THE Supreme Court will hold oral arguments “on the third week of September, at the earliest,” on over 20 petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said yesterday.
Aside from the oral arguments, the magistrates, during their en banc session yesterday, also decided to consolidate the six latest petitions against the controversial measure with that “of the 19 petitions earlier filed” and has ordered the respondents to file their comments “within a period of 10 days.”
Twenty-seven petitions have been filed as of Monday but two of these remain undocketed as they were submitted to the High Court via electronic mail.
The latest petition was filed Monday by a coalition of journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, activists and law professors.
Among those who earlier questioned the legality of the measure are former SC justices Antonio Carpio and Conchita Carpio Morales, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, several framers of the 1987 Constitution, lawyers, lawmakers, human rights advocates, youth groups, labor rights groups, journalists, and artists.
They are asking the Supreme Court to declare the law or several of its provisions unconstitutional, and to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent its enforcement while the merits of their petitions are being held.
The law was signed by President Duterte on July 3.
Named respondents in the petitions are Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, the Senate and the House of Representatives, officials of the Anti-Terrorism Council who are all from the Executive department, the executive director of the Anti-Money Laundering Council, Armed Forces chief, Gen. Gilbert Gapay, PNP Director General Archie Gamboa and National Bureau of Investigation OIC Eric Distor.
