The Anti-Terrorism Council clarified that acts of protests against government and other civil and political exercises do not fall under acts of terrorism. This, after the Department of Justice released the implementing rules and regulations of the controversial law facing several petitions before the Supreme Court.
“‘Yang mga bagay na ‘yan—pagbatikos sa gobyerno, lehitimong paghihinaing—okay lang ‘yan, walang problema ‘yan kasi you are within the exercise of your constitutional and civil and political rights. Di ‘yan terorismo,” ATC spokesman and DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay said in an interview.
[Protesting against government and legitimate complaints are okay, there’s no problem with that because you are within the exercise of your constitutional and civil and political rights. It’s not terrorism.]
Under the IRR, advocacy, protest, dissent, stoppage of work, and other exercises of civil and political rights are considered not acts of terrorism, subject to the same conditions that they are not intended to cause death or serious physical harm to a person, endanger a person’s life, or create a serious risk to public safety.
