Muslims 'randomly' tagged as Abu Sayyaf members challenge anti-terrorism law

Three Muslim men who had been accused of being members of terrorist groups have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to declare parts of the anti-terrorism law unconstitutional.

In the latest petition against the controversial law, Main Mohammad, Jimmy Bla, and Nazr Dilangalen said they fear being "re-arrested on mere suspicion" under the new law because they have previously been tagged as terrorists.

Their lawyers and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates are also petitioners in at least the 28th case assailing the law. They asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order against several provisions of the law.

The petition said Bla was arrested in his home in Zamboanga City in 2018 and was then "randomly tagged" as a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). He is still detained as his trial continues.

Mohammad, who was identified in the petition as an Imam, was arrested in 2017 then detained for nearly two years on allegations that he was a member of the ASG.

A court dismissed the case against him last year because the government's witness was unable to identify him as an ASG member, according to the petition.

Dilangalen, an engineer at the local government in Cotabato City, was accused of being a key recruiter of Abu Sayyaf-Maute. He was detained for two years until he was cleared by a court for lack of evidence in 2019, the petition states.

The three are just some of the many Moros "who have been tagged, detained and charged as ASG members, not by reason of credible evidence, but because solely of their religion," the petition states.

"The longstanding and ingrained practice of ASG-tagging against Moros whose rights are perpetually violated reinforces the real and credible threat posed by the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020," it adds.

Several Muslims have challenged the law before the highest Philippine court, saying it may lead to more arrests of Moro people who have long suffered from discrimination because of their religion.

The new petition raises arguments against the law's provisions on warrantless arrests and detention based on suspicion, the process through which persons are "designated" as terrorists, and the powers of the Anti-Terrorism Council.

The petitioners also claimed that the definition of "material support" to terrorists "can potentially restrain innocent acts" such as giving legal assistance to persons who are suspected of being terrorists.

Retired SC justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales, lawmakers, lawyers, professors, human rights advocates, activists, journalists, artists, labor rights groups, youth leaders, and social media personalities have also filed petitions against the law.

The SC has ordered the consolidation of 25 of the petitions. The court will hear oral arguments on the case in the third week of September at the earliest. —KBK, GMA News