The Supreme Court (SC) is expected to tackle today, April 19, during its full court session in Baguio City the joint motion to reconsider its Dec. 7, 2021 decision that declared constitutional most of the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020.
Also expected to be discussed are the three petitions related to the Senate’s investigation into the multi-billion-peso government transactions for Covid-19 supplies with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation.
In the Pharmally cases, two petitions were filed by its executives who challenged their arrests and detention ordered by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.
The other case was filed by the Senate, itself, which challenged President Duterte’s order that stopped officials of the Executive department from testifying in the probe.
Thirty-seven petitions were filed challenging the constitutionality of ATA under Republic Act No. 11479 which was enacted on July 3, 2020 and enforced starting July 18, 2020. Despite the pandemic, the SC conducted online oral arguments on the petitions.
In its Dec. 7, 2021 decision, the SC declared unconstitutional were:
1. “The qualifier to the proviso in Section 4 of RA 11479, i.e., ‘... 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’ by a vote of 12-3 is declared as unconstitutional for being overbroad and violative of freedom of expression.
2. “The second method for designation in Section 25 paragraph 2 of RA 11479, i.e., ‘Request for designation by other jurisdictions or supranational jurisdictions may be adopted by the ATC (Anti-Terrorism Council) after determination that the proposed designee meets the criteria for designation of UNSCR (United Nations Security Council Resolution) No. 1373’ is declared unconstitutional by a vote of 9-6.”
The SC ruled that “on the basis of the current petitions, all the other challenged provisions of RA 11479 are not unconstitutional.”
The joint motion for reconsideration was filed by petitioners in 25 of the 37 cases decided by the SC.
In its decision, the SC considered the “immense responsibility” of the government to defend the country against terrorism as well as the noticeably improving capabilities of terrorists to wreak havoc through weapons of mass destruction.
The SC said:
“The pervasive problem of terrorism requires interventions that not only punishes an act when it is done but also anticipates risks to disrupt and preempt a terrorist act before irreversible harm is done, without sacrificing and undermining fundamental freedoms recognized in the Bill of Rights.
“Nonetheless, this Court is ever mindful that hand in hand with its obligation to give due regard to the inevitabilities of national security and public safety, as well as the effectiveness of law enforcement, is its constitutional mandate to safeguard substantive democracy, as expressed in fundamental values and human rights and to temper the excesses of the other branches.”
The SC resumed its summer sessions in Baguio City last April 18 after they were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Led by Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, the SC held in flag-raising ceremony last Monday.
Other justices in attendance were Senior Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe, and Associate Justices Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Amy C. Lazaro-Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez, Ricardo R. Rosario, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Justice Antonio T. Kho, Jr.
In his address to fellow justices and SC officials and employees, Chief Justice Gesmundo said: “Resuming our summer session here signifies that the Court is already easing its way towards the new normal. But this is not to say that we can our guards down. Let us continue to practice safety protocols so that when we go back to our home in Padre Faura and to our families, we return as safe and healthy as when we left them.”
Gesmundo congratulated Justice Leonen, chairperson of the 2020-2021 bar examinations committee. “With him we have blazed the trail of Bar reforms. And we congratulate, too, our Bar passers. May they embody and practice the ideals we envisioned for the legal profession."
He also paid tribute and honor to Senior Associate Justice Bernabe, who is retiring on May 14, “for the decades of devoted service to the Judiciary.”
“I join the whole Supreme Court community in wishing her all the best as she begins a new chapter in her remarkable life. Hopefully taking on an active role in legal education and judicial reform programs. Truly, it is my privilege to have worked with her,” he said.
In response Bernabe expressed her gratitude to her colleagues in the SC, to court officials and employees.
"I don't want to say farewell kasi di ba, pag farewell parang malungkot? (if it is farewell, it is sad). So instead, I just want to say, ‘thank you and see you again,’” she said.