Railroaded through the legislature during a pandemic lockdown and over the broadest constitutional opposition in our history, Republic Act No. 11479, the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA), was always an instrument of state repression. When the law faced thirty-seven constitutional petitions before the Supreme Court, including our own, we warned that this legislation was designed to target activists, human rights defenders, journalists, humanitarian workers, and marginalized communities. Six years of draconian enforcement have vindicated our warnings, case by fabricated case, freeze order by arbitrary freeze order.
