US-based Filipino activists calls for total strike-down of the Anti-Terror Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 9, 2021

Reference: Tabitha Ponciano, Vice Chair, Malaya Movement USA, malayamovement@gmail.com

Malaya Movement USA welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court to strike down portions of the detested Anti-Terror Law. While they see this as a partial victory, activists say the law remains a “threat to civil and political rights of Filipinos in the hands of the Duterte regime.”

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down certain dangerous provisions of Duterte’s Anti-Terror Law. This is a partial victory for the Filipino people who have marched, petitioned, and protested this dangerous legislation,” said Yves Nibungco of the Malaya Movement USA.

The Supreme Court decided on objections raised by more than 30 petitions against the legislation which was passed by Philippine Congress and signed into law by Duterte last year. Initial opposition to the legislation cited its vague definitions of terrorism as a grounds for its unconstitutionality.

Nibungco of the Malaya Movement USA said that this is not enough. “The entire Anti-Terror Law must be completely junked. The Anti-Terror Law, in the hands of Duterte, remains a threat to civil liberties, human rights and democracy in the Philippines and critics of the Duterte regime overseas. We reiterate that activism is not a crime,” Nibungco concluded.

The Malaya Movement USA is calling for a day of protest against the Anti-Terror Law. On International Human Rights Day, demonstrations are being organized in various cities across the United States as well as a webinar in response to the Supreme Court decision this Monday, December 13, at 5:30pm PT / 8:30pm ET - link to register: tinyurl.com/RSVPDec13

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