Youth leaders from Cebu ask Supreme Court to junk anti-terror law

Representatives of youth groups in Cebu on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to declare the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 or several of its provisions null and void for being unconstitutional.

In at least the 20th petition against the law, student groups from the Center for Youth Participation and Development Initiatives, the Cebu Normal University, the University of the Philippines Cebu, the University of San Carlos and the University of Cebu said the law creates a chilling effect on freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

They also urged the court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the enforcement of the law while the case is pending.

The petitioners asked the SC to strike down the entire law or, in the alternative, Sections 4 to 12, 16, 25, 26 and 27, Section 29, and 46(m).

They said they acknowledge terrorism as a "menace to society that must be quashed."

"However, there has to be effective mechanisms in place to prevent despicable  acts from taking place in the country or elsewhere. Contrary to its aim, the provisions of the ATA create a chilling effect on the many freedoms guaranteed no less by our Constitution," they said.

They are at least the second set of youth groups that challenged the controversial new law before the highest Philippine court, alongside retired justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales, some framers of the 1987 Constitution, opposition lawmakers, lawyers, professors, human rights advocates, labor rights organizations, activist groups, journalists, and artists.

Critics of the law said it contains vague language and lacks clear standards, giving law enforcers on the ground wide discretion to interpret its provisions.

The law was enacted with reassurances from administration officials that it does not target activists, and amid criticism that it could be used by the government to go after legitimate dissent. 

Meanwhile, the SC has ordered the consolidation of the first 19 petitions against the law, court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said on Tuesday. — RSJ, GMA News