On the Day of Action Against Terror Laws, KARAPATAN joined people’s organizations and movements in condemning the continuing human rights violations perpetrated through the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA or Republic Act No. 11479) and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (TFPSA or Republic Act No. 10168), which rights advocates have long denounced as the country’s twin terror laws.
Today marks the sixth year since the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act, while the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act marks its 14th year on August 17.
In New York, the United Nations concludes its Global Review of Counter Terrorism Strategy, as representatives of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) who participated in the said review were met with protests by the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – US and Bayan-USA.
“For years, the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act have served as legal weapons for unjust arrests, prolonged detention, bank account freezes and other forms of political repression, threatening the people’s fundamental rights and freedoms,” said KARAPATAN Secretary General Cristina Palabay.
In tandem with these twin terror laws are anti-people policies patterned against US counter-insurgency doctrines and the use of the so-called global war on terror to further justify repression, militarization and the suppression of grassroots people’s movements.
“The Marcos Jr. administration continues to weaponize these laws to silence critics and suppress legitimate political dissent. Instead of addressing the roots of social unrest, the government has chosen to expand the machinery of repression through laws that criminalize those who organize, speak out, and defend the people’s rights,” Palabay added.
KARAPATAN has monitored that to date, at least 256 activists, mass leaders and ordinary folks have become victims of the twin terror laws. They are either charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act, or arbitrarily designated as terrorists by the Anti-Terrorism Council. Twenty-five of them remain imprisoned, including community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, development workers Marielle Domequil and Emilio Gabales, and church worker Aldeem Yañez.
Meanwhile, 37 individuals, including NDFP consultants and leaders of people’s organizations, have been arbitrarily designated as terrorists. Among them are Cordillera indigenous people’s leaders Windel Bolinget, Sarah Alikes, Jennifer Awingan, and Steve Tauli. Two of those designated, Norman Ortiz and Lee Sudario, are victims of enforced disappearance.
In 2025, trumped-up cases of financing terrorism were filed against six Cagayan Valley activists—Jackie Valencia, former KARAPATAN National Council member; Isabelo Adviento, regional coordinator and former fourth nominee of Anakpawis Partylist; Cita Managuelod, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas National Council mewmber; Agnes Mesina, Makabayan-Cagayan Valley regional coordinator; Walter Villegas, Kabataan Partylist regional coordinator; and Deo Montesclaros, environmental activist and journalist.
The same year, former and current staff of the Negros-based Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group Inc. (PDG), Federico Salvilla and Perla Pavillar, together with Human Rights Advocates in Negros (HRAN) member Felipe Gelle, were likewise charged with terrorism financing.
More recently, a Baguio court denied the petition for certiorari filed by Cordillera People’s Alliance leaders Windel Bolinget, Sarah Alikes, Jennifer Awingan, and Stephen Tauli, who challenged their arbitrary terrorist designation and raised constitutional questions against the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“Proof of the arbitrariness of the terrorism-related charges that have been filed against activists are the several cases dismissed by the courts and prosecutors. But this has not stopped the Marcos Jr. regime from continuing to weaponize terror laws and related policies to threaten, harass and intimidate dissenters, and to brandish these twin evils to create a chilling effect on social discourse and further shrink the civic space,” said Palabay.
KARAPATAN joins freedom-loving people in the Philippines and the world over in demanding not only an end to terrorist legislation and other repressive laws and policies, but for perpetrators of anti-people crimes to be held accountable.
“As we mark another year of these draconian laws, we join freedom-loving people in the Philippines and around the world in demanding the Marcos Jr. government to repeal the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act. We likewise demand accountability for all officials responsible for the political persecution and human rights violations committed under the guise of counterterrorism. The Filipino people’s struggle for justice, accountability, and genuine democracy will not be silenced by terror laws,” she concluded.