Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 1700)
The law is officially titled "An Act to Outlaw the Communist Party of the Philippines and Similar Associations, Penalizing Membership Therein and for Other Purposes" and is known as the Anti-Subversion Act.
The law defines the CPP as an organized conspiracy to overthrow the Government of the Republic of the Philippines for the purpose of establishing a totalitarian regime and placing the government under the control and domination of an alien power.
It includes the organizations known as the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military arm, the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan (formerly known as HUKBALAHAPS), and any successors of such organizations.
The first offense is punishable by arresto mayor and permanent disqualification from holding public office or voting. The second offense is punishable by prision correctional and subsequent offenses are punishable by prision mayor. Aliens convicted are deported after serving their sentence.
They shall be punished by prision mayor to death, including all accessory penalties of the Revised Penal Code.
Prosecution can only proceed if the city or provincial fiscal or a designated special attorney or prosecutor finds a prima facie case after due investigation and certifies under oath that a proper preliminary investigation has been conducted with the right of the accused to legal representation and other procedural safeguards.
The offender shall be punished by prision correctional.
Conviction requires either the testimony of at least two witnesses to the same overt act or the confession of the accused in open court.
Within thirty days of the Act's approval, a member may renounce membership in writing and under oath before a municipal or city mayor, provincial governor, or authorized person. This renunciation exempts the person from penalties under the Act but does not exempt from liability for criminal acts committed before the Act.
No, Section 9 clarifies that the Act does not restrict freedoms of thought, assembly, and association for lawful purposes guaranteed by the Constitution.