ON THIS DAY | Unconstitutional Terror Law was signed targeting IP, advocates, rights defenders

[TAGALOG] SA ARAW NA ITO | Isinabatas ang di-konstitusyonal na Terror Law na tuma-target sa mga Katutubo, advocates, tanggol-karapatan

On this day in 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Law (ATL) was signed by former president Rodrigo Duterte. Since then, the law has been weaponized, targeting the Indigenous Peoples, advocates, and human rights defenders.

The Panaghiusa Philippine Network to Uphold Indigenous Peoples' Rights calls for the repeal of the ATL. Five years since its enactment, it has been continuously weaponized against voices advocating for justice, ancestral lands, and self-determination.

Aeta farmers Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos were the first known victims of the law, arrested while fleeing military operations, detained without due process, tortured, and later acquitted—highlighting how the law enabled unjust persecution from the outset.

Photo from Cordillera Peoples Alliance.

The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), a member of Panaghiusa’s National Coordinating Committee, continues to endure political repression. Their leaders Windel Bolinget, Stephen Tauli, Sarah Alikes, and Jennifer Awingan, were designated as terrorists and subjected to red-tagging, asset freezes, and threats—an outright assault on Indigenous leadership and organizing.

Equally alarming is the case of Dr Natividad “Doc Naty” Castro, whose decades of service to Indigenous communities were met with arrest and terrorist designation. Her humanitarian work was twisted into grounds for criminalization, revealing the law’s capacity to punish compassion.

Panaghiusa condemns these attacks and reiterates its stand: laws must protect, not persecute. The Anti-Terrorism Law must be junked. Stop the attacks against the Indigenous Peoples, advocates, and human rights defenders! #