THE Supreme Court (SC) has declared all the provisions of the controversial Republic Act No. 11479 or Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 “not unconstitutional” except for specific segments of two its provisions.
In a vote of 12-3, the Court struck down as unconstitutional the qualifier to the proviso in Section 4 of R.A. 11479 which states “…which are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, to endanger a person’s life, or to create a serious risk to public safety”
The Court held the said proviso was “overbroad and violative of freedom of expression.”
Also declared as unconstitutional was the second method for designation in Section 25 paragraph 2 of R.A. 11479 which states: “Request for designations by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions may be adopted by the ATC (Anti-Terrorism Council) after determination that the proposed designee meets the criteria for designation of UNSCR (United Nations Security Council Resolution) No. 1373.
The magistrates voted 9-6 to nullify the said proviso.
“On the basis of the current petitions, all the other challenged provisions of R.A. 11479 are not unconstitutional. The main ponencia and the various opinions contain interpretations of some of the provisions declared in these cases as not unconstitutional,” the SC said in a statement released by its Public Information Office (PIO).