Terrorism or Repression? An Eclectic Analysis of Security Narratives, Human Rights, and Political Dissent under the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020

Abstract

This thesis critically examines the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (ATA), addressing how counterterrorism legislation can transform from a security measure into an instrument of political repression. Employing an analytical eclectic approach that integrates Realism, Liberalism informed by international human rights law, Critical Terrorism Studies (CTS), and Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS), the study investigates how the ATA defines terrorism, how it is implemented, and its implications for civil liberties, democratic accountability, and peacebuilding. Drawing on discourse analysis, legal critique, and policy analysis of the ATA’s text, implementing rules, and practice, supported by human rights documentation and illustrative cases such as red-tagging of civil society, the thesis demonstrates how the law constructs terrorism in vague and securitized terms. It shows that the ATA expands executive powers significantly, weakening judicial oversight and undermining constitutional safeguards. Political dissent is increasingly framed as a threat to national security, legitimizing surveillance, arbitrary detention, and repression of human rights defenders, Indigenous groups, and activists. The analysis highlights how the ATA creates a security framework driven by fear, preemptive logic, and political exclusion. Realism and Liberalism illuminate the strategic rationale behind the law and its legal shortcomings, while CTS reveals how discursive practices depoliticize and marginalize opposition. The PCS lens further reorients this critique toward inclusive governance, relational peace, and the restoration of democratic civic space. Concluding with targeted policy recommendations, this thesis advocates strengthening international oversight mechanisms, reinforcing domestic legal accountability, and reframing national security strategies to address structural drivers of radicalization. It calls for bottom-up peacebuilding efforts rooted in political inclusion, human dignity, and transformative justice, offering practical pathways toward more democratic and rights-based counterterrorism.