The Department of Justice on Tuesday said that the national government will no longer appeal the decision of the Manila Regional Trial court’s decision rejecting the petition to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army as terrorists.
According to DoJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, the local court no longer has jurisdiction since the Human Security Act had already been superseded by the Anti-Terrorism Act.
“We are not appealing that because the case is already finished. The HSA is no more. We already have our anti-terror law so it’s already in the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals, no longer the RTC,” Remulla said.
To recall, the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 19 presided by Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar in September junked a petition for proscription filed by the government in 2018 that sought to formally outlaw the CPP and its armed wing, the NPA, as terrorists under the old Human Security Act.
The HSA was repealed by ATA in 2020.
“Nothing is better attested by present realities than that terrorism does not flourish in a healthy, vibrant democracy. Wherefore, premises considered, the instant Petition is hereby dismissed,” said the decision.
The DoJ on 21 February 2018 filed the proscription case against the CPP-NPA with Republic Act 9372 or human security act as ground.
This proscription case was filed even before the anti-terror law, which was signed in 2020 and upheld in 2022.In its decision, the RTC ruled the CPP-NPA was waging a rebellion and not spreading terror.
“Stated otherwise, armed struggle is only a means to achieve the CPP’s purpose. It is not the purpose of the creation of the CPP,” the court said.