The Supreme Court (SC) resolved on Tuesday, Dec. 7, the 37 petitions which challenged the alleged unconstitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020 under Republic Act No. 11479.
However, the result of the deliberation and the action of the SC on the petitions during its full court online session could not be released immediately, SC Spokesperson Brian Keith F. Hosaka said.
“Considering that there were numerous issues resolved in the case, as well as the fact that each justice had to vote on each issue, there is a need to accurately confirm and tally the vote of each justice in order to ensure the correct resolution of the Court per issue,” Hosaka said.
He assured that the SC PIO “will provide the media and the public with an accurate summary of the action of the Supreme Court with respect to the ATA case at the soonest possible time.”
Manila Bulletin opted not to come out with the results of the deliberation on the ATA case based merely on sources.
RA 11479 was enacted on July 3, 2020 and implemented 15 days later starting July 18, 2020.
Last Feb. 2, the SC started conducting oral arguments on the petitions which were consolidated into one case. The arguments had to be postponed several times due to the rising incidents of COVID-19 cases at that time.
Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang is the justice-in-charge (ponente) of the consolidated petitions.
Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo had assured that the ATA petitions would be decided by the SC before the end of 2021 as Justice Carandang is set to retire mandatorily on Jan. 9, 2022.