September 21, 2020 marks the 48th year since the late president Marcos’ Proclamation No. 1081 placed our country under Martial Law. It is considered the darkest years of post-colonial Philippines when 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, and 3,200 killed when the dictator was in power. The anniversary of Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law serves as a reminder that Filipinos should not allow this to happen again.
That is why CODE-NGO filed today a petition to the Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of the Anti Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA).
Provisions of the ATA will legitimize attacks and vilification from state authorities. These are no different from the Martial Law years that Filipinos experienced before. This new law gives power to an anti-terrorism council which is not checked by the judicial branch and has the authority to identify “terrorist” with an over-broad definition of who terrorists are. What is worse is if a civil society organization (CSO) is identified as a terrorist or assisting a terrorist, the said council has the authority to conduct surveillance and freeze the organization’s assets.
To continue the work and operations of CSOs, CODE-NGO and its co-petitioners stood today in front of the Supreme Court bearing calls for peace and protection of the civil society sector. Local organizations working on humanitarian, development, and disaster risk reduction and management in vulnerable communities must be protected.
“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that we all adopt highlight the importance of including everyone: Nothing about us without us. It is already disappointing that they failed to consult us in crafting this law, these provisions even placing us in greater peril,” according to Sandino Soliman of CODE-NGO. “How can we build a better path to just and lasting peace, to sustainable development, or to assist our communities to reduce their risk to natural and human-induced hazards if we are cowering in fear because we are only one hearsay away from getting arrested?” Soliman added.
CODE-NGO’s co-petitioners are national networks of faith-based humanitarian and development organizations in the country. These are the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), Disaster Risk Reduction Network Philippines (DRRNetPhils), and the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines.
International Day of Peace, Martial Law 48th Commemoration
DRR, Faith Groups vs ATL
Download
That is why CODE-NGO filed today a petition to the Supreme Court to question the constitutionality of the Anti Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA).
Provisions of the ATA will legitimize attacks and vilification from state authorities. These are no different from the Martial Law years that Filipinos experienced before. This new law gives power to an anti-terrorism council which is not checked by the judicial branch and has the authority to identify “terrorist” with an over-broad definition of who terrorists are. What is worse is if a civil society organization (CSO) is identified as a terrorist or assisting a terrorist, the said council has the authority to conduct surveillance and freeze the organization’s assets.
To continue the work and operations of CSOs, CODE-NGO and its co-petitioners stood today in front of the Supreme Court bearing calls for peace and protection of the civil society sector. Local organizations working on humanitarian, development, and disaster risk reduction and management in vulnerable communities must be protected.
“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that we all adopt highlight the importance of including everyone: Nothing about us without us. It is already disappointing that they failed to consult us in crafting this law, these provisions even placing us in greater peril,” according to Sandino Soliman of CODE-NGO. “How can we build a better path to just and lasting peace, to sustainable development, or to assist our communities to reduce their risk to natural and human-induced hazards if we are cowering in fear because we are only one hearsay away from getting arrested?” Soliman added.
CODE-NGO’s co-petitioners are national networks of faith-based humanitarian and development organizations in the country. These are the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), Disaster Risk Reduction Network Philippines (DRRNetPhils), and the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines.
International Day of Peace, Martial Law 48th Commemoration
DRR, Faith Groups vs ATL
Download
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