Catholic group files 30th petition vs ATA

ACATHOLIC religious group filed on Wednesday the 30th petition before the Supreme Court seeking to declare Republic Act 11479, or the Anti-terrorism Act of 2020 as unconstitutional.

The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) and members of the Catholic laity through their lawyer Rafael Calinisan raised the ground of infringement on the freedom of religious expression in seeking to stop the government from implementing the ATA of 2020.

The AMRSP is the organization of major superiors of religious institutes and societies of apostolic life in the Philippines represented by their Executive Secretary Fr. Angelito Cortez.

The groups argued that the broad and vague definition of terrorism under the law would impede and affect the mission of the Church.

“The Anti-terrorism Act of 2020 affects not just the members of religious congregations but more importantly, the Christian faithful as it is everyone’s duty to evangelize and do missionary works. This affects the Church’s fundamental right to free religious expression,” the petition read.

Named respondents in the petition are Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan, Anti-money Laundering Council (AMLC) secretariat Mel Georgie Racela, and Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Filemon Santos Jr.

The group said that even before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, the Catholic Church has already been supportive of efforts to respect the dignity of the human person.

The AMRSP believes that while there have been acts of violence in the country, peaceful means should be used to address the root causes of violent acts comprehensively.