To mark the third year of the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL), various progressive groups protested in front of the National Security Council office in Quezon City on July 3. They lambasted the state’s continued use of the law to openly suppress and silence critics of the regime and progressive organizations.

In Southern Tagalog alone, 15 individuals were charged with violating the ATL. The latest involves two human rights defenders who were charged on June 26 by the 59th IB with “providing material support” to “terrorist organizations.” Ken Rementilla and Jasmin Rubia were accused of violating the law’s Section 12. They were accused of “aiding terrorism” for having conducted a fact-finding mission (FFM) in July 2022 to investigate the killing of Kyllene Casao by the AFP in Taysan, Batangas.

Tanggol Batangan spokesperson Hailey Pecayo was also implicated in the case, accusing her as one of the Red fighters the military encountered on July 18, 2022.

Meanwhile on June 29, Rev. Edwin Egar, Interim Officer of Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, received a subpoena implicating him in a case involving violation of the said law.

Cases of the ATL being used to suppress and detain activists and progressive individuals were also recorded in Central Luzon, Bicol and Mindanao regions. The law is also the main justiciation for the continuing censorship of 27 websites of progressive organizations on the internet. The Anti-Terrorism Council, created by the ATL, also arbitrarily designated consultants of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and other personalities such as Dr. Natividad Castro as “terrorists.”