly, as attacks against vigilant human rights defenders in the country are powered by law, the state becomes increasingly emboldened to commit violations not only against activists but also ordinary citizens through any means possible.

“Certain provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 are not aligned with international standards and guidance.” United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan said in a statement. “I remain concerned that the law allows the ATC to allow the arrest of individuals designated as ‘terrorists’ without first obtaining a judicial warrant, contradicting basic due process standards.”

KARAPATAN continues to call for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), saying it has committed severe human rights violations.

This was echoed by the final report of UN Special Rapporteur on climate change and human rights Ian Fry on July 2, which recommended abolishing the NTF-ELCAC and investigating its past questionable operations.

The critical press is not spared from the state’s Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL). Its passage has only furthered the cases of violence, intimidation and harassment against journalists, revealing the law’s true purpose as the state’s weapon in silencing those who report on injustices against the marginalized.

“Journalists have faced [a] thread of cases related to their reporting that was seen as support for supposed terrorists even before the ATL became law,” National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) chairperson Jonathan de Santos said in an interview with UJP-UP.

In 2020, Cagayan de Oro-based journalists Froilan Gallardo, Cong Corrales, Joey Nacalaban and Pamela Jay Orias received pamphlets accusing them of being propagandists of communist movements after they attended a candle-lighting ceremony in front of ABS-CBN’s Northern Mindanao station following the network’s shutdown.

This is among the 159 cases of red-tagging against individual journalists, newsrooms and media organizations that NUJP recorded from 2016-2024.

“We have to see the red-tagging as a prelude, or as a taste, of what the ATL has in store for dissent and democratic space in the Philippines,” de Santos said.

In February 2021, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s then-spokesperson Antonio Parlade threatened to file charges against Inquirer.net reporter Tetch Torres for allegedly “aiding terrorists” when she wrote an article about a petition being filed against the ATL.

Such threats have extended to illegal arrests. Tacloban-based community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio has been in detention since February 2020 on trumped-up charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives and terrorist financing.

The ATL has also been weaponized in justifying the censorship of media organizations. In June 2022, the National Telecommunications Commission cited the ATL as grounds to block 27 news websites including Bulatlat and PinoyWeekly for their alleged affiliation and support to terrorist organizations. While the Regional Trial Court granted Bulatlat’s petition to unblock their website, the other 26 remain censored.

These instances blatantly contradict former President Rodrigo Duterte’s initial claims that “law-abiding citizens” need not fear the ATL. Increasing attacks against the media show that the ATL does not only serve to stifle dissent from human rights defenders; it is also used to silence the critical press.

Amidst these worsening conditions for press freedom, the role of journalists in bringing truth to light is now more crucial than ever.