Repressive Laws: Anti-Terror Law, Cyber Crime Act and more
”In the prevailing climate of impunity, a law so vague on the definition of ‘terrorism’ can only worsen attacks against human rights defenders.”
On 3 July 2020, former President Duterte signed into law the “Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020”, which replaces the Human Security Act of 2007. In its fast-tracked approval through the legislation, many human rights organizations and peoples’ movements, Amnesty included, have expressed concerns on the broad definition of terrorism, provisions suspending procedures safeguarding citizens against arbitrary arrest and detention, and discriminatory application of the law which could ultimately endanger activists and infringe on the peoples’ right to protest and dissent. The Anti-Terrorism act is operationalized by the Anti-Terror Council (ATC) responsible for giving the designation of “terrorist” to individuals and organizations; and holds the power to freeze their assets and file terrorism charges. Despite guidelines set out by the Supreme Court, there is a disturbing pattern of the ATC designating known political and civil society activists and human rights organizations as terrorists.
The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 was passed during for President Aquino’s administration, and its provision on libel has been consistently weaponized against human rights defenders since its adoption. In June 2020, Maria Ressa, a prominent journalist and founder of an alternative online media outlet, Rappler, was found guilty of “cyber libel” after being convicted under the Philippines’ Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. She was sentenced to seven years in prison while Rappler remains under threat of shutting down. Many other activists and journalists, face the same or are threatened with the same charges especially after publicly criticizing officials in the local and national government.
Police Suppression of Protests
Excessive presence of police, even in permitted protests conducted in freedom parks, diminish the realization of the people’s right to assemble as such state forces bear excessive ‘non-lethal’ weapons, dress in full combat gear, and utilize trucks to block or disperse people.There are numerous instances of the police failing to apply the principle of maximum tolerance leading to violent dispersals of protests (e.g use of water cannons or shields) which have resulted in arbitrary arrests and physicaly injuries. Documented violent dispersals in recent years include NutriAsia Workers in July 2018, Indigenous people against OceanGold Mining in April 2020, CHR Protests in May 2022, among others. However, there is also a general lack of documentation and media coverage of protests and police response, especially in rural areas and involving vulnerable stakeholders (e.g. indigenous communities, farmers, fisherfolk, laborers).
The National Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC)
Following the collapse of the peace talks wit the Communist Party of the Philippines New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA) in 2017, former President Duterte have established the National Task Force on Ending Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) under Executive Order 70. The task force, which was supposedly mandated to bring about sustainable peace through delivery of social services and facilitating societal inclusivity, has been the harbinger of a renewed and intensified crackdown against activists.
The NTF-ELCAC has played a central role in perpetuating false and harmful narratives about activists and human rights work. They conduct talks in schools through the NSTP and within barangays wherein they flaunt lists of student and local organizations tagged as “terrorists” or “communists”, encouraging students and community members to identify “communists” among their peers, and implementing projects to gather information and put human rights defenders, church workers, development workers among others under surveillance.
Delegitimization and Criminalization of Activists: Red-Tagging
Red-tagging can be defined as the act of publicly accusing or labeling an individual or a group to be associated or directly a member of what the government identifies to be banned communist groups. While the government denies that red-tagging is an official policy, it has been practiced and implemented since the 1960s to counter dissent and progressive thought. This is what the NTF-ELCAC and laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act capitalize on.
Red-tagging deligitimizes the work that activists, journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and other human rights defenders do. It perpetuates the narrative that any criticism against the government is ill-intentioned, and any desire for systemic change is an attack against the state. This leads to activists being ostracized or even sanctioned in social spaces like work and school, and creates a “chilling effect” wherein people become too scared or too demotivated to exercise their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
Red-tagging enables authorities to justify criminalizing human rights defenders and the extreme actions they take under the guise of national security. It puts a target on the back of activists by opening them up to unwarranted criminal charges, baseless terrorist designations, and threats to their lives, safety and security at the hands of the police and military—intimidation, online and physical harrassment, enforced disappearances, and even unlawful killings.
Exploiting Vulnerabilities: Inequality and Discrimination
– Dexter and Bazoo, Chad Booc as Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Activists
– On 28 April, “red-tagged” Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders Dexter Capuyan and Gene Roz Jamil de Jesus disappeared in Taytay, Rizal province, after reportedly being forcibly taken by individuals who said they worked for a police agency. In September, the Court of Appeals dismissed a petition filed by their families to compel the authorities to produce Capuyan and de Jesus in court. The Philippine National Police denied any involvement in the case.7
– In July, the state Anti-Terrorism Council designated four leaders of an Indigenous Peoples’ rights group, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, as terrorists, enabling the government to investigate their activities and freeze their financial assets.