(Eagle News) — The Supreme Court has declared the Anti-Terrorism Law as constitutional except for two parts.
In an advisory, the SC’s Public Information Office said the High Court, voting 12-3, struck down, in particular, Section 4’s qualifier clause “…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 PIO said the en banc had ruled this portion was overbroad and violative of freedom of expression.
According to the PIO, also voted as unconstitutional was the second method for designation contained in Section 25.
“Request for designations by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions may be adopted by the (Anti-Terrorism Council) after determination that the proposed designee meets the criteria for designation of UNSCR No. 1373,” that portion said.
Meanwhile, the SC PIO said “on the basis of the current petitions, all the other challenged provisions of R.A. 11479 are not unconstitutional.”
“The main ponencia (main decision) and the various opinions contain interpretations of some of the provisions declared in these cases as not unconstitutional,” it said.
The ruling is the culmination of months of oral arguments that saw both the government and some petitioners against the law airing their sides.
A total of 37 petitions had been filed against the law, which was supposed to take effect on July 18.
The petitioners had argued that the Anti-Terrorism Law, if implemented, could violate fundamental rights such as the rights to privacy, travel, and freedom of expression, among others.