KARAPATAN renews its call for the repeal of the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law, as it noted that the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) removal of the Philippines from its “grey list” instigates the further repression of political dissenters, development and humanitarian workers and ordinary folk by egging on the continued implementation of these two draconian laws.
It likewise worsens the climate of impunity that prevails in the course of the Marcos Jr. regime’s implementation of the terror laws that has resulted in arrests, imprisonment, threats, and direct violations of the people’s right to due process, privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of association.
KARAPATAN has monitored the following dangerous impacts of the implementation of the two terror laws:
• At least 166 individuals have been arbitrarily charged or have faced complaints regarding alleged violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law, or have been arbitrarily designated using the Anti-Terrorism Act.
• At least 73 individuals have been charged or have faced complaints regarding alleged violations of the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law. This includes human rights workers and indigenous human rights defenders who document human rights violations and support victims of human rights violations; development workers and church workers who provide aid and rehabilitation for communities affected by disasters and militarization; and ordinary folk, many of whom are peasants, who are campaigning for genuine land reform;
• At least 45 of these individuals have been imprisoned due to alleged violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Law. This includes community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and development worker Marielle Domequil.
• Bank accounts of at least 17 non-governmental organizations have been frozen, resulting in the non-delivery of crucial services and capacity-building activities for poor rural and indigenous communities and threats against staff members of these NGOs.
The FATF sends a menacing message through this act – that it tolerates a government like the Marcos Jr. regime which drags its feet in holding government officials accountable, but preys on people’s organizations critical of the misdeeds of government and development NGOs that provide services for poor communities.
The FATF is also complicit in green-lighting the acts of Marcos Jr.’s Department of Justice, the Anti-Money Laundering Council and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that have arbitrarily accused targeted groups and individuals of crimes based on false and perjured testimonies and flimsy evidence, instead of filing charges against those who have pocketed billions of confidential and intelligence funds or immediately prosecuting those who benefited from laundering billions of pesos through Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
These factors starkly demonstrate how injurious these twin terror laws have been to people’s rights and make the fight to challenge their constitutionality more urgent than ever.
