Joint Statement of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and the Environmental Defenders Congress on the 5th Anniversary of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479)
July 3, 2025
On this day, five years since the signing of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479), we stand together as land and environmental defenders and advocates for environmental and social justice to condemn the continued and escalating use of this draconian law as a weapon of state terror against legitimate dissent and environmental protection.
The Anti-Terrorism Act has become the legal backbone of a systematic campaign to vilify, harass, and persecute environmental defenders, especially those from the most marginalized sectors—indigenous peoples, peasants, and rural communities—who resist destructive projects like large-scale mining, dams, reclamation, and plantations.
The Philippines remains the deadliest country in Asia for environmental and human rights defenders for fifteen consecutive years since 2009, according to Global Witness. Under Marcos Jr., the attacks have intensified: the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) have systematically “terror-tagged” and filed trumped-up charges against environmental defenders, often freezing their assets and endangering their lives.
Its first known victims were Aetas Japer Gurung and Junior Ramos. The two were accused as members of the revolutionary group, New People’s Army, and arrested during an encounter with the 73rd Division Reconnaissance Company of the 7th Infantry Division at their ancestral mountainous village in San Marcelino, Zambales. Their case was later thrown out of court due to inconsistencies, ruling it as a case of mistaken identities.
In June 2023, the ATC arbitrarily designated six Cordillera environmental and indigenous leaders—including Windel Bolinget, Jennifer Awingan, Sarah Abellon-Alikes, and Stephen Tauli of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA)—as “terrorist individuals.” This was done just a month after a court threw out rebellion charges against them for lack of evidence, yet the state escalated its repression by freezing their personal and organizational funds— funds that were being used for community relief and outreach programs.
At least 27 political prisoners are facing charges under the Anti-Terrorism Act and its related legislation, with at least 51 individuals facing trumped-up charges according to the 2025 January report from Karapatan. The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) is not a tool to combat terrorism—it is a weapon used to silence those who resist plunder and ecological destruction.
We demand the immediate repeal of the ATA and all related repressive laws, along with the dropping of trumped-up charges and the delisting of environmental defenders and organizations from “terrorist” lists. We call for justice and accountability for Duterte, Marcos Jr., and their allies, and for an end to militarization in rural and indigenous communities. We urge all Filipinos and the international community to stand with us—defending the environment is not terrorism, but state terror is a threat to both people and the planet.
