By BULATLAT INTERNS
Bulatlat.com
The Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), created under the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020, has been a major concern for activists and human rights organizations. The ATC, after all, has broad powers like designating individuals and organizations as terrorists without due process.
Bulatlat sees the need to analyze not just the ATC members but also how it continues to use the terror law against dissenters, activists, and human rights advocates.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin
The Office of the Executive Secretary is the head and highest-ranking office of the Office of the President and a member of the Cabinet. The Executive Secretary is also called “Little President” due to the vast powers. The Executive Secretary can issue orders in the name of the President, review documents, finalize plans and strategies, modify decisions of other cabinet secretaries on appeal and perform numerous other functions as allowed or delegated by the Chief Executive.
The Executive Secretary’s expertise and knowledge of government processes and policies are invaluable in helping the President make informed decisions.
The Executive Secretary under Marcos Jr.’s administration is Lucas P. Bersamin. He was born in Bangued, Abra on October 18, 1948. In 1973, he finished his law degree from the University of East College and placed 9th in that year’s Bar Examinations.
He was appointed to his current position on October 7, 2022, and confirmed on November 23, 2022. Prior to this, Bersamin was appointed by President Corazon Aquino on November 5, 1986 as the judge in the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City. He then served as an Associate Justice of the Court of Appeals in 2003.
Bersamin was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as an associate justice of the Supreme Court in 2009. On November 28, 2018, he became Chief Justice, a post he held until October 17, 2019. As appointed by then President Rodrigo Duterte, S Bersamin also served as the Chairperson of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) from February 2020 to October 6, 2022.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año
The National Security Adviser (NSA) is the Director General of the National Security Council who serves as the chief adviser to the President on national security issues. The NSA has a rank of Secretary in the government.
The current Director-General and National Security Adviser is Eduardo Año, a retired general of the Philippine Army. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed him on January 14, 2023.
Año graduated cum laude in the Philippine Military Academy and became a member of the PMA Matikas class of 1983. Año primarily served in military intelligence roles before transitioning to infantry positions.
Año commanded the 201st Brigade under the 2nd Infantry Division. Before his appointment as the Philippine Army’s 57th Commanding General on July 15, 2015, he led the Army’s 10th Infantry Division in an operation that resulted in the death of New People’s Army leader Leoncio Pitao (alias Ka Parago).
In 2017, Año was the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief when Marawi City was attacked by ISIS-inspired militants. He was also chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and commander of the Army’s Intelligence Security Group.
Año is implicated in the enforced disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos.
Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) was among the first government departments created following the establishment of the First Philippine Republic. The agency has pursued the promotion of trade and investments, and led in pushing for military agreements with the United States. It is responsible for the pursuit of the state’s foreign policy.
Following his 2017 appointment as the acting foreign secretary under the Duterte administration, Enrique Manalo formally assumed office on July 1, 2022 and later confirmed by the Commission on Appointments.
After two decades, Manalo is the first career diplomat to hold the position, following years of appointees that included politicians and businessmen.
Manalo is a veteran diplomat who has served in the DFA for over four decades, including two stints as undersecretary. He is a multilateral diplomacy expert who formerly served as the Philippine Permanent Representative, Ambassador, and Assistant Secretary, among other significant positions in several nations.
Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
The Department of National Defense (DND) is a line agency of the executive branch that is responsible for ensuring the country’s security, territorial integrity, and sovereignty.
Under the Marcos Jr. administration, Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was named secretary of national defense on June 5, 2023, succeeding Carlito Galvez Jr., the DND officer-in-charge at the time.
Teodoro belongs to the Cojuangco clan, a powerful hacienda-owning family. He represented Tarlac’s First District from 1998 to 2007, and later ran for president in 2010. In 2022, he ran for the senate under the Marcos Jr. slate but was not elected.
This is his second time leading the agency as defense secretary. He was the youngest person to hold the role when he was appointed 17 years ago.
Secretary of Interior and Local Government Benjamin Abalos Jr.
As a line agency under the Office of the President, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) oversees local governments, focusing on public order and safety, disaster prevention and mitigation, and the training and equipping of the police force.
On August 5, 2022, Benjamin Abalos Jr. was appointed as the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under the Marcos Jr. administration.
Abalos, who previously served as the chief of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), left his position to become Marcos Jr.’s national campaign manager for the 2022 national and local elections
He began his political career as councilor of Mandaluyong City’s first district in 1995 and subsequently served as the city’s mayor for four terms, from 1998 to 2016. During his time as mayor, he was implicated in corruption allegations, including accusations of mismanagement and irregularities in city contracts.
He was also elected president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, the umbrella organization of all local government leagues, in 2010.
Abalos was also Commissioner of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in 2013.
Secretary of Finance, Ralph Recto
The Department of Finance (DOF) oversees the government’s financial resources, including policy development, revenue collection, resource mobilization, debt management, and financial market growth. It is also responsible for the rationalization, privatization, and public accountability of government-owned or controlled corporations and assets.
The DOF supervises other government agencies like the Bureau of Customs, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and the Bureau of Treasury.
On January 11, exactly his birthday, Ralph Recto was appointed Secretary of Finance by Marcos Jr. He took his oath of office on January 12, 2024, succeeding Benjamin Diokno.
He is also a member of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monetary Board.
Recto was a councilor in Lipa City from 1988 to 1992 and later became a member of the House of Representatives where he represented the 6th District of Batangas from 1992 to 2001.
He later served as a senator from 2001 to 2013 where he was chair of the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs.
While serving as a senator, Recto was criticized for potential conflicts of interest, particularly concerning his business dealings and its influence on his legislative activities and legislative priorities which allegedly did not adequately address pressing national issues.
Following his senatorial term, Recto served as governor of Batangas from 2013 to 2022. He also faced scrutiny in local governance and development, including criticism over the poor management and execution of local projects..
Department of Justice Jesus Crispin Remulla
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is the government’s principal law agency. It serves as the government’s prosecution arm and administers the government’s criminal justice system by investigating crimes, prosecuting offenders and overseeing the correctional system.
It also leads several agencies, including the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), and Office of the Solicitor General (OSG).
Under the Marcos Jr. administration, Jesus Crispin Remulla was appointed as its secretary.
Remulla came from a family of politicians. He was a lawmaker for Cavite from 2004 to 2013. He also worked as its governor from 2016 to 2019 before returning to the House of Representatives from 2019 to 2022.
Remulla also spoke before the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2023 about not tolerating the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation about the drug war.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) is the primary policy, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the Executive Branch of the government. Mandated under the Republic Act 10844, the department plans, develops, and promotes the national ICT development agenda.
Marcos Jr. appointed Ivan John Uy in 2022 as the secretary of the department.
Uy is a lawyer who earned a degree in legal management from the Ateneo de Manila University. He also has a law degree from the University of the Philippines.
Prior to becoming DICT Secretary, he first chaired the Commission on Information and Communications Technology under the Noynoy Aquino administration from 2010 to 2011.
He also served as the Supreme Court’s chief information officer (CIO) under the term of then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.
Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Matthew David
The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) was created pursuant to “protect the integrity and confidentiality of bank accounts and to ensure that the Philippines shall not be used as a money laundering site for the proceeds of any unlawful activity.”
Under Section 8 of Republic Act 9160 or the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001, as amended, the AMLC is authorized to establish a secretariat to be headed by an executive director, who is appointed by the Council for a term of five years.
It is currently headed by Executive Director Matthew David, replacing Mel Georgie Racela whose term ended in August 2022.
He served as Director of the Investigation and Enforcement Department of the AMLC Secretariat and as Deputy Director of the Office of the General Counsel and Legal Services at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Under Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012 (TFPSA), relevant government agencies including the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Registration Authority (LRA), Registry of Deeds, Maritime Industry Authority, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) are mandated to implement a freeze order against individuals or groups designated as terrorists by the ATC.
AMLC ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) accused by the ATC of “financing terrorism”. Among them were Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group (PDG) known for helping farmers secure land through Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program CARP; Leyte Center for Development Enterprise, Inc. (LCDE) which partners with 23 LGUs in Samar and Leyte for disaster response and sustainable development; Community Empowerment Resource Network (CERNET) which supports poor farmers, fisherfolk, and urban poor communities in the Visayas; and Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC), a development NGO focused on community-based disaster management.
According to NGO leaders, their beneficiaries and the communities they serve are subject to serious human rights violations as a result of the red-tagging and malicious charges against them.
National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Ricardo De Leon
The National Intelligence Coordinating Agency was created by former President Elpidio Quirino and later greatly expanded under the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr. Under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, NICA was also tasked to carry out intelligence collection, counterintelligence measures, and anti-terrorism efforts.
Under the current administration, NICA still heads the Situational Awareness and Knowledge Management of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
It is currently headed by Director General Ricardo F. De Leon who was appointed by Marcos Jr. in 2022.
De Leon held a number of positions in the Philippine National Police, including deputy chief of operations and chief of the National Capital Region Police Office. He was named the first non-Muslim and non-Mindanaoan president of Mindanao State University after retiring from the PNP. He later held the position of executive vice president at Centro Escolar University.
In an interview with ABS-CBN, De Leon said that the state forces, which include the military and the police, do not resort to red-tagging.
However, in March 2023, according to Vera Files, NICA-CALABARZON hosted an orientation for government employees to discourage them from joining groups like Kilusang Mayo Uno and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers and handed out a pamphlet that states that red-tagging is a term coined by “communist terrorist groups” (CTG).
At least eleven other civil society organizations and five party-list organizations—Kabataan, GABRIELA Women’s Party, Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, and the Alliance of Concerned Teachers—were classified as “communist terrorist groups” in the 23-page handout.
The following month, NICA conducted an orientation for students of Carlos L. Albert High School on the alleged recruitment of students by the New People’s Army (NPA). The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) noted that the presence of armed police officers on school property is against the National Policy Framework on Learners and Schools as “Zones of Peace.”
The agency also vetted DepEd’s claim in September 2023 that 16 public high schools in the NCR are involved in NPA recruitment.
Under the Anti-Terrorism Act, the ATC has vast powers, including the power to designate as terrorist persons or groups or associations. Such power, human rights groups said, violates due process clause, the right to be presumed innocent, and freedom of association.”
Under Marcos Jr., the ATC designated community doctor Naty Castro and four Cordillera human rights activists as terrorists without evidence.
Similar to the administration of Duterte, the ATC usurps the power of the courts, and uses its authority for suppressing critics and dissenters. (JJE, DAA, RVO)
