Counter-Terrorism in the Philippines: Review of Key Issues (original) (raw)
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A CLOSER LOOK ON THE PHILIPPINE ANTI-TERROR LAW
Asia Pacific Law and Policy Review, 2020
The Philippines has been plagued with terrorism for a number of decades. Countless of terror attacks took place. Lives of thousands of civilians, military, police, and terrorists are lost. Millions of families have been displaced. Billions worth of properties have been damaged or totally destroyed. In July 3, 2020, the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 which repealed the Human Security Act of 2007 was signed into law. For the government, this is a big development as the country continues to curb terrorism. However, critics of the new anti-terror law are adamant and appalled that it shall only be used as a mechanism to silence the Duterte administration’s political opponents, the activists, and the dissenters of the government. This research paper discussed the controversial ATA 2020, its alleged unconstitutionality as the detractors claim, the possible human rights violations that may be committed by law enforcers as the law is already in force, and the advantages of having ATA 2020 to combat terrorism and, to finally attain peace in the country so beleaguered for a long period of time.
Legislating for Terrorism: The Philippines' Human Security Act 2007
This article will outline why the Philippines is a significant topic of research in relation to the ‘War on Terror’ and the legislation designed to counter and manage terrorism. The influence of the United States’ PATRIOT Act on the crafting of the HSA and the extent to which the influence of the Patriot Act on the HSA is contested in the Philippines will be examined. This article focusses on the legislative dimensions of the PATRIOT Act and the HSA in relation to surveillance and redress. The legislative provisions on surveillance are assessed against the constitutions of the US and the Philippines respectively. I argue that the HSA was designed to be at one and the same time a sop to the US and unworkable in practice.
Verity: Jurnal Ilmiah Hubungan Internasional (International Relations Journal)
Since 2014, the Islamic State (IS) has emerged as one of the deadliest threats to world peace and security, as evidenced by the increasing number of terrorist attacks carried out by IS worldwide, and the number of fatalities caused by these attacks. IS established its strongholds in Iraq and Syria and is determined to create a global caliphate through the creation of IS wilayats across the world. In 2016, IS began to weaken and lose territory in the Middle East which resulted in it strengthening its power in Southeast Asia by forming a wilayat in the Southern Philippines.The presence of IS in the Philippines has been perceived as a national security threat in the country. President Rodrigo Duterte has formulated a national strategy to combat global terrorism in the country. This study aims to determine the strategy to eradicate global terrorism in the Philippines and explain the considerations behind the formation of that strategy. This research uses neoclassical realist perspective...
2002
State terror in Asia has long been used to fight what governments have unilaterally declared as “terror.” Wars and counterinsurgency have long been pursued as a strategy against “terrorism” in Asia, and the war against “terrorism” has always been made an excuse by states to promote militarist and authoritarian dictatorships supporting Western expansionist, strategic and economic objectives. Today, the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the subsequent declaration by the United States of a global war on terrorism has created a pretext for governments to extend and justify the use of draconian national security laws and measures to suppress movements for democracy and human rights.
Deconstructing Human Security in the Philippines
The Human Security Act of 2007, otherwise known as Republic Act No. 9372, was enacted by the 13th Congress of the Philippines that took effect on July 15, 2008 providing legal framework for the government’s anti-terrorism strategy and security policies. However, this newly crafted statute does not have a landmark case yet. Proposition one looks at the absence of terrorism’s definition that makes the law as vague, ambiguous, and highly susceptible to abuse; thus, the said Act is also too broad. Proposition two compares the special law to some provisions of the 79-year-old Revised Penal Code or R.A. No 3815. Upon the enactment of the HSA, criticisms were thrown, especially among leftists or militants and civil libertarians or members of the civil society, that the Human Security Act will be used by the government to commit human rights abuses. Proposition three dissects some provision of the anti-terrorism law which may be contrary to basic human rights as it tackles controversies on wiretapping, detention, and the issue on writ of amparo. Lastly, proposition four discusses the view on whether or not the penalties and damages are just and admissible. All in all, this paper shall examine the pros and cons of the four-year old Human Security Act of 2007, using various perspectives in social sciences including legal and security studies dimensions to better understand the country’s continuous fight against terrorism that impedes social and economic development, as a major form of non-traditional security risk and human-induced disaster.
IJASS PUBLICATION, 2022
Terrorism is often used as a means to achieve political goals, power, religious interests, and other similar ends. Terrorism is a form of threat that can lead to acts of violence, destruction, and chaos as a violation of the law generally carried out in a targeted and planned manner. The Philippines is one of the countries that has become a strategic target for terrorist acts. The threat of the theoretical group cannot be separated from the condition of the Philippine government which is not yet structurally and intellectually strong in dealing with this threat. In this paper, the author wants to examine the form of the threat of terrorism which is a serious nuisance to the security of the Philippines. So that it can be seen whether the increasing threat of terrorists in the Philippines is in line with the readiness of the government to deal with these threats. This research method uses a qualitative description. By focusing on the existing problems described descriptively, namely by using a qualitative method to make descriptive results able to form concepts in the form of more objective results. The short result of the research is that the largest terrorist group in the Philippines is Abu Sayyaf. As the seeds of terrorism in the Philippines started from the struggle of the Moro nation in seeking asylum for independence, it changed from an Islamic political movement, namely the National Liberation Front (MNLF) and then in the 80s it split into a more radical Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and that utilized by the ASG group (Abu Sayyaf Group). Both the MNLF and MILF deny ties to the Abu Sayyaf group. The two have officially distanced themselves because of his attacks on civilians and his alleged profiteering.
TERRORISM IN THE PHILIPPINES: THREATS AND RESPONSES BEFORE AND AFTER MARAWI SIEGE
published in Marwill N.Llasos and Modesta Apesa H. Chungalao, eds., Perspective on Terrorism in the Philippine Context (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Law Center, 2018), pp. 51-77. , 2018
Though terrorism became a catchword after the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks on the United States, threats of terrorism in the Philippines pre-dated 9/11. In fact, terrorist personalities working for the Al-Qaeda planned the 9/11 attacks in the Philippines as early as the mid-1990s. These terrorist personalities established a very strong support network of local and foreign terrorist fighters used eventually by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the siege of Marawi City on May 2017. This paper presents a brief historical background of terrorist threats in the Philippines and how these pre-existing terrorist threats immensely contributed to the 9/11 attacks and subsequent violent attacks in the Philippines after 9/11. This paper also describes some responses of the Philippine government to terrorist threats after 9/11, particularly in the context of Marawi siege of 2017. This paper concludes with an analysis of continuing threats of terrorism in the Philippines.