THE legal challenge filed by Cordilleran activists on the constitutionality and legality of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of the Philippines has stalled, with a Baguio judge temporarily suspending court proceedings.
Judge Cecilia Dulay-Archog of the Baguio Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 7 suspended the hearing over a pending query on jurisdiction.
The RTC is currently grappling with whether it should continue hearing the case, or to transfer the case to the Court of Appeals (CA), with the RTC seeking counsel from the Supreme Court (SC).
An alternative course of action would also be to transfer the case to Branch 73, located in the city of Urdaneta in Pangasinan province, which is designated as an Anti-Terrorism Court in the first judicial region, which also covers Baguio.
The suspension was brought about by the recent release of rules regarding the implementation of the ATA of 2020, made available only on January 15.
Under said rules, the CA has authority over petitions to delist groups and individuals, as well as regarding freeze orders related to terrorist designations, both of which the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) activists are under.
Windel Bolinget, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, Stephen Tauli, and Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, declared “terrorists” in a June 2023 resolution of the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) through the ATA, filed the petition for delisting in November 2023.
The activists asked the court to issue a writ of certiorari, prohibition, and preliminary injunction against the ATC and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC). The petition also seeks to nullify the designation and freeze orders on their assets.
