THE Supreme Court is set to resume today oral arguments on petitions challenging the constitutionality of the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said the oral arguments will be held virtually via Zoom, like last week.
In last week’s proceedings, Solicitor General Jose Calida asked the magistrates led by Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo to dismiss outright the 37 petitions against Republic Act No. 11479.
The magistrates are expected to continue their interpellation of the lawyers of the Office of the Solicitor General.
It will be recalled that after a lengthy opening statement defending the enactment of the law, Calida asked his assistant solicitor generals led by Marissa Dela Cruz-Galaldines to handle the interpellation.
Once the interpellation is done, the SC is expected to call its appointed “friends of the court” or “amici curiae,” namely retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno and retired Associate Justice Francis H. Jardeleza, to air their views on the assailed law.
Calida last week called the petitions “frivolous” and told the court the country needs the anti-terrorism law considering the inclusion of the Philippines in the Top 10 ranking of the Global Index of Terrorism in 2018 and 2019.
He said the Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia included in the Top 10 ranking and was grouped with Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Nigeria.
